I lost the pin code to my phone, which means I haven't been able to use it. In hindsight I should have saved the number on the computer so I wouldn't have to rely on a piece of paper the size of a peanut, but such is life. So we recruited our friend JN and his lovely ability to speak French to go to the store with us to figure out what to do next. They told us we could do it online. Long, long story short we couldn't do it online and spent about 45 minutes trying to do it via the house phone and an automated customer service line.
          Having done that, Jeremy asked if JN could show us how to change our password on our banking site so we could raise our credit limit. You see, we had called our bank's customer support line to ask for a credit limit raise because we needed to buy wardrobes (many French apartments don't have closets) and an initial credit limit is €500. They told us to do it online. Have you ever set up an account on a website and they send you an e-mail with a temporary password to use for the first time you access the site? Yeah, our bank did that and sent us the wrong temporary password. So we can't access our online banking information. We told JN this and he said, "Well sure I can help you change your password, but you can't change your credit limit online. That has to be done in person with a bank adviser." Ugh.
          So apparently, the only thing French customer support knows how to say is "You can do that online." Whether you can actually indeed do "that" online is apparently not their concern.
          A couple side notes: the electrician came today (an hour late) and "temporarily" fixed our problem and he will come back on another day with the proprietor to properly fix it. Whether he actually temporarily fixed the problem and why he needs the proprietor here to properly fix it are unanswered questions. I took it to mean the landlord, but apparently according to google translate propriétaire can mean either landlord or owner in French so maybe he meant the owner of his electrician company. If it's anything like the US a lot of electrician companies will have one licensed electrician, in a small business he is also the owner, and apprentices.
          The other side note is I noticed my posts have been void of pictures recently so I took some pictures of my afternoon walk with my dog Kisa. Lately it's been too hot for me to do much outside, but today had a nice strong breeze. It's actually probably been considered nice out to French people, but I've lived a pampered life of air conditioning so I'm sweating through my socks.

          This weekend was a fun-packed adventure, considering we started out having nothing planned! Jeremy had off Friday for WWII Victory Day so our weekend started Thursday night with our new American friends! Jeremy was told a while ago of a woman from Boston but between us getting settled in and her giving birth, we just recently met up. She is from the Boston area, went to college abroad, and there she met a French man also studying abroad and the rest is history.
          We had some sushi and this time the sushi roll was pretty decent. Last time, if you remember, I was not impressed with French sushi. We talked about America and France and what we liked and disliked about both. She asked, "I've been here a while and am pretty pro-France now, I've gotten biased. What would you say you like least about France? What drives you crazy?" And I have to say:
          1. No indoor air conditioning. There's a statistic out there that says only 11% of homes in France have air conditioning. I don't know how true that is, but it's close enough. A lot of small restaurants and businesses don't have it either. I've been told it gets cool enough at night that often not even a fan is needed, but that doesn't change the fact that during the day in summer it's in the 80s and sometimes 90s. You either have to stifle or open up all the doors and widows, which brings us to:
          2. There are no screens for windows and doors. Every single bug out there can help itself to a tour of your home. Within an hour of having the balcony door open, I have at least 6 flies in the house. Luckily, they're fatter and slower than American flies so it's not too hard to get them back out, but it takes a good 5-10 minutes. There are also these tiny gnat-like bugs and there are literally thousands right outside our kitchen window so once it gets dark we have to close up the windows or they'll come in for the light.
          3. The hard water. This is a touchy subject with the French because they're in denial about how gross their water is to those of us who come from soft water areas. Every stainless steel or chrome item is white. You could clean it every day and it wouldn't matter. Same goes for water spots on glasses, tupperware, utensils, and so on. Even when it's clean, it looks dirty. My hair is the least manageable it has ever been because it is so hard to clean. And I know it's not bad to drink, there has never been research to say hard water is bad for you because of excess minerals, but I just can't wrap my head around it. Like, if that's what my sink looks like, what would my stomach and intestines look like?
          4. No clothes dryers. I understand you're trying to be energy efficient, but come on! Heavy clothes and comforters just don't air dry fast enough unless you can stick them outside, besides do you know how much lint dryers get out of clothes and towels? I never really realized it until I came here and there is lint all over my bathroom, where my washer and drying rack is. I have a hard enough time keeping my hair clean because of the hard water, now I have to dry it with a towel that has enough lint to start a fire? You should see my hair brush, it's disgusting.
          5. The mops here are ridiculously inefficient. For a country that adores hard flooring, you'd think they would have better mops. I discussed the mop types in this blog post. I really miss having a sponge-head mop. It cleans so much better than the ones here. I have to figure out how to fit one in my suitcase next time I visit the US.
         Kierie, the woman from Boston, said I really hit the nail on the head, but that I forgot a very important one:
          6. How long it takes to get anything done here. If there's paperwork involved, and there is almost always paperwork involved, it will take months. Have you been wondering why I haven't updated about our shipping problem or credit card problem? It's because nothing is being done. There are usually three main reasons this happens: the French take weeks to address a problem, and then weeks to fill out and handle the appropriate paper work, and then someone who is crucial to signing, approving, taking it to the next step, what have you, is on vacation for the next week or two. This makes the simplest request a nuisance, and a more difficult request a nightmare.

