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| Heed my wisdom. Seriously. |
When you get over the task of working out what you're going to do on your Year Abroad, (uni, work placement, or teaching assistant) you'll find yourself staring up a huge, overwhelming mountain called 'ACCOMMODATION.' Get your hiking gear ready.
Me and Tom are going to Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle Paris III (sounds class). What isn't so 'class' is the fact that in France, Paris especially, student accommodation is rather, well...grim. So the best thing to do is find a quaint and chic Parisian apartment where you can spend your semester looking out onto the visual delights of Parisian life.
NAWT.
Well, you probably maybe could. Central Paris prices are EXTORTIONATE. Cheaper than London, but still really pricey. So if your budget is, say €700-€1000 per month, then by all means, carry on as you will.
If you're a true student and life is just a miserable economic struggle, then you need to find more realistic options. A handful of the hundreds of sites we must have scoured were:
www.parisattitude.com
These sites are ideal for finding studios or flats. Get in there early enough (try March, April, May, June-time, heck, maybe earlier) and you'll hopefully find yourself living in a Parisian dream apartment.
But realistically, most people will leave it to the last minute because they are delusional and think that life is an easy ride. WELL IT'S NOT. When looking online, that's all you are doing. LOOKING. No buying, no agreeing to contracts and exchanging sweet dream wishes to some bitch called Claire.
Seriously.
If you find a credible agency that you can google their website and google map stalk them, exchange some reserved emails with them (they're Parisian, they probably won't be nice anyway. LOL JK...) and arrange to go see the appartment, then you're on your way to finding a place that actually exists.
Yes. You're going on a mini Paris-break, kiddies.
Never give over any details, no matter how promising or genuine the person on the other end seems. If they ask you to send over any kind of details (passport, bank) or 'just sign the contract enclosed in the email' I can pretty much 99.99% confirm that it is a con. When we received genuine housing offers, the first thing they want you to do is view the property.
Another thing to look out for is that the con artist will usually be a woman, because people seem to trust women more online (the fuck?) and they'll share some heart-wrenching info about their families to appeal to your sensitive side, to try and get your guard down and get you to trust them. Natalie had a 'sick mother' in London whereas Claire had her parents and fiancé living in London. HOW CONVENIENT. They always have some sort of excuse which prevents them from being able to meet you in person. Sigh. They even go to the lengths of saying you can visit the place, probably hoping that you'll blag your way in somehow. Or probably because they want to waste your time and money because they are shitty low lives.
It's painfully obvious, talking about the emails, that they were cons, but at the time, when you haven't even been to Paris, you're so desperate to find a place that you'll trust in anyone and anything. But to be honest, even if you have to get to Paris and stay in a hostel for a week or two, it's better to do that and find yourself a place that you can actually view and get a guarantee for, than get conned or end up in a shit-hole. Also, you might find yourself other people in Paris who are in the same boat and bag yourself some roomies!
As a student living/studying/working abroad, you might be able to recieve APL (Aide Personalisée au Logement), which is a housing benefit scheme run by the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales (CAF). Depending on various factors, you should be able to get between 20-30% off your rent! BOOM. You can apply online at http://www.caf.fr.
Another thing to look out for is that the con artist will usually be a woman, because people seem to trust women more online (the fuck?) and they'll share some heart-wrenching info about their families to appeal to your sensitive side, to try and get your guard down and get you to trust them. Natalie had a 'sick mother' in London whereas Claire had her parents and fiancé living in London. HOW CONVENIENT. They always have some sort of excuse which prevents them from being able to meet you in person. Sigh. They even go to the lengths of saying you can visit the place, probably hoping that you'll blag your way in somehow. Or probably because they want to waste your time and money because they are shitty low lives.
It's painfully obvious, talking about the emails, that they were cons, but at the time, when you haven't even been to Paris, you're so desperate to find a place that you'll trust in anyone and anything. But to be honest, even if you have to get to Paris and stay in a hostel for a week or two, it's better to do that and find yourself a place that you can actually view and get a guarantee for, than get conned or end up in a shit-hole. Also, you might find yourself other people in Paris who are in the same boat and bag yourself some roomies!
