The Ceiling’s the Limit
A number of folks have inquired about the progress on my apartment. My bathroom is basically a hole in the ground, although I am considering leaving the bathroom like that, since I won’t have to worry about cleaning it. The last few weeks months have been the “discovery” period. The time when you pull things out and unearth all sorts of surprises – which for some silly reason, are usually bad. I’m still waiting to find a wad of euros (or francs), a forgotten bag of jewelry, or some bars of gold.
It’s taken me weeks months to get fixtures – like lighting, sinks, commodes, and flooring. And with people on one side of me telling me to do one thing (in one language), and those on another side saying completely something different (in another language), the only way I’ve been able to keep my head together is by wearing a winter cap, which has been necessary with the sub-zero weather we’ve been having in Paris.
The cold put a halt on some of the work, at least according to the crew. (Although it’s certainly not snowing indoors..but whatever.) Yet now that we’ve made them a list, which got circled in red, everyone seems to be back on track and showing up daily almost daily to do the rebuild and repairs, like previously installed wiring that we thought was a good idea to find. And when they tore a hole in the wall for some plumbing, I just happened to be there and saw a wall of old brick behind it. And before they could patch it back up, I threw myself against it and refused to move until I was assured I could keep it.
Unfortunately, no one’s struck gold yet. (Or if they did, no one is letting on.) But they did find an ancient toilette à la turque beneath the floor (no pic), and I can say that even after many decades, the ones that you see in the cafés today haven’t changed much from those from back then. And the cleaning schedule seems to be the same, too.
Interestingly, one of the first things that got finished was the ceiling. As I mentioned before, no one in Paris gets along too well with their upstairs neighbors, and it seems to be an unspoken rule that if you live above someone, you can’t come home until 4 in the morning, and it’s obligatory to run a few laps around your apartment wearing heels on the hardwood floors.
Before they start closing up all the stray wires and pipes, and doing the “finish” work (which I’m not sure means they’re going to actually finish, but I think they’re getting the picture that I’m emotionally unstable at this point and the only cure for my mental state is a dose of “progress”), and things are looking up — as in, I have a ceiling.
Am sure that floors, walls, and yes, perhaps even a toilet will eventually be added. But for now I have a roof over my head, and even a mailbox. The rest of the stuff I could give a squat about. Although from the looks of things at the moment, I may have to.
Oh man, remodeling/renovating is such a headache sometimes. Excited about your gorgeous brick wall though! Just remember to keep taking deep breaths and chanting, “This too shall pass” :)
Oh boy. I don’t envy you the headache, though finding that brick must have been a small glimpse of sun in the storm. Can’t wait to see more progress (even it takes more months)!
David, I came to see you from my friend Andrea’s and have found your blog to be a delight. There is at least some progress being made……yes slowly, however in the end I know it will be the perfect french Abode!
Love your comment regarding upstairs neighbors!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Exciting times. Love the brick wall.
Man, all that ancient brick and stone kills me; so beautiful! You are so lucky you were there to save it. I gotta say though, that mass of blue wires coming out of the wall scares the crap out of me! Yikes!
Im in the midst of a Manhattan renovation, and it’s a nice dose of perspective for me to think how much harder this already hugely daunting task would be with translation & French custom & hidden ancient infrastructure. Ahhh! Carry on bravely!
This made me laugh don’t think anyone can understand nor appreciate this unless they have gone down that ugly road themselves. Don’t you just love the dust, delays, extra expenses over budget and that people have no sense of urgency?
Shouldn’t cold weather outside encourage people to stay indoors and work?
I see there’s not much bench space in the kitchen, and no shower curtains:)
love the look of the bathroom especially the pipes coming out of the floor with condoms on.
At least you’re not living in it! I hope. They can’t work in the cold – or rain – because any moisture apparently impacts the work – lol. And, they’re all suddenly Orthodox Jews come Friday afternoons. Congrats on your brick wall, but not the turque (I’m still emotionally scarred from seeing one by the Marche aux Puces in 1980!)
