Can't live without the Internet and Paris tourist guide

I'm really feeling the pinch without immediate access to Internet - yes I'm at the library again to post my latest news. God knows when France Telecom or Orange decides to activate the modem we received 3 weeks ago. So I am limited to the small screen of the iphone which has been my saving grace as a window to the world and I really noticed my internet dependency when my Iphone froze. For 2 days I couldn't check my mails.....ah panic....okay I exaggerate I used Xavier's phone. So wasn't it just typical to wait 30 minutes on line to Orange/Apple to speak to some customer service to be told that they couldn't do anything if we weren't in front of our computer and Itunes! Plus we are paying for the call....have a nice day! Thankfully I have now gotten a copy of the Apple Iphone manual in French which I'm not kidding has 164 pages – DIY customer service!

So quoi de neuf (what's new?)...my parents and my sister visited Paris for the first time last week and I had to give them a few warnings at the beginning which consisted of keeping their eyes peeled on the ground to avoid stepping in dog shit, not crossing the road even if there is a green man before checking that the cars aren't going to run them over and of course the tiny lift in my building (it only fits 3 people and is not the smallest I've ever been in). Oh and they understand why there aren't many 'nice' cars in Paris by the way people manage to bump their cars into spaces which are barely the length of their cars. But having said all that they had a great time...we spent 5 hours in the Louvre - yes it's possible to get your money's worth there, we eventually saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle at nightfall, we marveled at Haussmanian buildings (everywhere) and we ate baguette sandwiches! My mum was impressed with Tang Freres and the Asian neighbourhood - we even managed to get pig's blood (boudin) and cow's tripe/inners for our Chinese hot pot.

So we 'nearly' have all the fixtures up in our place, but there are still a few things we need to sort and chuck out to make 'space' (the holy word). It's amazing the amount of things one accumulates over the years - we need to get down to business and be brutal about our belongings or articles which we can depart from.

Okay, back to job research now at the library - shhhhhh!

Convenience but what service!

Yes we are now in the 13th arrondissement in betweeen the superb Chinese area and Place d'Italie. I've already discovered a Chinese supermarket which sells a huge variety of frozen Chinese dim sum though they are in competition for freezer space with the deluze frozen food from Picard which is only 3 mins walk away! The library yes only 5 min walk away offers free internet access - yippee because getting the phone, internet etc installed at the appartment will probably be yet another long saga.

Did I mention that we had to go back to Darty about 5 times to get my mobile phone (didn't bring my passport the first day and they had to retrieve the number from a different place the next day) and then I had to make sure that they would deliver all our home appliances in one go (why they would send the machines in two different delivery slots in the same day is beyond me). So of course I was the mad foreigner with such ineloquent French who kicked up a fuss and made a scene at the 'service clientele' desk. I still stayed in all day to wait for the appliances which finally came all together. Oh what was worse was Ikea - we paid for the delivery of our wardrobes and shelves and unbeknown to us the man with the white van declared that it wasn't his job to unload the furniture. I had a split second vision of me pushing the boxes into the street under the rain and screaming at him of course until he said in French 'but if you give me some tips'....daylight robbery but of course I had no choice but to surrender to him. Next task complaint letter to Ikea..hum in French!

Did I mention that you have to pay here to call any sort of customer service number in France; from planes, trains to banks - I don't think the term 'Customer Satisfaction' exists in France!

But I love my new area - everything seems so convenient!