... how people move big bulky objects -- like pianos, and those giant French armoires we're all so fond of finding in antique stores -- into these Parisian buildings with miniscule (or no) elevators and narrow winding staircases.
Now I know the answer:
Professional movers with a special lift hoisted these boxes into this 7th floor window with ease. So easy, in fact, that the guys on the ground basically sat around talking and cleaning their fingernails in between taking things off the truck and putting them on the lift. Their buddies upstairs had a similarly easy job. And no one got a hernia trying to get the family baby grand up into the new flat.