Flat hunting in Toulouse
I’ve decided to enter my first note as I’m being lazy and everyone who I’d email with it in this language is on here anyway so I thought I might save time. This is what I have been doing so far in France! I left Berlin (snff snff) on saturday to start my trek down to the south of France. The night train was ok, despite having no bed I was able to sleep curled up on the seat, those of you who know how wierdly I sit in seats anyway should have no problem imagining this one. Despite having my own body weight in luggage I was able to successfully find a taxi to get me from Paris Nord to Montparnasse fine and I must say Paris was looking lovely in the morning sunshine! The "own body weight " in luggage thing is no joke just ask Hannah, Jon or Katariina (thank you soooo much for helping guys).
TGV down also no problem except tired as I was my mood wasn’t great ( no surprise there) the ady in the seat opposite me REALLY irritated me, she had a little girl voice despite being 50 and a little lap dog with her. So I spent most of Sunday sitting in train stations or on trains.My base to dump my luggage is my gran’s house which is about 2 ½ hours north of Toulouse so actually quite handy. As there was no fixed abode ready for me in France unlike Berlin I planned to go in the next day on the train with just my rucksack and stay a few nights and find somewhere to live. This I duly attempted. I had basically decided where I wanted to live but had another place as an alternative in case for whatever reason the preferred one wasn’t as good. So I set up meetings and planned my trains etc. first thing to go wrong when I got to Agen was that the train was in the end 2hr late. This is a TGV from paris. Tut tut innaceptable.
So I was late for stuff and had to ring round about it. By the time I got to this completely unknown town it was 6:30 and dark. Got transport tickets and a network map, no street map though and toddled off to see the flat. It was ok. So now off to the 2nd one which is where the fun starts. STILL don’t have a street map, its 7:30, ask directions but just want to check I’m going the right way so I go into a shop to ask the owner. Turns out he lives 1 apartment block over. He takes one look at me, asks if im on my own and then refuses to let me try and find it on my own because I took the wrong turning at a roundabout and have gone the wrong way and this area is too dangerous for me to be wandering around at night on my own in. I remind him of his daughter and he wouldn’t want HER wandering around with a huge backpack on her own! So I decide to trust him. When he shut up shop at 8 he gives me a lift in his white van (!) to the apartment.
The flat is nice and all fine and she’s nice, over an hour to work but there you go. I intended to spend the night at the youth hostel. Have sort of directions to the metro, turn right at the 2nd roundabout etc. Off I went again and think, this doesn’t look too familiar, 9:30 by this time (and raining). I just want to check that im heading the right way so I ask a man out for his walk who promptly says, oh no, you don’t want to go that way, you’ll go a really long way round, I’ll take you on a short cut, and anyway what are you doing walking around by yourself at this time? This calls for a leap of faith, I decide ok he’s hopefully not a psycho and will actually get me to the metro. Which he does, even through this woody bit, only saw one other person out, walking as fast as possible in the other direction. Suffice to say that flat is no longer the top of my list seeing as I couldn’t find it and the people who live there think it’s too dangerous to walk around after dark! Still having money on my ticket and quite wanting to put my bag down I went to the youth hostel. Ridiculous but Toulouse only has one it turns out. And getting there at 10:30 I found this one was completely full. I know I should have reserved properly but I couldn’t get them on the phone and thought the email was enough. haha. So, no youth hostel.
Went back to the station and asked 2 security guards there if there was another youth hostel or cheap hotels. No more youth hostels but hotels close. Hotels are expensive but I found one I could afford with my cash but also full so getting bored of this tried pretty much every single one there and all full. Great. The wonderful thing about the Toulouse public transport is that after 22:00 there are no buses and the metro closes at midnight. By this time it is shortly after 11, my options are rapidly running out. Don’t particularly fancy a night on the streets as among other things even though I am in the south of France it is February and not that warm. And it is raining. Cant spend the night in the station as it closes and they chuck people out who they thing want a kip! I then decide to get back on the underground and go to the house I 1st visited and cry at them until they let me spend the night. Th only thing is it will be about midnight and they may have gone to bed. I also (usefully) have no more credit as ive been ringing people about flats and its my german sim so I cant get more.
