Home is where you hang your chapeau

Until this morning, Thomas and I were still not sure where we were going to live once he and the beagles arrive in Paris at the end of the summer.  A major worry since finding housing can be competitive. And finding housing during August when everyone in Paris leaves the town for vacation would be challenging.  With Thomas leaving France tomorrow finding something today was a major objective.  We were not planning to be so last minute, but the re-locator we had hired sprained her ankle last weekend and wasn't well enough until today to take us around.  Instead of showing us some apartments throughout the week, she showed us two this morning.

Thomas and I did some leg work on our own, so that we wouldn't waste the week he was here.  We visited some potential neighborhoods on Sunday.  We toured Garches, Vaucresson, and St. Cloud - all within a 15 minute train ride from Paris.  Of the three, Garches had that French village feel we were looking for.  It had rolling hills, green spaces throughout the town, and a very relaxed ambiance.  Although, the relax feel, may have been the fact that most of its residents had already gone on vacation. I guess we'll see come the fall.  Garches has a big town square and a commercial area with banks, super markets, butcher, bakeries, a creperie and a few restaurants.  The center of town has an old world feel to it.  On it's edges are a mix of more modern apartment blocks and single family homes.  The bi-weekly market is apparently large with expensive but quality products.

We had a small budget because rent was based on my salary alone.  In the states, owners run credit checks on potential renters.  Here in France you have to have documented proof that you will be a good tenant.  I had to have a letter from OECD stating that I was employed there and a statement of my salary.  I needed proof of a bank account, as well as a copy of my passport and visa.  I heard in some cases, landlords also ask for a guarantor - someone responsible for paying the rent in case you cannot.  Hearing all this, it's a wonder foreigners can rent at all in this country.  Since Thomas did not have proof of employment here in France yet, we couldn't use his future salary in figuring out the rent we could afford. It's prudent for sure, but it does limit us- especially in Garches where the residents are certainly not hurting for money and therefore rents are high.

The first apartment we saw was a little on the dingy side.  It was surrounded with lots of green space the dogs would love. It had a terrace and faced the quiet side of the development.  It was however, a bit dark.  Since it was on the ground floor, it felt like a basement- dank, cold and dim.  The buildings were a little run down on the outside.  I'm sure the apartment would be fine once we decorated the place, but it would not have been my first choice... or second, third, or fourth.... On to the next place with fingers crossed that it would be better or at least brighter than the first...

Thankfully, it was indeed.  The apartment we found was just at the end of the town center but still within a 10 minute walk from the main market area.  The building was built in the mid 90s. It is not the stone brick cottage we had envisioned when we first started dreaming about our new life in France, but it still had the tall windows that are indicative to french buildings.  With the entire back of the apartment practically all windows the space is bright.  It has a full size fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, and an oven (!) - amenities you take for granted in the states but are a premium here in France.  The kitchen really sold me on the place.  It's bigger than the kitchen in our place back in the states.  It had a big window where we could easily put a small breakfast table.  The large window in the living room over looked a large, private, well maintained green space.  The bedroom is small, but the living room and bathroom is much larger than what we had back home.  Each room had a window, and  the apartment had windows facing both north and south.   I am very much looking forward to filling them window boxes full of herbs and colorful flowers.  The apartment also comes with parking in the basement of the building.  From the looks of the cars down there (among the six units there was one Mercedes and one very new BMW), I think we have some wealthy neighbors.  Thomas, I think, would have preferred to have a terrace.  We do enjoy eating out on the patio on nice evenings, but the windows in the apartment are so large and open very wide, that it is the next best thing to having a patio (I think so anyway).

We both think we got about 80% of what we were looking for. Given our budget and time frame, I think we did pretty well. Now we are another step closer to transitioning our lives from the US to France.  Finding housing is a relief for sure. It is one more thing we can check off our list. We can now move on to the next step.  The actual move.

Some photos of Garches

The road from the train station to the center of town.

Church at the center of town.

Business district

One of two grocery stores in town.