In Paris I live with my roommate Kai, who is from the USA but has been living in Paris for the past nine years. We are in a small, fourth floor apartment in a lively neighborhood called le quartier des Batignolles. I feel so lucky to have Kai around, especially when I first arrived. She has helped me get settled, and she has given me tons of tips and suggestions, including where to eat nearby, how to use the Métro, and how to get a French cell phone plan! Kai and I both work during the week and usually get to hang out for dinner late in the evenings.
Paris has a population of roughly 2.1 million people living in only about 40 square miles. So most people are used to living in tiny, cozy apartments. I have also noticed that Parisians tend to be really economical with how they use their space. My Batignolles apartment has everything I need, but things are either smaller than I am used to, or they are in a place I wouldn’t expect them to be. A great example of this is our washing machine, which is located in the kitchen. We don’t have a dryer (they aren’t too common in Parisian apartments), so we use a drying rack for our wet clothes.
Another example is my building’s elevator. I remember on the first day I arrived in Batignolles, I had to get up to the fourth floor with my two big bags.
