First off, I'm in Paris now. Getting here involved dragging my two extremely bulky and heavy suitcases through Berlin U-Bahn and buses, to the airport, off the luggage belt at Orly (the other Paris airport), through the OrlyVal (terminal shuttle), into the RER B, then up the escalator at Luxembourg Station. That's where the problem happened. It wasn't totally on the step, the bigger suitcase, and brought me down with it. A guy behind me had to hold me on the suitcase to avoid the suitcase dragging us both down the up escalator! At the top, he asked if I was okay, to which I responded: "um...oui, ça va" at the exact moment when my suitcase's handle snapped clean off. Good thing my new flatmate Louise came to find me and help me get these ridiculous bags up the five flights of stairs in my new elevator-less Parisian apartment.
To sum things up, this apartment has the best and the worst of Paris all wrapped up into one. I'll just go through the pros and cons, then give you some "before" pictures. I'm in the process of cleaning and buying things to make it a bit more livable (read: American).
Pros:
• Location, location, location: This apartment is in the heart of the Latin Quarter (where the universities are). It is a ten minute walk from the ENS, a five minute walk from the rue Mouffetard (a very famous street, with very good crêpes), a five minute walk from the Panthéon (my favorite building in Paris, which is unfortunately under construction right now), a five minute walk from Berthillon (my favorite ice cream, which I've almost been having daily, and also very close to my Lebanese sandwich place, favorite garden, etc. It's the perfect location.
• The building is typically Parisian, and therefore quite charming. While the lack of an elevator is a pain when bringing the suitcases up, it has an old-school feel and is very charming how old the staircase is and how each step creaks a bit as you walk up. It's a spiral staircase as well, so you even get dizzy going up!
• The balcony: overlooks some very beautiful buildings in one of the oldest parts of the city.
• The wood floors of the apartment creak, the old fireplaces are delightfully nonfunctional, the doorknobs are all loose, the toilet and the bathtub are in separate rooms, and if you're in a room on the street side of the building, you can hear literally EVERYTHING.
Cons:
• Basically all of the pros are also cons when you think about it.
• The wood floors of the apartment creak, which is loud. They are also kind of dirty. I've been so busy buying sheets and stuff that I haven't had a chance to clean it all yet. But I did buy a bath mat and slippers, so my bare feet never have to touch the floor.
• The white tile gets very dirty, very fast.
• It is very small, especially the kitchen which has no built-in appliances. The only cooking options are: a portable stovetop (with two burners), a toaster oven (which Louise assures me is sufficient for baking a cake...), a toaster, and a microwave. We also have a somewhat small fridge and a sink with a slightly temperamental faucet.
• The toilet and the bathroom are separate, and the sink is in the bathroom. So, after using the toilet, you have to go into another room to wash your hands. Seems awfully unsanitary to me. I might buy some hand sanitizer to put on top of the washing machine, which also makes the toilet quite cramped. It also doesn't close too well since the light switch blocks the top from opening.
• No dryer: just one little drying rack in the salon area.
• The bathroom is also quite dirty. But I will be cleaning that soon. At least I bought the bath mat.
• The sheet situation was a bit unacceptable. But I have now bought myself a "drap housse" (the thing that goes over the mattress pad), a "drap plat" (a sheet to sleep under), and a blanket, as well as two pillows, pillow cases, and a comfy purple blanket. I even got extras. Louise told me that French people only use one sheet and a blanket, but the people at the store assured me that she was wrong.
Anyway, here is a before picture of my room. I'm going to go eat a crêpe with Mélanie.
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