Postcards from the 11th.

Posted on the 22 June 2012 by Ellacoquine @ellacoquine
No one is calling me back. I want what I can't have. I'm an undesirable candidate. I have cellulite. Sounds like a bad chick flick, right? Or (except for the cellulite bit) apartment hunting in Paris! Anyone who has been through this can commiserate with me on just how awful it can be. This city does not make it easy.

Since Séb and I are PACsing, and I'm currently homeless, the next logical step is to find a home together. This is what we have been up to these past few weeks, and I have to tell you, we're not having fun. We had one landlord tell us that we can live in the apartment for two months and then she will decide if she wants to continue renting. So basically she was proposing that we move in, and after two months we may or may not be able to stay. How does that even make any sense? Séb flat out told her that was the dumbest thing he has ever heard, which was then followed by an awkward silence amongst the three of us in an empty apartment in the 14th.

Deciding on a neighborhood wasn't too difficult. We choose our hood based on where we don't want to live. The Marais is out. I'm done with that chapter of my life. It's a fabulous neighborhood but it's too expensive, on the weekends the tiny streets are packed with shoppers, and I have too many memories associated with it; bad ones as well as good ones that I have to let go of. The 19th and 20th are out because I don't want to get raped and/or robbed. Reasonable request. As is the 7th and 8th because we don't live large like Oprah and Karl. We are open to the 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th but we truly have our hearts set on the 11th. Yes, MF and I did live there together but he is always in the Marais and he lives on the other end of where we're looking. The 11th reminds me of mildly gentrified Southside Williamsburg where there is some nightlife, great cafés, funky shops, and reasonable rent.
On a Sunday stroll through the 11th, here are some things that made us feel right at home....
Bon week-end!
 There's enough Street Art action for us to feast on.

Remember when I saw a bath tub reincarnated as planter in New York and thought it would be a cool idea for Paris?No? That's okay. Click on the link for a refresher.Well my wish was granted!



Wish us luck! We're going to need it!