We got back to freeeeeeezing Germany from visiting family in sunny warm Florida to discover the pipes had frozen. Still trying to figure out how to approach the problem and in the meantime have water only in the kitchen. When your abode is over 150 years old, you get all kinds of surprises – some are wonderful and some, well, not so. The wall is the wonderful.
hope the entire renovation gets REALLY finished soon. still exciting to see it all come together though!
Frankly David, I often marvel at all that you do, and do well and with style. Just remember that you’ve challenged/conquered the bureaucratic system in Paris so at least you know the program. And the renovation gods were with you when the brick wall was uncovered. Good job!
Unfortunately during renovations all surprises are usually bad but you managed to trump that and find that beautiful brick wall! Things are looking up. Have they given you any idea as to when they might be getting close to completion? That’s not a very nice question is it? Never mind.
@Eva -The squat toilets are still in operation at Marche des Puces. (And they’re unisex.) It’s a place that still haunts my nightmares… (I’ve traveled quite a bit and dealt with “interesting” plumbing situations, but those flea market bathrooms really are like the “worst toilet in Scotland” from Trainspotting. Only for the truly desperate.)
Redecorating is absolute hell. But it will all be worth it in the end. And it looks like a great space. Lovely high ceilings.
Dear David,
I’ve admired you for a long time and followed your adventures. I’m also an expat in Paris and emphatise with the joys and sorrows (ah, those yearly trysts at the Prefecture de Police…only this year, my sixth, I found that because I’d recently moved I had the wrong kind of gas bill). But congrats on your progress, I think you’re doing well with the travaux! I say this as a veteran of French building works. My husband is an architect, draws all the plans and writes the technical stuff, but despite all these years his French is non-existent, hence, with minimum technical knowledge I try to translate it all, as well as his screams to the workforce, while trying to stay cool and bilingual…For the moment with the sub-zero temps, I’m just hiding under the couette trying to gain strength for the next round.
Were you able to add extra insulation/sound proofing between you and your upstairs neighbor? Yes that wall is gorgeous. Aren’t you glad your flooring isn’t in, so you can use muratic acid to clean that wall.
Mmmmmm, those turques. Another reason French women are slim – they don’t eat or drink for fear of having to use one of those.
You’ve made me laugh! Several times, and I’m still smiling. Great and realistic update. Not “prettied-up” like most photos of Paris living I see on-line. Have faith and consider that by completion you may be a lot more French!
Did I mention how funny and clever you are? Hm-m-m… Peter Mayle made his millions writing stuff similar to this. Cookbook? Memoir? As that great American Tom Cruise so famously said in one role, “Follow the money.”
how funny, i had the same (faulty) wiring in our house…. actually, when the electrician unscrewed the first plug-box, i found, to my shock and horror, wires still covered with fabric and the material burnt to a clump…. so it IS best to do that at the beginning…. we only had a few things done (or so we thought before we SAW the mess) AFTER having renovated the whole piece! We therefore have blocked quite a large number of sockets and had extensive rewiring-work done (but still not everywhere….)
the joys of builders in the house or appartment. it doesn’t bear thinking about it. the only consolation at this moment is: ONCE it’s finished, it will have been worth all the hassle and pain – and luckily the human being forgets those months (years) of distress readily when being snug and cozy in the ‘new’ surrounding.
good luck to you and romain. i also still have a vast hole in my vocabulary, when technical stuff is being discussed. but we’re learning ‘on the job’ and it looks as if you can get your wishes to be understood and accepted.
the brick wall looks great and might be very cool to have it ‘restored’ to a former beauty. it makes a room warm and in summer it works as a cooler. now go back under the duvet to gather the stamina for further discussions!
Uggh there are toilettes à la turques halfway between every floor in my apartment here…sometimes the doors are ajar and it’s disgusting! I don’t think ours are ever cleaned…good thing you can get rid of yours!
Love the exposed brick!
ah, the good ol’ toilette a la turque.
better hope your aim is true and that you have good knees and strong quads.