So if you don't want to be a loner and live on your larry, then you want to consider a house share. This is an equally difficult task, and again you will want to not only see the property, but if there are existing housemates in the place you're gona view, then you want to meet them too...you know, to make sure they aren't homicidal rapey pervs. I JOKE. But seriously, how do you know? Don't go alone either, unless you're a muscly tank with a black belt in Karate.
I mean it. Didn't you watch Taken? My Dad is shitting himself at the fact I'm going to live in Paris. He's getting his gun (he doesn't really have a gun) and his, 'I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career of being a tree surgeon and landscape gardener. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you and you're shitty overgrown back yards. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.' speech ready.
It's also worth considering living in the southern Parisian suburbs. NOT the 17-20th arrondissements, because they are, like, Rape Central and mega dodgy. *SPOILER ALERT* We found our beautiful 6 bedroom house, complete with 2 other French and 1 Spanish housemate in Vitry-sur-Seine, which is in the south of Paris, just a short RER train journey to our Uni and the rent is pretty decent too (€610 per month, bills included).As a student living/studying/working abroad, you might be able to recieve APL (Aide Personalisée au Logement), which is a housing benefit scheme run by the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales (CAF). Depending on various factors, you should be able to get between 20-30% off your rent! BOOM. You can apply online at http://www.caf.fr.
So always think safe and be safe. Regardless of whether you're sat comfortably in front of your laptop or wandering the streets of Paris. Always ask for help and advice if you're unsure. I emailed several friends I have in Paris for their opinions and suggestions. But at the end of the day, you should really just believe what you can see with your own eyes and touch with your hands...unless the landlord doesn't want you to touch anything. And don't touch people, that's creepy...you know what I mean.
The best site, in my opinion, is http://www.appartager.com/. Although you have to pay a fee to join, I think it's pretty worth it. Me and Tom shared the £15 subscription fee for 10 days and got a reply from our landlord the day after! Again, we didn't accept anything without seeing the place first, but by this time we'd gotten our train back to Brittany so we weren't in Paris anymore. THANK GOD our angel friend Hannah was, so we begged her to go visit for us, so she took her boyf Andy and they travelled for a whole hour and met the landlord and viewed the property for us :) THANKS GUYS!
So if you can't see the place for yourself, it's good to have contacts in France who can do that for you.
* Inbetweeners "OOOOOH FWEND"*
* Inbetweeners "OOOOOH FWEND"*
It's kind of a journey you can only really work out for yourself. I know some people who already had a friend in Paris or might have family or just know SOMEONE who helped them out with accommodation.
My parting advice is never, ever trust Claire Boulay or that chick Natalie. Never part with money until you've seen the place, met the landlord and seen the contract. And, if like Tom and myself, you catch out the con artist before they catch you out, divulge in some light entertainment and revenge time. I sent 'Claire' this email when I found out about the con: (you'll understand when Tom posts his post.)
If you're going to con people you should probably cover your tracks better. You're fucking stupid.
http://www.rothray.com/apartment_list.html At least I was able to speak to the man who ACTUALLY LIVES IN THE APARTMENT.
My parting advice is never, ever trust Claire Boulay or that chick Natalie. Never part with money until you've seen the place, met the landlord and seen the contract. And, if like Tom and myself, you catch out the con artist before they catch you out, divulge in some light entertainment and revenge time. I sent 'Claire' this email when I found out about the con: (you'll understand when Tom posts his post.)
If you're going to con people you should probably cover your tracks better. You're fucking stupid.
http://www.rothray.com/apartment_list.html At least I was able to speak to the man who ACTUALLY LIVES IN THE APARTMENT.
You're a disgusting person and I hope someone fucks you over just like you obviously fuck people over every single day.
I hope you get AIDS and die.
BEST WISHES
* Apologies for the swearing. Teehee.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for this funny but helpful post. :) I am looking for a flat in Paris and it is really nice to read something like that. Have fun, Ana
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