apartments in paris

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i have a small dillemma re. apartments in paris.

I have a studio apartment near the Porte de cligoncourt metro. The advantage is it has a nice
window that opens (not a nice view though) and a free phone. (I have to pay
for international calls using a card, but I can use it for local calls. Also I
can use the voice mail.) The problem is, the owner (who is in the states and is a nice guy if a bit flaky) left it in a terrible shape-
-there was rotting food in the fridge and on the table, the bed is broken,
there is just stuff everywhere which I've slowly been cleaning up. Even if I
do clean it well (and it will take a long time to do so), I won't have much
room for my stuff b/c the owner left all this unecessary furniture in there (a broken chaise lounge upholstered with fake fur, etc.),
and also piles of his clothes, shoes, etc. He even filled up the drawers of
the one dresser in there. I already had to fumigate a bit. Oh, another advantage is that the neighborhood is
cheap--food, etc.

I have the option of renting a studio in St.-Germain des Pres. It's
tiny, but very neat, furnished, with plates and spoons and a tiny little
stove. There are a bunch of students living on the 6th and 7th floors (the
other floors, accessible by elevator, are fancy apartments), and I'm told they
are nice and quiet. It's in an incredible location with a beautiful view. The
neighborhood is of course extremely expensive, though. And there is only a tiny
skylight which opens, although I guess I'll have to keep it closed during the
winter lest it snow in (does it snow much here??). And there is no phone, so I
would have to get a cell phone and pay for minutes, which might be very
expensive all told. The room itself is cheap--about 300 euros/month, I think.
I have some questions to ask of the apartment broker (who's American) but he
is kind of brusque. (as brokers are wont to be)

I have until Friday to decide. Although I might spend some time tomorrow, when I'm not at work, looking for something else, although I doub't I'll find anything in my price range (under 400 euro/month). What do
you think I should do?

Of course if the guy who I'm renting from won't give me my money back (I paid in advance) I can't move anyway. That's something I'm going to figure out tonight. I'm not terribly worried about that, though maybe I'm just too sanguine about human nature.

Does anyone have any advice on this situation? Or perhaps some alternative leads?

Merci,

Amateurist

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

(p.s. if you know me pls refrain from leaving personal details on this thread. merci.)

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

good luck with the broker, paying up front could mean difficulties in getting your money back. I'd go for the nice apartment in st germain just because its not a shit tip. Paris is not so bug that you can't walk or metro to places to get cheaper food, nights out etc,

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey amateurist, I don't have any help, but check in now and again and good luck ok.

How long are you in Paris for?

― David. (Cozen), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and it will rain way more than it will snow, if it snows at all.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

i dunno how long i'll stay. the broker was pressuring me to leave the apt in st-germain (if indeed i move there) by mid-january b/c that's when all the new exchange students come in. however i'd like to stay for a while longer...until the money runs out or i find some other adventure (or a job elsewhere in europe). the broker is asking for 150 euro as a fee (bleh), and i'd pay the rent per month, prorated in the case of september.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought you were doing a course? Anyway I'm pretty jealous.

― David. (Cozen), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

i think the window may be tilted in such a way that it won't rain in....

i was in such a state while looking at the apartment (harried, and struggling to communicate w/the woman who was showing it to me) that i forget to ask how it was heated, and forgot to look closely enough to tell what kind of stove there was. i presume it wouldn't be unheated, whether it's by forced air or a space heater i don't know. i am such a fuck up.

forgot one thing: the apt in clignoncourt has a k-gross w.c., with no paper, in the hallway that stinks. the apt in st-germain has a nice clean toilet (a real toilet!) just one flight below, with paper and everything (ah! amenities). so that's another advantage to this pampered american.

(x-post)

thanks cozen look me up if you visit paris! i might try to take some classes to provide some structure for my learning french but otherwise, no, i'm working.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

god bless unlimited internet access. though someone just gave me a tip as to where i can find free access in st-germain.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

geta wifi card and scan for unsecured networks, or the Palais de Tokyo has free wifi access, which is not far from St germain

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

why am I not doing this? I'm jealous too.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

as well as being a cool place to hang out

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

ha ed i do not have a computer!

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm more likely to visit Paris before next June than I am London. If I do, I'll look you up.

(Hey Ed, 'get a wifi card and scan for unsecured networks' - would it be possible to do this with 'get an Airport card and scan for unsecured networks'? I figure nowhere in Glasgow has such a thing though.)

― David. (Cozen), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

j'ai peur que le broker me mangera....

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

airport is apple's brand for 802.11b/g wifi networks

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 17:14 (twenty-two years ago)

so yes, yes you could.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

hey amateurist! glad to hear you made it over okay, though not glad to hear about your apartment! the st-germain place sounds really nice, though it is a very expensive and chi-chi neighbourhood (though probably do-able, and it'd be super-fun to live in such a classically Parisian quartier, I'm sure). I lived not that far from where you are now (metro Crimée) and I did like living somewhat on the outskirts, though getting home late at night might be a bit of a pain in the ass, depending where you're coming from. presently you're near barbès, my favourite neighbourhood, and I guess just north of Montmartre? great places to walk around at night, though I guess that's true of everywhere in the city. where's your work? that might be a factor... it would be nice to live in st-germain just cuz it's so central, and just a stone's throw away from the seine, which is always a pleasure to walk around--you'll probably be near the pedestrian-only pont des arts, which is a great place to watch the sun come up.

so... I guess it's up to you, but if the place you're in really is a stinkhole, and the bathroom is horrible, maybe you should just go ahead and move...

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

a dilemna obviously. A lot of parisians would kill to have an apartment on bld st-germain. On the other hand i think you will have more fun in the 18th.
Anyway, bonne chance.

― Bruno- (Bruno-), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Uhm, my way of thinking is, do you want to be posh & comfy or do you want to be cool? cause like, the 18e is cool in that part (& la Goutte d'or as well), even if sketchy in other parts (Chateau-Rouge) and touristy in others (Montmartre). Whereas the 6e is super NOT COOL and is full of rich Americans and there's nothing to do unless you wanna windowshop at designer boutiques or hang out with wealthy students from Sciences Po etc. The 18e Porte de Clignancourt line goes over to Belleville which is also cool.

Or move to the 10e by the Canal St Martin! it rocks. I have no doubt mentioned that an insufferable number of times. What about the 13e near the Batofar & other clubs, or in la butte aux cailles ?

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

daria is very correct there--hey, I thought you WERE going to be living in the 10th! though wait is the 18th still cool that far up?

but belleville rules, as does the canal st-martin, which I lived near by! but up in the 19th!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I must confess i quite agree with Daria but i didn’t want to sound too sententious (people can have a different scale of values).

― Bruno- (Bruno-), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey Amateurist. I lived in a studio right back off of Pont Neuf for slightly more than you are looking at paying. It's a great neighbourhood, but doesn't have the community atmosphere of Belleville, say (though a lot less junkies sleeping on your doorstep). Maybe you have looked, but there is a noticeboard at the American school (somewhere near Invalides) that has some cheap apartments on it. Also try that American/English newspaper that you can get for free at Whsmith next to Jardin Des Plantes (Ican't remember the name). I can't really help you with cheap net access, but good luck with everything anyway.

― adaml (adaml), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I worried a bit abt sounding like a snob nevertheless, but uh, I really wouldn't want to live in the 6e, it is too.. I don't know, too much of exactly what you would expect if all you knew about Paris came from reading the New Yorker & you thought hanging out at the Deux Magots was a good idea. (Must note that this was MY idea as well when I went there, I just ended up in the 10e because there were no decent &/or affordable apartment listings in the 5e or 6e, and wow, was that good luck.)

Isn't there free Internet at Beaubourg? just a million people waiting to use it, but nevertheless..
I think there's an American church as well w/some listings..

― daria g (daria g), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I looked at the bulletin board at the American Church, which was swarming with young people, seemingly none of them American (!!), and it looks rather dire.

