The rest of my trip in Abu Dhabi continued in the same spirit as the first few days, as I explored the oriental metropolis further. Later adventures included shopping for the infamous purple clothes for Bishop's, and taking a day to cross the country and go swimming in the sea of Oman, on a beach infested with miniscule jellyfish. Good times.
While I may have been enjoying the good life and relaxing in the UAE, upon returning the Paris, I was suddenly so busy, that I lost track of blogging for a couple of weeks. I have entered an exam month, and seeing how little work I got done during spring break, my precarious knowledge foundations caved in, so I had a lot of catching up to do. But I made it through, and I'm quite confident about my upcoming exam week, after which I will be study-free until I hit the BU campus in September.
In the meantime of all this, I got a job, or rather, picked up a number of extra shifts at my old job. After dropping out of art school last year, I worked for about six months in a mini supermarket called MONOP'. For those unfamiliar with Paris, allow me to introduce the concept of this store. MONOP' stores are spin-offs from the bigger MONOPRIX supermarkets, a trusted name in France. They only sell those products which have the highest demand in the bigger store, and are open for longer hours, from 8:30 AM to midnight. Anyone who has spent time in France will know that stores generally do not stay open very late, so the idea of a store being open until midnight is very appealing to Parisians. Moreover, MONOP' stores have a selection of sandwiches, salads and ready-to-eat meals to go, and provide customers with tables to sit at, for a quick but healthy lunch / dinner. The concept is similar to that of the PRET food chain in London, combined with a mini-supermarket.
While I may have been enjoying the good life and relaxing in the UAE, upon returning the Paris, I was suddenly so busy, that I lost track of blogging for a couple of weeks. I have entered an exam month, and seeing how little work I got done during spring break, my precarious knowledge foundations caved in, so I had a lot of catching up to do. But I made it through, and I'm quite confident about my upcoming exam week, after which I will be study-free until I hit the BU campus in September.
In the meantime of all this, I got a job, or rather, picked up a number of extra shifts at my old job. After dropping out of art school last year, I worked for about six months in a mini supermarket called MONOP'. For those unfamiliar with Paris, allow me to introduce the concept of this store. MONOP' stores are spin-offs from the bigger MONOPRIX supermarkets, a trusted name in France. They only sell those products which have the highest demand in the bigger store, and are open for longer hours, from 8:30 AM to midnight. Anyone who has spent time in France will know that stores generally do not stay open very late, so the idea of a store being open until midnight is very appealing to Parisians. Moreover, MONOP' stores have a selection of sandwiches, salads and ready-to-eat meals to go, and provide customers with tables to sit at, for a quick but healthy lunch / dinner. The concept is similar to that of the PRET food chain in London, combined with a mini-supermarket.
One of 45 MONOP' locations in Paris
Anyway, I've been working for this company on and off for the past year and a half, as you can tell by my promotional speech there. Last year, I worked at a small store by my apartment, full time, before eventually leaving them, to pick up my study track again. However, earlier this January, MONOP' stores began opening on Sundays (which, once again, is not common in France), and I picked up a shift at the same store's new Sunday crew, since it was convenient with my schedule. So for the past four months, I have been working six hours a week on Sunday. Upon returning from the UAE, things started getting mixed up at my job. New regulations caused the stores to have to close at 1PM on Sundays, effectively making the Sunday crew way too numerous at my store and I was transfered to a new store, near the Parisian stock exchange (la Bourse). In the passing, I started negotiating with Human Resources to obtain an extra shift with more hours in the week time, as I would appreciate working a bit this summer before leaving for vacation. After a first ten day contract in the same store, I finally ended up getting an early shift in a brand new store: MONOP' Victor Hugo, which just opened today! It's not far from the legendary Champs-Elysées, if you need more of a reference. So it's been a couple of crazy weeks with my job, and if you managed to keep up with all the different shifts and contracts I had, well more power to you, because I surely did not.
Anyway, apart from explaining what has been keeping me so busy, I though it would be a good idea to talk about MONOP' stores, because by now I know them quite well, and I think they're a very good option for tourists visiting Paris. The concept is relatively recent, so it is still expanding (in the past two weeks I have worked through the opening of two new stores), but you can already find a good number of locations throughout the city. Now, I'll be honest with you, MONOP' is considered to be on the higher scale of quality, as supermarkets go, so the price follows that trend. It's certainly not a place I would go do my daily shopping (my salary unfortunately not being higher than anywhere else), but it'll definitely be a cheaper alternative to eating in restaurants all of the time, if you're on visit in the city. For under ten euros, you can get a fairly decent meal, drink and desert, of good quality and taste. It's worth checking out if you're ever around.
