Over these past few weeks, it’s become clear that living in Paris means getting comfortable with small spaces and little privacy. This semester, I’m living in a three bedroom apartment with four other girls. My housing was assigned by CEA (my program provider). It’s located in one of the outer arrondissements (neighborhoods) on the left bank of the Seine river. It’s a relatively residential neighborhood with lots of families and parks. The streets are narrow and lots of our windows face right into those of our neighbors. Everything is slightly calmer and cheaper out in our arrondissement compared to central Paris.
Our apartment is on the 4th floor of our building and although there’s an elevator, it’s only big enough to squeeze in 2-3 people and it’s much easier to use the stairs. Carrying groceries upstairs isn’t an issue because people in France grocery shop almost every other night and don’t have to worry about lugging tons of bags home. It’s more common to shop daily or every other day here and to pop by your local boulangerie or épicerie for bread and produce.
In our apartment, we share a living room, kitchen, bathroom and a room for the toilet. In France, the shower and sink can be found in the bathroom while the toilet is usually in its own separate room. A lot of these toilet rooms are converted closets because many of the older apartments in Paris added toilets years after they were built.
As in most other Parisian homes, walls divide every room. The kitchen is separate from the living space. Open-concept kitchens can be found in Parisian homes, but they’re not common and they’re usually referred to as “cuisines américaines” (American kitchens). Our kitchen has everything we could need to cook and clean as well as a washing machine. We don’t have a dryer, but a lot of Parisian apartments have no dryers and most people hang dry all of their clothes. Our hallway is always full of clothes on the drying rack.
I love our apartment and neighborhood. Every day when I get home and enter the stairwell, I’m welcomed by the smell of all the different meals people are making. However, there have been a few small things to adjust to. Some things that are super common in the US like measuring spoons are impossible to find in France. In France, people instead use a scale to weigh their spices and dry ingredients. Also, getting into our apartment was confusing at first because french locks are super complicated and usually involve lots of intricate keys and multiple deadbolts. However, despite any difficulties, my roommates and I have had a great time settling in to our apartment and have made lots of time for “family” meals.
