When you're travelling for a long time, you have to take care of a lot of practical things along the way, such as paying bills and filing taxes. Right now, Peter needed to print the annual report for his company, sign it and send it back to Sweden by post. That doesn't seem so complicated? Estimated time: 3 hours...
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ShareStep 1: Printing the document
We first tried asking two different campsites for help with printing, but this was not possible due to "governmental rules". However, the current campsite kindly printed the names and addresses of five different shops in the neighbourhood. Cannes that might offer printing.
We got a map and (with some effort and a lot of walking) found one after the other, but all of them were closed because it was Saturday... We decided to change our strategy and went to the tourist office which sent us to a small photo shop. Bingo! Now we had the 8-page printout in our hand ...
Step 2: Get stamps
We started randomly asking for stamps in tobacco shops and supermarkets. The staff shook their heads, waved eagerly and sent us "á droite" (to the right) and "á gauche" (to the left) - to no avail. We walked back to the tourist office, which pointed the way to the post office, which they claimed would be open.
We found the post office - but it was closed. The next attempt was a postcard shop, which indeed had stamps, but "only for my customers". Since we were in a hurry with the letter and will soon be leaving major cities, we felt we couldn't miss the opportunity ... we kindly bought two of the cheapest postcards (25 SEK each!) just to get two stamps ...
Step 3: Post the letter
Now we were well tired and hungry, but we realised that the letter had to be posted. During our tour we had not seen a single letterbox, so we decided to walk all the way back to the closed post office... Voila! The great deed was of course celebrated with a repeat favourite, the mussel lunch!
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Ama de casa says:
It is really not easy every time (if even ONCE) to do simple errands here in the Mediterranean... At our post office there is no mailbox. You have to queue and leave your letters in the slot (or sneak ahead 😉 ). But by now we know where we can buy stamps and where the mailboxes are. 🙂
23 May 2015 - 18:27
Linnea says:
Made the mistake on Naxos in Greece once to run postcards WITHOUT stamps. "Stamps no deliver today, tomorrow you come back", oh well! The next day it was "stamps only for my costumers". Felt even more blue-eyed than I am in reality 🙂
23 May 2015 - 19:57
BP says:
Sigh - talk about not needing occupational therapy. But congratulations on making it through and with a well-deserved reward:-)
23 May 2015 - 19:58
admin says:
Ama de casa, guess you learn with time, but right now... lucky we have time!!!!
Linnea, no what a shame! Yes, you can feel blue-eyed sometimes... 😉.
BP, it is not difficult to pass the time if you say so! 😉
23 May 2015 - 20:14
Kors och Tvärs says:
So lucky that you are free and have time 😉 Although it sounds unnecessarily complicated, I must say ...
23 May 2015 - 20:36
Ditte says:
Why should things be easy when they can be difficult, challenging and test your patience?
You got exercise, a good lunch as well, and training your patience was a bonus.
I hope the letter arrives.
Experience makes you rich! Or does it?
23 May 2015 - 20:59
Monica says:
As a resident of France, I want to add to the story and inform about things we Scandinavians might take for granted when travelling abroad. In France, La Poste is still the same institution as Posten in Sweden was until when...?
This is where you go to buy your stamps (i.e. not the tourist centres with postcard stamps). There are also always mailboxes where you put your letters to foreign countries or neighbouring French towns in different boxes. It is best to queue for a while if necessary and get all the help you need from the post office cashier, as it was in the old days in Sweden. This is particularly important when it comes to the right type and number of stamps.
When it comes to printing documents, we, who will be spending the whole summer in a motorhome in France, will use the printer we have already brought with us. I admire you for getting it right, but perhaps it was also because you were in Cannes and English is spoken there.
Tip: own printer, own A-4 envelopes (not available in France) and visit the post office to be absolutely sure that the item is correctly stamped and placed in the right box. If you make a mistake, it's a disaster for both the French and Swedish postal services!
23 May 2015 - 21:31
Matts Torebring says:
The family at home wants a postcard from their summer holiday. I buy three postcards and ask in English to buy three stamps. No, there was another checkout in the big department store. With three postcards that I put "belly up" on the counter, pointing to the dotted stamp box and expressing my desired purchase in English. Believe it or not, it took a long time for the cashier to open a drawer and pull out three stamps. I understand if you are starting to feel resigned, I certainly did. Enjoy yourselves
23 May 2015 - 21:33
admin says:
Criss-cross, well sometimes you're really glad you're not in a hurry!
Ditte, right? You learn all the time, and that's one of the interesting things about travelling!
Monica, thank you for sharing your experience! We realised that it was actually the post office, but it was closed because it was Saturday. We did not dare to wait because we are going to Corsica, and will probably live a bit away from major cities. So we took the safe before the unsafe! We definitely can't take a printer with us (smile). Our motorhome is overloaded as it is for a year abroad, so not one more thing will come in...! It is so extremely rare that we print anything, so we have to mess up a bit on those occasions. We haven't really had much of a problem with the language. My school French is indeed very poor, but together with English and sign language and benevolent French people, it has worked everywhere in France.
Matts, haha, why make it simple when you can make it complicated?
23 May 2015 - 23:45
Maggan och Ingemar says:
We always try to send some postcards to those at home, but as you say, it is not the easiest, at least not in Greece and not in Sicily from where there were no postcards. Fortunately, the internet is available in such situations. Sent packages from Portugal and put them (they were small) on the mailbox..... it took them 2 months before they arrived 🙂 Now I bring stamps from home and put on the postcards.... it actually works within the EU 🙂 It will be fun to hear about Corsica.
24 May 2015 - 10:43
Steve says:
You certainly deserved the mussel lunch.
24 May 2015 - 11:18
admin says:
Maggan and Ingemar, interesting to hear that it can be complicated in more places! Two months of delivery time is a bit more than you expect.... 😉
Steve, yes, we did, didn't we? 😉
24 May 2015 - 11:37
Katarina Wohlfart says:
haha. so funny! 🙂 well who said it would be easy life....
25 May 2015 - 0:14
Fia says:
Yes you can get frustrated for less, but often fun memories afterwards! Well deserved clams!
Fia
25 May 2015 - 9:08
Anna Stouvenel says:
Hmmm, shops are always open in France on Saturdays but in less frequented neighbourhoods shops are usually closed for lunch and you have to arrive after 15H00, maybe a little later in the south. Stamps are almost impossible to find except at post offices. An application called Nartex will help you find mailboxes:)
25 May 2015 - 17:13
admin says:
Katarina, haha yes sometimes there is so much trouble with small things that you don't believe it is true...! 😉
Fia, much more fun afterwards than just then! 😉
Anna Stouvenel, maybe it was closed for lunch then? But a street above the main beach boulevard in Cannes can hardly be called a "less frequented neighbourhood"...? 😉 Everything works differently in different countries and a traveller's dilemma is that you do not have time to learn ... until you are on your way to the next country 😉 But that's part of travelling!
26 May 2015 - 8:33