I remember visiting our exchange student at his home in Lyon and his mother was so excited to show us her brand new "réfrigérateur American!" A BIG stainless fridge that would typically be found in a new build here in the US. She was so proud!! 😊
@@audyathome7515 I'm house hunting in France and I'm always surprised when the houses are described as having "French doors out on to the patio" I just assumed they'd just be called doors there😀
@@sallypenhalli all doors are just called doors lol then you have the marketting aspect. You can have all types of "à la française", "à l'italienne", "à l'espagnole", "à l'américaine".
Thank You Diane for this apartment video. My husband doesn’t trust things like Airbnb but this video may help put his mind more at ease with the concept of a less expensive rental option for our planned France visit. I love seeing how people in other cultures really live their lives. This apartment did seem quite spacious by standards I have seen posted by some bloggers. It was lovely. I loved the kitchen, so compact and organized. I am 5’1” and have always appreciated compact spaces like French culture seems to value more than North American homes. Have a lovely day today Diane.
Windows over the doors were quite common in public buildings, like schools. They were called transom windows and were usually hinged at the bottom and a chain would keep from opening more than a few inches.
Hotels, schools, apartment blocks; all had transom windows. It dates from the pre-lightbulb era. Glad to see this and all the other little ways the French use electricity without waste; i.e. no clothes dryer or dishwashers, plug-in kettle.
In my experience (rented in France for 18 months while working) one of the real oddities, from a British perspective, was to find that in rentals sometimes EVERYTHING had been removed from some apartments - down to kitchen fitments and light bulbs. A (French) colleague said he thought a lot of people thought landlords were rich enough already and resented leaving anything that they had bought themselves, even if it wasn’t ideal for their next move. There seemed to be some truth in that because, when I moved out and couldn’t be bothered removing some of IKEA’s finest light fittings, shelving units etc, the agent doing the inventory followed me around marvelling at what I was leaving “Oh, monsieur! Un cadeaux pour le loyer!” “Bah, non, pas un AUTRE cadeaux…!” Etc.
I am a French man and I have a house, Diane's apartment corresponds roughly to the surface of the first floor of my house, I have 4 bedrooms on the first floor, 1 bathroom, a separate WC and a long closet to store lots of clutter!! on the ground floor, I have a large kitchen, a living room and dining room, a toilet and a large entrance! shutters in France, whether they are made of wood, aluminum or PVC, serve several purposes: making it difficult for thieves to gain access to the house (breaking a window is easy, even unhinging it), preventing the sun from heating the interior of the house in summer or limiting the cold in winter (there are strong heat losses through windows, even double-glazed windows like mine) preventing sunlight or the reflection of the sun on the moon which damages the rugs or carpets, not to mention the furniture! and last reason, we like to isolate ourselves from others at night, outside when it's dark, people outside can see what's going on in your house when your rooms are lit but we don't see them! some tell me that they only have thick curtains, but they do not prevent thieves from breaking the windows to get in, they provide little or no protection from thermal radiation, the sun still heating the windows and the heat enters the rooms that we would like to keep cool! I have a large plot and a terrace of 38 m2
Nice video , lots of old towns french flat are organized that way. 11:40 first time I see and hear that trick for pastas, here powerfull electric cookfire are really common and don't need this , maybe with the gaz one.
@@OuiInFrance Do you have any more information on those wall-mounted heaters & how effective they are? I've been looking at them & reviews seem to be split.
@@raffinataonline Unfortunately, my house only has the old school ones and I've never personally used electric radiators beyond short-term rentals. They seem to heat well in smaller spaces.