I'm in quite a bind, and am rather near panic, although also strangely relaxed at times. *Listening* all day, and hardly speaking (and hardly eating) will do strange things to you. Anyhow, my situation is that I've gotten out of my lease for the Pte de Clignoncourt apartment, so that means I ought to vacate it ASAP. However the only apartment I've found in my price range is the aforementioned one in St-Germain. I just spent three hours wandering from the Pont d'Alma to St-Michel, going in circles much of the time. My feet are exhausted, and until I had a Coke a few moments ago I was ready to lay down in the street and give up. OK, to get back on track, St-Germain really is much too posh a neighborhood for my comfort. What do I mean? Well, today I stopped at the Sciences Po, despite the warnings above, because a friend mentioned that there was a cybercafe with free access. After several halting conversations with an extremely kind security guard and a few students, I found it, but it was closed (mert!) due to a private party. The Sciences Po students seem extremely privileged and fashionable, and one girl looked me over like I was some kind of bum, which relatively speaking I am. I get the worrying sense that I would have such a feeling of pariah-dom every day should I choose to live in the St-Germain. Not to mention I can barely afford to eat around here, and the apartment has only a hot plate, not a kitchenette.

Arrrgh. So what do I do? If I spend any more time in the current apt I will be essentially squatting, which doesn't feel right and might jeapordize other things besides (can't get into that here), but I don't want to take the place in St-Germain. I suppose I could spend a little more money and try to find a place in a quieter/more middle-class neighborhood, but in how much time? Like I said, I'm a bit panicked.

Can anyone recommend any other options for finding apartments here?

Also, I'm still sane but a bit starved for conversation, although work has alleviated that somewhat. If there are any ILXors in Paris I'd love to FAP. Right now it's a bit hard to get a hold of me but a rendezvous is possible.

Merci beaucoup for all the advice and well-wishes on this thread. I hope I haven't exhausted everyone's patience with my worrying.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

i am typically something of a grouch and far from effusive on ilx, but right now i am quite grateful for you all, no matter how virtual the connection (save for s1utsky of course--s1utsky, email me).

--amateurist

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree with the general sentiment but this is amst.'s toilet we are talking about! Is wanting modern plumbling so "uncool"? Let me tell you, the toilets at Luxx used to spray raw sewage at you when you flushed them and it was not cool!

It sounds like a precarious situation and 3 months is not a very long time commitment. Why shouldn't you just take the place in the S.-Germaine since the rent is within your budget, don't worry about bringing down the neighborhood or whatever and then when you have more breathing room more leisurely look for a better place should you decide to stay on? I think buying groceries at the market instead of eating out will be much cheaper or are you saying you can't even find affordable groceries?

― felicity (felicity), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't even know if they have grocery stores in st-germain! do they?

your advice i think is sound. the one big liability w/ the st-germain apt is that there is no phone, and i'd have to get a mobile and buy minutes--expensive--rather than my current situation, where i have free local calling and voice mail.

je t'adore, felicity.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

p.s. i frankly don't care whether my choice of neighborhoods conforms to anyone's notion of what's cool. i'd be happy to live in boring old st-ambroise if i could find something. what i do worry about is feeling like the hunchback of st-germain, cooped up in my 7e apartment as the hoi polloi buzz around on the street below.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

just take it, you can't work the rest out later. There will be places to buy food in St germain, some of them will even be cheap.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

really? well, i have until tomorrow afternoon to decide.

i suppose i could always go back and ask the person from whom i am presently subletting...even though he's paid me back in full (almost) and ask to stay there for a week or so. but frankly i don't know if i have time/energy/know-how to look for an apartment.

i have a few more contacts (friends of friends of friends of etc.) that i might try to use tomorrow before i give up and take the st-germain apartment.

i'm tired.

ed: do you speak from experience? or are you guessing about places to buy food in st-germain?

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't think of a neighbourhood that doesn't have a supermarket in Paris.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:27 (twenty-two years ago)

still in the cybercafe. these other americans are very annoying.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

hey dude--you'll be able to find cheap groceries most anywhere, especially if you can find a leader price/franprix/ed's anywhere--and they're everywhere! and I'm gonna email you now

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

the guy who's working at the cybercafe is looking at me funny. hey, asshole, i paid for unlimited access!

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

check your email! and yell a quebecois obscenity at him

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

he fancies you. they flirt everywhere in France, yes? look back funny.

― David. (Cozen), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

no, he doesn't fancy me. he looks like someone who should be off playing magic cards or something (no offense to magic card lovers).

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)

p.s. there is a lawyer at my job who is tres tres belle.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:55 (twenty-two years ago)

as for lack of conversation - how good is your french amateurist? good enough to try make friends / strike up conversations with people? suppose this also depends on how great yr confidence is too; i know i'd struggle to make friends in a foreign language. coupled with 'near panic' / worry about living situation, um. well ilx never moves, i guess, so it's always here, but not the same not the same i know.

don't really know enough about paris to help with your flat but it seems that there's a lot of good advice already said here.

― David. (Cozen), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

you should show up at work on monday with flowers and chocolates and wearing a bowtie

(xp)

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

You should arrange to have one of us send you at the office photoshopped photos of you in bondage purporting to blackmail you.

― felicity (felicity), Thursday, 25 September 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

i am pretty good so far about trying my french. the people at work are nice enough not to let me fall on my face. they encourage me, although many of them speak extremely good english (they are an educated lot).

i daren't go up to someone on the street and start up a conversation. i wouldn't even do this in english. unless i saw someone carrying around a tv personalities lp or something. anyway, i look like a bum by paris standards so who'd want to talk to me anyhow?

i know one girl my age here who is having a party next week. thank god.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i find that it really depends on the person. one person at work is extremely gentle and nice and i was able to try a lot of french in her person. other people are more abrupt and i find myself clamming up.

sorry for overposting. you know the situation.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

in her PRESENCE, not person.

i don't even know what the latter would mean.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

ok, i'm leaving the cybercafe. the problem is that once i leave it will surely be my last human contact for the day. c'est la vie...

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 25 September 2003 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

tip: french is easier when you're drunk!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 25 September 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

post to bits, dude. i guess just work from the party on; sounds like you have a nice set of co-workers. you're probably right about going up and talking to people (i kinda only do this if i think they're really attractive and a) want them to know or b) want them to hang out with me sometime but yeh not often). and i know it sounds facile right, but i do hope you get to enjoying it eventually. i went to paris and i almost fell apart - see the second paragraph here.

― David. (Cozen), Thursday, 25 September 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Paris can be really rough, I still think for every day I thought it was the most beautiful city in the world, there were three that.. well, were constant stress and exhaustion.

where else to find apartments. I wish I knew! did you try asking your coworkers if they know any or know anyone? what about checking at wanadoo.fr or asking coworkers for other sites, there are petites annonces: here is one in the 10e. in French of course, but doesn't specify clearly if that price is for the week or for the month.

Oh, and have you been to the Forum des Images at Les Halles? You can pay to go in & hang out and watch movies all day, or get a pass & go as often as you like, and there is a small computer lab there w/Internet. Very tranquil & the staff is very friendly.

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 26 September 2003 06:01 (twenty-two years ago)

seloger.com
a Paris - lotsa student rooms

particulier a particulier

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 26 September 2003 06:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Forum des images rules!!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 26 September 2003 13:26 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, I spent tons of time there, it's awesome, despite having to navigate Les Halles to get there (ugh, j'en ai marre)..

also am a fan of the Web Bar near Republique, despite the fashionistas.

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Les halles need to be buldozed (again) its a shithole

― Ed (dali), Friday, 26 September 2003 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

les halles is just a great awful tragedy in every way

― s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 26 September 2003 20:34 (twenty-two years ago)

i took the place in st-germain and have moved in. i actually don't mind it (yet), but there's a crushing truth it contains which hits me sometimes, and that is the realities of class. the apartments from the 1st to 5th floors are large and sunny and relatively luxurious, and the apartments on the top two floors are none of these things, not to mention they aren't accessible by lift. there are two other people on my floor: a 30something portuguese woman who seems to work all the time, and a young man from Romania who apparently is beholden to his aunt on the 2nd floor who provides him with an allowance but not so much as to allow him to have a phone or even go out at all. he's a strange bird. he knocked on my door at 9:30 this morning (startling me), said he was lonely and had nothing to do, and asked me if he could accompany me to whatever i was doing. he tagged along for a while, and everytime i tried to drop hints about needing to do something else, he eagerly suggested he come along. eventually i (pardon my bluntness) got rid of him by buying an unlimited weekly pass at a cybercafe and offering him use of it for the morning. then i dashed off, wandered all over the place, passed by notre dame (near which there is a block that has about 10 comic book shops, too bad i don't like comics much), hotel de ville, etc etc and ended up in jardin des plantes. i saw two movies in a row tonight, renoir's "the river" and john ford's "my darling clementine" with henry fonda, who i'm convinced is my favorite actor ever. the latter film is just perfect, i was grinning from ear to ear and even shed a few tears just because it was so beautiful (the print used was made from an original nitrate, and it looked as though it had never been projected before).

i passed by les halles today (i've been walking like 20 miles a day recently) and by accident spent a few blocks on what i guess is paris's version of times square (avant giuliani). les halles is ugly as sin. most of the modern (post-60s) buildings in paris are ugly as sin. much of Paris IV (the university) that i passed by today was just rotting ca. 1970s brutalist architecture, with lots of big concrete squares with no trees

also went to the jardin des plantes, which was full of families rather than tourists. i will probably go back there again.

ach, too much to report.

― amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 27 September 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

for one thing r. kelly is huge in france wtf?

― amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 27 September 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Glad that was worked out. sounds like you have a chambre de bonne (maid's room) there..
Les halles is awful. I went to great lengths to avoid even changing Metro trains there when possible.. and yeah, the Rue St Denis can catch you by surprise there. sleaze central.

Are you sure that is Paris IV? I thought Paris IV was the Sorbonne.. Paris III is one big ugly-ass building, and the one with three towers with a big empty fountain in the middle & tons of trash blowing around at all times is Paris VI, I think - Jussieu - it is the WORST thing ever. I gather they started building the universities that way after May 68, because students were too easily able to barricade themselves inside the Sorbonne..

― daria g (daria g), Saturday, 27 September 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, it's a chambre de bonne. a long climb up. my legs will grow stronger.

it was jussieu, i must have gotten the numbers mixed up.

as for rue st denis, it was funny how the peep shows appropriated various english words and used them in strange ways. "peep most sexy" etc. actually that occurs a lot here, perhaps to be expected. i passed by a clothing shop called "yankee style" just a few hours ago, it was selling levis jeans and converse sneakers.

one thing around chatelet/les halles, there are a bunch of cd shops all selling the same assortment of professional-looking bootlegs for 3 or 4 euros. it actually kind of grossed me out, i have an instinctive negative reaction to bootlegs (i should never go to china). i went to the gilbert joseph cd store in st-michel and got a "reggiani chant vian" cd which i can't wait to hear.

does anyone know where is the new mk2 store? i hear it's kind of neat, but nobody seems to know where it is.

― amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 27 September 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

amateurist you are otm about the "top floors" thing, we used to joke that the student neighbourhood in paris was delineated vertically, ie the top two floors of every building.

les halles is horrible and it seems like the only remaining architectural element from the original market is in the mcdonald's downstairs, which I don't need to tell you is pretty depressing. what movie is it where an old-timer is telling the story of the farmers driving their horses into les halles every morning and falling asleep along the way? but the horses are so used to the route they just keep going without being directed?

the horrible university architecture (with NO public spaces) dates from post-'68, it was apparently to "punish" the students and ensure that that sort of thing never had a chance to develop again.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Sunday, 28 September 2003 15:04 (twenty-two years ago)

If you want to continue looking for an apartment, I've heard good things of alouer.fr (it's reccomended by the Sorbonne for international students, too).

― cis (cis), Sunday, 28 September 2003 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

oh and j0hn may or may not be happy to know that i found several mtn goats cds in gilbert joseph yesterday...albeit in the used bin.*

i met a nice italian girl today, more news à 11.

― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 28 September 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

god DAMN it english tourists are annoying.

i feel like screaming "DOUCHEMENT! DOUCHEMENT!" at them.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 18:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i have an instinctual negative reaction to certain english accents, such as many people have to a piece of rotting meat. also these english tourists are the worst-dressed people in paris by far.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I studied at Jussieu, which IS hideous and at Charles V, by the Marais, which is much nicer. I also got interrogated by security guards after a Mercury Rev show at the FNAC in Montparnasse.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 19:00 (twenty-two years ago)

amst., have you gone native?

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 19:02 (twenty-two years ago)

no, i wish.

ok so does anyone know where to get nice but CHEAP clothes here? i'm going to head to the H&M on the rue de rennes in a moment, but aside from that i'm lost. certainly i'm in the wrong part of town for cheap clothes, but what are the right parts?

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 09:32 (twenty-two years ago)

a strange american girl is sitting across from me in the cybercafe talking to her (boyfriend?) (friend?) (new acquaintance?) in very strange tones about some girl she knows. "she has the most beautiful body i've seen... she is an angel... my protector."

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 09:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Try Celio - a sort of cheaper version of Zara. They're all over the place.

― Paris resident, Tuesday, 7 October 2003 09:40 (twenty-two years ago)

what is zara?

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 09:41 (twenty-two years ago)

You been keeping your eyes firmly closed as you walk around Paris? Zara is one of the most popular chain clothes stores around these parts, there's one on rue de Rivoli, there's one in Saint-Germain etc., etc. I think it's originally from Spain. I like their clothes but they're a bit on the expensive side. Hence my recommendation for Celio.

― Paris Resident, Tuesday, 7 October 2003 09:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't typically pay much attention to clothing stores.

wish me luck in finding some stuff. i need a coat, a few pairs of pants, a sweater, a scarf or two or three, a hat...

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 10:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Now I think of it, your best bet is to metro it up to Chatelet and wander down rue de Rivoli. In a short stretch of road, there's a Celio, a Zara and an H&M. Then if you head up rue St Denis from there, there are plenty of second-hand clothes shops, if that's your bag.

― Paris Resident, Tuesday, 7 October 2003 10:01 (twenty-two years ago)

it is my bag! that is great advice, thanks anonymous paris resident!

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 10:02 (twenty-two years ago)

wait...st. denis isn't where i found all the peep shows is it?

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 10:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but go down to the bottom end, sort of between rue de Riv. and the Pompidou. Also, you can get decent second-hand winter coats from the flea market at Montreuil - which runs on Saturdays and Sundays (or maybe not Saturdays, best check).

What are you doing in Paris, out of interest?

― Paris Resident, Tuesday, 7 October 2003 10:06 (twenty-two years ago)

working (after a fashion)...you can email me if you want...

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 10:08 (twenty-two years ago)

i couldn't find any used clothing stores on st-denis. i turned around when i got to the peep show area. there were lots of hip-hop style stores catering to teenagers, and i bought a pair of pants at the gap (i know, how boring) in les halles. h&m didn't have anything really. it's raining pretty badly. i'm having a pretty glum day.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

H&M was where I bought almost all of my clothes when I was in Paris... pretty cheap and OK all around. used clothing stores seemed to be typically pretty expensive...

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 01:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, go to the Montreuil markets - and also when you get off the metro at the porte de Montreuil (is it a porte? anyway, that stop), there is a Guerrisold, a secondhand clothes shop, it's on the left hand side of the street that's heading out of the city. Pretty junky a lot of the time but the occasional top find (there's one in Barbes-Rochechouart as well, go north after the metro stop on blvd Barbes for about a block or two, it's on the other side of the street from the huge Tati). I found two absolutely stunning Italian vintage wool sweaters there, and then never found anything decent again.

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 01:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I think you could also check out the Muji in Paris and as well, it's not cheap, but Agnes B, cheaper there than here. Buy F. and I lots of stuff, salud!

― Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 01:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah! Tell me WHY the Muji online shop only has housewares???? I have a black shirt from there that I've worn approximately 500 times and I want more.

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 03:47 (twenty-two years ago)

what is muji?

montreuil is, i think, mairie de montreuil, not porte de montreuil.

i am sick today with a fever. blech.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Muji

http://www.widemedia.com/fashionuk/news/2001/07/10/muji.gif

Thier jeans are actually quite reasonable and good.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I found clothes shopping in Paris extremely troublesome and frustrating, more so than you would think. There are a lot of department stores, but the clothes are often all the same and very expensive.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Muji is a Japanese chain, available all thruout Europe but not in America. Also, when you have some $ to splurge, you are in the native land of A.P.C.

― Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 17:56 (twenty-two years ago)

a.p.c.?

i am so fashion illiterate.

what do you recommend for a sore throat?

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 17:59 (twenty-two years ago)

APC is a boutique, but it's like the French Gap, only much more expensive and a tad more stylish. Go there when you are ready to fully debonairize.

In England they drink this thing called lem sip.

― Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

which is...?

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.mypharmacy.co.uk/medicines/medicines/l/lemsip/lemsip_flu_strength_2.jpg

A hot powdered drink, just heat the water, don't boil it.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

what is its french equivalent?

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

good question...

Hot water, honey, and lemon?

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

Overheard on the rue St. Andre des Arts a moment ago: "We're getting trashed in Dublin. Like, totally."

Back from Italy. Saw "Gun Crazy" tonight. What a film! I was really impressed with the principals, although most reviews suggest that the film is good in spite of them. And the first robbery scene to be played out, with the camera perched in the back seat of the car as the couple searches for a parking space.... Wow. The rapport between the couple was just perfect, in its intimate tones and banal observations ("yeah, hold on a second...that car's pulling out...").

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Are you talking about the Richard Widmark "Gun Crazy" or the 90s remake or a 1950 film with Russ Tamblyn also sometimes called "Gun Crazy". Or something else entirely?

― adaml (adaml), Thursday, 23 October 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm talking about the 1949 film directed by joseph h. lewis, with peggy cummins (a.k.a. "who?") and john dall (a.k.a. "huh?").

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

the film is shockingly modern for 1949, btw.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I think that's the Russ Tamblyn one- Also called "Deadly Is The Female" (wonderful!) and remade by Tamra Davis in the early 90's. With Drew Barrymore, no less.

― adaml (adaml), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

ew.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

yup

― adaml (adaml), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

i know this sounds awful, but there is a bazinian quality to many of the scenes--a sense of reality heightened by the underplaying of the actors and the length of the takes.... even as the film has the hollywood virtues of concision and (slightly im)perfect redundancy.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

how was italy?!! tell tell!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:12 (twenty-two years ago)

email me...

--mysterioso amateurist

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

done

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

on italian tv there are lots of ads, for american movies, all dubbed into italian. the bad boys ii ad was especially prevalent, and it was fun to hear the title pronounced "bed boy doo-ay" over and over again.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

italian MTV made me feel funny

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:28 (twenty-two years ago)

italian MTV suXOR

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

ewwww. i just overheard an entire conversation b/t two americans, one of whom was a middle-aged californian flaky beach bum who was trying hard to pick up some college student. at the end as they were walking out he very briefly catches me eye and quietly says to me (although almost to no one in particular), "not bad, huh?"

― amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 25 October 2003 21:07 (twenty-two years ago)

It probably won't snow at all, or hardly at all, but it does get very cold, as you must have noticed since yesterday.

― jadrenos (jadrenos), Saturday, 25 October 2003 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

god these fucking americans.... now it's some mother-daughter combo who are reading their AIM messages aloud.

― amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 25 October 2003 22:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude, that's why the 6th = crap. :) But perhaps one can be consoled by thinking there are prob 2x as many Americans as you think, and the other half of them are savvy enough to not wear the white trainers and baseball caps and not TALK REALLY LOUD ALL THE TIME.

― daria g (daria g), Sunday, 26 October 2003 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

au contraire, what i would do is to carve a whole deep into the underground, mark it out as outsider art and play some abstract hip hop beatz whilst making sure that you have a dandy scarf tied around your neck while you pontificate on 'what is exactly is a third world', once all basis are covered, i.e. everything solved, re: issues of sexuality and theory, the appropriate books having been read and mentioning god is dead at least several times and making appopriate and witty remarks of the state of art, you will, indeed attract the right kind of friends, who wll, if desired, let you the appropriate flat in paris.

― love for you, Sunday, 26 October 2003 01:25 (twenty-two years ago)

What's up with the anti-Americanism, Antiamericanist?

I say you play up your authenticity. The most impressive thing would be to buy a scarf patterned after the Stars and Stripes and arrange for it to billow out after you in the fashion of the Iwo Jima monument.

(lyra has most genially illustrated the correct solution on the other thread.)

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 26 October 2003 01:51 (twenty-two years ago)

there is an idea!

actually the whole french-heart-theory thing is revealing itself in interesting ways.... i've made lots of observations on the seeming differences in french and american intellectual habits and prejudices. i don't feel self-conscious about it though, on the contrary, rather proud.

― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 26 October 2003 15:13 (twenty-two years ago)

That's interesting. What kind of observations ?

― -Bruno, Sunday, 26 October 2003 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

well it's confused by the fact that i've been speaking not with many actual french people, but various foreigners (italian, german, portuguese, english, american) studying film in france. and i've hardly sorted it all out yet--i both dread and look forward to and expect many more conversations. but there is a kind of theory qua theory, seemingly divorced from the love and observation of films, very distant from it, or maybe even hostile to it, that people seem to accept and occasionally defend vociferously here...the sort of thing i feared, actually.

sorry to be so opaque.

― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 26 October 2003 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

This reminds me, WTF am I doing here as I am supposed to be reading some French theory RIGHT NOW and not following politics on the Internet. Nous autres, victoriens..

― daria g (daria g), Monday, 27 October 2003 08:39 (twenty-two years ago)

well it's been pretty dreary here the past few days, weather-wise. and i had entirely forgotten how nearly every shop closes down on sunday, so i ventured out this afternoon to find scarves in vain. at this point my options are limited. i can see a movie (although there's nothing i want too badly to see), continue wandering around stuffing myself with crepes, or just go on home and listen to music.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:05 (twenty-two years ago)

not having a scarf makes me feel really out of place here, btw.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:05 (twenty-two years ago)

i envision you being taunted a gang of little frahnch garcons in knee pants, scarves flying in the breeze as they chase you down the champs-elysee.

― lauren (laurenp), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

just wait, it'll happen.

where on earth do i find scarves here anyhow? i haven't tried the big dep't stores yet, but i suspect they'll be ungodly expensive.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i can't figure out if these annoying as fuck americans in the cybercafe are students are just rich kids wasting their parents' money. either way i wish they'd shut up.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe the ilx knitting collective should take up ama'st cause?

― teeny (teeny), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

yes!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i've never had time to shop for much of anything when i've been in paris, so i don't have much to suggest. my lone bit of info is that one of my pals has a great scarf that she got at a monoprix.

― lauren (laurenp), Sunday, 2 November 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah i saw some stuff at monoprix but it seemed rather defeatist to buy a scarf at monoprix. but maybe that's the best option. but even the monoprix is closed today!!

person next to me smells and is surfing personal ads ew ew

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

if you had a scarf then you could wrap it around the lower half of your face to block out your neighbor's offensive odor.

― lauren (laurenp), Sunday, 2 November 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i know, i know, they have so many uses. you can also slap people with them! and if i fall from a window i can fling my scarf upwards to that it'll catch on a jutting brick and i won't fall to my death!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 17:16 (twenty-two years ago)

well i wanted to get out of here but it's pouring and i have 30 minutes to kill before i see (i gave in) pisstake river, so i might as well post here. voila.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 17:37 (twenty-two years ago)

sundays in paris are tough, especially when you're hungry!

the grands magasins are actually really fun--you can go to the roof of samaritaine and get this AMAZING view of the city. it's free and I reccomend this activity.

I'm also slightly perplexed by the spelling of "reccomend" today

it's these words with double consonants, fuck my shit up

― s1utsky (slutsky), Sunday, 2 November 2003 18:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone on this thread got a password for the Guardian crossword page?

― Gatinha (rwillmsen), Sunday, 2 November 2003 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Amst. they have absolutely everything at Galleries Lafayette and I think you can get a 10% off coupon if you show them your American passport.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 2 November 2003 19:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I need a corresponding password too.

― Gatinha (rwillmsen), Sunday, 2 November 2003 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

um i can't help you with the password.

i'll try the galleries lafayette tomorrow, that's a good tip about the passport.

i was in something like a bum mood, not really a bum mood, but i felt a bit aimless. then i decided to see manoel de oliveira's new film instead of pisstake river and was quite glad, despite a traumatic ending it put me in a better more thoughtful mood. merci m. oliveira!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

i have difficulty with john malkovich, the sense of dislocation that seems to follow him is usually doubled when he appears in these europudding productions, but in this film he's mostly used well, which is to say, his inherent creepiness is acknowledged when he tries to pick up leonor silveira (the most beautiful woman alive btw).

