Quick stopover in Paris (France) to better set off again: May 2021
Our return to Paris is driven by Vietnam plain and simple. I’ve been watching for the moment I can go home to Hanoi since March 2020. Following Thailand’s reopening, I see an opportunity: go to Thailand, while waiting for the borders to open between Thailand and Vietnam. But there are a few issues: my Vietnamese passport expired in November 2020, and the Vietnamese embassy in Italy refused to issue me a new one at that time. I have to go back to France and get my passport in Paris.
Passport
Getting this passport was no sweat-free feat: 2 hours of queueing in a small, unventilated room, with super stressed-out people, plus arguments on my part to get it done in Premium Express mode (usually it takes 3 weeks). Luckily, my sister had recently renewed her passport at the same place, so I followed her advice. The embassy was half-closed during lockdown, so all Vietnamese seem to be booking appointments here as soon as it reopens. But I got it, I got it!!!
I stop by the bank safe deposit box to drop off my old passport, when I notice that the neighbor’s safe deposit box is ajar. You can’t clearly see its contents (is there a gold bar?), there’s a blue box that fits exactly the size of the safe. I really wonder what people can put in all these safes, some can hold an entire suitcase. Not wanting any trouble (like a lost item in the neighbor’s box while I have access to the safe, and there’s no camera inside the vault), I alert the bank, which replies nonchalantly: “safe number xxx? oh yeah, we know”.
Computer repair
I go to Micro Cocktails, 3 rue Brunel 75017 Paris, to replace the battery of my Lenovo X1 Carbon. One evening, JB and I swapped computers to watch a series, and JB just used his Apple charger to charge my computer. Result: battery DEAD a few hours later and impossible to find a repairer in Albania. Well, that further justifies our return to France.
Lenovo France offers to replace it within a week (FEDEX picks it up at the agreed time and returns it a week later), but that means I won’t have a computer for all that time. So, I contacted Micro Cocktails by phone, while I was still in Albania. They gave me a payment link to pay for the new battery, and once the battery arrived at their place, the replacement only took 20 minutes, during which I explored the neighborhood and took a photo of the empty Arc de Triomphe. Anyway, the repairer is adamant: from now on, each of us must use our own charger!
And of course, I can’t go to Paris without seeing my baby Rosalie. Lady Rosa can take it easy, because her next retirement basket will be in a house with a garden. Because she deserves it.
And what would a stopover in Paris be without some shopping? I know, shops are still closed, but click and collect exists, not to mention pharmacies full of cosmetics, like La Grande Pharmacie Bailly, my favorite, right next to Saint-Lazare. You can find real Marseille soap (from the brand Fer à Cheval, which I buy for JB every time I’m in Paris), and big brands like Skinceuticals always at -25%.
In the 15th arrondissement, where my Airbnb is, I recommend Xing Fu Tang, their tapioca pearls are homemade and marinated in cane sugar syrup, it’s delicious! I also recommend the Vietnamese restaurant Aux Délices d’Hanoi.
I’m very efficient at reselling and buying: the rule we’ve set for ourselves is: one buy, one sell. I’m changing phones and going from an iPhone 6S to an iPhone 12 Mini (comparison here), to fix the Wi-Fi and wireless earbud issues, both phones are compatible with small hands. The ++ features include 5G compatibility (can’t wait to test it) and dual SIM. Since iOS 11, switching iPhones has been super smooth, I don’t have to do anything. The new iPhone copies/pastes the old iPhone on its own.
The camera is so effective that I can also part with my Sony RX100 M3 camera. Finally, since my e-ink tablet screen. is too addictive, I part, not without some hesitation, with my Kindle. Le Bon Coin doesn’t let me regret or think too long, because as soon as the ad is posted, someone buys it within the hour.
In short, I keep “only” my smartphone and my Osmo Pocket for videos and photos. And my laptop + reMarkable 2 for work.
I keep reading the news about Thailand (the third wave of Covid still hasn’t calmed down). The Indian variant isn’t in France yet but we’re surrounded by countries affected by it. The week right after we leave for Thailand, everything is wide open, people will be let loose all over Europe. I wonder where we should be: Europe or Asia? Everything is cancellable, we won’t lose a single euro if we postpone our trip to Thailand, but something is pushing me to go.
We’re limiting contact to avoid catching Covid. If the test comes back positive, we won’t be able to go anywhere afterwards because all countries now require a negative PCR test and don’t seem to know what a proof of recovery is.
Anyway, our Airbnb in the 15th arrondissement is gorgeous ! spacious, bright, close to everything. The owner just forgot to mention that renovation work was ongoing and that there would be people walking right in front of our windows on the scaffolding, whom we can wave at (we’re on the 5th floor). But look at all this space and all this light! And I’ve only shown you half of the apartment.
If all goes well, the next post will be written from Thailand then 😉 from our quarantine hotel in Bangkok to be precise. JB will write you a “quarantine diary” with pictures of the meals day by day. xoxo
Planning a trip to France? Our partner Get Your Guide offers entry tickets and excursions at very reasonable rates. Click here to see what they offer and book online.
