Today was a beautiful fall day, which I hope won't be the last, as it was much more pleasant than the cool gray weather we've been having lately, and I got myself out of bed to go to the morning market that is held in the old city. It was so much bigger than I expected, with at least six blocks filled with stalls selling everything from mushrooms to cooked chicken to rabbits (dead) to cheese to pasteries to shoes and lingerie. Very exciting! And cheap! Most things are actually much cheaper at the market than at the supermarket, I've discovered. Saturday will no longer by my day of sleeping in, I guess, because is this is too much to pass up. It was also much aided by the new addition to my bicylce, a basket for the handlebards that can be removed and carried around like a very typical French shoping basket. Now I just need to discover a market that occurs in the middle of the week, so that I don't have to worry about my vegetables going bad halfway through.

On picking a bad time to come to france.

(Euro reaches all time high against the dollar.)

I can't wait until I get paid in Euros. Which is of course not for an entire month.

Observations from the first 72 hours

- My shower doesn't have a shower curtain. Therefore, there is a very large bathmat. I think this is because it is French.

-Everything except for food stores (and even some of those) closes in Blois from about 12:00 to about 14:00. It is like a siesta, except it is just so people take a long lunch, I think.

-The grocery store I went to had about 10 different kinds of goat cheese (it is a specialty of the Loire) but not, as far as I could tell, any parmesan.

-The roads all have bike traffic lights (I think) and a lot of roads have bike lanes. Also, cars are very respectful of bikes.

-I can bike for 3 minutes and buy a very good baguette for less than 1 Euro.

Arrival!

I've arrived in France.

The flight was very nice--I flew Air India and there was delicious food and the plane was practically empty so I got a whole row to myself.
I also managed to get from the airport to Paris to Blois without doing any major damage. I need to work on my French listening though, as most of my conversations went something like:
Robin says something in French
French person says some appropriate response in French
Robin says "Pardon?"
French person switches to English.
I'm hoping its just because I'm so tired.

I am currently in my room, I unpacked entirely which is unusal for me and very nice. I have a nice big bed and a closet as well as a coin à repas (which is, almost literally, an eating corner, plus a cabinet with some dishes, a microwave, some hot pots, and various other small kitchen-y appliances) and my own bathroom with a little tiny washing machine (no drier) and a shower with no shower curtain (which I think is how the French do it).

My landlords/family have invited me to eat dinner with them, which is good because I have no food and am too tired to go shoping today. I'm hoping to make until 9pm before I fall asleep.