Paris Watch Do As the Locals Do: The First Step To Living Like a Parisian By KIKI YOSHIDA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
パリジャンの住宅事情 今週から海外レポートの新顔 ""Paris Watch" がスタートします。筆者はパリ在住のフリーライター、Kiki Yoshida さん。Kiki さんは、三重県出身で、日本の大学を卒業後ロンドンで2年間過ごし、さらに日本で英会話学校の講師などを務めました。初回は Kiki さんにパリでのアパート探しについて伝えてもらいます。

What do you think of Paris? Do you like it or hate it? Whatever your opinion, Paris is bound to attract your attention somehow.

But if you really want to understand the city, you have to live here. You need to experience life as the local people live it, breathe the same air, laugh with them and cry with them, share everything with them.

The city of Paris consists of 20 wards. Many Japanese live in the 16th Ward, which is known as the district for businessmen and their families. It is an upscale residential area and no doubt perfect for them. But it is not for students or artists. I can't say which is the most popular area of Paris because each person has his or her own taste. Personally, I love the Marais and Bastille areas most.

Generally, students tend to hang around St. Michel and St. Germain des Pres. They typically live in the 5th, 6th, 14th and 15th wards. Other wards like the 18th, 19th and 20th are not popular, but in fact there are quite a lot of people living there. It seems that the rent (around 2,500F, or ¥50,000, per month) is attractive. In any case, once you find yourself in a nice apartment, it becomes your castle.

How can you find a good place to live?

The most popular way is to look at advertisements in magazines or newspapers. Most of them are put in directly by owners, so there's no extra charge for commission. The problem is that those apartments are usually already gone when you call.

Deposit typically equals two-months' rent and the term of contract is one year (in case of furnished, three years in case of unfurnished), but you can move out anytime if you give notice three months in advance.

Apartments are available by the week as well. Average weekly rent is about 2,000F (¥40,000). It's rather high compared with the monthly rent. But you can come and go on a moment's notice and such apartments are furnished with everything you need — from plates to a television. I think this option is good for someone who wants a quick taste of the Parisian life.

If you're new in town and can't speak French, you might find communicating with the owner difficult unless the owner speaks English, or is Japanese. But don't count on using English, the majority of French people don't speak it.

There is another possibility: visiting an agency. There are several Japanese real estate agencies in Paris, and in fact I once worked for a French-Japanese agency for a short period. You have to pay a commission, but it's worth it if you take advantage of all the services such agencies offer. For example, they contact France Telecom and E.D.F. (Electricite de France) for you so that you will have a telephone line and electricity from the day you settle in. And if you ever have a problem, you can contact the agency, not the owner. You get some useful information on living in Paris as well.

The thing Japanese people care about most is security, a normal concern when you set out to live in a foreign country.

The second biggest concern is the bathroom condition. Most Japanese looking for apartments told me they preferred to have a bathtub. Japanese assume a bathtub is always installed in apartments, but unfortunately this common sense doesn't apply in this country. For rents around 3,000F (¥60,000), don't expect a bathtub. You are likely to only have a tiny shower room. You can survive, of course, but I bet you will miss getting in that hot bath in the gloomy European winter.

The thing I discovered is that people knock on an agency's door as a last resort. At first, everybody thinks it's easy to find an apartment. My friend thought so too, but ended up visiting more than 60 apartments during her apartment search. She spent over a month, visiting one or two apartments every day. Time was also ticking away on the place where she was living, a situation that caused her immense stress. Believe me, it's an exhausting procedure!

The apartment where I live now is my fourth one. I have moved three times in 2 1/2 years. Over that time I have experienced various kinds of living environments. As with everything else, apartments have good sides and bad sides.

For example, my first apartment was located in the heart of Marais, and I really loved it. But the rent was too expensive. The second was a small room without a toilet. What was good about it? The rent: It was less than half of what I had been paying before.

The rent of the third one was not expensive, either. The biggest problem was my next-door neighbor. The first night I heard loud music until early in the morning. I couldn't sleep at all! And it was like that every night. Once, I asked him nicely not to make so much noise at night, and he said OK, but in the end, he continued listening as usual.

But you can't change your neighbor unless you have a magic wand. All I could think was, either he goes or I go. So I did. Right now I am on the top floor and, so far, free from disturbances.

There are many different lifestyles throughout the world. Once you leave your home country, you must learn to adapt to the new. You never know what is waiting for you until you experience it yourself, and these experiences are beyond price. So if you choose Paris for your second home, do as the Parisians do!

Shukan ST: June 4, 1999

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