Staying Positive in Paris Sous La Pluie

Oooofff. We did it.  We found an apartment in the labyrinth that is Paris nestled snuggly in the 11th arrondissement right near the Voltaire metro stop.  After going through a rollar coaster ride of mixed emotions completed by a less-than-amazing exchange with the agency who treated me like American doggy merde, I am ready to think positively. 

So let me tell you about our new Parisian apartment in a politically correct (read: positive) way.

Our teeny tiny cosy flat is located on rue P, a calm street that is less than a three minute walk to the line 9 metro.  It is 35 28.85 meters squared with an American kitchen (that means an open plan kitchen in Frenchie speak) and is located on the fourth floor with no lift has a built in exercise system called "stairs" - four flights of them! I doubt we'll ever have to pay for a gym membership again!

The ridiculously small quaint living room has a badly isolated unique authentic window from when the building was originally constructed as does the bedroom.  Both are on the street side, but fortunately for us it is a calm street with very little traffic. We are however, very close to the main boulevards which I am happy to report have my favorite store Monoprix (French Target!) at just a hop, skip and jump across the four lanes of traffic Place Leon Blum.  We can walk to the famous Bastille in just 15 minutes and I will be able to walk to work in about 30 minutes if the French SNCF train workers decide to go on strike as they so love to do on multiple occasions throughout the year fight for their employment rights as they should. There are also two Starbucks at walking distance from our house - and I plan to frequent them on weekends and rough mornings when a big coffee is just what the American doctor ordered.

Our HUGE A-HOLE perfectly nice agency contact Monsieur Don'tLikeHimOneBit Duval will schedule a walk through with us only in the morning and when his schedule allows it but certainly not on a Friday afternoon or Saturday when we move at the end of May. He told us that if anything goes wrong with the building we should remember that this is not America and they are not open 24 hours a day the French pompiers (firemen) are also on hand should an emergency arise.

The apartment is very clean and we will have an actual bathtub for the very first time in over 5 years. There is also a window in the bathroom and another one in the WC which will help keep any unpleasant odors out of the living room when someone decides to drop the kids off at the pool are conveniently located right off of the living room for easy access in the middle of a soccer match or Friends episode - it's every man's dream as you can literally watch TV and do your business at the same time.

We have decided to adopt the Chinese principal of Fung Shui and get rid of all of our crap any negative energy that may affect our ability to live in such a small space full of junk happy moving in vibes.

We would be thankful for any suckers volunteers to help us haul our junk come up with deco ideas on move-in day! Speaking of deco, I am currently at my friend C's house nursing a sore throat and insomnia inflicted by yesterday's stress looking at deco websites for inspiration   - how do you feel about stripes?

I take the train home tomorrow after changing my ticket three times and incurring fifty extra euros in ticket fees spending a glorious, adventure-filled 11 days in the City of Non-stop Rain Lights. Soon I will be packing up Cannes, saying goodbye to La Mer and embarking on my Parisian adventure with Copain.

May La Vie Parisienne commence!