En déplacement...

Oops, I did it again, and all the other comments about how long it's been since I've broadcast updates of my life on the Internet. In my defence, it has been quite a busy 2 months, which is good news, because think of all the stories! I'll kick it off with the latest, being that I've moved cities. Au revoir et à bientôt (probably not) to Bordeaux, and Bonjour, je t'aime to a little known town that goes by the name of Paris. It won't come as a shock to anyone that I bloody love this place. I'm pretty sure anyone who's ever had a conversation with me that progresses past the, "Hi, I'm Sarah" stage would have been witness (victim?) to my singing of praises for the city of lights. 

And so with this love in my heart, I made the decision to transport my belongings, once more, across the country, and try my luck. For reasons unknown to me (namely the longest river in Egypt) I was not too concerned about my lack of housing/employment/friends in this city that was to become my home. I guess my reasoning for all of this was that I already feel quite comfortable here, and figured my love of cake and one particular tower would get me through. Why get bogged down in the practicalities of having a bed to sleep in, or income to provide food?! 

So I arrived in Paris on the 2nd of January with the fam as support where I started looking for the above mentioned basic needs. Ahh Maslow, how relevant you are. I was aware that the house hunt in Paris is ruthless, and that tiny, squalid apartments often had hundreds of applications, and cost a small fortune, but for some reason I didn't think this would be a problem. I'd managed to find a way in the past! I'd do it again! And it was through this strange kind of naive determination that I stumbled across an ad for a girl wanting to sublet her studio for 3 weeks. And guess what? She offered her place to me! At this point, I had reached the point where I was seriously  planning my trip back to Australia, because in a practical sense, it is very difficult to live in a city if you don't actually have somewhere to live...I was also sending out about 20 enquiries a day for studios and rooms in Paris, and was having a very limited success rate given that my visa only has a few months left, and thus would not be paying rent for anymore than 4 months, plus there were all those other pesky house hunters too.

Cheeky window view

But you know what? The opportunity of staying for another three weeks bought not only somewhere to sleep and store belongings, but also time to continue my search for a more permanent place to stay. Plus I also had one of those moments when I thought, "you know what, this is meant to be. I've been given this chance to keep hunting, and so I'm meant to do this." Which is quite ridiculous really, given that I didn't just bump into someone on the street offering me a place, I'd had to put up a fight to find somewhere, but sometimes (more like on a weekly basis if I'm honest) I like to think that fate has stepped in, and helped me along my way. And d'you know what happened? I found a place to stay until May! In my favourite arrondissement in Paris (the 6th) with a view of the Eiffel Tower, handy dandy access to the métro (Sèvres-Babylone for anyone who cares) and the ultimate food hall, La Grande  Epicerie, and my favourite feature, (besides the view) an actual bed! After months of living in bunks at hostels, and "clic clac" fold out beds, to find a place with an actual mattress, in an actual bed frame, was enough for me to almost cry with joy. So! I moved in last week, and life is looking up! All these little puzzle pieces are joining up. The next piece is obviously a job, but fingers crossed, that could be finalised in the next few days. 

More to come soon. (Hopefully).

Bises,

Sarah