14, rue de France

I spent most of my first week here in Gap apartment-hunting like a madwoman. I visited the good, the bad, and the ugly... most of which happened to be on the third floor with no elevator. My poor legs! The great news is, after several days of full-on, intensive searching and stairclimbing, I found us an absolutely fabulous apartment!

Top 10 Things I Love About Our New Apartment

10. It's on "rue de France". Enough said?
9. It's less than 30 seconds from the main square in Gap, which has a fountain and restaurants/cafés galore.
8. It has hardwood floors AND a fireplace.
7. It has views of rooftops, a church spire, mountains, shops, aforementioned fountain, a bakery, pedestrians below, and...
6. Way back in 1815, Napoleon (!!!) slept in the house across the street. Not. Even. Joking. Wait till you see the mural!
5. Even though the building is super old, the bathroom was redone a year ago and is gorgeous.
4. Skylight!
3. Spiral staircase!
2. The bedroom upstairs used to be the "chambre de bonne" (the maid's quarters), I figure. It has a tiny sink, a view of the rooftops, and it's just big enough for a bed. C'est tout!
1. The weekly market in Gap on Saturday mornings takes place on rue de France, downstairs, right outside the front door. Really.

So (as you can tell) I'm very happy - and relieved - to have found such a great apartment so soon. We get the keys next Friday and move in next weekend, after making a quick trip all the way back to Pommiers to pick up FQ's furniture/dishes/TV etc, plus the rest of my stuff... Hooray!

That being said, renting an apartment in France turns out to be quite a pain. The French love their regulations and endless paperwork, and this is no exception.

Top 5 Annoying Things About Renting an Apartment in France

5. Although some rentals are arranged directly with the owners of the apartment, the majority of places are rented through real estate agencies, which means you must fork out an agency fee (ours was 288 euros... ouch!) just to be able to sign the lease.
4. Rentals in France come without appliances. None. Zero. You have to provide your own fridge, oven, dishwasher, washing machine... Can you say "bonjour, 10 easy payments?"
3. No utilities are included in the rent. Our lease says "charges comprises" (charges included), but that just refers to the cost of the lighting in the entrance and communal areas, plus a cleaning lady who sweeps the staircase every so often. We have to pay our own gas, electricity, and water bills.
2. If you encounter any sort of problems with the apartment, you have to go through the agency to fix them. This, according to common belief, results in said agency trying to rob you blind.
1. There's no minimum time span specified on the lease, but if you want to move out, you must give the agency (grr) three month's notice. Sheesh!

But anyway... let's leave the ranting about French bureaucracy aside for the time being. We have signed the papers, bought the fridge and washing machine, and are set! Now let's go back to swooning over the apartment. Ready for the photos?

14, rue de France