David, those photos are unbelievable! My parents live in Slovakia and have been describing the ‘sub-zero’ temps there in Europe, so I shudder even to think of the cold you’re dealing with since the apartment seems stripped! I’m sure you’ve got wonderful plans and that it’ll look marvelous when finished…keep looking ahead, right? I send my best to you from a-bit-TOO-sunny-LA. (Don’t hate me.) ;-)
I have to ask the obvious question. Why haven’t you baked your way into bribery for faster work? I think people would jump for one of your confections.
I had some confusing moments with a toilette à la turque the first time I can across one in my classroom building in France. All I remember is turning a bunch or different directions, to figure out which was was ‘correct.’
In hindsight, it really couldn’t be simpler.
ha! you poor thing! don’t freeze!
that exposed brick wall is dreamy.
I love reading your posts, especially the ones on the new apartment. Can’t wait to see the end result!
David, you make me laugh out loud. Your stories and how you recount your experiences with your new apartment are wonderful to read and leave a smile on my face. Thank- you!
David, I didn’t think my husband was going to survive our remodeling five years ago. He still hasn’t forgotten the misery of it. And everything went quite smoothly and on schedule. Can’t imagine how it would be with delays and unexpected difficulties. I hope you’ll be able to put the pain behind you a bit quicker! I think perhaps that brick wall will help enormously!
That brick wall is a treasure for sure. How old is your “new” building?
!
Ok. So this post is hysterical to me for one reason alone – three years ago my partner and I lived below an otherwise extremely nice French guy (we live in San Francisco). Who never came home before 1 am. And who often brought female companions with him, in high heels, and whom absolutely steadfastly refused to put rugs down on his living room floor. Said floor was of course, hardwood, and due to the layout of our apartments, located directly above our bedroom.
I had no idea this was a ‘thing’, but now understand better the weird looks he would give me for ringing his doorbell at three am to ask them to take off their shoes.
Apparently, I was the rude one. ; )
Looks like fun and your contractors seem to know what they are doing. Love the brick wall, I guess I don’t have to tell that if it is an outside wall the cold will enter the house much easier. I have dealt with many brick walls over the years, (old St. Louis, not quite Paris). You’ll have to seal, point and/or scrub the hell out of the brick and the mortar joints to keep it from dusting all the time. More than likely the mortar is soft and crumbly, (used lime mortars back in the day) and I doubt this was updated. It’s hard to tell but it looks like the foundation might be concrete which could mean it was in fact update. Anyway it is a big project, they always seem to take longer than anticipated.
You have an enjoyable blog David, keep up the good work and good luck on the rehab.
Just think of the end, and that it will all be worth it. Creating the place that you want, is very rewarding. The brick wall is also going to make a great feature wall. Good luck, and looking forward to see what it looks like finished.
My sister in Australia has just bought The Perfect Scoop – and with no prompting from me! When she emailed to tell me I did mention that I thought you were great and she’ll have lots of fun making the recipes. Her husband is coeliac, so she is always on the look out for nice normal things she can make that they can both eat. Homemade icecream and sorbet must come fairly high up that list!
I think it’s the law of the land for Parisian women to wear stiletto high heels 24/7 including going to sleep in them. For a long time, we thought our upstairs neighbor might’ve been a “working” woman, cause around 1 or 2 in the morning, she’s walking around with those damn heels!–either that or she’s practicing for a “cat-walk” down an imaginary fashion show!
At least you’re overseeing the reno yourself. A friend hired a designer and trusted her to do everything, oy vey, the apartment looks like a bordello–who knows maybe our upstairs neighbor would love it…
Love watching the evolution of your apartment. Went through it a couple of times, and am anxious to see your end results. Bon courage!
When I was housesitting at my friend’s apartment in the 14th, her upstairs neighbor would call to yell at me to turn up my heat, saying that she was cold and the only way to get her apartment warm enough was for the hot air from downstairs to help. I didn’t see why my friend should pay to heat her own apartment {the temperature was OK as far as I was concerned, so I had no reason to turn it up} plus the one upstairs. I pretended not to understand what she was saying.