electric radiators are typically more expensive on the long run than what you have ( what we call "chauffage central", a boiler that heat water, usually using city gas or heating oil, and then circulate this water through the radiators in every room. given the boiler for this system is at least 15 kW, and typical electrical power in a home is 6 or 12 kW, which must also powers every other electric appliances and usage (like computers, TV, lights...), electric radiators have less heating power than a central system. plus if you don't use storage heater (like oil filled radiators), once the heat stops it gets cold very quickly. it's very common in rental appartement to use electric radiators, but typically you don't want them in your own home. the subscription fee for electricity increase with the power you can draw, and that is one of the biggest concern about using electrical radiators. also : -no A/C in most home, and if there is A/C, it will probably be limited to the living room or the bedroom. A/C is limited to cars :D (and that is only since maybe 20 years that you'll find A/C in most cars) -no dryer, you'll hang your laundry and let it dry, potentially with the heat from your radiators in winter. -some laundry washing machine have a dryer functionality. I'm still hanging my laundry nonetheless :) ... I think the hanger you showed hanging behind the door in the corridor is the same model as mine :D ... bought it at auchan -you want to close the door to your kitchen when you cook something, else you'll sleep in your cooking-perfumed bedsheet. extra point for oil-cooked fishes. st jean de luz is a very nice place to visit. I'm from the south-east and currently live near paris, but now I want to go there too :D
In fact it's the heating in the bathroom, so it could be on H24 the cool or freezing months. And yes useful to dry the damp towels, warm the towels and even dry the washing. Useful ! I don't have one yet in my house, but it's planned.
Loved the apartment tour! Since I first visited Europe years ago, I saw the wisdom in towel warmers, detachable shower handles, electric tea kettles, and bidets. I don't have the room for a bidet in my house but I made sure to have a detachable shower fixture and a towel warmer in my bathroom. I've kept an electric tea kettle in my kitchen for years! Didn't have to tell me twice with these lovely conveniences! As it turned out, I had to buy a slightly smaller refrigerator too - 1890 houses have narrow doorways! I've managed just fine. Thanks as always, Diane!
Looks lovely! Thanks for the tour. We live in the states and have had a wonderful free-standing towel rack for 20 years. It's wonderful Got it when we came back from Paris! Also have lever handles on all our doors-especially handy for arthritic hands. Thanks for great content!
Hi, the ones you see at those timestamps are actually oval and enamel, part of the original build and not what I was trying to describe. Sorry for any confusion. My point was that the round ones we see in the US that are brass or a brushed metal finish with a locking mechanism in the center aren't ones you'll find in France.
Hi :) I live in Australia, and I haven't seen a stove-top kettle in decades. It's all plug-in types. As for those European-style sockets, I seem to remember that some had to be rotated after plugging in your plug to make contact. The metal rod would be the "earth". In Australia, the "earth" function is by a third pin on the plug if the item has to be earthed that way.
Merci Diane. Que de souvenirs grâce à cette vidéo ! Couloirs étroits, portes partout, les étendoirs, les volets, etc... et surtout le plancher! In each house I have lived in the US, I had to remove the carpets and replace them with wood floors; it is costly and painful if you do it yourself but so worth it!
Great video as usual Diane. I enjoy visiting Basque country whenever I can. My French wife's from there. Make sure to eat tapas. They're especially delicious on the Spanish side in San Sebastián (Saint Sébastien).
Years ago, when a Canadian businessman was being posted to the States for a longish period, he was often advised to purchase an electric kettle (if he needed one) before moving. If he was able to find one in the US, like a GE of Sunbeam, they were usually made in Canada. Today, of course, all this stuff is made in Asia. In Canada the electric kettle is as common as the toaster.
I enjoyed this so much! Thank you! I must share with you that because I was watching this video with others, I was surprised today with a new shower head and detachable one just like you have in France. I was talking about how awesome they are and then voilà! So, thank you Diane for being responsible for my new shower! 🤣❤️❤️ I had to share with you! Your influence is felt across the pond!
And keep the heat inside during the winter ! In sommer you close it partly or completely to avoid the sun to "touch" the windows and so heat them. During winter, Cole the shutters when the sun is down. It's very efficient !
Your French pronunciation is great! Look forward to seeing more videos like this so that I may share this with my students. They'd surely wanna know what houses are like in France.
I always enjoy seeing how other people live. Thanks for sharing this video! Do families actually live in these small apartments, or are they fashioned just for short rental stays?
