My New Home

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Yesterday, I moved in to the apartment I'll be in for the rest of the year! I decided to take the metro rather than pay for a taxi, which was an experience with my huge suitcase. Luckily I only had one to lug up and down the stairs - In France there are not escalators and elevators like in the US. I'm curious what the laws are about buildings being handicapped-accessible. I was so surprised to see how helpful everybody was. Every time someone walked past me while i carried my suitcase up the stairs, he asked me if I wanted help. Even when I said no, they just grabbed my suitcase and carried it up the stairs. It was partly insulting but also very nice :)

I arrived at the apartment and WOW, it is incredible. There is an outer gate to get into the apartment complex, and then there is a large courtyard with cobblestones, and the buildings are painted yellow. There was a large, old wooden winding staircase to get up to the second floor. When the woman who owns the apartment opened the door, I was so blown away. It looked exactly like the kind of place that you see in movies where royalty live.

The floor is covered in asian decorative rugs and the walls are covered with huge paintings. There are also many sculptures. The walls are covered with books like in beauty and the Beast. The reason that there are so many paintings is because their grandfather and great grandfather were painters. The apartment has been in the family since the 1600s or 1700s!

There are two student rooms in the apt. There is a bunk bed with a dresser, and pull-out desk beneath it. In the room next to me, there is a German girl Lilian who is staying there. She is getting her masters in Paris right now and she can speak French, English, Italian. She is very nice and knows paris and all of Europe well, so it will be nice for her to show me around or give me travel tips.

This all still feels like dream to me. I wasn't expecting to stay in a place like this. It's going to be so strange and hard to move back to Madison afterwards!

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