First Day by Myself after Arrival

Spencer started working today, so I was by myself most of the time.

I only had $20 Euro and few changes left in my pocket, so for sure I needed to get some currency exchange. I also wanted to do some grocery shopping so that we would have some water, fruits, bread and basic food in the room. I talked to the front desk manager and let her know what I was looking for. Kindly enough, she sent off one of her young staff with me to show me the places.

We stopped by a local bank, and somehow the young staff told me the banks are not open on Mondays, but ATM still works. I am sure it must be a misunderstanding from our communication gap. How would banks not open on Mondays? She then showed me a place called Monoprix where I could get some groceries. She pointed at different places and made sure I was okay with them, and she left.

I went in Monoprix and it was more like a department store selling clothes, handbags, cosmetics and jewelery. I thought, "okay, another communication misunderstanding." As I continued walking toward another side of the store, I started seeing veggies, milk, eggs and more food. It's a big store selling everything you need from your daily food to fashion. It's kind of interesting to me; I don't think I would buy new clothes in a grocery store with food smell. LOL. On another hand, I guess it's convenient for busy people; it's an one-stop shop for everything. I wonder if it would be a big hit in the US.

My big cultural shock today is the language barrier. When I was brought up, I was always told to learn English, and once you know how to speak English, you can go anywhere with it. That's definitely not the case here in France. I got lost and couldn't find my way back to the hotel, and I felt the pain not being able to communicate. With gestures and facial expressions, I was able to get the direction back to the hotel from a very kind French. :-)