After I arrived in Biscarrosse, the first thing I did the next morning was explore the town center. I live close to a car dealership, Cityhall, the local movie theater, the post office, the cellphone store, and pretty much close to everything I need to live. I walked around to look at local banks because I would need to open one myself. It occurred to me that I was very spoiled in Korea, where they walked us through opening a bank account, turned in the papers, and gave us each our cards individually. But my banking adventure will have to wait for another day. Biscarrosse is a small town, but it has all the basic necessities for living a fulfilled life.
In the morning, after I explored, I stopped by a local shop to pick up lunch before heading home and thinking of what to do next. I was in a new place where I didn't really know anyone. After eating lunch, I explored the town center more so that I knew where everything was. There was a retailer for Orange, the phone carrier that I used during my last stay in France, but they didn't have any options for service that I wanted. I'm only here for 7 months (6 now that it's November) so I need a service that's not locked into a plan. The phone store was only a minute's walk away from the Post Office, which is good because that means I don't have to go very far to send letters back home. I'm thinking of sending postcards to my loved ones, to be honest. I didn't do that previously and I think it'll be a good thing to do. But I digress.
I also discovered several fruit vendor stores nearby as well. France is a big supporter of local agriculture. And there's even a butcher shop, a rare sight in the US. It is, of course, cheaper to buy meat at the supermarket, but having a butcher shop nearby is a nice option if I want to have a fancy dinner (Thanksgiving is coming up...). Across the street from where I live is a store dedicated to school and office supplies and I recently just got to know the owner. It's a pretty nifty store to buy notebooks and other supplies and since France is big on things being handwritten, it's a big store. Also close by are several restaurants.
I managed to find a Chinese food place, a Vietnamese food place, and a Mexican food place. I haven't eaten at the Mexican place, but the others were alright. It's hard to get ethnic food outside if the US, and even in the US you have to look hard for the legitimate places (Panda Express is NOT legit, guys). Or have friends who come from different ethnicities. That works too.
After walking around the town center, I decided it would be a good idea to go grocery shopping. Eating out is expensive wherever you go, and I decided I want to get back into cooking more now that I actually have a kitchen. There are 2 supermarkets near where I live: Lidl and E.Leclerc. The one I went to that day was Lidl because it's less expensive, but I usually go to E.Leclerc because it has a larger selection. Both stores are about the same distance away from me, but Lidl is more of a straight shot from my apartment. I walked there, of course (about 16 minutes) and since i walked I was able to get a good look at the buildings and things around me.
There was a diner, which I found amusing (I'll definitely check it out with the other local language assistants soon) and there were a lot of private construction stores. In the US, a given neighborhood has houses that all look more or less the same, depending on how many rooms they are. In France, each house is unique. People looking to by a new home often look to build or remodel the home to fit their own tastes, and that's why I saw so many of this small construction stores. It's easier to customize if you have a limited number of clients. I also noticed that the small town of Biscarrosse has a branch of just about every bank France has to offer, which is great because I can think carefully about my choices.
I finally arrived at the Lidl, a decent sized supermarket, and saw it held the essentials, but not the full range of materials that I usually cook with. I promptly decided that the larger store, E.Leclerc, would be my main destination. However, I did find some nice decorative stickers that i used to make my home look a little less plain. After buying some materials I headed home to make myself some food and relax.
Each day after that for about 4 days I just explored Biscarrosse. I wanted to know what the layout was like. For more pictures, please go to the photo gallery.
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