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!