Opinions on and visiting apartments in Paris

[AgentRed]

Hey guys

I'm retiring my last post since it was embarassingly vague and pretty shit! I am moving to Paris this summer and have seven specific apartments in mind so far, can you please give me your opinion on them?

Also, who wants to visit them for me? I'm in London and busy right now but I can paypal you 30 Euro's for each apartment visited, if you could take some pictures and see the place it would be really helpful. Since it'll only take an hour you could pretty easily make a hundred euro's in a day. Please let me know! So here are the apartments:

1. Next to the Square Maurice Gardette in the Republique/Oberkampf area. Is this too non-central or are there cool cafés and stores nearby?

2. On the rue Cochin in 75005 which seems really central, is it a nice area?

3. Somewhere in 75001, between the Chatelet Metro and thePompidou Museum which is super central so it's my favourite so far

4. This place http://www.perfectplaces.com/23367.htm on Avenue de Suffren, 75007. Look cool but again, how's the area?

5. Next to Place des fêtes metro, which is not central but is it a nice area?

6. Somewhere in 75008, very central and cool area?

7. On the Passage St Sébastien in 75011. Same situation as number 1, is the Republique cool and easily accessible?

I'll be staying there all summer and really wanna improve my French so I wanna visit a lot of bars and shops and café's and really be in the centre of everything. I'll be staying out late so the area should be safe and easily accessible. If there is any area that's open 24 hours that's where I wanna be!

Thanks again for the help, lemme know if you can visit them it's kind of like a weird proxy, but I hope we can work something out.

[AgentRed]

OOoooooooooooooooooookay, um, thanks for the response everyone! I think I've narrowed my search down further to the left bank, around boulevard st. germain.

I know this is a lively area but is it also safe? Any opinions on rue madame?

[darkanimal]

Yo .. rent the one next to the brothels.

[FunkyFrenchy]

paris is quite safe, don't worry...

and if you want to practice your french : http://www.alliancefr.org/

[Gabriel]

1. more trendy indie night life concerts

2. tourists, nice, don't know that particular street

3. tourists +++, noisy, busy, not so nice imo

4. suffren = bourgeois residential, mostly old ladies walking dogs, nothing to do without walking a bit, but nice architecture

5. place des fetes is not really central, it's more working class, or used to be

6. 75008 is dead and rich, you might hate it, but there are some clubz

7. 75011 see 1.

open 24 hours = it's not Tokyo! but I'd choose around République/Oberkampf I guess. Anyway Paris is tiny, you can get anywhere quickly

[AgentRed]

Wow Gabriel gracias! That's really helpful, I'll try to visit some places and report back. Thanks thanks thanks,

[AgentRed]

Also, which one is next to the brothels?

[little ants]

I'm in a similar position, as I'm moving to Paris next fall for grad school... what is the price range of the apartments you've mentioned, if I may ask? (I'm just curious how they compare to the estimates I've been given so far.)

But yeah, I wouldn't be too concerned with being in a central area; Paris is definitely the most easily navigated European city I've spent time in.

[Gabriel]

Also, which one is next to the brothels?

afaik brothels are illegal in France, so young man, if you don't know someone in politics, you take the TGV to Belgium.

[AgentRed]

I'm in a similar position, as I'm moving to Paris next fall for grad school... what is the price range of the apartments you've mentioned, if I may ask? (I'm just curious how they compare to the estimates I've been given so far.)

But yeah, I wouldn't be too concerned with being in a central area; Paris is definitely the most easily navigated European city I've spent time in.

Hey

The apartments above all fall in to the 800-1200 euro price range and they're all single bedroom/studios. How does that compare to what you're finding?

Agree on ease of travel, best part o the metro is the eclectic live music playing inside. Although I did once see a guy taking a dump on a stairwell in the middle of the day. He didn't even seem like a crazy hobo, jusy some average dude with shopping bags in hand, cool as a cucumber...

[little ants]

Hey

The apartments above all fall in to the 800-1200 euro price range and they're all single bedroom/studios. How does that compare to what you're finding?

Agree on ease of travel, best part o the metro is the eclectic live music playing inside. Although I did once see a guy taking a dump on a stairwell in the middle of the day. He didn't even seem like a crazy hobo, jusy some average dude with shopping bags in hand, cool as a cucumber...

Thanks--yeah, I'm also looking for single bedrooms, and most of what I've found is within the same range. One of my friends just found a pretty good deal for like 750.

I'm both amazed and horrified by your metro experience, haha.

[AgentRed]

Yo .. rent the one next to the brothels.

Oh god damn it.

I took a place on rue st. denis =(

It's huge, and it has a lift, but it's 1200 and next door to a sex shop. A sex shop with SEX in 10 foot blue neon lights.

I should plan these trips out in advance to prevent surprises like these.

[MikeN]

That's an amazing surprise! I'm staying at a friend's house in the 15th from July 1st till 6th or 7th. After that I might be hitting you up for some couch space above the sex shop!

[2000dB]

Oh god damn it.

I took a place on rue st. denis =(

It's huge, and it has a lift, but it's 1200 and next door to a sex shop. A sex shop with SEX in 10 foot blue neon lights.

I should plan these trips out in advance to prevent surprises like these.

oh shit, I stayed a week in place next to there. There's only so many sex shops . It's a super nice area too, you're really close to many nice things.

[Gabriel]

Oh god damn it.

I took a place on rue st. denis =(

It's huge, and it has a lift, but it's 1200 and next door to a sex shop. A sex shop with SEX in 10 foot blue neon lights.

I should plan these trips out in advance to prevent surprises like these.

haha, don't worry it's only that particular street, all the others around it are fine, it's close to everything, etc.

[AgentRed]

HALP!!!!!!!!

So the apartment on rue St.Denis has another guy staying in the other bedroom. I spoke to the landlady before signing the contract and she said I'd have the whole place to myself, and her e-mail says "Of course you won't be sharing with anyone"...

So I signed the contract, paid 2 months rent + deposit and now instead of having the whole flat I have one tiny room. I spoke to her about it and she said he'd be gone "In a few days" whatever that means. She doesn't seem willing to let me leave...

Not good, can I ask her to give me back ma monies (€3600) or what? Are there any agencies who can help me out, can I call the cops?

[little ants]

HALP!!!!!!!!

So the apartment on rue St.Denis has another guy staying in the other bedroom. I spoke to the landlady before signing the contract and she said I'd have the whole place to myself, and her e-mail says "Of course you won't be sharing with anyone"...

So I signed the contract, paid 2 months rent + deposit and now instead of having the whole flat I have one tiny room. I spoke to her about it and she said he'd be gone "In a few days" whatever that means. She doesn't seem willing to let me leave...

Not good, can I ask her to give me back ma monies (€3600) or what? Are there any agencies who can help me out, can I call the cops?

I was pretty worried about something like this myself! Sorry man..

Luckily my school has compiled a list of reputable landlords used by former students, and most are pretty inexpensive compared to the estimates I had received before, looking on my own.

[AgentRed]

Now you tells me!

[Gabriel]

wtf, never heard of this happening, are you sure it's actually an agency?!

[AgentRed]

OK I spoke to her for an hour trying to get my cash back and she says that she (and her daughter and this Indian dude) are all about to leave really really soon. She even threw a few t-shirts in to a suitcase in the hallway to make it look more convincing.

I dunno what to do really, if they do leave soon then perfect; if they don't... uh....

It isn't an agency, I just found the place on craigslist.... She owns the apartment so I dunno; it is not great, hopefully they leave soon...