Hi David,
I just like to thank you for your posts. My family and I just came back from our lovely first trip to Paris. We followed some of your recommendations on what to buy & where to eat. We loved Le Timbre, Le Pain Quotidien and L’as du Fallafel! We bought the bordier butter, sea salt, a la mere de famille chocolates, Christine Ferber jams — they were all great!!
I saw your blog 7 months ago while I was doing some research for work and haven’t planned anything yet for Paris at that time…I didn’t know that your blog will be very helpful to me after that. You made our stay in Paris fantastic, we felt we knew a lot about the city apart from the tourist areas :)
Good luck to your apartment renovation and do hope to catch you in our next visit to Paris.
Melissa – from Manila, Philippines
Loving the updates, and love that brick wall. What an awesome find. Congrats on the ceiling, and good luck! Before you know it, we will all be oogling the pics of your new abode. :)
Welcome to living inParis. Where the impossible really is impossible. And we thought people in the south here in the States worked at a snails pace. Wow!
Your “progress” report remind me of Under The Tuscan Sun, except her non-workers spoke Italian. Persistence, dear Daveed. Your home will be beautiful some day. Hugs from Kansas
I was so tickled when you first posted about your remodel, since i too started a crazy kitchen remodel at almost the exact same time. And although i dont have any lanaguage or sourcing issues, we are dealing with a very old house that lots of bad work has been done to, and trying to salvage all the old wood, so everyday there is some discovery or set back it seems. But when a major part comes together, like a ceiling, it is so satisfying. What was in your head as a fantasy starts to materialize. We have been living in a half built kitchen for weeks now, waiting for counter tops to come in, and it has really started to wear me out. Looking for that light at the end of the tunnel! Imagining what my first cooking project will be…
Oh my! Yet through it all you remain such a good writer, maybe even slightly better than usual. Phrases well-turned, so think of that.
Beautiful light in the kitchen,hope you keep warm as well as your sanity,
Kind regards,
Sandra
David,
I love your posts! This is precisely why we purchased an apt. that was turn key. Going though a renovation is painful enough on all levels, emotion, physical and financial but doing it in a country where the language is an issue adds another dimension we were not willing to do!
Since we were going to rent the apt. when we are not in Paris and after seeing several apt. that would have needed a complete renovation we feel we were lucky to find ours ready to move in. Since you live there full time and can afford the time to spend on the project you should end up with a great result.
For us or anyone else could you imagine hiring someone to manage the project that can also interpret the language and then consult you for the outcome? Many many hours go into the planning of a remodel. I know I am an Interior Designer and Kitchen and Bath designer. It is all in the planning and knowing where to source the materials. People do not want to pay for expertise and experience in this field and they would rather spend countless hours looking for stuff and a deal that typically isn’t deal. They see it magically done on TV and say “I can do that”. People do no do this for Dr. or Lawyers or other fields of expertise but typically never end up with a project that looks completely professional but of course they wrote the check and they live with most often are inferior products that will cost more in the long run. Hopefully you aren’t using Chinese cabinets like everyone here in the bay area!
If you don’t plan far enough ahead you are stuck with settling for something less than you would have wanted and you probably will never love what you settled for nor change it later. Typically towards the end of a renovation you are out of time, money and energy and just want it DONE so you settle or pay more. I try to get this point across to anyone doing a remodel but typically only hear about it after when they are desperate for the item at hand.
Looking forward to seeing your results,
Julie B
David
Perhaps the problem with the work force is they figure the date for the tasks has already passed and there’s no point in hurrying now? (it appears to be 2011 on your list)
Bon courage!
surely this is the most complicated ‘dish’ you have ever had to serve up.
The brick wall looks great!
Bon chance
This is the funniest blog I ‘ve read from you. As a remodeling contractor a sense of humour is a MUST! And believe me remodeling doesn’t go any different than this in the States. You have just experienced the “real thing”.
