I found an apartment!

About a week ago my friend Canadian Jen cringed when I told her I only had a month to find an apartment. Her exact words (over and over again) were "oh no. I can't believe I have to be the one to tell you about finding an apartment in Paris."

Which is to say that it's not easy. Or cheap. If you're afraid of speaking French on the phone and don't have a French bank account or a job, it gets even more interesting.

This is pretty much what's being advertised in my price range:

• An American man looking for a French woman to share a studio apartment
• The guy looking for a roommate who wouldn't let me see the apartment unless I sent him a picture first
  
• The person who wouldn't give me a name or any information about the apartment or him/herself until I showed up at the apartment in person (I didn't go.)
• The bonne chambre with no shower anywhere in the building. (She suggested I shower at the pool down the street.)
• The 12 square-meter studio apartment (that includes the bathroom and kitchenette) with no fridge

And so when I showed up at a 3 bedroom flat in Montmartre this afternoon and the girl was an artist and seemed sane and there was a bathtub and a washing machine and room to turn around and the price was reasonable (for Paris) and she didn't try to scare me with stories about 94 people were coming to see the place that afternoon, but just said that she liked me and I could have it if I wanted it, I didn't really believe it could be true. (She didn't speak any English, so since the deal was conducted entirely in French, it might not actually be true. I'm never sure exactly what's going on.)

You guys, there's even a boulangerie downstairs.