Trial and Error

I know you think that all we do since we've moved to Paris is wake up, start drinking coffee and eating croissants, then go to a museum, have a leisurely lunch, drink more coffee then go to a park and ride the carousel until dinner time at which point we start drinking wine and eating cheese with baguettes. This is not the case. Well, some of it is true, although we haven't been to a museum yet (I'm not counting Papillorama in Switzerland as a museum) and we haven't ridden any carousels yet. I admit to drinking and eating all aforementioned food and beverage items. However, this isn't all we've been up to, life in Paris for new arrivals isn't that easy! It seems that the most mundane tasks take incredible effort and even then you may not succeed at what you set out to accomplish. Here are some examples: #1. Because we only have an American credit card and not a euro one, sometimes it doesn't work, even at an establishment it previously worked at...and no one can tell you why. #2. Ethan rented a van to go to Ikea. We checked online to make sure Ikea Sud had the items we wanted. When he got there, not only could he not get the van into the parking lot (too big, he had to park with the 18 wheelers) but they actually had nothing we wanted! He had to drive to Ikea Nord to get the furniture. #3. We don't know how to pay our phone bill or change our cable plan. #4. I've been to a gym 3 times to try and join but keep having to bring more paperwork. I just want to workout! #5. I schlepped my kids on a 30 minute walk to the town hall to ask about a list of classes for adults because I couldn't find it online. When I got there the not too happy helper at the info desk said, yes they are online but was not really interested in telling me how to find them. So we turned around and went home (I didn't make them walk though, we took the bus).

Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy to get a Benadryl equivalent and some prescription medication. I came out with the antihistamine (for children and adults) and I was able to buy my medication over the counter that I need a script for in the states. I was so thrilled, I felt like I should open a bottle of champagne. But you need to understand, this was a huge victory. I only went out once and came back with what I wanted...brilliant. Unfortunately, to balance out the amazing success of the pharmacy, Noa bumped her head last night and got a little gash. In France, unless it's totally obvious, you always go to the pharmacy first where they can evaluate you and either give you what you need or send you to a doctor or hospital. Noa's diagnosis was for the hospital so they told us where the closest one was and sent us on our way. It was, in fact, close. However, they don't treat children at that hospital so we had to metro it to the children's hospital, 20 minutes away. You would think the local pharmacist would know this info but this is what happens when you aren't a local...everything is trial and error. Mostly error. Noa is fine, although she needed a staple in her head to seal herself up. The moral of the story is, you can't let it get to you, eventually things will work out, you will succeed. But until then, drink the wine, eat the bread, whatever you need to do to make it to the next challenge.