A Bientot Chez Nous!

Bonjour Blogsphere!

So it is official! After nearly two years of debating and searching, Thomas and I are finally buying an apartment of our own here in the Paris metro area! :-) As long as we make it through all of the French bureaucracy (the process here is very different than in the US) and red tape over the next 2 and a half months (a small forest has already given its life for the first round of paperwork), we should be able to move into our new home by October 15! And what an apartment we found!

We found a beautiful 3 piece apartment (in Paris, apartments are sized by pieces, ie rooms) which has a big living area (pictured) and two bedrooms. The apartment is on the 7th (and top) floor of a 1930's art deco style building (with elevator) and in addition to being full of light, has a long balcony with an unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower and Paris. How lucky can a girl be? That large window you see in the picture leads to the balcony which goes the full length of the wall. I can already envision watching the New Year's and Bastille Day fireworks with friends.

The bedroom pictured here is the larger of the two. Both bedrooms are quite long in length- only a third of the bedroom is actually pictured. In the main bedroom, there is a large closet (YAY!), while the smaller bedroom has light wood paneling, which reminds me of my childhood home (no western PA house built in the 1960s-70s is complete without wood paneling- although our guest bedroom's is a much lighter shade). We'll probably use the smaller bedroom for now as a guest bedroom and office.


The kitchen is small, but it has enough room for a dishwasher, a washing machine, an oven, a fridge, and everything else I could need. I really like how it is open into the main salon area, and love the big window. Ah.... :-) I'm so excited.

The apartment also has a cute little bathroom which has a decent bathtub and shower. No photo of that yet, but we'll post one after we move in. Keep in mind that all the furniture and decoration you see pictured belongs to the current owner. I have so many ideas for decorating already!




But where is this fabulous apartment, you ask? For those of you familiar with Paris, the apartment itself is actually in the city of Issy Les Moulineaux, right by Porte de Versailles (and a five minute walk to the Metro 12, T-2, and T-3). If you cross the street, you are in Paris's 15th arrondisement. The building is pictured here. The VERY top balcony and window you can kind of see in the photo will be ours. Woo! There is a cute cafe downstairs, and the quarter is brimming with life- lots of restaurants, markets, bakeries, etc. The more we visit the quarter, the more I like it. It is also a 10 minute walk to my favorite gym and an 8 minute tram ride to the HP office. The metro gets us to St. Lazare (where we live now) in about 25 minutes, and stops at a lot of great places. Issy Les Moulineaux is also cool because it is one of the main business districts of Paris.Most of the media companies have their offices here, as do many tech companies because the price is lower than in Paris proper and because there are not the building restrictions. (There are a lot of larger office buildings in Issy, in fact there are about 85,000 jobs in the city and 60,000 inhabitants). So, it mixes the modern urban feel with classic Parisian.

We're very happy with the apartment. Now onto the paperwork. Our offer was accepted and today we signed a contract which is a permission to buy the apartment (after going through the full diagnostic of the apartment and hammering out additional contract details). Next, we send the permission to buy to the bank to secure our loan. Then we work out with the lawyer the final contract and finally sign it (and transfer the money) to the buyer. So, it won't be ours officially until October, but we're off to a good start!

And now, I'm exhausted after going through an evening of contracts and formalities in French. Time for bed!

A bientot,
Liz Anne

Arrondissement Immersion

Good morning blogsphere!

It's yet another sunny day in Paris. I know the classic song is all about Paris in the springtime, but personally, I love Paris in the summer! Since we no longer have a wedding to plan (as we are now married), my husband and I have commenced with project "Acheter Appt" in order to fill the void. As I have spent the last 14 years renting (with the longest stay in one apartment being my nearly two years in Zurich), I look forward to actually owning a place and nesting.

We're currently searching for a "3 Piece" (ie 3 room) apartment. My main criteria is that the area must be cute, there must be a metro within a 5-10 minute walk, and there must be lots of little cafes nearby (with at least one open on Sundays). We would potentially prefer to have a park nearby, but can live without it. The area must also be safe and secure. We know that we like the Marais (4th), Rue Moufftard, and Levallois (which is right on the edge of Paris); however as neither one of us are from Paris (my husband grew up near Versailles), we are not 100% familiar with all the unique neighborhoods Paris has to offer.

So this weekend, we decided to discover two arrondisements- the 7th and the 15th. We have definitely ruled the 7th out as a potential place to live- there's not really much life other than the governmental offices. The area seemed devoid of the little cafes I love about Paris as well, so that was definitely a downside. In the 15th, however, we were pleasantly surprised. There's more grit in this neighborhood than in our current one (the 8th), and it just feels more urban and real. I also love the fact that the metro is a train on an elevated platform in this area. It adds movement and charm. The streets are also more narrow and less planned, which I prefer to the wide avenues. And, in good news, the 15th is both safe and more affordable than some of the other neighborhoods in Paris! So, it's now on our list (particularly near rue Commerce, quartier Grenelle and Vaugirard).

Lapin a la Mode Tip du Jour:

Every woman wants lush, long eyelashes. In fact, when forced to choose only one make-up item, the majority of women choose mascara. In an effort to make lashes even longer and fuller, many cosmetic lines offer a mascara primer. My opinion- eyelash primers do make a huge difference. I experimented recently and did one eye with Lancome's Oscillation Powerbooster under my regular mascara (which is Lancome's Virtuose currently) and the other eye with just the mascara. Not only did my lashes look longer and fuller with the primer, but I found it much easier to apply the actual mascara- much less clumping. For those of you in Europe, Oscillation Powerbooster is currently only available in the Lancome boutique in Paris or in the USA; however, I have always liked Lancome's Cils Booster XL (which is also less pricey). I also prefer the usage of mascara primers plus mascara to the mascara layering techniques some of my former make-up artist collegues employed- anytime I layer mascaras, they have the tendency to flake on me!

Click of French Culture:

Paris is split into 20 different neighborhoods called arrondissements. They spiral out from the center of Paris in a snail-like formation and are flanked on either side by two huge parks- Bois de Vincennes and Bois de Boulogne. Each one has its own color and flavor. If you want a taste of each of the arrondisements without traveling to Paris, check out the movie Paris, je t'aime, which hosts a series of 18 short films, each about a different arrondissement!

Well readers, I'm off to get ready for my day and potentially go explore another arrondissement! A bientot!

-Liz Anne