CITY SLICKER

After a bit of scouting, I finally found an apartment yesterday. We’d left it late – as usual – so for a March availability it’s either the ones that no-one else wants…or well, maybe they just aren’t trying very hard (if you're lucky). So I picked one that I might end up bitching about later, but it does have a lot of classic art nouveau add ons, and I am a sucker for the art nouveau. I think its been a student artist haven for at least as long as it has existed, so needless to say for the surprisingly large size, extreme proximity to the city centre and (suspiciously) low price, it's going to have a few little problems.

Rising damp is, I suspect, high on the list. I’ll see what I can do to dehumidify the place (a prolonged history of pot smoking artists probably hasn’t helped – and they’ve left some nice caveman doodles on the wall here and there) but considering I’ve already got two quasi-wetland places under my real estate belt since moving to France, you never know, I might be good at dehumidifying…I’ll probably keep the glass cleaner product company in business for the time I’m there though, there’s a frightening amount of the transparent stuff in the place. But - here's the clincher, I’m going to be one of the city centre folk! I’m going to be one of the cinema and bar and other forms of city centre entertainment persons who don’t have to worry about what time the last train leaves, how much a taxi costs or how many standard drinks I’ve had in the last hour. I’m also going to spend most of March with a washcloth in one hand and a bucket in the other I imagine.