Success!

Check out this beaut of a bike! 

This Wednesday we went to the company's offices to ask how to rent a bike. They directed us back to the underground parking area. We explained what happened last week there. They acted very confused, then smiled because maybe since we are foreign we were not understood. This was no language barrier... the man told us to make a request (un demande) on the internet (same word, just with a french accent). We both understood each other completely.

Leaving the office, my friend asked me "Do you think we will ever stop being a novelty here?" People just give us these looks of either sympathy, pity, or amusement that seem to say: Awww cute little foreign girls with accents, trying to rent a bike, muddling their way through life in France.

Fortunately, the man this week was happy to help, and excited to try to speak a bit of English with us (he proudly told me that he worked in Orlando at Disney for 3 months).  We went through the whole process in my favorite language- Franglais. The wonderful mixture of English and French.

Same place, different week, different outcome. How to explain this? My best guess is that last week the man working just didn't feel like going through the process of renting bikes to us. even though it's part of his job. There were about 40 bikes in that room, and I don't think they all become available just this week.

I'm looking forward to getting more comfortable on the road (I have a helmet and a child-sized glowy vest to protect me, so nerdy, so necessary), discovering new places, enjoying the sunshine, detaching myself from the limits of a public transportation schedule, and going on multiple picnics with my bike. A wonderful treat for the last 2 months of my stay here in France.

*I'm hoping to avoid at all costs the bike incident that occurred during my study abroad session. But if anything happens again, you can be sure you will get an email from me before I even secure my bike, clean my injuries, and take care of myself. Bahaha.