Our new Paris home (for six weeks!)

One of our most important tasks each year before we leave Paris is to decide on our apartment for the next year. This is a major task as the number of neighborhoods, apartments and price ranges is enormous. Each year we get a little better, and a little bit more discriminating, in where we stay. The first year we picked the apartment after meeting someone at Monet's house in Givernais. That apartment, in the Rue du Tresor in the Marais, was wonderful and we still see Irv and Iris when we are back in Paris. Our first apartment and neighborhood will always be a special place for us.

But, each year as we go back, we try to find something a little bit different and/or in a different neighbourhood. Chris spends hours at the computer scouting possibilities. By now, this will be our fifth year, we have pretty well determined our priorities;

• A "Parisian" apartment in a nice neighborhood in proximity to a nice Cafe, Boulangerie and Tabac (for the newspaper) - we want to be in a place that is clearly Parisian in feel
• A comfortable bed - queen or king size
• A shower - the French like tubs
• High speed internet access - a must for me
• Comfortable chairs where you can read - really important when you don't watch TV
• A central neighborhood - we like to walk everywhere
• Fully equipped kitchen, DW, Clothes washer - Chris must be able to cook and wash our clothes.

These are probably not surprising. What may be more surprising is what is not a priority for us,

• An elevator - frequently really old, but desirable; buildings cannot esthetically be fitted for elevators. Parisians accept this. Often elevators are so small that our bodies touch on all sides--definitely not something Christina goes in willingly!
• A second bedroom. Nice, but not required. However, the last two apartments have had two bedrooms and bathrooms.

Not surprisingly, everything is available, it just costs more. So, rather than getting cheaper as we get more experienced, it gets more expensive. Chris spends some time almost everyday, on-line looking for apartments and arranging for us to visit them. This year we visited six apartments before agreeing on one that seems to be very special. It's a 17th century "Hotel Particulare" (not sure what this means exactly, but it's old and special). It's on the banks of the Seine facing the city.

All Parisian apartments have big doors on the street side. If your lucky, it will have nice courtyard (rather than parking and recycling bins). This aparment has an attractive courtyard but not one that's usable.

One of the things we're most excited about is it has a lovely little library off the living room where you can work or read. The panelling is original and aparently installed by the same craftsman that did the White House! Not having seen that room, I'm not sure whether that's a recommendation - but it looks beautiful.