Apartment!

Great news! We finally got word that we've been approved to rent an apartment in Lyon! We chose this apartment based on reports and photos from several friends who went to check it out for us. As you can imagine, it's a little strange and somewhat scary to rent an apartment sight unseen! You can read about that process on my previous post, House Hunting Internationally.

On our limited budget, we knew we wouldn't get everything we wanted, but this place met the most important of our "wish list" criteria:

1) Ideal location. It's in one of Lyon's most sought-after arrondissements, especially for ex-pats. The area is safe and clean. We will be located near several families who already attend our church community, and it should be a good place to meet other English speakers.

2) Close to a metro. We plan to use public transportation for the majority of our travel within the city. Lyon has an excellent public trans system of metros and buses. It's very reliable -- unless there is a strike, which happens from time to time.

3) Large rooms. I know this sounds "American", but we really wanted spacious bedrooms. The rooms in most other apartments we looked at would fit just a bed -- and a small one at that. My husband is 6' 8" (almost 2 meters tall), and so we consider space to be a practical matter! Our apartment has two bedrooms, but they are enormous for European standards. The girls will have plenty of room to share.

4) Storage. Americans are used to having huge walk-in closets as well as attics and garages, but many European apartments have little or no storage space. We were prepared for this, so the storage space in this apartment is a big plus! There are built-in closets and cupboards throughout, and even a "cave" underneath the apartment for extra storage.

 A cupboard in the kitchen! 

Storage space underneath the building. Looks a little scary!

5) Beautiful exterior. OK, this is just a bonus. Obviously we didn't need to have a building that was pretty from the outside. But when I dreamed about living in France, this is exactly the view that I imagined. According to the agency website, the building was constructed in 1950, but it looks much older. As one of my friends wrote, it is "chic, classic, bourgeois French." I love the wrought-iron balcony and decorative moulding. I can just imagine walking up to this building, opening the heavy wooden door between the ground floor shops, walking up the curved staircase, and knowing I am finally HOME!