Anyway, apart from explaining what has been keeping me so busy, I though it would be a good idea to talk about MONOP' stores, because by now I know them quite well, and I think they're a very good option for tourists visiting Paris. The concept is relatively recent, so it is still expanding (in the past two weeks I have worked through the opening of two new stores), but you can already find a good number of locations throughout the city. Now, I'll be honest with you, MONOP' is considered to be on the higher scale of quality, as supermarkets go, so the price follows that trend. It's certainly not a place I would go do my daily shopping (my salary unfortunately not being higher than anywhere else), but it'll definitely be a cheaper alternative to eating in restaurants all of the time, if you're on visit in the city. For under ten euros, you can get a fairly decent meal, drink and desert, of good quality and taste. It's worth checking out if you're ever around.
Another tip I would have for foreigners is the use of the Vélib system. With the return of warm weather, I've begun taking advantage of Paris' pick-up / drop-off biking system. Such systems exist in various places around the world now (though I've heard the proposition to introduce them on the Bishop's campus was turned down), and the concept is usually the same. Stations are positioned throughout the city, where you can pick up a bicycle to get around on. Once you're done using it, all you need to do is drop it off at any station. This system has two major advantages, the first being that it's cheap. The price for one day is 1 EUR, and 5 EUR for a seven day subscription. If you're going to be in town for a bit longer, the year-long card quickly becomes an advantage, at only 29 EUR. This is the base price you pay, which allows you to borrow a bike for half an hour between two stations for free. You'll pay extras for every additional half hour your bike is kept out of parking, though if you're smart about it, you'll never need to do that. Many people simply borrow a bike from one station to another for less than half an hour, and then pick the same bike up again to continue their journey, after a few minutes delay.
Vélib: Rent a bike in Paris
The second advantage to Vélib is that it allows you to see the city as you go along. Paris has a good transport system, so the local subway does have its advantages, but it remains stuffy, crowded, dirty and smelly. Many roads in the city have special lanes for bicycles (usually shared with taxis and buses) and, apart from your occasional madman, Parisian drivers are generally quite safe, compared to those I've seen elsewhere. So, using Vélib bikes should prove to be a good experience, so long as the weather is agreeable and that you know where you're going. I should warn you that using Velib at night is not necessarily a smart option, depending on your destination. If you're heading for a mostly residential neighborhood in the low-altitude parts of the city (such as the neighborhood I live in for example) chances are that all of the local drop-off stations will be full, and you'll need to go back a long way to find parking spaces.
So, these were my little insider tips of Parisian living for tourists. In other news of my recent activity, I actually have a new blogging platform. After posting my first entry in this blog, it was suggested to me that I join the blogging team for Bishop's University, which comprises of current and future students, who blog about their experience with the university. After sending a few emails back and forth, I finally put up my first post there earlier this month. If you're interested in checking it out, you'll find it on the Official BU blog. I'll be regularly updating that as well, with posts more focused on my Bishop's story.
I'm about to enter a week of exams, though the results of these won't be relevant to any future studies, so I'm really just doing this for myself, to bring closure to my past year. The university system I'm in works in the following way: my final grade is accumulated through exams and what is called Contrôle continu (CC), which means that, regular tests throughout the year give me an average of points, which contribute to a specific percentage of my grade. The maximum grade you can achieve is of 200 points, and you need 100 to pass the class. With my CC and my first semester exams, I have actually already accumulated 100 points (100,9 to be precise). So, I technically already have my diploma, though the exams I'm sitting next week are worth 40% of my grade, so I should be scoring some good points there as well. Basically, all of this to say that I'm not worried, though I am still working hard, to try and make the most of it.
I love biking in Paris! I was against the bixie bikes at Bishop's though. I don't think bikes are practical at BU as the campus is covered in snow and ice for the better part of the year. Also, everything is only a 10 minute walk away (ie grocery store) so it's not really necessary. I can't remember if I asked you this before, but what rez did you apply for??
ReplyDeleteYeah, the concept seemed a bit lost on me for the BU campus. Even better than biking is walking in Paris, which I try to do as often as possible and for greater distances than the BU campus. Actually, last December, when I visited BU, I had to wait like an hour for the bus, so I decided to walk back to Lennoxville instead. Quite fun if you don't mind the snow!
ReplyDeleteI applied for NoPo first (I figure I'll be motivated to walk to reach food, but it's best to be close to study facilities!) and then Mac. Where did you rez?
There's a beautiful path along the river by campus, you should definitely check it out.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Munster my first semester, was an RA in Abbott my second year and in NoPo 1st semester of this year before I went to France. If you want traditional style I'd definitely pick NoPo over Mack, it's way nicer.