Walkabout
Got up a bit late, but went around the block for some thing sandwich on baguette with a croissant and café au lait. Tasty!
I realize now why people are complaining about the cold so much: everything here is mainly designed for the warmer temperatures. For example, the café we had our lunch at just had a huge roll-up door in front, no separate door or anything. And while there was a few seats inside, they weren't exactly well-heated, and some places just don't have seating inside, you have to stand or use the tables on the terrasse. Which in any other season than outright winter, should be absolutely divine.
Being winter mainly means having to wear a jacket (I'm told the winter is especially fierce this year, other years just a big sweater can be sufficient most of the time), and that it's cloudy a lot. I'm mostly disappointed about the latter, since the first is already an upgrade from Montréal, and the clouds mean photos are a bit dull.
Took the metro and bus to Colomiers, where I'm having an interview Friday. The metro is interesting, as it is quite short (just one car!), but fully automated and very frequent, so they still carry a fair bunch of people around, and you don't wait long. They also have doors on the platform, much like elevators.
Colomiers is nice, but is a bit farther out of town, so much quieter. I'd be all right living there, but maybe some compromise in between downtown and there. The whole area is eminently bikeable, with the public transport service even having a bike rental service (you can exchange two tickets for a day-long bike rental, for example), so I'll definitely be doing that. Also, it's bikeable all year round here, so that's quite a plus!
Trying to gather some people to have a drink with, maybe play some foosball, but the wireless I was using at the apartment stopped working (I get the network, but there's no Internet connection), so it's rather difficult to organize... Oh well!
I realize now why people are complaining about the cold so much: everything here is mainly designed for the warmer temperatures. For example, the café we had our lunch at just had a huge roll-up door in front, no separate door or anything. And while there was a few seats inside, they weren't exactly well-heated, and some places just don't have seating inside, you have to stand or use the tables on the terrasse. Which in any other season than outright winter, should be absolutely divine.
Being winter mainly means having to wear a jacket (I'm told the winter is especially fierce this year, other years just a big sweater can be sufficient most of the time), and that it's cloudy a lot. I'm mostly disappointed about the latter, since the first is already an upgrade from Montréal, and the clouds mean photos are a bit dull.
Took the metro and bus to Colomiers, where I'm having an interview Friday. The metro is interesting, as it is quite short (just one car!), but fully automated and very frequent, so they still carry a fair bunch of people around, and you don't wait long. They also have doors on the platform, much like elevators.
Colomiers is nice, but is a bit farther out of town, so much quieter. I'd be all right living there, but maybe some compromise in between downtown and there. The whole area is eminently bikeable, with the public transport service even having a bike rental service (you can exchange two tickets for a day-long bike rental, for example), so I'll definitely be doing that. Also, it's bikeable all year round here, so that's quite a plus!
Trying to gather some people to have a drink with, maybe play some foosball, but the wireless I was using at the apartment stopped working (I get the network, but there's no Internet connection), so it's rather difficult to organize... Oh well!