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DD’s In Marseille

HU-455869934
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago

Actually, DD has been in Marseille for a few weeks now. She took Air France to Paris, stopping over in NYC for a couple days, then a few hours on the TGV (high speed train) and she was picked up by our “French daughter” Alice at the *gare* and they both stayed with Alice’s mother Martine for the next week.

DD immediately started looking for an apartment, and this turned out to be difficult. You see, while there are many apartments listed online, none of the rental agencies will consider a young person with a CDD. That is “Contrat Duree Determine” (sorry, no accents available here) or limited duration work contract, in her case for the school year. So she had to search for the apartments being rented out by individual owners. Most of them were also disinterested, since re-renting an apartment in a year is a hassle and costly. Even offering to pay many months‘ rent upfront, or pay more than the advertised price, brought no *oui’s.*

Poor DD went to see dozens of apartments, to no avail. She sometimes brought Alice, or Martine, as a sort of local reference, with no effect. It looked like DD would have to move between AirBnBs, which would be unpleasant and expensive, or stay with Martine the whole year, which would cramp someone’s style.

Meanwhile, she was making progress on other fronts. She found a bank willing to open an account for her, without which she wouldn’t get paid, and met other young people both in and out of the TAPIF (teaching English in French public schools) program. Martine’s partner loaned her a bicycle and they started taking long bike rides around Marseille and to the beaches south. They all went out and had lots of tasty food and drinks - never fear, I have photos. But her houseless condition was something she just couldn’t get away from, and the first day of her school job loomed heavy.

One day, they rode to look at a studio not far from Martine’s home. DD and Martine went up to see the apartment and talk with the owner. Martine rushed downstairs to her partner, who was watching the bikes, and told him to quickly go see the place.

John HU-something Liu

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