So anyway I’m on the metro again and quite by chance one of the security guards I talked to previously gets on. Obviously I’m not 100% happy with the situation so he asks me what happened. His solution was to ring 115 which is free and connects to the foyers for the SDFs, homeless people, a bed for the night. Ok so I now have a plan B, things are looking up and I’m getting myself together. The other security guard now also gets on with his wife and also asks what’s going on. Don’t worry I hadn’t attracted the attention of EVERYONE on the bus, well actually I might have. He asked the other guy what he had thought of and immediately said, nope, you’re not going to sleep at a place with homeless people all you’re stuff will get stolen and it’s just not safe. You’re coming home with my wife and I for the night. Ok, thank you.
He had to close the last station for the night so wait around and then 15min walk home in the rain. They were so sweet. Just about to head to bed after the BEST shower in the world when it turns out his wife has make me burger and chips. So 1:30 am I’m sitting in a random apartment having burger and chips because they don’t believe I’ve eaten anything today. Was sooo grateful for the bed so couldn’t really refuse anything! He was from the Cote d'Ivoire and she was from Martinique as an explanation for those of you who were pleasently surprised by the hospitality of this french couple!In the morning they also gave me some clothes. I thought I must have looked bad! Actually clothes was the last thing on earth I needed as my bags are so stuffed in any case but again couldn't refuse for fear of being rude! I am a pretty capable person (I like to think)and had a load of stuff to get done and I still had enough money but he insisted on accompanying me and helping me until I got somewhere to sleep for that night which we did find in a random hotel where i had great fun watching Knight Rider in german!
I spent that day and the next visiting flats and getting myself sorted. I have a flat I want to live in but I will only find out on the 15th if I can live there. It's complicated As my job starts on the 12th in the north of the north (north of blagnac which is north of toulouse) I have also found somewhere to live this weekend with a lovely lady who was also really helpful. She is french but has lived abroad for the last 15 years in the middle east and thinks that the french are mad! im not too keen on the picture this is building up, it doesn't help my current marked preference for all things Deutsch!
This flat does however mean I’m 1h30 from my job using public transport in the mornings but I have no choice. So that is the situation so far. I have a French mobile number though now which is on facebook but I cant give my address to anyone as I don’t have one yet! If you want to send me things urgently my grandmother’s address isGeorgina MillerChez Patricia AlfordMoulin de Quatre Carres47 150 Monflanquin and it will be forwarded.Suffice to say it was lovely to get back to my grandmother’s and relax in preparation for next week. Urgh. Getting up at 6:30, yay!
TGV down also no problem except tired as I was my mood wasn’t great ( no surprise there) the ady in the seat opposite me REALLY irritated me, she had a little girl voice despite being 50 and a little lap dog with her. So I spent most of Sunday sitting in train stations or on trains.My base to dump my luggage is my gran’s house which is about 2 ½ hours north of Toulouse so actually quite handy. As there was no fixed abode ready for me in France unlike Berlin I planned to go in the next day on the train with just my rucksack and stay a few nights and find somewhere to live. This I duly attempted. I had basically decided where I wanted to live but had another place as an alternative in case for whatever reason the preferred one wasn’t as good. So I set up meetings and planned my trains etc. first thing to go wrong when I got to Agen was that the train was in the end 2hr late. This is a TGV from paris. Tut tut innaceptable.
So I was late for stuff and had to ring round about it. By the time I got to this completely unknown town it was 6:30 and dark. Got transport tickets and a network map, no street map though and toddled off to see the flat. It was ok. So now off to the 2nd one which is where the fun starts. STILL don’t have a street map, its 7:30, ask directions but just want to check I’m going the right way so I go into a shop to ask the owner. Turns out he lives 1 apartment block over. He takes one look at me, asks if im on my own and then refuses to let me try and find it on my own because I took the wrong turning at a roundabout and have gone the wrong way and this area is too dangerous for me to be wandering around at night on my own in. I remind him of his daughter and he wouldn’t want HER wandering around with a huge backpack on her own! So I decide to trust him. When he shut up shop at 8 he gives me a lift in his white van (!) to the apartment.