          Yesterday was French Labor Day. Jeremy had off work and we were planning on going to a yard sale by the mall. Little did we know that Labor Day is taken seriously here! Everything is closed! This includes the tram or bus we would need to get to the mall, so that idea quickly went out the door. The grocery store, post office, bank, everything was closed. Considering the grocery store is within eye sight from the apartment, I typically shop almost daily just picking up what I need for dinner that night; our cupboards are pretty bare. Not anticipating a store closure, I hadn't shopped in advance. I had enough to scrap together pasta with peas and broccoli with a béchamel sauce but considering I've been cooking pretty elaborate meals lately, it was a little depressing!
          May 1st is also the day to give close friends and family, typically females, lily of the valleys as a token of appreciation or to express affection. It started in 1561 when King Charles IX was presented with them on May 1st. He liked them very much and decided he would give them the the ladies of his court each year. Now on May 1st, they are allowed to be sold tax free.
          While it may also be called May day, it is not the same as the May day that takes place in Great Britain and Italy. That May day is a celebration of spring, involving dancing, typically around a ribboned mayppole. France's May day is simply just for campaigning and celebrating worker's rights, and handing out lily of the valleys.
          There are three other national holidays this month, WWII victory day, Ascension day, and Whit Monday, which means not a single week in May is a full work week.

          Saturday we went to Jardiland, which is a huge garden depot. They sell all kinds of plants, outdoor furniture, and even fish, chickens, ducks, and pocket pets. My basil plant didn't make it so we needed to get a new one, and I wanted to pick up some carnivorous plants for indoors. Once there I also ended up picking up more chives because mine are apparently the thin stemmed variety and I wanted the bigger ones I'm used to.
          Why do I need carnivorous plants, you ask? Because the concept of window and door screens for some reason hasn't appealed to the French. No one has screens, no one. Our friends from Canada noticed the same thing and made their own. So everyday I open the doors to the balcony to cool the house down, because another thing most French people haven't gotten behind is air conditioning, and within 30 minutes there are at least 6 flies in the house. The most I've counted are 11. There are also these little tiny bugs kind of like really small moths, a little bigger than a gnat, but their wings aren't as fragile as a moth and there are literally thousands that hang out outside my kitchen window.
          With no air conditioning, you'd think the French have screens but they just don't. Some apartments keep their curtains closed but I feel like that defeats the purpose of opening your doors to catch a breeze. So we got a Venus Flytrap, a Sundew, and a Sarracenia. If they do their jobs right, they're gonna grow big and strong in no time!
          On our way back to our apartment, I ran into Jeremy's coworker. She told me there was a Spring Festival being held in Revolution square just around the corner. The Spring Festival is when the gardeners of the area come and sell their plants, mainly herbs and vegetables. There are also booths selling local wines, honeys, and jams. It's a shame we got the chives and basil from Jardiland when this was happening right around the corner!