After several apartment visits (another discouraging task, after quickly finding out I was going to need someone – in France – to sign saying they would pay if I couldn’t, and I was going to need to buy insurance, and pay a security deposit, and the first months rent, and maybe an agency fee etc etc), I decided on renting a room in a retired French couple’s house. I finally moved in about two weeks after I arrived. There are a lot of pros: I’ve got my own room and bathroom, get to use the internet, TV, kitchen, washing machine, they give me clean sheets and towels and there is a cleaning woman that comes once a week! It also comes complete with two crazy cats – just like home! I also don’t have to pay utilities and it was cheaper than any apartment/studio. Yeah it’s not my own place, but they are away a lot, so the house is then basically mine. It’s not a bad deal.
The house is in a residential area, but there is a bus stop right outside the door and it’s probably only a 20-minute walk from downtown. One thing I knew, but forgot about, was the use of gates/fences/doors in France. This house, for example, is surrounded (like all the other houses in the area) by a automated gate, which opens with a garage door opener remote thing. Then once inside, every room/floor has a door, which is always kept closed. Sort of the opposite of American houses, where people look for big open spaces and rooms that lead into the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment