Je m'installe.....

So, after weeks of torture and torment with French agencies, private landlords, scams and leboncoin, we have finally found somewhere to live. It's a lovely appartement on a really nice street. If anyone would like my address they may message me for it, I'm not about to give the whole world my address :) I'll also attach some photographs (baring in mind it was unfurnished and we're currently trying to get it looking as homely as possible)

I'm feeling much more positive about life this week. I'm visiting my boyfriend Rowan in Germany, because I have a 10 day holiday from school and thought it would be a good opportunity to travel to Dortmund to check out his way of life. It's all very nice and leafy, I will post another blog about that when I get back to Lille.

As for the past week or so, things have really been looking up. Not only have we found a lovely, affordable flat but the bank have started being nice to us and finally sent out letters for us to sign so we can get our bank cards. Hopefully mine will be waiting for me when I get back from Germany. Me and Hannah have spent a lot of time in Ikea recently, trying to work out what to do with the empty space of an apartment we now live in. So far I've bought the world's most uncomfortable 39euro mattress, and bed side table and a kitchen chair. Our landlord has agreed to go to Ikea and pick up bedframes and desks for us, because my car is too small and Ikea's delivery is like daylight robbery. I would be really grateful of any cheap solutions to make my bed comfier? Our kitchen was practically empty as well. But after some debating with the landlord he agreed to put some counters in and buy us some electric hobs so we can continue our wonderful diet of pasta and veg. Yum yum.

The biggest task, finding a fridge. We looked on leboncoin to see if anyone was wanting to sell fridges, but they all looked a bit dodgey. So one night over a bizarre Brazilian chocolate concoction, one of the Belgian girls we met in the Foyer told us about a second hand furniture shop near the local supermarket. So we went there the next day and found a little fridge freezer for 90euros. Without hesitation we bought it, mainly because we knew it would fit in the car. So we set off, then thought how on earth are we going to get this up the stairs into the apartment? Luckily the landlord was visiting us that night to take more rent money off us. So he agreed to carry it up for us. Then he asked where we'd bought it from and we told him. And apparently that place is run by ex convicts and prisoners who are paid to restore broken appliances. This did worry me quite a bit but he assured me that it wouldn't be a problem and it was a serious rehabilitation program.

 Another must-have when living in France is home insurance, or assurance tous risques locatifs. which we were dreading buying because in England it wouldn't come cheap. It's the law in France to have insurance. We managed to get a quote for 60 euros between us for the year. BARGAIN!

To celebrate a successful week, me and Hannah went on a little afternoon out on Sunday before we headed of on our travels on Monday. We went for lunch at this restaurant Hannah had been going on and on about since we arrived because she had been there with her boyfriend over the summer. And let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. I had a tartine, with vegetables and loats of parmasan mmmmmmm. Then we went into Vieux Lille to have a walk around and take some photos. (I'll upload them to Facebook) It was a lovely little day out, and felt like a true reward based on the weeks successes.

One stressful day...

Today has been a bit of a rollarcoaster day if I'm 100% honest. I woke up pretty late after a really good night out with my friends in Lille. Then spent most of the afternoon scouring the internet to try and find somewhere to live, which resulted in us setting up two viewings for the next few days. Which I'm really really hopeful about.

I had a really nice afternoon, went to visit a friend, Emily, to look through some teaching resources and drank proper english tea which was delightful. But then I got home and got some terrible news which has really really upset me. Basically I have some psychotic neighbours at home and they have really been making my parents lives hell. It's really getting me down that they can be so evil, and now they really have taken it all too far.

So what started as a wonderful day, ended with me feeling a little all over the place and wanting to go home...

J'arrive...

I've been meaning to set up a blog for a very long time now, what with being a journalism student it kind of comes with the teritory. I've never really seen myself as being a journalist but over the past few months have had this realisation that actually, yes I do want to throw myself into it. So here is my shiny-new blog. Hopefully people will actually read it.

I'm currently residing in Lille, France. It's a very beautiful city in the north east of France just a stone's throw away from the Belgian border. It really is amazing and I love everything about it. Except trying to find somewhere to live. I arrived in Lille on the 20th of September with a friend I picked up on the drive over. The ferry crossing wasn't amazing as it was rather choppy and the realisation I made upon disembarking that I would now have to drive on the opposite side of the road was enough to make me want to turn back. 

We arrived at the start of la rentrée, which is when all the University students return to work, only to frequent in strikes and protests. All the students took all the accommodation and me and Hannah had a very hard time finding a flat. We had the choice of spending a fortune or renting a flat that's not furnished and get on down to Ikea to buy stuff. So there wasn't an easy/cheap option. Next stumbling block was trying to get past the obstacle of a financial guarantor. French agencies demand a all tenants have a French guarantor, whether you are French, English or Chinese they will not accept anything less than a Frenchie to guarantee you'll pay your rent. I don't even think they'd accept an English person who earned millions. It's a stupid system and caused countless problems for us. 

So the search was unfruitful, and of course we are still looking but at least we have a temporary base. We are now living in a foyer, which is basically a glorified youth hostel. It is similar to student halls except you don't really have to be a student to live here and it's a lot grimmer than most student halls I've ever seen. Since living here I've had witnessed random fights in the corridor, a fire in the block where young families live and had to contend with competing French rap/reggee/folk music in the surrounding rooms at all hours of the day. I knew what I was getting myself into so I really shouldn't complain. 

The rooms are basic but decent, there is a long desk which runs across the window and a wardrobe and single bed. Then a partition which leads to more storage and a shower and sink. The room's main downfall is it's lack of a toilet and having to wrap up warm to go for a wee in the middle of the night. It's especially in convenient as none of the toilets on my floor have toilet seats. It's such a charming place.

We have also been almost-victims of our fair share of internet scams. We seem to always find them, and always get drawn in. Such announcements will appears on housing websites with no contact number, so after an email and them asking to be sent 1000euros by urgent postal mandate it's safe to say the flat doesn't actually exist. 

So my new best friends are leboncoin.fr vivastreet.fr and any other housing website I stumble across. If anyone out there can help me find a two bedroomed furnished flat in Lille with a private landlord then please get in touch!