*Hell
As most of you are probably aware, we are preparing for a change of residence. The house, happily, has been discovered by a nice couple with little children and some vision, and we must vacate by the end of June. (We tried to get Clachat thrown into the bargain, but they didn't go for it.)
Which means we are now in Parisian real-estate hell. Although we are downsizing our living space from 5 bedrooms to 3, and we would even be willing to live with 1 bathroom/WC instead of two, we are limited as to location. For the next two years we decided to stay as close as possible to our existing quartier so the Little Guy can finish primary school without having to make a change (moving house is a big enough change for him right now). So we decided to stick close by and rent, and then in a couple of years when he's approaching collège (middle school), we will shop around for an apartment to buy in a better neighborhood with better schools, as education in this country is paramount and we want to give him every advantage in preparing for high school and university. But even then, we won't go too far away from where we are now, as we rather like it.
Herein lies our dilemma: there are very few unfurnished 3-bedroom apartments in this area. I've seen three in the past couple of weeks, all newly cleaned up, painted and modernized (pluses) but all of which had problems with the bedrooms, which were either done shotgun-style, or just WAY too small with no closets and no space to fit both a bed AND a portable closet/armoire. I saw one yesterday that was in a really great location and the price was reasonable, and it even had a terrasse of 30m2, but not only were all three bedrooms trop petites, but the alleged salon was nothing more than a passageway to the great terrace, with a roof sloping so dramatically I couldn't see how the space would work for us. Oh, and not ONE closet in the entire place. Would be fine for a couple or some students but not for a family like ours.
Last night, we went to see another apartment, and it was really quite big with 4 bedrooms, a bathroom, a shower room and 2 WC's. The entire place needed refreshing and we spent quite a bit of time discussing what renovations we might do, including knocking out a wall to add one of the bedrooms to the kitchen for more space, tearing out the bidet in the bathroom (does anyone use those things anymore? On second thought, don't answer that; I really don't need to know) and turning 2 small closets into one big one. The rooms were spacious, there was a long balcony with access from 3 of the bedrooms, it was quiet, and we could "visualize" it. Except for one thing: LOCATION. Just steps away from the Porte de Clignancourt metro and the Marché aux Puces, this is not such a nice area late at night coming home, and since this was for purchase rather than for rent, we'd have to commit to living there at least 5 years, which brings us back to the question of good schools for the youngest. In the end, I think we'll end up passing on it and continue looking for suitable rentals, but it sure was tempting. This morning I told Georges that I think I was more in love with the idea of renovating a place to suit us (this place had been inhabited by someone elderly who died last month, the original and only owner of this circa 1970 apartment, which both looked and smelled like eau de old lady) but I was not in love with the location or even the apartment itself. It's easy to get caught up in imagining things that are in no way practical when you're house or apartment hunting.
Today, I was proud of myself for calling an agence immobilier myself (usually I make Georges do these things) to ask for a visite for another place that's a little out of the quartier but where we could still take the Little Guy to school, and where I am hopeful we could be comfortable renting for a couple of years. The location is superbe -- top of the Butte de Montmartre with views, all freshly painted and renovated, kitchen partially equipée (did you know most kitchens come with nothing but a couple of cabinets and the kitchen sink, and nothing else, and even when you're renting you could end up having to buy your own fridge, stove, oven, microwave and dishwasher? Welcome to Paris), and lots of light and space. Downsides: top of our rental budget and only TWO actual bedrooms, but I saw the floor plan and photos, and am convinced we could suspend a heavy decorative curtain across this one alcove that had bookshelves and access to the loggia with the great views, to make some privacy for when one of the older kids or a guest is staying with us. And last night I got to thinking about the location, which while superb, is also a bit in the "tourist zone" and therefore lacks certain amenities -- like a real supermarket nearby, so I would end up walking quite a ways, up hills or those bazillion staircases all over Montmartre, to do the grocery shopping. Sure, I want to get healthier, but I wasn't quite counting on THAT. Still, I want to see the place, as it seems to be "calling to me" in a strange way that I can't really explain. I had a similar feeling when I found my old apartment in the 15th, which was a stretch for my budget but I kept coming back to it over and over online, and I ended up being really happy there. Maybe my intuition is working the same way this time, and this will be "the" place for us to make our new home for a few years, at least.
Or... perhaps not. That's the thing: something can look good on paper and then you get there, and it's got problems. I know you can't get perfection, and sometimes compromises are required. We're willing to be flexible on number of bedrooms as long as we can have enough space for a couple of sofa-beds or futons so the older kids have a place to crash when they need one. We're willing to live with a lot less communal space than we're used to with our nice roomy house. We don't require a view, balcony, terrace or courtyard for green space, although we might get lucky with one of those points. We're willing to put a lot of our stuff into storage, knowing that for a rental, it's unlikely we'll be able to find or even afford the kind of place that would let us have Georges' entire library or enough closet space for ALL my shoes. Something's gotta give when you're apartment hunting in a big city.
So the search continues. It's March now, and I'm starting to get nervous. The end of June isn't all that far away, and during the last week in May/first week in June, I will be Stateside visiting my family for the first time in a year (woo-hoo!), so we will have to coordinate moving around that trip (Georges is also traveling for business during that time). My hope is that we can find a place this month where we could take possession no later than May 1st, then do all the moving before our travels.
Meantime, if anyone happens to have a line on an unfurnished 3-bedroom (or 2-bedroom plus "bureau" or "chambre de service") for rent not too far from the Mairie du 18ème neighborhood, let me now right away!
