My own Little Parisian Apartment
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- View of basically the whole thing from the top of my bed. 🙂
Took forever to find, but I am finally living comfortably in my own Parisian apartment!
A post about my apartment is long overdue, considering I moved in early October. I’d like to use the excuse “I was just getting settled” but I’ve been pretty settled in for a while now. The apartment is very small. Not in the all-Parisian-apartments-are-small’ sort of way — smaller.
But I love it. There’s everything that I need, which I’ve come to realize isn’t very much. I love France for making me see that. I don’t need a grand foyer and a walk-in closet and an overly intricate entrance with medieval gothic-style flying buttresses. I don’t need little birdies to help me get dressed in the morning or other woodland creatures doing my laundry for me. I like my tiny space with it’s shower next to the kitchen sink and the microwave that everyone thinks is a T.V. because it’s my space and I can do what I want with it, and I’m going to make it home.
Also, it’s free. That’s why it took so long: once I got here I got my head set on finding “logement contre services” (lodging in exchange for services.) which isn’t as easy as it seems, because for every ad placed there are about 20 other EMT’s (English Mother Tongue) applying. But luckily, here I am, an Au Pair for a family that lives in the same building, taking care of 2 tiny French children for 10 hours a week.
Apart from the charm of it, the family that gave me the apartment was overly generous. I know this, because I know what Au Pair’s normally get: A room. A bed. A ‘good luck.’ They don’t get 5 wine glasses in addition to the rest of the necessities: plates, pots, pans, cutlery. They don’t get WIFI and a flatscreen and espresso cups and a spice rack. I have different colored sheets — options, for my comfortable mattress (OK, yeah, any mattress would feel like heaven after 3 weeks of sleeping on the floor, but the pillows really MUST be made partly of cloud.) I have towels and more towels and towels for guests. I have more than I could need.
And it’s in the 7th arrondissement. Which is a very pricey area, so I couldn’t imagine what I would be paying if I had to. I live about a half mile from the Eiffel Tower… which I have many opinions on… but I will save them for another post, another day.
I am happy, and I am home.
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