Hi Jan, St.Jean-de-Luz is touristy and gets really busy during the summer months but has a population of about 14k residents who are there year round. This particular building had one apartment with a full-time tenant and the rest seem to be owned by people who visit seasonally. The one we stayed in is a short-term rental though. Apartments we saw on the street from the balcony are occupied and we saw families, older couples, all kinds of people who presumably live there all the time. Thank you for watching! xx P.S. An apt like this would be considered spacious in Paris! ;-)
Even by French/European standards that's a small apartment fit for single persons and childless couples, or for short vacation stays. As Diane notes here, the exception would probably be in Paris where most people simply can't afford the price of a decent-size apartment.
@@jfrancobelge It was perfect for our family of four's vacation needs but it's definitely true that Plum Guide has much bigger and more luxurious options for people looking for that experience. ;-)
Thanks for the video! I love seeing homes in other countries. I've never seen one of those warming towel racks in the U.S., but did for the first time in Italy last fall. Our hotels in Venice, Florence and Rome all had one and It was great for helping to dry some laundry that we hand-washed. I never figured out how to make the heat come on though. The racks would just mysteriously get warm on their own somehow.
@@OuiInFrance yes, usually you've got a timer and a button to adjust the temperature as well. Some models also have a blown air system to be auxiliary heating
8:55 Where I live I've seen a lot of normal radiators that have water flowing trough them that look like this towel heater. And I'm not sure but I guess that one could work as an electric radiator too?
We are looking for appartements in france and are having a nightmare of a time without having a CDI. I show bank accounts with more than enough to pay rent for 10 years and no luck.
It's difficult also for french people. My younger son has to have somebody with a good job who agreed to pay for him if he can't. In some area it's because they are few flats like in Paris, or it could be because you have only months or years job contracts, as my son even he work for the same part of the state for 5 years ! Can't also have a loan to buy a car !
I've lived both in France and England - the towel warmers and free-standing electric kettles are very common in England as well, esp. in upmarket homes and apartments.
I don't like it. Some apartments I know in Switzerland & France don't have a sink there and I think it's a nuisance and possibly a hindrance to go to another room just to wash your hands. You hope that everybody does. And many times I am about to shower and suddenly need to use the toilet. Oh Phooey -- go to another room to do that? Not my favorite thing.
Very nice apartment tour! I grew up in Central Pennsylvania and in some older homes we rented, (at least two that I can recall) had the toilet separate from the bath/shower and sink. Sometimes there might have been a shower and toilet in the basement of these older homes as well, most of those were unused. Usually there was only one bathroom combination on the main sleeping floor and it was convenient if one had to use the facilities while someone was bathing. Some of those homes had two staircases as well. One home had an ornate stair well in the parlour and the "back" staircase led down from the bedrooms to the kitchen/pantry area. The ornate wooden staircase had a beautiful mahogany/frosted window pained door that slid on a track at the top to minimize noise from below and to regulate temperatures. The back stair case was simple and utilitarian but had the door at the bottom of the stairwell that opened up in the Kitchen, just off the pantry. What I'm surprised about is that most apartments I've seen in France don't have bidets! I always thought the French cornered the market on that idea, and truth be told, I wish they came standard issue here in America. One last observation, I truly love the shutters! I love that they actually work. Many homes over here have decorative panels that give the aesthetic of shutters, but none of the functionality of the authentic ones! Some older homes in the North East still have them, but they are getting fewer as time goes by. Thanks Diane for this tour, I really enjoyed it!
We have those towel rails in the Uk too though they’re usually radiators - part of the heating system. Oh and yea kettles as we Brits love our cups of tea! That’s a lovely apartment. I’m going to check out that area on UA-cam! Thanks Diane.
I've used a towl warmer in my massage business for about 20 of the 25 years I've been in business. People put their clothes on them during the massage & have toasty clothes to put back on! They LOVE it!
They're wonderful! No musty damp towels, just used washcloths and towels dry quick and easy. I've even washed wool sweaters, folded them over a towel on the towel warmer and they dry overnight! Will never live in a house without a towel warmer now.
