Don’t mock me. I’m serious. The elevator is très important. First of all, when looking for a Parisian apartment building, make sure they’re even is an elevator. “Ascenceur” in French. Don’t just assume that there will be an elevator. You are not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. This is a whole new ballgame. I swear to God, even some six-story apartment buildings in Paris don’t have elevators. Can you imagine schlepping your luggage, your groceries, your strollers and in my case, a wheelchair up six flights of stairs. Six flights of old, worn, curvy, slippery steps. What if you were uh, drunk? You wouldn’t make it. Not going to happen. An elevator is a necessity. I will say though that my daughters little apartment was on the fifth floor with no elevator for her first year of college in Paris. Good news… She never gained the obligatory freshman 15.
After establishing that there is an elevator, you need to
make sure that it is a good size. This is going to be a feat. One time, I
looked at an elevator of an apartment building that I was interested in and the
elevator not only would not fit my wheelchair, but it would not even fit a
slightly fat person. Sometimes, you can barely get two skinny people into the
elevator at once. A decent sized elevator in a Parisian apartment is a luxury!
I prefer the Parisian elevators that are open with a wire cage.
I feel safer. I don’t trust Parisian elevators in the first place, so I feel if
there were to be a problem I could scream out, and maybe someone would hear me.
Maybe not.
Let’s recap. We have the proper arrondissement, the front door, the concierge and now the elevator. So far so good. Next step is to actually see the apartment. Stay tuned for Part Cinq. L’appartement
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