I laughed very hard as I saw the headline and photos loading … 3 cheers for the brick wall … the ceiling made me laugh again … the the strikethrough text … the reno will certainly provide us with many smiles – albeit at your expense – so sorry … it will be worth it (repeat)
Thanks–sorry for your fragile mental state but you have certainly improved mine!
You are the bravest man EVER. Best of luck on your sanity (and $$$$$) holding up!
I would have lost it long ago. But so glad the slow Parisian workers have not finished you yet. Good luck!!
witloof: Part of me doesn’t want to believe that. But the other part of me (the larger part) knows that it’s true. That’s usually when I look at people ..for a long, lingering time…with a sense of disbelief, and see if they catch on. Oddly, they never do..
Gastronomic nomad: They’re not Parisian workers – they do show up every day, and sometimes into the early evening. But it’s just now I’m seeing real progress. Like today, 2 of the 3 bathroom walls went up!
Elle: Ha! Thank goodness it wasn’t me who wrote that.
Julie: My contractor is pretty insistent I only buy quality things. He won’t let me buy a lot of things locally, because of quality issues, so I’ve had to source things from far and wide.
Dear David
For some time your blog was my one really guaranteed good thing in each day.
I’ve lived through countless renos and have heartfelt sympathy for your dilemma. Living in Quebec even the language issues strike a familiar cord.
The wonderful thing about demolition is the sense of light, and openness and discovery. you sound like you’re past that though, and rapidly moving through the darkest-before-the-dawn phase.
The amazing coming together phase is next and possibly already begun,(ceiling!).
Thanks for bringing your light into my dark moments and Bon courage!
David you are so witty and I think you could make your fortune by writing about life in general if you ever decide to stop cooking. There has to be a book in this remodel , one which will appeal to remodelers and expatriates in equal measure. Hang on there, keep laughing and just think how satisfying it will be when it is all over. You are wonderful!
That mass of wires coming out of the wall next to the toilet area is truly scary.
I always find it odd on the TV antique shows, that people find treasures in the attic or a Ming vase propping a door open. NEVER found anything valuable, anywhere and one of our homes was 100 years old. The only thing they left in the attic there was a mouldy old rug and a mouse trap or two….
I love the updates and watching this all unfold. What courage you have.
Hi David, I look forward to the updates on your apartment and I think the exposed brick wall is stunning! Do NOT let anyone cover that up. You’re so lucky to have it!
Ahah! Bon courage, the brick wall is a nice surprise, and once it’s all finished, you’ll be able to laugh fondly about it… J’espère !
David
I feel your pain, a number of years ago a friend and I renovated an apartment (for me) in an 1890′s building he owns in the West Village…(NYC to you neophites)
we burned out 2 drills and lost count of the “wire wheels” we used up to get the brick cleaned up…
But tthe result was worth it….
As the BRITS say…keep you pecker up (Not what you are thinking, it’s your CHIN)
Love to see the pix, at least it makes a good blog story…
I’m looking forward to seeing the finished apartment. So exciting for you. We’ve renovated twice and new built once. I loved every moment of it. Great to see your ideas come together .
Faulty wiring = not cool.
Exposed brick = majorly cool (and beautiful!).
Thanks for sharing your apartment updates with us. :)
Bon courage ! It’s going to be beautiful.
For a while I had an upstairs neighbor who I could have sworn rearranged his furniture around 2, 3:00 am at least a few times a week. In addition to his clunky feet (men in boots = women in high heels), I would hear sounds of scraping, dragging, and dropping of large objects. It was annoying, but there also was a part of me that just wanted to go up there and say, “What ARE you doing?”
I’m a real estate broker (amongst other things) and I try to sell people on the idea of a fifth floor walk up by saying, “No upstairs neighbors! What a great deal!”
Skippy: That’s one of the big trade-offs in Paris: top floor vs no elevator. A lot of the Haussmannian buildings are 6 floors up (7 in US terms) – and a good number of them don’t have elevators. People say you do get used to walking up and down the stairs, and it keeps you in good shape, but top floor apartments with elevators command a premium in Paris. That’s for sure!
