28 November, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Nothing definitive to report on the residence permit. I went to the Préfecture de Police today (a massive complex across the street from Notre Dame) and the evil lady in the visa department screamed at me “Madame! Oh là là!” when I told her I hadn’t applied for the carte yet. She directed me to go to Cité Université tomorrow to do something or other. I guess I’ll find out what I’m supposed to do when I get there. Or not.
I was feeling rather distressed after all this, but as I walked outside in front of Notre Dame, I saw that they were putting up the Christmas tree. That made me smile just a little bit.
A few days ago my landlady informed me that I am supposed to pay the electricity bill myself. I thought she would pay it and then I would reimburse her since all the utilities are in her name. But apparently not. So I went to the post office a few days ago to pay this bill, but I was missing some sort of reference number and wasn’t allowed to do it. Sigh. So for the past few days I’ve been waiting to be plunged into darkness. The electricity hadn’t been paid in over two months! Tonight, however, I got up the courage to call EDF directly. When you don’t speak the language well, it’s hard doing things on the telephone. You can’t use your hands or do charades. But I like having lights and heat, so I decided to brave it. And I had a lovely conversation with the customer service lady who told me I speak French very well and that she understood everything I said and that I understood her. And you know, I really needed to hear something positive like that right about now, since I’m feeling very discouraged about my French and life in general.
So God bless the EDF customer service lady. She made my day.
Anglofille said @ 6:57 pm | paris life |
