The Great Apartment Hunt of 2010

But first...The Chalet!

I mentioned that D's experiment graciously rents out a ski chalet (for summer students only) as temp housing.  That is great, because omigosh is rent expensive here! We stayed there for a month.  We got off the plane, drove directly to CERN, and then after an hour or two, drove to the Chalet.  Our friend Nil drove us as it is easy to get lost.* We get to the Chalet, which is in a gorgeous area, literally on the foothills of the Alps.  BUT, for a summer many, many physicists have been running in and out.  Most physicists are boys.  Most boys are dirty.  (Hope no one takes offense to this, but that's my experience) The Chalet was so icky.  So icky.  D and I picked our room and then took on the task of cleaning, because it was (have I mentioned?) so icky.  First task: bathroom.  I am very lucky:  D is quite clean (or has become? I'm not sure).  Regardless, I'm a great cleaner but D pledged a fraternity and can deal with a lot more dirt than I can.  D literally took a Brillo pad to tub.  It went from being gray to being a gleaming white.  Seriously.  It took him at least half an hour to clean the tub.  D also mopped the floors.  He is so awesome.  The kitchen had to be cleaned as well.  It took us about a week to clean everything up and do a bunch of laundry because people just left the (dirty) sheets on the bed.  Ew.

In the end, it worked out fine - and the Chalet had Satellite so we could watch British TV! It was also our first experience with real functional shutters!  Every night we close them, and every morning we got to open them and look out onto the foothills of the Alps.  The first time it happened, D said I looked like I was in a Disney movie!  Every time I opened them, I sang. It was great!

But we moved out into an amazing apartment on 1 October! 

Finding an apartment in Geneva is ridiculous.  There are too many people and not enough housing.  So began our great apartment search.  We were actually VERY lucky.  D had to work all day, so all I did was look for apartments.  I looked on Glocals (which is a social networking site here), WRS classifieds (World Radio Switzerland - English radio channel), CERN Marketplace, and the UN housing ads (the last two are only available if you work at CERN or the UN or if you know someone who does).

Regies:  Here in Europe many apartments are owned by the Regies.  They regulate the apartment, and replace stuff after a certain amount of time, etc.  But, boy they are a pain to work with.  First, you have to see the apartment, fill out a crazy amount of paperwork, and there are generally like 20 people viewing the same apartment you are.  You have to have a certain amount of income, but also be under a certain income.  It was intense.  After a week of working through the Regies, we find out that the Swiss Embassy messed up our visas - we were given visitor visas instead of resident visas.  So no Regie would take us anyway.

Apartment 1:  Kitchen Closet

Location:  Paquis, Geneva, Switzerland

Area:  20 meteres squared

Pros:  In Geneva, close to public transport, furnished, had a lift (for 3 people).

Cons:  1500 Francs, not including internet or electricity.  D had to duck to shower.  Tiny.  Oh, and the KITCHEN WAS IN A CLOSET.  It had a college sized fridge, and a microwave with a burner on it.  It was not big enough for 2 people.  

I took this picture on the other side of the apartment.  Seriously.  This is the one room of the apartment.

Apartment 2:  Regie Experience

Location: Meyrin, Switzerland

Area:  22 meteres squared

Pros:  In Meyrin, close to D's work, farther from Geneva so cheaper, balcony

Cons:  We visited and there were at least 30 people there looking at the apartment.  It was still 1 room, but the kitchen was a bit bigger.  1 room.  It was still 1400 Francs. 

Apartment 3:  Unfurnished - literally

Location:  Meyrin, Switzerland

Area:  25 meters squared

Pros:  Great building, great hardwood, 1200 Francs.

Cons:  Here in Europe when an apartment is unfurnished, it doesn't just mean that it doesn't come with a bed.  It doesn't come with a fridge, or a stove either.  So we would have to buy that stuff.  No.

Apartment 4:  Camping Cabin

Location:  St. Genis, France

Area 30 meters squared

Pros:  Very close to CERN

Cons:  Everything else.  I wish I had a picture of this place.  It was literally a camping cabin.  There was no heating - only by wood stove.  If we wanted hot water for the shower we had to turn on a little box which would heat up the water.  It was 'furnished'  with a bed, stove, fridge, and the worlds oldest radio.  I felt a bit bad for the man, because he was really nice.  But, on our apartment tour, he told us that people had stolen stuff so he had to put bars in the window, and that the steps leading up to the apartment are very slippery.  Last year he fell on them and hurt his leg.  Did I mentioned the framed Men In Black poster on the wall?

Apartment 5:  OUR APARTMENT!

Pros:  EVERYTHING - its in a renovated farmhouse.  It was renovated 4 years ago in an ecologically friendly way.  It is attached to the landlord's home.  We have solar panels, underfloor heating, the insulation is hay, and the walls are made of plaster and mud.  We have a compost in the backyard, we can garden because WE HAVE A YARD.  The landlords are wonderful.  I can see the foothills of the Alps from our desk, along with the ski lift that is in our town. It's great and we can't wait for people to visit! 

Our Kitchen/Living Room

Our Yard!  The Jura and the ski lift in the background

Our Living Room/Kitchen

I just love our yard. :)

Our Bedroom

Bathroom

The world's smallest washing machine!

We have already had Stacy & George, and Anita & Warren visit.  It has been great fun showing our friends life in Europe.  We hope more people can visit! 

* How things are different in Europe # 1:

Amazing thing:  If you don't have a map, and know the city you are going to - Europeans are AMAZING at labeling what city is where.  At roundabouts you will see signs to the city you would like to go. For instance, in Gex, there was a sign to Paris, perfect!

Un-Amazing thing:  If you want to navigate (say from googlemaps) on road names, you are outta luck.  Road names are posted as tiny little things, and roads change names a lot.  Also, if you are coming from the wrong direction, you may not see the road sign because it is pointed so only one direction will see the sign. ugh.