La Vie Maisons-Alfort

Nuit Blanch Acrobat

Chez Moi

I can’t imagine a better home for someone in my situation. I’m living with 5 other people of different ages and a cat named Skittles. Lisa is the owner of the house. She is an eccentric lady with a lot of energy. She is a retired teacher/counselor of deaf children and has traveled all over the world. Lisa’s daughter, Solene, is 19 and just started university. I don’t know her well, but she seems like a typical Parisian girl. Likes fashion, cigarettes, and weight-loss diets that consist only of cheese. Her boyfriend, Remy, lives with us. I think I have seen him twice since I’ve moved in. He studies computer science and spends many hours at school. He doesn’t like to talk in English and well, my French is terrible, so we haven’t said much to each other. Antoine is 27 and also in the computer science field. I haven’t seen much of him in the week I’ve been living here, but Lisa tells me his job/program/whatever it is ends soon. He seems very nice and reasonable. And then there is Sameer. He came from Algeria only about a month or so ago. Lisa complains of his temper, attitude, and the number of lamps he has broken since he’s been here. I haven’t seen these sides of him yet so I’ll withhold my judgment. Oh, Skittles is a wild cat from Corsica. He likes fingers, string, and climbing into my bed after being outside in the rain.

Grapes and kiwis in the garden

Lisa picking figs

the fig before jam

Besides Lisa, the best part about living here is the garden. We have two fig trees with the most incredible tasting figs in existence. We have a green grape vine, a red grape vine, a raspberry bush, and kiwis. There are a few drawbacks, though. Nearly everyone smokes, and for someone who has never lived in a smoker house before, this is difficult to get used to.Some things aren’t as clean as I would like and I feel like cleaning or organizing anything would translate as an insult to Lisa. This brings me to the third complaint. Anytime you live with the landlord, the house can never really feel like your home. The house represents that person, their taste, and their method of doing things. Systems are already in place and it’s difficult to change things that aren’t working. My only other complaint is that the house is not so conveniently located. It is close to the train station that brings you to Paris, but the trains stop at 1am and costs 2.20 each way. The suburb isn’t very pretty so I don’t get much enjoyment from taking walks. In Paris, you can walk in any direction and find something interesting. Not the case in Maisons-Alfort.

Aliens in Paris, (actually Paris Nuit Blanch)

One attraction at the annual art/culture festival in Paris

But I can’t complain too much. For only 500E I get a nice, furnished room with a view of the garden. This includes all utilities, cleaning supplies, 5 friends, and daily french lessons. On top of that, I don’t have to clean anything other than my own dishes because Lisa is willing and has the time.

Nuit Blanch

I was hesitent to live with an older person because I can rarely connect with people outside of my age group. Lisa has exceeded my expectations. She is quite open and child-like in many ways. I think she is happy to have someone around with just as much spare time. The other day, she was introducing new vocabulary to me while we were gardening. On creuse un trou pour planter la fleur. Ensuite, on l’arrose avec de l’eau. And today’s set of vocabulary is about making fig jam. Nous avons ceuilli les figues. On a utilise l’escabot pour grimper dans la figier.

Nuit blanch attraction, image of the tower in daylight projected onto the tower at night

So far things are going alright, however, I feel a bit useless without any responsibilities or commitments.  And when I feel useless, my mood slips toward depression. I have been looking into volunteer positions or another online job but to no avail. I guess I need to be a little more self-motivated, adventurous, or inventive.

More pictures

A gothic cathedral decorated with art for nuit blanch

Piano Man, Nuit Blanch

Stack of chairs, Nuit Blanch