I want to buy a house in France and I find it so difficult to understand the realtor websites, particularly when it comes to square footage. Everything is written in m2 metres carres. I only understand square feet or the size of the land in feet or acres. Can you make a video on this? I would say an average American single family home is about 1500-2000 sq ft, but a French home, appears much smaller when I read the description in square meters, even after conversion to square feet. Do they measure floor area the same way as we do?
Hi Monica, just bookmark this site and you can easily do the conversions. ;-) www.metric-conversions.org/area/square-meters-to-square-feet.htm If you're in need of a real estate agent (any area of France), email me. I have a recommendation.
Hi, according to INSEE (French Statistics Institute) the average french house is about 1200 sq ft. The floor area are measured according to "Loi Carrez" (Carrez Law) : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Carrez
A few years ago I housesat for an American couple in paris and asked them where their electric kettle was, they looked at me like I was speaking gibberish. I had no idea they weren’t common over there. Awesome apartment, glad to have an alternative to Airbnb to look at.
Thanks!! We had a great time! We chose it because it was a place we'd never gone before with my dog Dagny so we wouldn't have to go somewhere we had once gone with her (she passed away March 5).
This was fantastic! I currently live in Portugal and have been exploring around in various apartments. Many of the characteristics of this apartment are similar to what we have. This apartment was very nice and I am checking out Plug Guide.
Some apartment buildings would not be very accessible since not all have elevators but many do -- especially newer ones -- and all public buildings have ramps.
Hi, no it's not. Apartments to rent are usually unfurnished in France, though you can find furnished ones too (not only for vacation, students often rent furnished apartments during their studies for example). Unfurnished can mean there will be no kitchen furniture too, except for a sink.
I've only seen towel warming racks in those catalogs full of strange things that cost a lot more than they should, like SkyMall. When I lived in a really old apartment in Chicago, I'd warm my towels on the radiator in winter.
Very informative video. The only heated towel rack I’ve seen in the U.S. is at my in-laws’ house in Montana. A neat idea for a cold morning! The first electric kettle I used was at a hotel in London about 10 years ago. As soon as I got home, I ordered one.
I'm from Germany and lived there for 25 years. My uncle had a towel warmer 1960 in his house. From Germany I'm used to the removable shower handles, live now for 46 years in the USA and almost every house even the upper price range have the useless shower heads...so where ever I moved to,I I replaced it with removable shower handles
Hi, I'd say there's a mix of people who own/rent their properties. It just depends on the area. I wouldn't say it's particularly difficult to own your home in France.
@@OuiInFrance Yes we do appreciate that too 😉 My sister lives in Paris and their apartment is similar in many ways except yours has an exceptional charm. It's the combination of your modernized touches and the upkept original architecture that makes it so welcoming. The location offers a lot to its aesthetic. Well done!
UA-cam keeps hiding your posts from me, even though I've been subscribed for a while. No idea why. Loved this episode. Why is it, to me, French apartments seem so sensible and "just enough". Past life, I guess. I love the layout and clean lines and practicality.
Interesting that dual flush is becoming popular. An Australian invention - being the driest continent on earth we're extremely water usage conscious. Good to see it happening overseas.
