Blois!

Bonjour à tous!
Today will be my third day in Blois! So much has happened since I last posted, I survived the 7 hour wait for my train with the help of Phil, another assistant in Orleans. We found a bagel and smoothie, yes, BAGEL and SMOOTHIE place in Paris, a complete coincidence.
By the time I made it down to Blois, it was 7 pm and I dragged my life (how I referred to my suitcases) to the hotel and WOW are there lots of hills and stairs. Panting and sweating, I made it to the hotel with my extra 100 lbs I was dragging. I went up to my room, fell on the bed, showered and slept.
The next morning I met Meredith, another assistant for coffee and breakfast and a little walk around town. She had already found an apartment and there happened to be another open next to hers. After seeing hers, I walked over to meet who would become my new landlord to took me to the open unit and I signed the papers on the spot.
Let me tell you a little bit about Monsieur Fournial. He owns a shop called Planete Mode, which roughly means Planet Style, that sells all sorts of clothing, jewelry, imports and knickknacks (Ren, I found harem pants for you here). His adult daughter Florence runs the shop with another woman who I believe to be Madame Fournial. They have been incredibly helpful. After signing my lease, M Fournial took me to BNP Paribas, the sister bank to Bank of America to open an account and get renters insurance. Thank god he was there because while my French is good, some of that policy business is still over my head. I plan to post photos once I have my apartment looking like my home, but right now its still very bare. I have a full sized bed, wardrobe, bedside table, full kitchen table, a kitchenette, a shower, sink, and the toliet is in the hallway between Meredith's apartment and my apartment. M Fournial provided me with dishes, one of which is a giant plastic platter shaped like a fish. That was a little surprising. We've named him Fred.
Today, Meredith, her mom (who is staying here for the next week) and I went to the big market on Saturday mornings. Fish, meat, bread, eggs, veggies, fruit, paella, cheese, coffee, clothes, shoes, undies (yes, I can buy underwear at the market), jewelry, etc which sprawl across the city center of Blois. Given my apartment was still so dirty, I came back with cleaning supplies, ham, a baguette, and some chevre (mmmmmmm so good). Now I have a clean kitchenette and shower... and I'm wishing I had a bit more food. I shall survive. Did I mention my apartment is on the 4th floor? I'm sorry, 4th in french standards, 5th floor for americans as our ground floor is not 0. I work up quite an appetite!
A bientot avec les photos, j'espere!

Bisous!
Maura