Peeling Paint

Would it be as pretty without the distressed peeling paint look? Every building I see minus the brand new buildings have some level of peeling paint whether it be on the shutters, the doors, the walls,.. I wondered why absolutely no one has bothered to repaint these items in the whole city. Are they too busy living their lives and enjoying themselves to bother with such things as the exterior of their home or do they realize the true gem is the inside and the aging outside only adds to the depth and stories the building can tell. I have only made my way through 3 or 4 apartments but the same holds true for the interior staircases leading from floor to floor. They are most definitely many years older than me and appear a bit dilapidated as if one false move might cause a limb to pull a disappearing act into a rotten stair.


Would any of these places be as beautiful and pretty with a new coat of paint? Probably not. They would probably instantly lose their charm and become just like every other "faux" French home you see throughout the States. Too perfect to be French.

Today I practically skipped down the streets in sandals and a sundress. The day is one of the best days I have seen thus far with blue skies and a very bright sun! (Trust me, it was bright..so bright that at 6:30 in the morning I was wide awake and unable to fall back to sleep) I proudly purchased my first "French" cell phone. Its not the coveted IPhone but I was not ready to shell out 549 Euros for a phone I may be unable to use in 6 months. My prepaid phone is wonderful though supposedly. I can talk as much as I want and text as much as I want (as long as I'm willing to keep shelling out euros for minutes!) AND all calls and texts I receive are FREE! How is that for great. International calls, domestic calls, SMS, MMS, everything free..it is wonderful especially because seriously, it is not my fault if someone wants to talk to me or get in touch with me,..why should I be forced to also pay to give them that privilege. Afterwards, I made my first return to a store. Luckily, it was not too difficult, unfortunately it was not attributed to my choppy French but to the very kind English woman in line next to me who rattled off exactly what I wanted to say to the saleswoman. I was very excited to hear the word "sensible" in her explanation to the saleswoman though as I had planned on using the word to describe my sensitive eyes.

Drumroll please...we have an APARTMENT! Woohoo! It is a stunning European style..oh wait, it is not stunning or very European looking on the outside but modern and square, however, it will have to do. The interior is almost new (I have yet to get an explanation for "almost new" though and I am not quite sure what it refers to as there is not a refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, washer, cabinets, countertops or closets throughout the apartment so the "new" items might possibly refer to the bathtub and sink in the bathroom or the solitary sink in the kitchen.) Otherwise the inside has nice tile floors throughout the living room and kitchen and sad to say, slightly hideous wall paper in the two bedrooms..think bright red and yellow in one room and cream with blue stripes with light houses dotted everywhere in another. Soner thinks there was a passionate artist in one room but what type of person was in the other one?? I am crossing my fingers the wallpaper gets replaced. You may think 5 months is not a long time, it may seem short and you should just deal with the aesthetics but we are talking about being in a place 150 days give or take, enough time to complete a semester of college and begin another one, to find a job, work there and quit, for an entire season and a half to pass.

France is wonderful though all in all. We had dinner at the first restaurant we ate at upon my arrival Saturday and it was even better than the first time. Maybe because we are learning at least one new word each of us each time we go. Speaking of learning, I will go back to learning more french via my iPod. Talk Soon.