Vous êtes des optimistes!

We didn't arrange a permanent apartment in Paris in advance from Canada.  Although there are many rental agencies in Paris, and everything can be searched on-line, we decided that we couldn't properly decide without being here and seeing the lay of the land.  So we booked a 2 week vacation apartment and set out to find a permanent location once we arrived.  At the agency where we booked the temporary apartment, the kindly fellow, when he heard of our plans to find a permanent residence within those two weeks, exclaimed, "Mais vous êtes des optimistes!"

Well, we are, and I am pleased to confirm that our optimistic plans have not miscarried.  We have an apartment!  It couldn't be any more central really.  Consider the map of Paris as an archery target, then our location is the bullseye.  We are a mere block from Musée d'Orsay.  Within a 10 minute walk is the Louvre in one direction, the Eiffel Tower in the other direction, and any number of other phenomenal cultural and historic locations in any random direction.    To see where we are, fire up google maps and enter "rue Bellechasse Paris".  These are the doors onto the street:

Jerome is just barely strong enough to push the big doors open, once unlocked.  When the big doors are swung in, they open onto a passage that leads into a courtyard.  On one side of the courtyard is our place.  Here,

The original apartment building is 18th century.  It is U-shaped, presumably for easy entry of carriages into the courtyard.  In the 19th century this building was added, closing off the courtyard, a "hôtel particulier".  Ours is the lower floor of this building.  Although inside it is split vertically, with a kind of partial mezzanine, added recently.  On this mezzanine level is a bedroom and two (!) bathrooms.  It's kind of like an internal balcony.  Maybe that's confusing - I will add some photos of the inside later.  In addition we have an actual basement, of two small rooms.  Not just "un cave", which would be typical. We have seen some caves - worn steps going down to a winding "dungeon" of unfinished stone with several storerooms.  When the kids first saw a real "cave" they were quite excited, "Oh this is so cool!" But that's not what we have.  We have a real finished basement.  Very rare in Paris.  And a fantastic place to practice.  Silke and Jerome could play their instruments down there to their hearts' content and never disturb anyone.

Considering how central the location is, the price is quite reasonable.  Probably because the layout is rather odd, and if not exactly dilapidated, it is certainly well-worn.  Minor inconveniences!  Importantly, it is in the catchment area for my first choice of school for the children.  It is also not far from my first choice for music conservatory.

In typical fashion, everything came together at the last minute.  HSBC has been painfully slow (August in France), and although our account was opened last week (after starting about a month beforehand in Canada with HSBC international!), it took almost another week until the bank cards and cheques were available.  Mere hours before we had to write a cheque to secure the apartment!  The apartment is owned by an elderly French gentlemen, very charming and very gracious.  Also somewhat reluctant to rent to foreigners we were made to understand.  We had a full two hour interview with him, in French of course.  I think he was quite satisfied.  Silke and Jerome impressed (with a bit of coaching beforehand on how to speak to an elderly French gentleman!)  "Ils sont très bien élevé."  According to the agency, he preferred also not have children in the apartment.  (My understanding is that the agency chose not to warn him to advance of meeting us that Silke and Jerome existed.)  Now he has both foreigners and children.  And everyone is very satisfied with the arrangement.