Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 1, Setting up a bank account

Rendez-vous

You have to make an appointment (rendez-vous) in the branch. I was able to make one for later the same day in Banque Populaire and for two days later in BNP Paribas, upon explaining that I was only around for the three days.

Documents
When I made the appointment I asked which documents to bring, which were as follows:
- Passport/Passeport

- I.D/Carte d'Identité (I used my driver's licence)

- Some evidence that I would be living and working in France. (I used correspondence from the Académie of Lyon outlining my placement, and an e-mail from the head of English explaining that assistants usually live in the school which I forwarded to the bank consultant in advance of the appointment)

I didn't need to deposit any money (although I chose to deposit €200) and I didn't need my birth certificate, despite having rummaged around the house for a few hours trying to find it..

The Account

-In France it is normal to pay a fee for the use of your account (compte). I went with the one at Banque Populaire which costs €6.60 'par trimestre' (every 3 months) which appears to be a fairly good deal.

-I have been given a sheet of paper with my bank details on to give to the school on my first day so they can pay me, and I need to come back into the branch in September to collect my card as I don't currently have a French address.

-The whole thing was conducted in French, but my rusty second year level of fluency seemed to do fine. 

Summary

Not nearly as difficult as I was told: the meeting lasted approximately 45 minutes and I didn't need to use a dictionary. Sorted.

Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 1, First Impressions

Ignoring a slightly odd encounter with a man beeping and shouting at me from his car (perhaps my ankles were on show under my risqué jeans-and-cardi?) I think I could grow to love this place. It's beautiful; there's an old monastery, a cathedral and a park with a huge lake (photos to follow). The town has everything I could possibly need: phone shops, banks, clothes shops, cafés and - most importantly - an Irish bar. There's even an enormous Intermarché a stone's throw from where I'll be living and I've sent an e-mail to the director of the regional choir of Ain requesting an audition.
:)

Goodbyes: leaving Exeter

Today I left the city that has been my second home for the last two years with several heavy bags and promises to return. It's a strange feeling, but it comes with the soundtrack of yesterday's evensong which was helping to sweeten the medicine...

Then I missed my train.

Kindling

I've always been on the traditionalist side of the e-book debate. Economy, environmental conscience and practicality all support the dawning of the Kindle, but I can't shake the fantasy of running a second-hand bookshop or having an enormous library in my future home.


Nevertheless, when moving to a different country with only a 20kg suitcase to one's name, practicality rules. At the end of my freshers year, while moving out of halls, I managed to break a family suitcase after filling it entirely with books. Thus the necessity to wear clothes at some point during my year-long placement and the sudden realisation that French libraries might not have a fantastic range of English literature has necessitated my decision to buy a Kindle. Watch this space to see if I ceremoniously burn it on the instant of my return.

Lonely, lonely Kindle.

Now: Classic or Touch?