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

French boutiques also pull a closing on Monday trick sometimes, as if Sunday hadn't been enough...

― jadrenos (jadrenos), Sunday, 2 November 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

in italy everything was closed monday, even places to get pizza.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 2 November 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

i did the american-girl-sends-me-friendster-message-ok-let's-see-what-happens thing tonight and it turned out well, she is nice.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

nice nice?

sorry

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i have no idea what that means, congratulations

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

why do you think I apologized?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

like, complicated "nice" that will keep that shit locked up like fort knox??

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry. sorry sorry sorry.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

ok you've rescued me from having to answer that thank you

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 3 November 2003 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

just saw a seemingly actually decent american person in the cybercafe struggle to use her french with the person working here, and lapsing into english sometimes. it was actually pretty charming.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i wonder if i sound charming or just confused.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

ha, that's probably one of my greatest fears!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

people here react in really disparate ways to my poor french. some people are quite rude, others are just bemusedly incomprehending, some are amused in a very nice way like the woman working at the cinema bookstore about a half hour ago. i still somehow managed to explain to her that i was looking for a particular issue of "archives" magazine and that she should call me if she locates it. however i was unable to ask the clerks at monoprix for q-tips! how on earth do you say q-tips in french? i even said "coton" etc. and pointed toward my ears.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

my ears will be the first casualty of my poor french i fear.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

carry a pad and pen for the q-tips-type problems. That is, to draw a picture of said object. And say, sacre bleu ma cherie a lot. And lick their ears. Yes, that should do it.

― Skottie, Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

drawing a q-tip is a difficult task.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

true...that's when you resort to ear-licking!

― Skottie, Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

last week i heard a guy at a crepe stand tell some girl, "mademoiselle, vous etes trop belle".

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

creep stand

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

For Q-tips, try looking in the aisle with the baby products.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:29 (twenty-one years ago)

there wasn't one! but yes i tried that, and near the kleenex too. i think this monoprix might simply have been lacking q-tips. indeed maybe i was in some special zone of paris where no one either uses or has heard of q-tips.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

amateurist was that the bookstore near the quartier latin and champo cinemas?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

no it was on the ile de cite! by notre dame. weird huh?

"creep stand" is great. one euro for a bon mot and two euros for a suggestive comment. outright passes are four euro.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

ile de la cite, sorry

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

NB: French national trait---no ears. They don't need q-tips.

― Skottie, Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah so i bought some scarves. a yellow one after felicity's suggestion, although i couldn't find anything too fuzzy in my price range (under 35 euro), and a reddish/burgundy one after lauren's (it's not dark enough to my taste, but it was cheap).

i can always buy another pair or two in a little while.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw some plaid ones i liked but i feared they would not be bold enough to placate the ilxchixors.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

what's the situation on scarf thickness? are they wispy or wooly?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm wearing my wicked orange one right now

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

the yellow is one the wooly side, the other i dunno.

this yellow thing better work.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

you gotta MAKE it work

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, it works. Trust me.

― felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

q-tips are 'bâtonnets'(de coton). I remember being in the US once, and not understanding what q-tips were (except for the ATCQ MC), being used to the term 'cotton buds'.

― jadrenos (jadrenos), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

yay for scarves. your french will magically improve once you put them on.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 02:09 (twenty-one years ago)

can someone help me with my conversational French tout suite?!?

― hstencil, Wednesday, 5 November 2003 02:11 (twenty-one years ago)

just get a scarf. btw, i have a great mixtape for tour if you want one.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 02:15 (twenty-one years ago)

hahahahaha, NO THANKS.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 5 November 2003 02:17 (twenty-one years ago)

oh yeah batonnets! you shoulda just asked me amateurist, there's a drug store right around the corner for me

in the future I will help you name any product you like

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 06:45 (twenty-one years ago)

so just a moment ago in the cybercafe there was this dude who was waiting on a friend and was at a computer just randomly banging on the keyboard so that it made lots of beeping noises. i tapped him on the shoulder and said "c'est vous? c'est ennuyeux." and he stopped. yay!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Well done. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:40 (twenty-one years ago)

it must be the scarf!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

i sometimes get the feeling you are making jokes at my expense, th

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

it's boring?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I was thinking about knitting a scarf for you ama'st, but could not find the right colors in wool. :( also it would have taken me a year.

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

no that also means annoying

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

that's cool teeny it's the thought that counts

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm not, amateurist!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess it's somewhere in between--I used to always get corrected by my french teachers for using that word in that way

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

my landlady used it that way and she's french

ok tracer i am oversensitive sometimes

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

amateur's right. But slutsky I think you're right too, in that both words come from the same place. It's just that the French have taken it a step farther, like "you give me fucking ennui for my life with your shenanigans."

You could also say "tu m'enerves" but I think that may be a bit stronger

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

(haha i meant you were right about the word, not about being oversensitive! Oh dear.)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah the french have overall fewer words and a greater variety of connotations than anglophones

i think vous m'enervez would be better, but yes, strong

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

well i'm right about being oversensitive too

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

s'enerver is the variant I know

but everything is different here

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

back when i ran with the Saucisse Grille Crew in Bordeaux we'd just yell "tu es con!!" and watch the fur fly

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

word est bond

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

s1utsky est-ce que tu sur AIM?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

unfortunately not, right now I'm rushing back and forth trying to send off press releases and thus can not indulge!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

ok someone just aimed and won't tell me who they are

that's the shit i was trying to avoid

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

just ignore 'em, they'll get bored and tell you

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah how do you ignore people though? can you put them on a list where you don't get messages from them?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

you can "warn" them

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

(but I meant "ignore" in a literal sense)

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

warned

― brutal (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

amst. wht is the name of the person and maybe we can tell you who it is?

― brutal (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

i dunno it was like s111s111s111 or something

not really a big deal of course

i just joined aim to chat w/my best friend in chicago, and it's nice to occasionally chat with a few other folks, but there seems to be a politics of it too--like jess mocking me for not wanting to chat with trife (it seems self-evident that this would be the case), or random strangers contacting me and not telling me who they are.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

anyway, i'm tired, i have to do my homework...bye

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

no one ever does that to me

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

dammit, i was sure that someone was going to make a Hilton sisters joke on this thread...

― Jay Dee Sah Mon (Kingfish), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

amateurist: "Mais arretes-toi putain ! Ca fait chier quoi ! Fous moi la paix quoi !" If you want to start a fight. :)

Er, how about the verb "gener" (to bother someone) that seems appropriate: "S'il vous plait, c'est genant !/cela me gene !" Or "chiant" which is stronger. Very useful word for les emmerdes/emmerdeurs..

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 01:21 (twenty-one years ago)

God I hate that "quoi" thing, it's like adding a little "shut up" to the end of your sentence.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 01:39 (twenty-one years ago)

so w/r/t the eurostar, i'm looking to buy a ticket to come to london on the 28th (in the late afternoon/early evening) and to return to Paris on Dec 2nd (in the mid-late morning). so far on the website the total cost is about 100 euros. does this seem right? or would i be paying too much? and are they pretty dependable about mailing the tickets? i wouldn't want them to arrive after i leave!

of course i should probably just go to the gare du nord and buy them, but i'm a bit frightened of that place having had a weird experience there a month or so ago.

i was originally going to go by plane thanks to easyjet but everytime i mention easyjet to people i get weird "oh poor you" looks so maybe not. and i suppose gare du nord direct to waterloo is better than de gaulle to luton (??)

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 17 November 2003 21:35 (twenty-one years ago)

and the diff. in price is 30 euros which i guess isn't a big deal, it's the cost of the book i left in the fucking telecabine the other day (fuck fuck fuck fuck)

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 17 November 2003 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, go Eurostar. They are generally VERY quick with mailing the tickets and all, but is Gare Du Nord really that painful for you?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 17 November 2003 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Easyjet could be a lot worse, IMHO.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 17 November 2003 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah the eurostar looks like a bit of a rip-off in comparison to the cheap flights you can get (and the sooner you book 'em the better I know)

what happened at the gare du nord? i've been there millions of time with nary a hassle, you might wanna just go back...

