A Few Hours In Town

This morning I had a meeting with my new landlord in front of my new apartment to give him copies of a few things he'd asked for like my work contract and passport. Emilie drove us into town a little earlier so that I could withdraw some money at the bank and go to the post office to get a sort of money order for Monsieur Hache (Mr. Ax) since she advised me it wouldn't be a good idea to pay in cash.  Since we were a bit early for our meeting, we walked around my new neighborhood which is really lovely.  Right behind my street there are a bunch of little streets that are strictly for pedestrians and they are lined with quaint little restaurants and shops as well as a little stream that runs right through the street.  I found a landrymat about a block from where I'll be living which is really convenient and discovered a bakery on the same street a few doors down from mine.  M. Hache kept us waiting for an hour and we were quite annoyed although he was pleasant and apologetic once he finally showed up.  As he explained everything the apartment had to offer I mentioned the fact that there was no couch in the apartment and he said it wasn't a problem, that in fact he had one available that doubled as a small bed and he would be happy to have it installed before I moved in. Yeah!! One less thing I now have to buy! He also offered to have the internet/cable/and phone service installed so that I needn't deal with the hassle of doing it myself. Super! All in all, I was very happy with our meeting even though, in the end, I couldn't pay him since he didn't have a receipt on hand.

After our meeting with M. Hache, Emilie and I walked around the center of town looking for a place to eat.  We were in the mood for a sandwich and I wanted some fries.  I remembered seeing a little place on Monday that looked good and was reasonably priced so we went there. Emilie had a Kebab (a sort of Gyro, that's VERY good) and I had un Poulet Frites (a chicken sandwich with fries). Lunch was delicious. Afterward, I wanted to walk around and look for a yarn store but Emilie needed to go home. I decided to stay behind and take the bus later.  I walked around and checked out a stationary store since I'm looking for a new agenda/calendar. Too many to choose from, will have to decide later. Then I walked to L'Office du Tourisme (you can guess) and asked about a book on the city of Rouen with all the practical information one needs when visiting/living here. I was told the book comes out next week. Ok. Pas de problème, I'll come back later.  I also asked about a possible yarn store in the area and was directed to Phildar a little store that has a small yarn selection. I was pretty happy to find it but a bit disappointed to find there aren't very many yarn stores in the area. The US definitely outshines France in the knitting/crochet accessories/yarn department. Big Time!!

Here's a picture of the yarn at Phildar

 

Here are a few other pictures from my walk through the heart of Rouen. More to come later! 

 

This is what I see when getting off the bus coming back to Emilie's house. Can you imgaine living here?! I can.