Isfromhell and Didiot

This post is going to be mostly about how much my landlords suck, but keep reading because there might be some other funny stuff. News: Maria has sadly gone home to Spain because she's close to being offered a better job there. I was excited because that meant I could sleep in a room on my own for the rest of the month (until the rent she had paid was through). mistake. Now for the landlord story: So on Valentine's Day, we had a torrential downpour here in Marseille, so to cheer myself up I dashed out in the rain to Rue Saint-Ferreol and bought myself a green Swatch (because my old $6 Target watch finally quit). After braving the wind and rain, I came home and baked a pineapple upside-down cake for my roommates (minus Maria). Just as Pauline and I are about to dig in, there's a frantic bang bang on our door---uh-oh. **ominous music** It's the landlords.....Isabelle and Didier (more commonly known as Isfromhell and Didiot). They storm into the apartment, uninvited, and start screaming about who is sleeping in Maria's bedroom (at this point, Esther has snuck out the door to go out with this guy she met in the street a few days before, Bruce). I heave a big sigh, leave my cake behind in the kitchen, and brace myself: Maria had just told I&D that she was not returning, so they had come downstairs to our apartment to unleash their fury and lock her bedroom door for good measure. Pauline and I stood beside my beautiful cake for over an hour listening to Isabelle scream at us, call us liars, bad tenants, and overall insult our intelligence (mostly because we are under the age of 50).

I subsequently had a complete meltdown once they had left, totally not realizing that they had locked not only Maria's boxes in her room, but also some of my stuff. But Pauline and I--we're so smart--we think we can pick the lock. mistake. Back up: on Saturday we hosted a big pancake brunch with bloody marys, maple syrup, and delicious sausage. After several bloody marys, Pauline and our friend Benoit decide to go at the locked door. They end up removing the door knob, making the knob on the other side of the door fall. Awesome. So after hours of youtube videos and internet articles, we've found out we'd make horrible criminals because we can't open this simple lock. I don't even want to think about what I&D will say when the door is opened. That is, if we ever get the key from them. They're threatening to not even open for the moving company Maria is sending from Spain.

In other news, I only have 15 days of working left! well, it's 5 weeks, but I only work 3 days a week. Julia and I are planning some travel after we finish, leaving for a tour of Italy at the end of April, then on to GREECE in May. But for now, I'm working on going to Barcelona next week (I'm on winter holiday right now), then Paris in March. I'm going up there to meet Pauline's friends and family, then we're driving her car back down south. 8 hours in a tiny little Twingo? It's gonna be legen....wait for it.......DARY.

Oh and the cake turned out to be delicious :)