And what is it with people who come home late at night and clomp around in boots and shoes? The first thing I do is take mine off the minute I get in the door..
Ooh, exposed brick – fabulous! So good you were there to throw your body in front of it!
Hi David -
I may have missed it, but have you written about the history of your apartment? (Age, type, etc) These latest pics inspired me to ask.
Love your blog and your recipes, so don’t become too stressed out with the reno.
Wow. This is one of the funniest posts I’ve ever read. I had a good chuckle or two just reading it. In spite of the condition of your apartment, you write about it with a good sense of humor and not to mention in style!
Great news about the brick wall. Remember, the journey to the end is just as important as the final result. Well, most of the time. Good luck!
This reminds me of the year and a half my husband and I had to wait for them to finish our apartment building. It was supposed to be done in June 2009 and we moved in in January 2011.
A toilette à la turque! There’s a find you don’t hear about everyday. How utterly surprising and odd.
Hope your remodeling doesn’t take a 18 months!
Not to get too graphic, but some Turkish toilets do double-duty in French bathrooms; by putting a grate over the “fixture”, you can use it as a shower as well. They save lots of space that way, although I’m still opting for a regular toilet and shower!
Gah…I don’t blame you! Just looking at the photos makes my blood pressure raise! You will have the patience of a saint by the time this is over…and an amazing apartment. Just breathe. :-)
I found $3500.00 cash stashed in various hiding spots inside a home I had bought and was fixing up for resale. Needless to say the renovation took me twice as long after that because you are very cautious about what you throw out.
Take your time, don’t settle on anything because it will always eat away at you later. No pun intended.
well perhaps at this rate, when its all said and done, you will never have to worry about things breaking down since everything is new. that could be the positive in all this.
god bless you, I would not have the patience for this (or money) lol
I’m glad to see progress happening (though not at the speed most people like) at your new digs. Having lived in a house during a renovation in winter I can appreciate your longing to get the job done. I also know the joy when can contractor hands back the keys to the place and says good-bye.
You know, I can see another book about “The Sweet Reno Life in Paris” after this experience.
My concern is at your current place. Have you given notice? Do you need to move out soon? Also the cost of having a mortgage, renovations and rent to pay. I am sending out good thoughts your way. Hang in there.
This post made me really laugh (your writing is great for that–thank you!), but I am laughing with you, not at you. I know that laughing is probably keeping you sane right now. I’d keep hoping for treasures, too! And yippee on finding that beautiful brick wall. :-) Hoping the rest goes smoothly, David.
Shirley
It looks like a ghastly project, but good luck – if you need anything from Home Depot in the U.S. – we will pass it on the way to the airport and will be leaving for Paris Wed. Feb 15th. It is the least we can do since we get all of our Paris food ideas from you and your website!
It looks fantastic! Almost there!
I eventually decided that given the abilities of anyone I could afford to hire to work on my house, it made more sense to do things myself. I’m slow but I’m good. And if I have to be there to let a repair/trades person in, if I could actually do the work, why not do it myself?
You could show up on the job site with a firearm to encourage them. You’re American, so they wouldn’t be shocked. Just wave the gun around (it doesn’t have to be loaded) and mutter biblical quotes relevant to remodeling. There must be some. Try Googling “Bible remodeling”. Sometimes stereotypes can be useful.
About loud upstairs neighbors: my wife once had an upstairs neighbor who was apparently substantial and wore wooden clogs. She would come home and it would sound like a troop of cavalry had arrived. She was also loud in, er, intimate moments. One night after being awakened in the middle of the night by her moment (actually several long moments) of passion, I loudly applauded and shouted, “Bravo!”. My wife was embarrassed, but we never heard from her again.
Oh I feel your pain! I had my apt in the 2nd completely gutted and renovated. Pray that your contractors don’t have a romantic falling out. My main guy broke up with his longtime girlfriend and he’s been too depressed to show up.