The flat is nice and all fine and she’s nice, over an hour to work but there you go. I intended to spend the night at the youth hostel. Have sort of directions to the metro, turn right at the 2nd roundabout etc. Off I went again and think, this doesn’t look too familiar, 9:30 by this time (and raining). I just want to check that im heading the right way so I ask a man out for his walk who promptly says, oh no, you don’t want to go that way, you’ll go a really long way round, I’ll take you on a short cut, and anyway what are you doing walking around by yourself at this time? This calls for a leap of faith, I decide ok he’s hopefully not a psycho and will actually get me to the metro. Which he does, even through this woody bit, only saw one other person out, walking as fast as possible in the other direction. Suffice to say that flat is no longer the top of my list seeing as I couldn’t find it and the people who live there think it’s too dangerous to walk around after dark! Still having money on my ticket and quite wanting to put my bag down I went to the youth hostel. Ridiculous but Toulouse only has one it turns out. And getting there at 10:30 I found this one was completely full. I know I should have reserved properly but I couldn’t get them on the phone and thought the email was enough. haha. So, no youth hostel.
Went back to the station and asked 2 security guards there if there was another youth hostel or cheap hotels. No more youth hostels but hotels close. Hotels are expensive but I found one I could afford with my cash but also full so getting bored of this tried pretty much every single one there and all full. Great. The wonderful thing about the Toulouse public transport is that after 22:00 there are no buses and the metro closes at midnight. By this time it is shortly after 11, my options are rapidly running out. Don’t particularly fancy a night on the streets as among other things even though I am in the south of France it is February and not that warm. And it is raining. Cant spend the night in the station as it closes and they chuck people out who they thing want a kip! I then decide to get back on the underground and go to the house I 1st visited and cry at them until they let me spend the night. Th only thing is it will be about midnight and they may have gone to bed. I also (usefully) have no more credit as ive been ringing people about flats and its my german sim so I cant get more.
So anyway I’m on the metro again and quite by chance one of the security guards I talked to previously gets on. Obviously I’m not 100% happy with the situation so he asks me what happened. His solution was to ring 115 which is free and connects to the foyers for the SDFs, homeless people, a bed for the night. Ok so I now have a plan B, things are looking up and I’m getting myself together. The other security guard now also gets on with his wife and also asks what’s going on. Don’t worry I hadn’t attracted the attention of EVERYONE on the bus, well actually I might have. He asked the other guy what he had thought of and immediately said, nope, you’re not going to sleep at a place with homeless people all you’re stuff will get stolen and it’s just not safe. You’re coming home with my wife and I for the night. Ok, thank you.
He had to close the last station for the night so wait around and then 15min walk home in the rain. They were so sweet. Just about to head to bed after the BEST shower in the world when it turns out his wife has make me burger and chips. So 1:30 am I’m sitting in a random apartment having burger and chips because they don’t believe I’ve eaten anything today. Was sooo grateful for the bed so couldn’t really refuse anything! He was from the Cote d'Ivoire and she was from Martinique as an explanation for those of you who were pleasently surprised by the hospitality of this french couple!In the morning they also gave me some clothes. I thought I must have looked bad! Actually clothes was the last thing on earth I needed as my bags are so stuffed in any case but again couldn't refuse for fear of being rude! I am a pretty capable person (I like to think)and had a load of stuff to get done and I still had enough money but he insisted on accompanying me and helping me until I got somewhere to sleep for that night which we did find in a random hotel where i had great fun watching Knight Rider in german!
I spent that day and the next visiting flats and getting myself sorted. I have a flat I want to live in but I will only find out on the 15th if I can live there. It's complicated As my job starts on the 12th in the north of the north (north of blagnac which is north of toulouse) I have also found somewhere to live this weekend with a lovely lady who was also really helpful. She is french but has lived abroad for the last 15 years in the middle east and thinks that the french are mad! im not too keen on the picture this is building up, it doesn't help my current marked preference for all things Deutsch!
This flat does however mean I’m 1h30 from my job using public transport in the mornings but I have no choice. So that is the situation so far. I have a French mobile number though now which is on facebook but I cant give my address to anyone as I don’t have one yet! If you want to send me things urgently my grandmother’s address isGeorgina MillerChez Patricia AlfordMoulin de Quatre Carres47 150 Monflanquin and it will be forwarded.Suffice to say it was lovely to get back to my grandmother’s and relax in preparation for next week. Urgh. Getting up at 6:30, yay!
posted by Georgina at 4:46 PM
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