With the exception of a few jaunts into Mexico and Canada, my parents never ventured outside of the US. My grandmother might have been born in another country, but I don’t think so. Same with my great grandmother. My great grandfather was killed when my grandmother was 5 and she and my great grandmother lived in a convent attached to a Catholic hospital where my GGM was a nurse. My grandmother was a terrific baker, sewist and linguist. I cannot say how many languages she spoke but she was fluent in several Spanish languages (Spain, Mexico, Albuquerque..) French, Latin, Portuguese as well as the language of several different pockets of Europe (Pyrenees, Basque and I don’t know). When she started to explain the nuances and influence of different languages, I really wanted to learn them all but my eyes would glaze over. My mother and her sisters were also fluent in different languages but they used the other languages to speak confidentially and did not share their knowledge. I would hear several languages in the same sentence and knew when they were not speaking English then it was someone’s birthday coming up or someone was having an affair. Lots of husbands with 8 girls and some were good men and others not so much. Doesn’t matter as I am confident that my eyes would glaze over. But I truly wish I wasn’t so American. Standard things in the house were also European, electric teapots, medicines we kept, I don’t know. They are all normal American things to me but watching videos like yours where I learn that things I thought were everywhere are not,they must not be so American. Some mannerisms of Americans are not natural to me, either. Brazenness, drawing attention to yourself, I don’t know. I just thought I was different, until I was exposed to the French, the British, the Irish and the Spanish. Turns out that I am perfectly normal but a mix of different people. My grandmother spent the day in school and with many of the sisters, learning their skills, languages and their manners. I think that I would feel more at home somewhere else but I suspect that I would bring some Americanisms with me that I am not even aware of. Who knows! As an FYI, I also come from a big family and we did not have two bathrooms in our house until I was 12 or so. Having everything in one bathroom means you cannot bathe in private or everyone has to wait until you get out of the bath to use the bathroom. I much prefer homes with separate toilets and baths!
We had round handles on ground-floor doors in my childhood home. Only way to prevent a clever cat to open doors... But I agree they are not the most common in France.
Just a correction : circular doorknobs can absolutely be found in France !! I would say there is a 50/50 percentage of round and flat doorknobs. For exemple in Paris, Haussmanian apartment are almost all equipped with round ones. In general, in older apartments you will find round doorknobs and in more recent apartments flat ones. But that also depends on the region, the place, how the house was built etc. In general there’s no big tendency, you can find one as well as the other !
Hi there, sorry for any confusion. I just meant that handle varieties are much more common in France whereas the round ones are most commonly seen in the US. Not that you can never ever find round ones in France. ;-) Thanks for watching!
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Indeed. They does.
I remember visiting our exchange student at his home in Lyon and his mother was so excited to show us her brand new "réfrigérateur American!" A BIG stainless fridge that would typically be found in a new build here in the US. She was so proud!! 😊
Ironically, "American fridges" are the ones with "French doors" lol so weird!
@@audyathome7515 LOL!!! Good point!! 😆
@@audyathome7515 I'm house hunting in France and I'm always surprised when the houses are described as having "French doors out on to the patio" I just assumed they'd just be called doors there😀
@@sallypenhalli all doors are just called doors lol then you have the marketting aspect. You can have all types of "à la française", "à l'italienne", "à l'espagnole", "à l'américaine".
Typical reaction of someone living in the third world, so very sad .
Thank You Diane for this apartment video. My husband doesn’t trust things like Airbnb but this video may help put his mind more at ease with the concept of a less expensive rental option for our planned France visit. I love seeing how people in other cultures really live their lives. This apartment did seem quite spacious by standards I have seen posted by some bloggers. It was lovely. I loved the kitchen, so compact and organized.
I am 5’1” and have always appreciated compact spaces like French culture seems to value more than North American homes. Have a lovely day today Diane.
French culture values compact spaces because most French people don't have the financial means to buy McMansions.
Hey 👋 Such a beautiful home, I especially love the floor tiles 😍 Thanks for sharing 🇫🇷
Windows over the doors were quite common in public buildings, like schools. They were called transom windows and were usually hinged at the bottom and a chain would keep from opening more than a few inches.
Hotels, schools, apartment blocks; all had transom windows. It dates from the pre-lightbulb era.
Glad to see this and all the other little ways the French use electricity without waste; i.e. no clothes dryer or dishwashers, plug-in kettle.
I'm so gald you called that a kettle and not a tea kettle! We have electric kettles in the UK, too.
In my experience (rented in France for 18 months while working) one of the real oddities, from a British perspective, was to find that in rentals sometimes EVERYTHING had been removed from some apartments - down to kitchen fitments and light bulbs. A (French) colleague said he thought a lot of people thought landlords were rich enough already and resented leaving anything that they had bought themselves, even if it wasn’t ideal for their next move. There seemed to be some truth in that because, when I moved out and couldn’t be bothered removing some of IKEA’s finest light fittings, shelving units etc, the agent doing the inventory followed me around marvelling at what I was leaving “Oh, monsieur! Un cadeaux pour le loyer!” “Bah, non, pas un AUTRE cadeaux…!” Etc.
