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Published: September 21st 2008
Well, here I am, one week in, gazing out of my window at a cloudless blue sky. I can safely say, as first weeks go in any new place, this one's been pretty good!
I arrived at Perpignan station last Sunday evening at 10p.m. to find absolutely no taxis. Inside the station, everything was shutting down and I couldn't find anything that might offer taxi numbers. The reception at my hotel was due to close in half an hour, so after waiting several more minutes in the dark, I phoned the hotel. The lovely man there said he would call a taxi straight away, and 20 minutes later, I was lying on my bed in the hotel.
The next day I set off for the boulevard Kennedy in search of the accommodation agency I'd reserved a room with. The couple who ran the small hotel pointed it out on a map for me, as well as other places I might like to visit, but it didn't stop me taking half an hour to find what must be one of the longest, widest streets in Perpignan! Liz and Fiona, my friends from Sheffield were there. although we hadn't arranged to meet. Squeals and hugs ensued until a sour-faced woman told us to be quiet, even though we were the only people in the office, and Fiona and Liz had been waiting about 20 minutes for the woman dealing with our accommodation to turn up. Thankfully, once she did arrive, getting the accommodation went very smoothly, at least for Fiona and me, Liz had a search lasting several days in order to find somewhere to live, which believe me, is a very stressful thing, especially when you're in a foreign country.
Whilst Liz was out househunting, Fiona took me round the centre of Perpignan since she'd already been exploring and knew her way around. It is a really gorgeous city, compact and easy to walk around with wide streets, palm trees and an abundance of restaurants and brasseries with outside seating where you can sit beneath wide parasols late into the evening and watch the world go by.
Our house, the Residence Oliva, is five minutes from the heart of the city, on one of those narrow French streets with tall townhouses which have little balconies and terracotta rooves. There are 8 people in our house altogether, with a large kitchen and the lounge on the ground floor, then two floors of bedrooms. My room is lovely, I have a washbasin and a mini fridge which is fab (breakfast in bed anyone?!), tall windows with shutters and a wide window ledge. Fiona is in the room next door, and in the evenings we sit on our window ledges and look over the rooftops and chat!
Tuesday and Wednesday were hectic, with trips to the supermarket and the university, trying to get registered (which still hasn't happened) and generally trying to find our feet. Luckily, by Friday things were a bit calmer and we had time with a bit of retail therapy with some of the other erasmus students.
Finally, yesterday, Fiona, Rosy (also from Sheffield) and I went to the beach, a half an hour bus ride past mountains and vineyards to Canet. The beach was really quiet, with just a few other people dotted around, so the space was amazing, the huge blue sky, endless sand, the Mediterranean sea, and the Pyrenees just visible. It was a lovely, chilled out day.
Lectures start on Monday, so I'm sure next week will be a quite different one, but I'm looking forward to it!
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Gary Fakes
non-member comment
WOW!
Katy this all sounds so exciting! I'm glad you're having a good time, i'm not at all jealous of the gorgeous beach...honest! The pictures are great too, you seem very happy! :) Anyway, keep us updated, good luck for the first week of lectures! Love Gary xxx