Une très bonne nouvelle!!!

I'm happy to say that we have found THE apartment!  And we have been accepted!  We had been looking and looking and we couldn't really find anything amazing.  I finally visited an apartment in Villejuif that was not bad.  The layout of the apartment was very nice, it was big with a large kitchen, a nice bathroom, and a little dressing (walk-in closet).  The only problem was the location in Villejuif at the end of the line 7 with no supermarkets nearby.  We finally decided to apply for it anyway because we hadn't found anything else.  I dropped off the file Thursday and then got home and found an announcement for another apartment that sounded interesting.  Lionel called and was able to set up a visit for Friday morning.  He visited (unfortunately I was at work) and fell in love. 

I got home from my morning lesson before he had to leave for work, so we talked about it and decided to apply for this apartment as well, even though I hadn't seen it.  I had one photo and a layout of the apartment to go off of, but it sounded great to me.  After work on Friday I rushed to the agency and managed to turn in our file 2 minutes before they closed.  Lionel called them back this morning to make sure the lady had received our file, and she told us we got the apartment!!!!!!

So what's it like???

Cons:

• The layout of the apartment isn't nearly as nice as the one in Villejuif.
• It does not come with eau chaude (hot water) et chauffage (heating) collectifs (included), but the apartment in Villejuif did.
• The kitchen needs to be entirely built...it is only a sink, as so many French kitchens are.  But I think we are going to be able to make something decent nonetheless.  We are going to separate it a bit from the living room by building a bar with a counter, drawers and cabinets and we are going to put cabinets on the wall above the sink and washing machine, and we are even going to put in an exhaust hood for above the stove.  This way we should have enough storage space and it will feel like a real kitchen but still be open, which I prefer.
• Not a lot of closet space so we are going to lose some space to creating storage.
• The bedroom is a little small.
• Ground floor facing north (which Lionel doesn't like, but I don't care about)

Pros:

• In the KB, just like I wanted.
• Close walking distance to the new mall in the KB which will be opening soon, complete with Auchan (my favorite supermarket in France)
• Very close to the metro
• We will still have all my favorite buses
• 40 m2 (twice the size of our current studio)
• One bedroom and a living room
• A very nice bathroom with bathtub
• Water heater big enough for a lot of showers
• A real closet in the bedroom (though not a dressing)
• Comes with a parking space, and Lionel said we could most likely bring the car up from his parents' house!
• And the best for last....a 55 m2 private garden!  Just one metro stop outside of Paris!  This is what made us say we absolutely HAD to have this apartment.  We will be able to put a table out and eat outside when it's nice.  We are going to get a barbeque to use in the nice weather.  I am going to be able to grow vegetables like I've been wanting.  AND, Lionel promised me that if we got this apartment he would let me get a cat because it would be able to safely go outside in our private garden and also be inside!
• All this for only 800 euros/month!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I'm super excited.  We sign the lease on the 11th and get the keys the same day, so we will be moving in soon!  I finally feel like something is going right in our lives!  And we will finally be able to live like adults!  Here's to moving up in the world!