A little more apartment news

Yesterday we met the architects, Florent and Loic, and our project manager Dominique at the apartment.  The rubble has been cleared, most of the wiring has been done and preparation is underway to restore the oak parquetry flooring and install new oak flooring where necessary.  It was a grey day, but the apartment was flooded with natural light through the huge windows opening onto the courtyard.

It was hard to believe that this is reality - chatting in mixed French and English about the renovation of our Paris apartment!  Sometimes I can hardly breathe when I think of the magnitude of our project...frightening and exciting both at the same time.  Brent and I remind each other...just one step at a time.

All is going well at the apartment block...the builders have been tidy and careful, respectful of our neighbours.  Dominique reassured us that there has been "pas l'ombre d'un problème".

We've had to do some legwork, thinking about what and where to buy crockery, linen, etc for the apartment.  Dominique whisked us off to BHV...a popular department store with Parisiens...and was a wonderful help discussing delivery with the sales attendants and, with typical French cheekiness, finding out what might be marked down in the "soldes chez BHV" later this month!

Today we did some more research on options and costs for "un lit et un canapé"...and really it was the same kind of tiring exercise that furniture shopping always is...survived only by regular pauses "pour prendre un café"!  On the way home we walked along rue Saint-Louis en l'Ile...taking every opportunity to get to know our adopted neighbourhood...