Apartment found, super tiny is its name

As you may have noticed from the name of the post, I found an apartment. It's super tiny but great for what I need. It's about the size of one bedroom. And that included the shower, sink, baby fridge, desk, hot plate and bed. You know how big a dorm room is? Divide it in half and there you go. It's about 36ft squared. Below you will see a picture of my building outside and then the next photo is of the road I will live on (which translates to Buttercup Avenue). The really tall black building in the back is downtown Montpellier. I am super close and only a 10 minute walk to the train to get to work.

I will make the call tomorrow, I think, in order to secure the apartment and have them get the papers ready. The plan is to move in there on Oct. 1 to start at the beginning of the month. Also, staying at the hostel in Montpellier (that my program set up) is actually cheaper so I am going to stay there from Monday until Oct. 1. I save a few Euro in the meantime.

I looked at 3 apartments today (including the one that I chose). The first one was in Frontignan, which is where I am teaching. Frontignan, as you may remember, is about a half hour drive from Montpellier. It was actually really, really cool. It was double the size of the one I chose. It's a garage that was turned into a little mother-in-law studio with an independent kitchen and a private patio. There was even a pool at the house. Unfortunately, Frontignan is really small and pretty far from Montpellier. The buses stop running in Frontignan around 9pm or earlier so I could never do anything at night because I could never get home. The neighborhood was really quiet and pretty. I just really would have preferred to be centrally located and just commute there to work. The train from Montpellier to Frontignan is only about 15 minutes. After seeing it, I didn't fall so much into love with it that I would have sacrificed being able to go anywhere at night. However, the mother of the family that would have had me there (2 kids, 17-year old girl and 14-year old boy and husband) was really nice and apparently she wants an English tutor for her daughter. So I will try my best to secure myself a little side job as a tutor with them since I will be in the city anytime I have to go to school. I hope that works out.

The 2nd apartment wasn't much to write about. It was a bedroom in a apartment with an older woman (who I think was married but she never really mentioned her husband). I would have had to share the kitchen, bathroom, living room... everything. She was also kinda weird. She mentioned that she didn't have a microwave and didn't like too many electronic devices. She took Laurent and I on a lovely little walk though around the area so we could kinda see where the buses were. Not only would I have had almost no privacy, I could never have visitors there without thinking that I was at my parent's house. It would always be like I was a guest there. I would not have felt comfortable. She also lived pretty far from downtown (about 20 minutes by bus to get to the train station). After about 15 minutes of being there, I knew I didn't want to live there.

So then we got to my chosen apartment. Now, it's super small but at least I prepared myself for that in advance. The woman who met us to show us around wasn't particularly warm but... whatever. They can't all be your best friend, I suppose. Anyway, once I move in, I will take a little video to give you a tour. God bless technology! There are only a couple downsides to living in this apartment.... one, I might have a full 12 month lease which will kinda suck because I won't really be able to break it or get a sub-letter because I have NO idea how that would work here. However, I did just look at the announcement for this apartment again and it said for the school year so I should be able to leave after the end of June. Two, there is no internet so I have to pay for that and order it for my place right away. (Though Laurent had a really good idea about getting a wireless router and offering to rent out the wi-fi to the other girls in the adjoining apartments to make some money which could possibly pay for much of the service itself) Three, I have to pay for electricity. However, in a tiny apartment like that, I can't possibly imagine that it will be that much. I am happy to sacrifice a little to have a place super close to downtown and to the trains/trams/buses. Four, the toilet is common to the closest 4 apartments, which are all women incidentally. Thankfully, it's right outside the door of the apartment but still a little silly that I have to go out of my apartment to use the bathroom. At least I can shower in my place and I have a sink. In all, I am very happy with my choice and given my price range, I really wouldn't find anything bigger or much nicer. It does not look like a total dive or anything but you know, it's tiny so there is not much you can do. I might need to get some posters or something. Otherwise, it kinda looks like a prison cell (with a shower in the corner). :) It is surely an efficiency studio for those of you who have ever lived or looked at one. That's the best way to describe it. Thank God it's only me that is going to be there for the most part. There is really no other space for anyone else.

On our way back to Marseille from Montpellier, the sun was setting so I thought this would be a nice closing image.

(A French sunset at the sea)