apartments in paris

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.

(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.)

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...

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 ?

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

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..

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

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?

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.

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?

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.

(xp)

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.

sorry for overposting. you know the situation.

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

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.

particulier a particulier

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

thanks for the thought, though

i didn't find the listings there very good.

Are you going there to work, Cathy?

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!!!

i have a good source for this, ilx mail me

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.

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

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

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?

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

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.

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

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

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

Still looking for recommends

*not be one trip.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.