Dear BNP Paribas,
I hate you. You are the worst bank ever. Why do you suck so much?
Thank you,
Allie
Yeah, I hate my bank. Or maybe it's just the banking system here; I couldn't tell you because this is the first French bank account I've ever had. Okay, there was the bit where they forced me to have insurance in case I "hurt a child or broke someone's glasses." Apparently, it is a required type of insurance, and because I was so confused my bank lady reimbursed me half of it.
Then, they wouldn't give me my card because my account was negative, why was it negative? you might ask...
Because they charged me for insurance, and I hadn't been paid yet. Then I was paid, and my card worked and all was right. And I decided I should probably book tickets for Christmas. So I did.
My tickets from Frankfurt to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Paris are €105 all together, pretty good. But for some reason, the bank has charged me twice, FOR BOTH OF THEM.
I know I did not buy multiple tickets because I was being very careful when clicking through because of our horrible internet. So, I was VERY careful, when purchasing, not to click anything twice.
I discovered the charges Wednesday, and of course it was a bank holiday. So, nothing was to be done. I went Thursday, and my bank boyfriend (he laughs every time he sees me because I'm always having problems.) asked me if I was sure I hadn't bought anything on Monday. Yes, I was pretty damn sure.
"Are you sure," he asked, "that you didn't buy gas or something?"
I very nicely explained that I do not have a CAR!
Anyway, he got this other lady who asked if it was a carte electron, which it is. Then she said, "C'est bloqué, pas de soucie, t'inquiète pas"
And the there was something else that might have been "you're not being charged." When I got home, I looked up bloqué: in terms of money it usually means "frozen." So she said, "It's frozen, no worries, don't worry" And she might have said, "you're not being charged." Either way, my account is in the negative, so I'm just going to keep checking it... I should have made an appointment with my bank lady.
I think I'm doing pretty well, considering I can't access my money. At home, I would be freaking out a million times more; I would be on the phone with everyone from my bank. Here, I'm just kind of annoyed and am making myself wait until the week's up to see what happens.
So, the story continues!
In the last episode, Allie, Meredith, Kelly, and Andrew were running through the streets of Marseilles with entirely too much baggage in tow. We arrived at the station, out of breath, and unsure of which platform to go to. Two minutes to departure, I ran up to some French train worker people who were hanging out on one of the platforms. "Bonjour" I yelled, out of breath.
They looked at me and chuckled, one conductor said, "Bonsoir (at this point I realized my horrible gaffe, one does not say bonjour at 19h00- 7pm)..." He smiled, "yeees?" I threw aside an attempt at parlaying en français, "Is this the train to Aix?"
He looked at the train, then back at me. "Yeees"
Andrew attempted to mock me for not bother with French, but it was more important to bid him adieu and throw (seriously) our baggage on the train.
We did both, and Meredith and I collapsed heavily on the first seats we found.
The train ride was 10 minutes, so we arrived at Aix and Katie, my friend who was already there, informed us we would have to catch the bus into town.
It was dark. We were hungry, and the bus stop appeared to be under a bridge, so we stood by what also appeared to be a major highway, waiting for what we hoped was the bus... for about 40 minutes.
It came, and then we got off at the bus stop where we waited another long long while for Katie and her friend Stevie, with whom we were staying, came to get us.
We really didn't do much in Aix. I think we were so worn out from everything else we had done. On Friday, we had grand aspirations. The plan was to rent bikes and cycle around Aix, so we did. But not until 2 pm. We went to the rental place and decided to plan on a two hour trip; Meredith told the guy, "We want something pretty and easy. Very easy."
"Oh yes," he said, "it's easy, definitely can do in 2 hours. Very pretty."
So we were off.
Now at home, as many of you may know, I enjoy riding my bike; I probably ride it once a week. I jog, I do yoga. I am not unfit.
I also live in flatlands.
The path (or should I say road, because we were on the road with the cars. French people are also bad drivers) took us out of the city, into a kind of forest-y winding road. Then the two-lane road turned into a one-lane road. With huge hills.
HUGE. Going up those hills was one of the most strenuous things I've ever done. In the distance, we could see Mount Saint-Victoire, which was a frequent subject of the painter Cézanne who is from Aix.
It was so hard. I just can't even explain. My quads ached.
We did make it home in two hours, and I'm really glad I did it. The country side was beautiful, and the biking was an experience. You do have to give French drivers credit; they're used to bikers being on the road and know how not to hit them.
Saturday in Aix was spent sleeping in and deciding what to dress up as for Halloween. Katie's friend Stevie had a halloween party (did I mention his awesome apartment. HUGE. 10 foot ceilings. giant bedrooms. they're also paying a ton for it.) I bought an Indian headdress at the one costume shop in Aix, so I was an Indian. French people don't really celebrate Halloween, so it was this huge party of Brits and Americans with a couple Spaniards, an Italian, and two French guys. It was pretty cool, and everyone had to be creative with their costumes because there weren't really many options. My favorite was Freddie Krueger with cardboard fingernails. We went to a club, which was funny because not many people there were in costumes. It was a nice Halloween.
On Sunday, I woke up early. For no reason, at all. So I made the most of it, and walked down the Cours Mirabeau, which is famous and has expensive stores. On Sunday, though, these stores are closed, but there was a Provençal market with leather goods, soap from Marseille, Provençal lavender, jewelry, macaroons, and more. It was cute.
Then, I went to a café and had a café (coffee) and did some writing. I felt like a cliché, but it was one of my favorite things I did on the whole vacation. It was relaxing to be on my own and meditate on my own thoughts for a while.
That afternoon we walked around the city, which was pretty much like every other Sunday in France, completely dead. We went to a pizzeria then rented Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which is a good movie! I recommend it.
And that was Aix. It's a small city, but well known, I guess, for it's pretty buildings. It is very pretty although October probably isn't the best time to go. The trees were loosing their leaves, and it was overcast.
Other than that, I have to admit: I'm more anxious to return to Marseilles and see what it has to offer. It seemed like a place where something was always happening. Aix was pretty, and I've seen it. I think Provence (the region in which Aix is located -- Marseille kind of is too, but it's considered part of the Côte d'Azur) might have more to offer in visiting the countryside. It looked beautiful on the train ride home. Katie and I tried to take pictures out of the train windows while we sped away on the TGV, but it was not successful.
It really was such an interesting vacation. I got to see parts of France I had never seen before, and the weather was beautiful almost the whole time. For the most part, my companions were nice, too.
At the end, though, I found myself ready to return to my bumpy mattress, rationed heating, and seatless toilets. Sometimes, staying in one place is nice too!
By the way, I've reorganized my room. And it is very nice. I switched my dresser and shelves with my bed, which made my room seem a lot bigger. Sometimes you just need to shake things up a little!
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