Packing for Paris

The horrible thing you have to do before going on holiday when you’re forced to pick and choose which items to take with you.  Except I’m not really going on holiday….I’m going to live there.  I even bought myself a smart grey blazer because apparently Parisians dress “chic”; I was under the impression that my beloved St.Trinians-esque snakeskin blazer with its neon pink Paul’s Boutique logo and skull buttons was not classy enough.  Especially since I’m not a schoolgirl anymore.

So yes, I now have to pack a large chunk of my life into two suitcases.  Easier said than done.  The contents of my wardrobe and chest of drawers are lying sprawled across my bed in randomly coordinated heaps which will later be squished and re-folded to fit within the confines of my bags.  I’m making sure my Mother is nowhere in sight because I know that said heaps will rapidly deteriorate, along with comments such as “do you really need 5 belts?” and “I don’t think they wear hoodies in Paris”.  Needless to say, I’m packing hoodies….for those days when I’ve got nothing better to do than curl up in my duvet eating Marmite on toast watching Desperate Housewives reruns on my laptop.  It’s good to be in touch with your fabulously British side in an European city…

Today is going to get increasingly stressful.  I basically need to photocopy my life: my passport, birth certificate, driving license, European health card, bank card…might as well go ahead and start scanning my face onto sheets of paper.  Just for shiggles.

I should also at some point acquire a Paris A-Z (if that’s even the done thing?)…just so I know what I’m doing and where I’m going.  I’ve been pretty good at taking my London A-Z around with me (I’m trying this new thing called “efficiency”) but it’s about 50 years out of date, and still doesn’t help my sense of direction.  But I’ve been warned that Parisians can often be rude (no offence) and unwilling to help a fellow homo sapiens in need.  So a map of the city might be my best bet.  I’m just hoping God will plant a few Good Samaritans along my travels to point me in the right direction.

Has anyone seen my beret?

Watch this space.

Montana