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 17 November 2003 23:39 (twenty-one years ago)

There is still the small matter of getting from Luton to (presumably) Central London-the aiport title "London Luton" is a bit misleading, as it's in Bedfordshire!("Greater" London, maybe?)

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 17 November 2003 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

where are you studying film...just curious how you like it so far.

― Jacky Tran (waxyjax), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Luton to London = train from Luton Airport Parkway to King's Cross. Not too difficult.

― cis (cis), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 18:17 (twenty-one years ago)

oh yeah, I kept thinking only Stansted had trains. Sorry.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 18 November 2003 18:19 (twenty-one years ago)

not studying here...

still haven't bought a ticket as I'm being flaky

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 19 November 2003 10:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Coming in here a bit late, but: "Excusez-moi, mais ça me tape sur les nerfs."

― Jonathan Z., Wednesday, 19 November 2003 10:31 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...

so should i see jellyfish a.k.a. bright future by kiyoshi kurosawa or kill bill?

i had plans to meet some people at an event but i was late and it was sold out. crap.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:41 (twenty-one years ago)

ok so i need a new place to live starting early january.

any ideas as to people looking for roomates, empty rooms, or places to look for same???

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 15 December 2003 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

...

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 15 December 2003 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

middle-aged american couple in cybercafe

woman (very loudly, in the general direction of the attendant): We can't find email here!

man: Are these French? Because we can't find email.

(everyone near me in the cybercafe turns their head and giggles)

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

now the attendant is patiently explaining to the guy how to use a computer.

attendant: click "ok"

man: two clicks?

attendant: no, just one.

man: now what?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Happy holidays, Amateurist :)

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

you too man!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

oh btw i found a place. don't want to say more about it here though. but just so yous know

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

the place we were talking about?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)

yeh

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

nice!! MAZEL TOV

― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

amst - if I need to ask you questions about moving to paris and all the vagaries contained therein, would that be ok? also, other people who have moved to and lived in paris, you too?

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 21 June 2004 23:31 (twenty-one years ago)

ask me!

― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

demande moi!

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:50 (twenty-one years ago)

plan b, hey coz?

(o actually if its not too much a derailment does anyone know of any hotels they'd be comfy with recommending? nxt couple of months, as long as i feel. ta much)

― prima fassy (mwah), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

― cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:32 (twenty-one years ago)

My youngest sister (almost 22) moves to Paris in less than 2 weeks. I'm going back to Virginia for a few days to see her off. I can't believe she has her one-way ticket!

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 12:25 (twenty-one years ago)

do you know the details of how she is going about it, sarah?

adam, I'll ask you.

― cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 12:26 (twenty-one years ago)

What exactly do you wanna know? She has a job lined up with the embassy teaching kids English, but is trying to find a job in engineering. I guess if all else fails, she could marry the Parisian bf and get her visa that way...?

She got rid of lots of stuff, gave some of it to my mom and sister. Her bf already has an apartment, but they'll be looking for a bigger one after she gets there. Already knowing someone there to live with is making everything a lot easier for her.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

is there a paris craigs-list?

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 21 October 2005 07:43 (twenty years ago)

qu'est ce que c'est ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 21 October 2005 09:55 (twenty years ago)

cozen, there is, though I've never really checked it out.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 21 October 2005 13:21 (twenty years ago)

I'll look into it

― c7n (Cozen), Friday, 21 October 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

Voidriez-vous habiter a Paris?

― Kittens Licking Cakes (coco), Friday, 21 October 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

nope, well for a little while

― c7n (Cozen), Friday, 21 October 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)

any ilxors in Paris right now ? (we could start a FAP in paris then...).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 21 October 2005 15:24 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

So what's the paris craigs list?? The real craigslist is pretty crappy for Europe so far. I need a roommate fast as a job offer awaits!

― richardk (Richard K), Sunday, 5 February 2006 01:48 (nineteen years ago)

www.pap.fr

― -bruno, Sunday, 5 February 2006 02:58 (nineteen years ago)

thanks this seems like the real deal!

― richardk (Richard K), Sunday, 5 February 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

i found a really sweet sublet via some site like expatriates.com or something. it was a total fluke. i ended up with a big loft in montreuil for six months for about 400E/month. about a mile from les instants chavires (which i only went to three times, once i tried chatting with the folks from constellation in montreal and they were rude to me).

this thread is really a blast from the past.

there's a chance i may get to live in paris again next year (attending the sorbonne), but i won't know for a few months.

there's a guy here from paris who i hang out with from time to time, but he's kind of a drageur and he exhausts me a bit.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Sunday, 5 February 2006 14:59 (nineteen years ago)

once i tried chatting with the folks from constellation in montreal and they were rude to me

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 5 February 2006 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

who is your all-time favorite richard?

― W i l l (common_person), Sunday, 5 February 2006 16:56 (nineteen years ago)

Amateur(ist), you are so lucky.

― youn, Sunday, 5 February 2006 18:36 (nineteen years ago)

OK very similar dilemma to amateurist's thread opener: 2 apartment offers - One right across from the Barbès metro stop, which ppl here seem to say is a fun neighborhood, but the natives tell me it's among the 'worst.' Hard for me to judge, being from DC where the bad neighborhoods are war zones in comparison. Price is good - 500/mo. with 1000 deposit. Big caveat - sharing a room (albeit a huge one) with a girl my age who seems cool but still...

Other option: Place St Michel, the Fifth, right amongst all the tourists shops bars and restaurants, much smaller, and no student roommates, just an older working single guy. Price = 580/mo. but with only 580 deposit. I also feel dar1a's antipathy towards the college-girl yapping all around in the latin quarter, but on the other hand it has all the great cinemas and is generally an amazing area.

I'm leaning towards living with other young people in a more 'popular' neighborhood, but the huge deposit is holding me back. It's feasible but will make money tight at first. S1utski, et al-- how bad/good is goutte d'or really?

― richardk (Richard K), Thursday, 16 February 2006 13:29 (nineteen years ago)

Not that crazy really

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Thursday, 16 February 2006 13:39 (nineteen years ago)

if you're right at the barbes metro, it's an ok area. far from the worst (which is more north, near la chappelle, marx dormoy...). 5min from there is the lively area of pigalle (where you have two of the main "indie" gigs venues of paris - la cigalle and elysee montmartre), many nice bars. also 5min, the other way, there is the jaures area which is also very lively with indie bars/venue (point ephemere), a great movie theater (mk2) on the quai de seine. with the line 4 of metro, you're 10min from the center (les halles, beaubourg).
i'd say, go gor the barbes one...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 16 February 2006 13:46 (nineteen years ago)

eheh, guess who's here !

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 16 February 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

indie gig venues! sounds good, I'm going for it. Living cheaply will just be a matter of resisting temptation....

FAParis anyone??

― richardk (Richard K), Thursday, 16 February 2006 14:38 (nineteen years ago)

it's not FAP it's FAGOW (fancy a glass of wine) here, dude !
i think you'll be much better off in barbes than in st michel: "rive droite is where it's at"

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 16 February 2006 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I'd say go for Barbes. Thing is, maybe I'm wrong but as a girl prob it's tougher living in Barbes because of drageurs, generally worrying more about personal safety. definitely will be a more interesting experience.

There aren't any good places to eat around Saint Michel! I took a class at the Sorbonne which isn't too far & afterward couldn't wait to leave because there wasn't any place to get a good sandwich, even. It's also totally dead at nighttime.

1000 is an awfully large deposit though. Make extra double sure you have everything signed and clear in writing so as to ensure you get it back when you leave.

― dar1a g (daria g), Thursday, 16 February 2006 15:07 (nineteen years ago)

it's not FAP it's FAGOW (fancy a glass of wine) here, dude !

I know, I helped coin it I think. Anyway I've been curious about the french ILX contingent for quite some time.

Dar1a g, for the deposit, the market may have gotten worse in the past couple years, but I haven't found anything under 1000 (2x the rent) as a deposit, and usually a guarantor is required, too. I'm even suspicious of the smaller deposit because it's so rare--I have a feeling it will be that way precisely because of no contract or things signed.

Or maybe I've been looking in the wrong places.

