To send letters you can use the post in Garbejaire, see map below. The good thing is that you do not need to wait in the queue, but just use the machine on the left side. It has both scales to weight your package and touchscreen interface to specify destination. You don't even need change - there is machine that will exchange your bills.


If you are coming to start your studies and don't have accommodation prepared up front, you'll probably want to take your time searching for a good one. Providing that you start at autumn or winter, there is a nice hotel with prices in the same range as renting a flat (that is - very cheap for a four star hotel).

KIALA

It may happen, that some company will send a package to you using the service called Kiala. This serves the purpose of cost minimizing - they send it to a partner company and you have to go there and get the package by yourself.

There is nothing wrong with the service itself. The problem is that all the maps showing my particular relay are totally wrong, so is the address.

Taxis work here more or less as everywhere else... But you don't see a lot of them riding around. And there's a good reason for that. They are forbiddingly expensive. A ride from the airport to the residence will cost you around 60EUR. Any questions?



On entering your room you may find out that some things don't work as expected. For example my night lamp would not give any light. But don't worry - the administration will fix it for you. Procedure is simple - just send them an email stating your room number and what's broken. But there's an discomforting thing: they'll enter your room using their own key...

So you finally arrived to your room. You set up your internet. Check what's up. Send a mail to your folks back home that you're OK... Error! Wrong username/password. Believe me or not - that's expected with standard email client configuration.

Roads in here generally were not built for the throughput they receive in the rush hours. The short distance from Sophia to Antibes can take over an hour. This makes the idea of finding alternate routes quite tempting. There are some. Use Google Maps, Luke. But be warned - they're often a lot longer. Don't use them if fuel usage is crucial for you. On the other hand this means that there are no traffic jams there.

This one is hard to miss. You should see it on your first way to the residence. It's the big Supermarché on the right (when you're heading towards Sophia in a TAM 230). But it can take some time to figure out, that there is a Petit Casino just around the corner*.

This is a nice surprise. If you don't have your own laptop, you're not lost yet. You might get one for free from the university. Of course you need to give it back after the academic year. You also need to give a financial guaranty for it. Still if you need it - go for it.


Cost of mobile telephony here was a big shock to me. For the prepaid networks you'll find on the first day it's about 50 cents per minute. It's about 10 times more than back in home. You can choose cheaper options, but then your credit expires after a few days. But it does not have to be that bad.