Back in Paris, Finally.

Ok so the past 24 hours in Paris have been completely ridiculous. Up until 4 hours ago I hadnt eaten anything since I left Romania. First off... the worst flight Dylan has taken. From Bucharest to Paris there was severe turbulence and the monstrosity of a man sitting next to me had HIS hands covering his face and curled tight into the seat table. It was nuts and with the turbulence we landed 45 minutes late. After kissing the ground and another fruitless attempt to find a waterfountain I eventually made it to 9 Rue de Blomet, my new address for the next 5 days. All excited and ready to drop my bag off and get some water/food.. I head to an ATM to get some money because my hostel doesnt take cards, just cold hard Euros. Of Course. I get to an ATM and insert my card. "Désolé, votre carte ne fonctionne pas". Yeah. My card doesnt work. Hmm. So I go into the bank to try and get money from a teller. No Tellers. Just ATM's and a lady to help people who dont understand them get money out of the machines. So yeah, apparently since the beginning of 2009 France got rid of all their old ATM's and only have ones that accept Electron cards. With little metal RFID chips on them. So of course my 6 month old American antiquated debit card doesnt work. And only a few banks in Paris actually have a teller. None of which are close to me, all the way near the suburbs. a couple metros away. yeah. and Dylan has 40 Euros. So after an hour and a half I find a old ATM that accepts my card. But then it says Im not authorized to take out money abroad. of course. I even went to my local poulsbo branch BEFORE I left to tell them I was going to Europe for a month and will be using my card. yes yes we have made a note thank you very much. Then I had called my credit cards number to let them know as well and they said that they put in a note. Turns out someone forgot. so I proceeded to spend the rest of my money on phone cards to get ahold of BofA to get them to authorize my card, but each calling card only lasts 20 minutes, and with the hold times I was experiencing, I couldnt get through due to all of the people I had to talk to and the transfers. nobody could give me a direct line to a fraud detect person. Ridiculous. so I used my last 25 Euros and had to haggle with the guy at the hostel front desk to just let me pay for my first night and then the others in the morning, it wasnt his fault but he was giving me a hard time due to all the rules and restrictions. I ended up begging on the ground. and it worked! yess. so this morning at 9am I headed to BofA's sister bank to try and get money. didnt work. so I went back to that random old machine again and I got 150 Euros! yess! but then I tried to take out more again, and it said they are not authorized. so I was able to rush back to my hostel and pay them before they kicked me out with 25 euros to spare. I spent the rest on trying to get ahold of the states again and figure out this ish! finally got everything to work and with 50 euros now. I did some laundry today at this automated washing place. pretty cool! super expensive though but I needed it. When I was there a lady and her two kids were in washing towels and linens and the little boy climbed into the dryers..which are huge here! it was pretty funny. Im living large and hope to find a cheap place to eat around here. fingers crossed. Ciao for now and will write tomorrow. I miss you Erin!
Here are some pictures I took today, one from my hostel window an Eiffel tower view, can't beat that for 25 euros a night!! and then lunch on the Champ De Mars with a closer view of the tower. yum! haha yeah yeah its a cheesy picture I know, but I had just taken one for a family and he asked if I wanted one too so I couldnt say no.
and a couple pictures I took when I was out with JT and Lauren, Sacre Cour (sacred heart) and Montmarte, a beautiful view! Then Notre Dame