I assume by no good places to eat in St Michel, you mean no good cheap places? Seems like there are a lot of tourist dives.

― richardk (Richard K), Thursday, 16 February 2006 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

barbes!!! do it!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 16 February 2006 17:10 (nineteen years ago)

it's been pretty cleaned up in the last few years, for better or worse

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 16 February 2006 17:10 (nineteen years ago)

Anyway I've been curious about the french ILX contingent for quite some time.

I don't know if there are many of us 'round here...
and about FAP/FAGOW, to be honest, i do them both ! (tonight will be more of a FAP for instance).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 16 February 2006 17:21 (nineteen years ago)

I think since our little friend AleXTC being one of the rock darlings sur la scène parisienne, his next gig could be the opportunity for a FAGOW!

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Thursday, 16 February 2006 19:34 (nineteen years ago)

barbes!!! do it!!
-- s1ocki (slytus...), February 16th, 2006.

C'est fait!

Alextc is a parisian rock darling?

― richardk (Richard K), Friday, 17 February 2006 12:35 (nineteen years ago)

ah. no. our man from brux Baaderonixx got a little carried away... i've just been roaming around the scene...
well done for the flat anyway. when are you gonna be in town ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 17 February 2006 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

i'm already in town on a couch. Been working for two weeks, hence the rush to get a real bed. Also to meet some people--I only know a few old friends that I keep in touch with.

― richardk (Richard K), Friday, 17 February 2006 20:08 (nineteen years ago)

nice dude!!

i wish i was in barbes right now :(

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 17 February 2006 20:11 (nineteen years ago)

me too! this futon is terrible...are you in town now s1ots, or elsewhere?

― richardk (Richard K), Friday, 17 February 2006 20:45 (nineteen years ago)

i'm in montreal!! the barbes of quebec!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 17 February 2006 20:46 (nineteen years ago)

how the hell do all you crazy kids manage to hang around paris and whatnot? Are you all fabulously wealthy or what????

― j. cousteau, Friday, 17 February 2006 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

It's a lot cheaper than New York or London I think, and probably a lot of other cities, too.

― richardk (Richard K), Friday, 17 February 2006 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

dude woah renting? stanus = :'(

― W i l l (common_person), Saturday, 18 February 2006 03:00 (nineteen years ago)

i would've gone for the other apartment, but whatever.

i was near barbes on new year's 2004, it was a strange scene getting home.

― amateurist0, Saturday, 18 February 2006 05:21 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know if there are many of us 'round here...
and about FAP/FAGOW, to be honest, i do them both ! (tonight will be more of a FAP for instance).

-- AleXTC

Looks like a paris FAP/FAGOW would consist of AleXTC, Baaderonix, myself? Perhaps there are others lurking. Anyways I will probably be celebrating finally getting a place in some fashion tonight.

― richardk (Richard K), Saturday, 18 February 2006 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

well i'm a parisian in exile, living in brussels, but i come back pretty often. I think there are a couple of other people, at least on ILM

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Saturday, 18 February 2006 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

Wow i didn't see that Amateursit lived in Porte de Clignancourt. My former hood! Rue Letort represent!

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Sunday, 19 February 2006 00:03 (nineteen years ago)

well, i'm ready for a FAGOW but we may wait for some more ilxors to join before ? (then baaderonix can come to, huh ?).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 11:58 (nineteen years ago)

I'm pretty sure I'm coming to Paris to interview Faïza Guene for the magazine I write for, in the next couple of weeks (my French is tres merde but I will have a translator for the interview). There is a great bar at the bottom of Rue des Martyrs which I go to whenever I am in town, next to that big theatre where Stomp and suchlike often play.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 20 February 2006 12:52 (nineteen years ago)

You've got to choose Barbes, so we can be neighbours (I live in Pigalle).
Btw has there ever been a Paris ILX Party ?

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 13:25 (nineteen years ago)

ah, some new parisian ilxors !
i don't think there's ever been a paris ilx party : FAGOW will be a premiere !

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 15:50 (nineteen years ago)

Snowball, if you are Pigalleois you will know this bar I'm going on about.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 20 February 2006 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

Isn't that La Fourmi?

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

suzy : you talk about la fourmi maybe ? nearby la cigale ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

ah. les grands esprits...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, la fourmi, aka All For Me.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:50 (nineteen years ago)

it's a nice bar. a bit too crowded maybe. could be one of the spots for a FAGOW (actually, more a FAP maybe).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

Hah - I'd never made the link with la cigale ("et la fourmi...")

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:56 (nineteen years ago)

really ? tssss...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

I can confirm it's la Fourmi. I like to have my coffee there in the morning.

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

are you french snowballing ? (just to know if FAGOW will be a french ilxor meeting or something more international !).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:28 (nineteen years ago)

In Paris my spots for drinkies are La Sancerre in the 18th, la Fourmi, and always, always in the basement of Colette with steak tartare or something. Otherwise my drinking is parties and openings as I have to go there for work - last time was to interview ¢#@r10++3 G@1n$b0urg (like pullling teeth, actually, MINE)

I'm not French but my grandmother was, and was from a Huguenot family to boot.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:38 (nineteen years ago)

Actually I have an english passport, but I've always lived in Paris. So I'm a basically a french guy that drinks too much lager I guess...

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

I've heard some great things about ¢#@r10++3 G@1n$b0urg's forthcoming album, which is produced by Air.

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:45 (nineteen years ago)

basically a french guy that drinks too much lager I guess...

pretty good definition of most of my friends (y compris baaderonixx) !

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

I've heard some great things about ¢#@r10++3 G@1n$b0urg's forthcoming album, which is produced by Air.

really ? hadn't heard about that (but i'm pretty reservé about all these trendy rive gauche collaborations...).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:49 (nineteen years ago)

I am sure it's going to be great. It pained me, when I met her, that she was so shy but I had been warned.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:51 (nineteen years ago)

Yes when I first heard about it, I also thought it would be like a trendier version of Malcolm Mc Laren's Paris Paris (ie absolutely awful), but someone I know has heard a few tracks and told me it sounds a lot like Virgin Suicide's soundtrack. So who knows...

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:54 (nineteen years ago)

well, i like charlotte a lot... but she can't sing (except the gainsbourg songs for girls to sing/talk on it of course).
i can imagine it's gonna be some atmospheric music with her talking/singing on it (a la melodie nelson, quoi...).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 17:57 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, my Mum thinks she's a Huguenot too! Her maiden name, which I won't divulge for banking security reasons, is the name of a village in the deep southwest from which a bunch of Huguenots fled to London.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:23 (nineteen years ago)

Hamlet more than village, really. It has an incredible graveyard.

Sorry for the derail. As you were.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:24 (nineteen years ago)

it seems we all live in the 18th. i'm not exactly an ilxor but if there's a FAP je viendrai

― --bruno, Monday, 20 February 2006 18:25 (nineteen years ago)

damn i miss paris :(

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:34 (nineteen years ago)

i'm not exactly an ilxor but if there's a FAP je viendrai

why aren't you exactly an ilxor ? (by the way, i'm not in the 18th but the 20th. eastside reprazent !).

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:36 (nineteen years ago)

It's funnycause I thought in the last few days about starting a thread called "this is the place where french Ilxors come out of the closet". This is it, then.

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

because i never post !

― --bruno, Monday, 20 February 2006 18:39 (nineteen years ago)

You've made two posts, so whether you like it or not, you are now an ilxor.

― snowballing (snowballing), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:42 (nineteen years ago)

"this is the place where french Ilxors come out of the closet"

"i heard my cellular, so i grabbed my bottle of french wine and i started a FAGOW - FAGOw - Fagow..."

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Monday, 20 February 2006 18:44 (nineteen years ago)

peu importe. when is the FAP ?

― --bruno, Monday, 20 February 2006 18:48 (nineteen years ago)

Madchen: talk about information you don't know what to do with when you do family trees aged 12, in American schools: my Huguenots - surname one of the oldest in France, and one of the first H families - are from the Artois or La Rochelle depending which accounts you read. One branch got to US in the 17th century *before* another arrived in Spitalfields. I also read something daft somewhere that they initially received patronage from Catherine de Medici, but all bets are off until I get my grandmother's baby book (promised by my dad this Xmas) and can find some names to cross-reference.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 20 February 2006 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

Local Huguenot history

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Monday, 20 February 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

Finally the Paris crü has a watercooler type thread. It's been toooo long

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Monday, 20 February 2006 20:35 (nineteen years ago)

suzy, i think there was a typo in your last post: you didn't drop anyone's name that i could see.

