Paris ccccchhhhhanges

Having finally found an apartment, I moved bit by bit my belongings from the old to the new apartment. Compared to the US, moving in Paris is a big production that can totally occupy one’s existence.
First, finding an apartment is already so time consuming and the process of applying for the apartment extremely nerve-wrecking. Having a permanent job (or what they call Contrat à Durée Indéterminé) does not do it anymore; indeed, you need everyone under the sun to be your guarantors! Parents or siblings or other family members are best, and friends do not really count. This presents a problem for me who rely on friends since all my family is outside France (and to be a guarantor you need to pay taxes in France!). That definitely limits the apartments that I can apply for from the first go. Then, all the money that you have to dish out: The agent’s fee (which when you add the other fees you may not know about can be significantly more than one month’s rent), the two months security deposit that they ask and of course the first month’s rent. Despite a reasonable salary, my application for a couple apartments got refused. This made me lose several nights of sleep (Hey, I had to move out of my apartment by a certain date, and the space under the beautiful Paris bridges are generally occupied already)
Then, when you find an apartment, the next worry is moving. Now, many streets in Paris are narrow and you cannot always park your car right in front of your building without blocking the traffic entirely (fine for 5 minutes but do it longer and you have the crazy French drivers honking and insulting you for sure). And if you lived on the upper floors without elevator (as many old buildings in Paris are), well, 5 minutes is just to negotiate from your floor to the one below your rather big objects via the narrow stairway. Add to that the task of finding friends who could help you. In order to avoid traffic and mad drivers (because your car would be blocking the street even for a short time), most people move either very early in the morning or late at night. In my case, the weekend is hell as well as that is when everyone in Paris and their relations seem to decide to come to the quartier where I was living. So, it was very early in the morning that we had to do it, under the unsympathetic eyes of awakened neighbors. It is no wonder that most Parisians stay in their rented apartment a lot longer than what I am used to in Melbourne or San Francisco for example.
Now in my new apartment, my new quartier could not be more different than the old one. Right in Montmartre at the foot of the basilic Sacré Coeur (ok, in both quartiers you still find lots of tourists, but different kinds of tourists…now I bump into many more bussed tourists in groups), my new quartier is probably more true Parisian with its mixed population from the bourgeois to young professionals to musicians to artists to immigrants. Life here feels more real than it did in my old quartier (Le Marais) where everything and everyone is beautiful even early in the morning but especially late at night. And not being exactly snow white, I must say that I feel less of an intruder in this colourful neighbourhood.
And the bonus, a gay bar with a backroom is only a street away!

Hints for those who wish to rent an apartment in Paris, furnished and short term: There are now real estate agents who specialize in renting short term furnished apartments. They may be more expensive than the market price but practical, consultable via their English language websites and can take care of the administrative rules nightmare that might be unfamiliar to non residents.
The gaybar I am talking about in my new neighborhood is MecZone (Metro Anvers), a bar with backroom frequented by locals and a few tourists.