Metro and monthly subscriptions
Now January has come to an end, even though it’s still not until in 3 days that I’ve been here for a full month. I wrote about it before that the first month mainly goes to settling into things - and how you must prepare for it mentally.
Get into a routine that works for where you are at that moment. It’s sometimes hard to remember that you’re not at home and you don’t have access to all of the same things that are back there. For example, I’ve wondered a lot whether I should buy flour, spices and the sort of food products that last for a long time, because I’ll probably end up having way too much of it when I leave here. But I might give into some cravings at some point, when I can’t avoid buying these kind of products anymore.
In stead, I’ve been trying to use fresh herbs more than I do back home. Yesterday I made cod ceviche, which is extremely quick and simple. I used fresh cilantro/coriander (my favorite spice). For those who don’t know what ceviche is, then it’s usually fish cured in citrus (the acid “cooks” the fish, even though it’s essentially raw. It’s one of my absolute favorite thigns to eat).
Ceviche, also cebiche, seviche or sebiche (Spanish pronunciation: [seˈβitʃe]), is a seafood dish typically made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and spiced with ají, chili peppers or other seasonings including chopped onions, salt, and cilantro. — Wikipedia
I didn’t follow any recipe, I usually dont, but it was something like this.
Juice from 1 & ½ lime
Juice from 1 whole orange
Juice from 1 clementine
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
bunch of cilantro/coriander
A small piece of fresh cod
2 avocadoes, mashed
Small, soft flour tortillas
Cod ceviche
All the juice, red onion, garlic and coriander put together in a bowl. I also like to put some of the fruit pulp with it. The cod is cut into dices and added to the bowl. Keep like that for at least 10-12 minutes. Chop the avocado and mash it and heat the tortillas. Et voilà! Make your tortillas! One Corona with a lime on the side and some nacho chips make it even better!
I didn’t add any other spices than the cilantro/coriander (except a bit of salt for the avocado mash).
Anyway, I’ve recently bought a card for the metro. I had calculated that it was cheaper for me to buy a monthly card than a 20 ticket bunch (carnet) that I mentioned at some point before. It’s also just less annoying to have none of these tiny tickets lying around everywhere. It’s also cheaper if you’re using the metro as much as I do. I used 30 tickets (2 x 20 tickets and 1 x 10 tickets) over 24 days - since I arrived in Paris on the 6th of January) . Had I spent the entire month here, I probably would’ve had to buy 3 x 20 tickets and then it’s definitely cheaper to buy the monthly card.
It wasn’t as easy as just saying it, to get that card actually. I went to Gare du Nord three times to try to find one. The thing is, there are two versions of this card. One for people who live in Paris and then for tourists. If you live here you can get the card itself for free and then you top up (and it’s the same price for the top up). You can order them online but it takes almost 3 weeks for them to arrive and I didn’t really feel like waiting that long, as it was almost the end of the month. The cards are valid only from the 1st of each month until the end of that month. I.e. you can’t top it up on the 25th of January and have it work until the 25th of February. No can do.
Every time I went to get the free card the office was closed or no one was there or I was “at the wrong station”. In the end I couldn’t bother with this hassle and bought the tourist card for extra 5 € and got that lovely passport photo taken (see above)…
The only problem with the tourist card is that if you lose it, it’s gone. The ones for people living in Paris are in your name and if you lose it you pay a small amount to get it re-issued (so you don’t lose your credit).
I have tried applying for the local type to be sent home, but I’m not sure if it will work or when it will arrive. That will just have to be a surprise for later! But now I’ve started using the metro a lot more, for example to go to the gym or check out other arrondissements. So it’s good - I just have to make sure I don’t lose it.
Speaking of the gym though, I also bought a card for the gym the other day. It was about time. I had discovered that gym online, before I got here, and had kinda decided (while back home in Iceland) that I’d sign up for it. Until I got here and stared reading reviews on Google maps and Facebook. They were all so negative that I started doubting my choice. Spent a lot of time looking at other gyms, but none offered the classes I like so much right now (trampoline!) or were in walking distance. So I ended up deciding to go and check the one I was looking at originally, do a tryout class and see how it was.
It’s just perfectly fine. It even has a sauna and a steambath in the locker room (much to my joy, as France doesn’t have the same type of swimming pools as we do back home). Better yet, the trampoline classes are 4-5 times a week, so I can go after work and over the weekend.
I’ve started to think that the bad reviews are because of a common French problem, not a specific problem with this gym. Everything is so complicated. If you want to have a monthly subscription, it’s for a minimum of 12 months. If you want to stop the subscription you MUST SEND A LETTER. It’s not enough to call or send a message. It can vary between gyms but a lot of those I looked at had similar rules.
So many of the reviews I saw were people being angry because they had moved away from Paris or stopped going to the gym but were still getting charged for it because their letter didn’t get delivered or somtething. So, they’d pick at everything else as well.
Luckily for me I was able to buy 6 months only - a bit more expensive than getting a subscription of course. Even though I technically only have 5 months left of my stay (I paid for the 6 months on the 25th of January) it was still cheaper than buying 3 months and then adding 2). The only slight problem is…
I don’t get a membership card like everyone else, which they bleep at the entrance to get in. I have to bring the contract EVERY TIME I GO TO THE GYM and show it at the reception.
No no, they can’t just put it into a system and look me up. Or give me a card that says “valid until…”
So, I can’t lose that paper either..
Not everything is as simple as you’d expect it to be, in 2019. Anyway, going to eat ceviche leftovers and go for a walk!