Remodeling is painful, but worth it when it’s complete! I was just in Paris and I’ve never been so cold in my life! I’m a Florida girl, so the below-freezing temps were a challenge for me!
I have to ask you….when you use your computer (whether you are working in French or English) is it an English keyboard or a French one? I noticed they were different when I was over there….
Hi David, chatting to you from sunny Sydney. Frankly I am green with envy as I love building/renovating & do so at every available opportunity! In fact I’m shopping around for a new “project”at the moment much to my husband’s terror
I have just purchased your new ebook online as I’m coming to Paris end of May. Very excited & now I will have a wonderful reference to guide me around. thank you! Nita xx
… this saga should be on a reality show!!!!! its painfully funny, but prob ( obv) NOt to you!!!! the photos.. keep them coming.. im hooked now…..
Hi David. Greetings from Boston! I love your blog, but have never posted until today. I just couldn’t resist with all this loud neighbor talk.
When I lived in New York City, the lady upstairs from me sang in the opera and practiced while playing the piano. She was also an insomniac. So she’d wake up at 5 am, and by 5:30 the heels were on. Then all morning she paced up and down the hardwood floors of her apartment in wooden heels singing LOUDLY and playing the piano. Then she’d leave for a performance in the afternoon, return late evening and the wooden heel pacing began again. Until 1 or 1:30 am.
I moved out of that apartment 12 years ago, but I haven’t been able to attend an opera performance since.
And here in Boston, my upstairs neighbors is one of those mystery furniture movers. The dragging, scraping, dropping, clonking begins at 6 am every day. And then again at night. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.
I’ve always wondered if she has a futon for a bed, and if I should just get her a bed as a neighborly new year’s present…
A question on using candied orange peels – when you candy and coat em, do you want to leave em on the softer side or do you want em crunchy? I candied orange peels this weekend, and some of them got rather crunchy with too much sugar clinging. In part cos the sugar was pretty fine, but I also think perhaps the peels were too hot/too wet when I rolled em in sugar. Ever had that happen? I’m hoping to make another batch, but I thought I’d ask for your tips first. Thanks!
The exposed brick is fantastic! You’re completely right about Parisians coming home at 4 am and running around their apartment – during college I used to live below a couple who were soooo loud. Sound proof that sucker
I had to laugh at the first two pictures. You can do it, David! Best of luck.
Wow, what a great adventure, I love changing things in an appartment. So I am sure you will very much enjoy this period of time and the maybe sometimes annoying aspects won’t be too important.
to Tim: Do not respond any more to David’s posts. You are likely to tickle his funny bone (too) and cause him all sorts of trouble. BTW, do you have a blog? I’d like to laugh at you more, though. Bravo! guns, and all.
That brick wall makes up for all the unpleasant discoveries. Now I don’t know if those red cabinets are coming or going but I’m in love with them. Happy Valentine’s Day.
An hour before reading your post about the apartment, I read a mail from a friend of mine who seems to be in exactly the same spot.
Today I read a newspaper article about a workman finding bars of gold, sterling cutlery and gold coins estimated to be worth around 100.000 € in an old apartment’s kitchen he was going to tile. (He even told the owner – not taking the chance of a spur-of-the-moment journey to The Kingdom of Far Far Away.)
So… I’m shure looking forward for both of you!
Funny, in Canada where frigid temperatures are the norm this time of year, house building still continues unhindered.
And don’t get me started on upstairs neighbours. After living without them, it has been kind of shocking to discover that 4 am *is* the average time that upstairs neighbours return home and decide to rearrange all of their furniture by dragging the heaviest items across the floor while wearing high heels. I’ll learn to be a heavy sleeper yet.
Good luck with the continued renovations. Godspeed!
If it makes you feel better, my American cable company (Cox, please boycott if possible) also canceled my “bouquet” five days before the agreed moving date. Huge hassle and much time spent correcting and then they did it again two days later.
Bonne chance and hang in there!