― amateurist0, Monday, 20 February 2006 20:58 (nineteen years ago)

catherine de medici doesn't count?!?!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 20 February 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

Amateurist, if you don't like it, tell your own story or get the life that allows you to do so. You don't become any more powerful or interesting by picking on my posts.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 08:20 (nineteen years ago)

Yes! Now the paris thread is just as ilx00Ry as the rest

― richardk (Richard K), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 09:35 (nineteen years ago)

Haha! Onward. Trip likely to be on a Thurs or Fri sometime in the next fortnight.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 09:36 (nineteen years ago)

AleXTC, when are you playing next?

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 10:29 (nineteen years ago)

no time soon, dude.
you have plans to come down ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 10:35 (nineteen years ago)

Maybe next week

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 11:17 (nineteen years ago)

ten months pass...

where can I find cheap, central appartment, today? online? help. thanks

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 January 2007 11:25 (eighteen years ago)

for four months, march-june. with internet conection. I have messaged almost every ad on paris craigslit and only a couple of rubbish ones replied.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 5 January 2007 11:49 (eighteen years ago)

what's your budget?

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Friday, 5 January 2007 11:55 (eighteen years ago)

900 euros a month maximum, really.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 5 January 2007 11:56 (eighteen years ago)

yeah,

all the studio/1 bed places on letting sites have service charges on top of monthly rate (typically +200 +12%)

need to keep below 900, all in. unless the place is magical

no idea what the norm is

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:00 (eighteen years ago)

I don't really want to pay a load of agency fees, but it seems like going through an agency is the safest way if I've got to put a deposit down without ever setting foot in France, and the agency flats I've looked at do seem much nicer and more central. But I keep requesting more info about apartments advertised on agency sites and they either don't get back to me or say they're already booked. This is a very frustrating process.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

I'd rather somewhere tiny and central than bigger and further out, I think. It just needs to have a double bed, a shower and something vaguely like a kitchen, even if that means two hotplates and a microwave in the corner.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:03 (eighteen years ago)

RJG i am trying to swing something for you, don't know if she's into letting out her spare room at the moment, though. what are your dates?

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:16 (eighteen years ago)

well! kind of end of feb/start of march-end of june, as cathy says

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:20 (eighteen years ago)

if it's two of you i'm not sure that works :/

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:43 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, I thought that should be the case

thanks for the thought, though

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 January 2007 12:46 (eighteen years ago)

is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx??

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 January 2007 20:48 (eighteen years ago)

The American church near Commerce used to (in 1997) have a message board for advertising short-term lets.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:00 (eighteen years ago)

My memory might be playing tricks on me - the American Church is in the 7th, which is not Commerce (that's the 15th). I wouldn't be surprised if they don't still have a message board, but you'd need somebody to go and look at it for you.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:04 (eighteen years ago)

try, i think it's, expats.com or something like that. that's how i found an apt to share, huge, for 425E/mo.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:07 (eighteen years ago)

the american church is near the musee d'orsay, right?

i didn't find the listings there very good.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

okay it's expatriates.com i think.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:09 (eighteen years ago)

Have you tried this search?
http://eole.logetu.vtech.fr/inf/etudiant/

― Mädchen (Madchen), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

(x-p) Yeah, it's on the Quai d'Orsay. I had some friends who found very, very cheap (and pretty crap tbh) accommodation around Bastille that way. I was lucky - the flatmate of one of my colleagues was moving out for the summer so I got her room in a spacious apartment with lovely modern furniture.

Are you going there to work, Cathy?

― Mädchen (Madchen), Friday, 5 January 2007 21:13 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks Madchen, I am just looking at that link now. No, I'm not going to work. The exact opposite in fact, as I'll be an Erasmus student. I'm technically supposed to be going to the University of Marne-la-Vallee out by Disneyland, but my real plan is to go there as little as possible, and just swan around Paris for four months. I'm hopefully going to take on more hours of my editing/proofreading job from the company in Brussels, which is why I think I can manage 900 euros a month. RJG wants to come with me, but we don't know if he can yet.

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 5 January 2007 23:15 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, that link doesn't work for me, it seems : (

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 5 January 2007 23:17 (eighteen years ago)

where were you, in paris, Amateur(ist)?

― RJG (RJG), Saturday, 6 January 2007 17:59 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

does anyone have any new-ish advice on this? id like something thats a) close to the city center but b) reasonable commute to/from gif-sur-yvette

also if anyone has any recommendations for places to eat/go things to do there in next month plz post them!!!

― ☼ (Lamp), Thursday, 5 August 2010 05:03 (fifteen years ago)

i have a good source for this, ilx mail me

― buzza, Thursday, 5 August 2010 05:10 (fifteen years ago)

I've never been to gif-sur-yvette but it looks like it's on RER B so you should probably base your hunt around that line.

cite universitaire is on that line (and on the edge of paris) and you could prolly find short term housing there without too much hassle.

― iatee, Thursday, 5 August 2010 05:11 (fifteen years ago)

i have a good source for this, ilx mail me

sent, thanks!

also if anyone has restaurant recs in particular that wld be really great

― ☼ (Lamp), Thursday, 5 August 2010 05:21 (fifteen years ago)

chez l'ami jean is amazing. you've gotta eat there

― just sayin, Thursday, 5 August 2010 07:28 (fifteen years ago)

eleven years pass...

someone I know is looking at taking a job in the outskirts of paris (in rungis). if they wanted to live in paris proper and commute, where should they be looking? where's nice to live that won't have a horrible commute time?

― Qamon (||||||||), Friday, 5 November 2021 17:36 (three years ago)

'Apartments In Paris' would be a great album title.

― Being cheap is expensive (snoball), Friday, 5 November 2021 18:44 (three years ago)

Not my area of expertise since I've only lived in Paris as an exchange student and that was fifteen years ago, but when I was there, the 13th arrondissement was a fine place to live.

― Lily Dale, Friday, 5 November 2021 21:06 (three years ago)

two years pass...

Looking at an area to stay for a break. Is the 13th nice?

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 17 July 2024 20:00 (one year ago)

Never stayed there, I will be staying in the 14th next month though!

― Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Wednesday, 17 July 2024 21:02 (one year ago)

That's great let us know as it would be one trip.

Still looking for recommends

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 08:17 (one year ago)

*not be one trip.

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 08:17 (one year ago)

spend a few days in the 10th last year, would recommend.

― willem, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 08:34 (one year ago)

Grand will look for airbnb options around there and 14th later

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 08:38 (one year ago)

13th is near the huge Vietnamese/ESEA area of Paris and you’ll eat well over there.

― guillotine vogue (suzy), Wednesday, 31 July 2024 08:52 (one year ago)

Le 10ème is so centered, you'll be close to everything. Les Grands Boulevards are active day and night, Asian food around Opéra garnier, Jewish in Le Marais. You're sort of in-between the rich Western side and popular Eastern side. I don't know much about Rive gauche past what's along the river though. I think I stayed once in the 14th fifteen years ago.

― Nabozo, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 09:15 (one year ago)

Big part of 13th is Paris asian/chinatown. Mostly 70's tower blocks but there are also some more traditional haussmann parts. Not the most exciting part of town but it's ok and well connected. 14th probably has a bit more of a leisurely vibe

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 31 July 2024 10:18 (one year ago)

I used to work in the 14th and it's a fairly generic bourgeois Parisian neighbourhood. My memory of the 13th is tower blocks, the Mitterrand library and Asian restaurants... but I don't think it matters too much where you stay, everything is so close. The 10th is my favourite area though, so central and just a ton of little bars and restaurants and quirky shops

― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 12:33 (one year ago)

My friends lived near Maison Blanche metro which was very SE Asian; up near Place d’Italie has lots of galleries and Haussmann architecture but still, loads of Vietnamese/Cambodian/Lao restaurants.

― guillotine vogue (suzy), Wednesday, 31 July 2024 12:45 (one year ago)

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