Denied and 3 days later she was resurrected!!!

May 16th

Hi all! So much has happened. Where do I start? Well, got denied by HSBC. F the French banks! Of course, I asked why, response " in france we don't have to tell you why"...bastards! I got mad then thought, I can do this everything here takes at least three trys before you get anywhere. Another reason I was so pissed I got this news while I was sunning in the park/garden at the Eiffel Tower and it ruined my day. I am so spoiled! So, I had just gotten a call from my new friend James that I met at the meetup.com event to invite me to an art show in the 13th. I called him back and said count me in! We met on the metro and made the trek to the 13th which is quite a haul from my secluded 16th. It was set up inside of an old church and was beautiful setting. Most of the artists were American and one was from Chicago. None of it was my taste but it was a good experience and met some other members of the group. After a glass of wine and enough chat I got back on metro and stopped by Slim's bar for a glass of wine and friendly chatter and continued my trip back to the 16th.
So, my predicament now is how does one pay the rent (on time) with no french bank account? CASH! I pulled out my 800 euros and hopped on the bus to the 7th to the CIC bank for the agency I am renting from and asked them to take my money for rent. No! They are only a commercial bank but they referred me to another CIC location and so I got back on bus and went there. Of course, no one spoke english and after three tries in bad french they understood my predicament and took my money for rent. YEAH! I decided they knew I had money so I asked if I could get a bank account with them. Yes, but have to make an appointment. So, I made an appointment the following week with Benoit. I asked what artillery of information they would need for this one and they only asked for passport and apartment contract? Is it so??? I have been to probably 5 different banks in france and this one only needs two things. It is too good to be true. Appointment day arrives and meet with Benoit. All goes well and it seems he set up the account on the spot? I met with Stephan (his name has not been changed b/c he is not going to read this) and he translated my stack of french paperwork from bank and he confirmed I have an account! One more point for the American team! All I need now is to put money into said account.