The Club Internet era has begun.

After about 2 weeks without any phone or internet we finally received our Club Internet box!! Hence why there hasn't been much of a peep until now. To be quite honest, it was like Christmas... a Christmas that I wasn't sure would ever come. Having to hang out at the phone booth when you really need to make a phone call or having very limited internet time at the local internet cafe (and sometimes the public library) gets really old really fast. Now that the saga is over (for the most part), I have to say that the service we got (Club Internet) seems to be quite a good deal. For about 30 Euro/month, you get phone (voice over IP), broadband internet (with WiFi), and TV service. Not only that, but I **think** (after consulation with Katie and our roommate Tom--all debutantes when it comes to French) we can call the US for no extra charge. I think calling Japan (i.e. Josh) is like 0.03 Euro/minute--also a great deal if you ask me. It will be very difficult to go back to Comcast where the same service is over $100. Everything works quite well so far, although I think we still need a separate box for TV--will keep my fingers crossed.

As for the saga in getting Club Internet. I'm not sure what the "proper" procedure is for getting all of this setup but the way it was explained to us, you first had to get a phone line (land line) from France Telecom (the traditional phone company here). We had to get the phone line even though we had no intention of even using it--you need to get a phone number before you can switch providers is the way I understand it (for a nice fee of 55 Euro... which may end up being around 95 Euro. Damn). I say it might end up being 95 Euro because we keep getting bills from France Telecom and I can't understand all of the fine print. While I'm a newby to French, I can usually understand most things but the technical verbiage that accompanies most bills and contracts is difficult. We'll have to consult some French people. Anyhow, once you have a phone number you can then sign up with another service provider of which Club Internet is one of them. You then fill out the application and send it into some office in Paris. Club Internet then contacts France Telecom and tells them to shut off the line. However, there is some transition period where you have no phone service (and so we couldn't even use dial-up internet access). This was the 2 weeks or so we had to wait. At least it was only 2 weeks. We've heard stories of people waiting over 1 month. I told this to a guy I've been in contact with at Volt Temporary Services, and he said "welcome to France"! Oh, I have to say that this experience has been the exception and not the rule (knock on wood).