As many of you who follow me on social media know, finding an apartment was no easy task. It was everything but easy and brought more stress than I had anticipated. Paris has no shortage of apartments on Airbnb and I know that because I looked at just about every single one of them. I went into this hunt with a naivety that would soon be shattered along with my spirit. Each time we have gone into planning a trip the accommodations have never been an issue—let alone something that caused this much stress. I quickly became a member of the Paris Apartment Victims Unit; this is my story…dun dun.
The humm of the microwave resonated in the kitchen as it warmed my water and I, tired from another night of Brin’s sleep antics, anxiously waited to dunk my two tea bags and let the crushed green tea and passion fruit blends seep into the scolding water, slowly awakening me from the fog. With the boys happily curled up in bed watching their favorite Australian pup cartoon, Bluey, I began the pursuit for my perfect-Parisian-palace. Okay, it would be more like a Parisian pad, but it would be mine and I will love it! As most parts of my planning go, I start with what I know: a list of things I want and need. I knew I wanted to be able to walk the Seine every day, have my favorite corner grocery store close by, perhaps a park for the boys to play, and of course be in an area that felt safe for us to come and go. The apartment would need to be a small, but functional, space with a separate bedroom to make sleeping and naps easier, a kitchen so I could cook meals, and preferably no loft beds, stairs or ladders; so I set off on my search.
I had my dates already in mind which made for a good starting point. In trips past we have always stayed in the 18th arrondissement, Montmartre, the laid back bohemian district filled with lots of places to eat, artisan shops, and great views of the city from atop its seemingly never-ending hill. It’s the home of Sacré-Coeur, the beautiful church that graces my left forearm as a daily reminder to seek the things I love. The basilica watches over the city and blesses her with its stunning splendor. Though I love this area so very much, it is riddled with staircase after staircase, and if you aren’t moderately in Olympic shape you will be in trouble. So because of the mountainous steps around every turn, it doesn’t make life with young kids very doable…you will not be getting a stroller around those part anytime soon. Huge bummer because this part of the city tends to be the easiest on my bank account while also offering beautiful buildings with iron balconies and killer views. We will definitely be spending time in the area, but it won’t be where we call home.
The search continued, and I looked at many places all along the Seine, into the Latin Quarter, St. Germain, and Le Marais. All of them offered something a bit different from cute shops to streets lined with bistros…you really couldn’t go wrong. As I started to reach out to the different hosts, I ran into my first issue: the time difference. Paris is nine hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time.As we are waking up, their day is coming to a close, and the late evenings here are early mornings there. This made having any kind of conversation near impossible. I was staying up late in hopes the host would be up early and see my message or I was waking up really early to try to get a head start on contacting them before their day was over. It was a chase, mostly on my part. The toughest thing about it was I would send an inquiry, wait all day, look into the area more, get super excited about the place just to be told they wouldn’t rent to me for one reason or another. Bummed and frustrated I would have to start all over again. Going through all the apartments, questioning all my thinking from before, and re-evaluating what I needed/wanted. Then, I’d finally feel good about a new place, an inquiry would be sent out again, and I would wait… This happened six times! By the fourth time, we had widened our search, taken several things off the must-have list, moved farther away from the river, and definitely upped the budget. Oh yeah, that “no loft, stairs, or ladders” part? That is no simple request in these extremely small, but well-thought-out Paris studios. They truly use every inch of the space they are given, from tables that fold out of the wall to beds that crank down from the ceiling; they have figured it all out. As place after place turned us down, ladders and stairs started to seem more doable.
I was bound and determined to make this happen and someone was going to let me book! After searching all day and coming up with nothing that felt like a good fit or a safe bet, a new place came on the map. A small one-bedroom apartment near Champs-Elyseés in the 8th arrondissement. From Google Maps it looked like a quiet street, my favorite grocery was nearby, and there were many shops and restaurants all around; it was promising. So I started to see what the past guests had said and the reviews were amazing—4.98 stars on 58 reviews! It doesn’t get much better than that. I was nervous to write yet another message inquiring about a space out of fear of more rejection so decided to go for the request to book option in hopes they would just accept it; no preliminary conversation just right to booking. I noticed in the Host’s bio that he was a dad to a little girl, so I used that to my advantage. I told him in our request to book that the boys and I hoped to have this Parisian adventure together, a taste of living abroad, and that we were having a really hard time getting any one to let us move forward with renting. After a few lines of pulling at heart strings, I sent the request and went to bed.
The next morning started as all the others had: tea, cartoons, and Airbnb but this time I was met with an accepted booking! We officially had an apartment in Paris to call home. Step one complete!
Everything I wanted was coming to be. When people talked about me they would say, “Oh Michelle? She’s gone to Paris…” and right in that moment my Parisian life had begun.
More to come…
She's gone to Paris 
I know it will be worth all of the effort you put into finding the perfect spot!
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