*cadeau, of course. It’s 20 years ago and sadly I don’t get to use French as much as I used to!
I am a French man and I have a house, Diane's apartment corresponds roughly to the surface of the first floor of my house, I have 4 bedrooms on the first floor, 1 bathroom, a separate WC and a long closet to store lots of clutter!! on the ground floor, I have a large kitchen, a living room and dining room, a toilet and a large entrance! shutters in France, whether they are made of wood, aluminum or PVC, serve several purposes: making it difficult for thieves to gain access to the house (breaking a window is easy, even unhinging it), preventing the sun from heating the interior of the house in summer or limiting the cold in winter (there are strong heat losses through windows, even double-glazed windows like mine) preventing sunlight or the reflection of the sun on the moon which damages the rugs or carpets, not to mention the furniture! and last reason, we like to isolate ourselves from others at night, outside when it's dark, people outside can see what's going on in your house when your rooms are lit but we don't see them! some tell me that they only have thick curtains, but they do not prevent thieves from breaking the windows to get in, they provide little or no protection from thermal radiation, the sun still heating the windows and the heat enters the rooms that we would like to keep cool! I have a large plot and a terrace of 38 m2
Yes heated towel rack & bidet
Thank you for the tour of a very nice apartment and Plum Guide too ❤😊
Nice video , lots of old towns french flat are organized that way. 11:40 first time I see and hear that trick for pastas, here powerfull electric cookfire are really common and don't need this , maybe with the gaz one.
The transom windows help with light. The kitchen is lovely.
Oh yes, great feature!
@@OuiInFrance Do you have any more information on those wall-mounted heaters & how effective they are? I've been looking at them & reviews seem to be split.
@@raffinataonline Unfortunately, my house only has the old school ones and I've never personally used electric radiators beyond short-term rentals. They seem to heat well in smaller spaces.
@@OuiInFrance Thank you
Thanks for the tour,love the architecture.❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Diane, I have been sick for several days, unable to leave home. I truly enjoyed and appreciated the tour. Hugs from Northern California 🤗
Ça va mieux🤔🤔
Bon boulot Diane ! J'ai vraiment aimé cette vidéo.
*France has an amazing diversity of different European peoples, architecture styles, climates, gastronomies, accents etc !!!* 🤩😇🥰
electric radiators are typically more expensive on the long run than what you have ( what we call "chauffage central", a boiler that heat water, usually using city gas or heating oil, and then circulate this water through the radiators in every room. given the boiler for this system is at least 15 kW, and typical electrical power in a home is 6 or 12 kW, which must also powers every other electric appliances and usage (like computers, TV, lights...), electric radiators have less heating power than a central system. plus if you don't use storage heater (like oil filled radiators), once the heat stops it gets cold very quickly. it's very common in rental appartement to use electric radiators, but typically you don't want them in your own home.
the subscription fee for electricity increase with the power you can draw, and that is one of the biggest concern about using electrical radiators.
also :
-no A/C in most home, and if there is A/C, it will probably be limited to the living room or the bedroom. A/C is limited to cars :D (and that is only since maybe 20 years that you'll find A/C in most cars)
-no dryer, you'll hang your laundry and let it dry, potentially with the heat from your radiators in winter.
-some laundry washing machine have a dryer functionality. I'm still hanging my laundry nonetheless :) ... I think the hanger you showed hanging behind the door in the corridor is the same model as mine :D ... bought it at auchan
-you want to close the door to your kitchen when you cook something, else you'll sleep in your cooking-perfumed bedsheet. extra point for oil-cooked fishes.
st jean de luz is a very nice place to visit. I'm from the south-east and currently live near paris, but now I want to go there too :D
I live in Minnesota. I do not have a towel heat rack - i did not know they exist.
I want one now. ☮️💟
Would definitely come in handy for winter!
In fact it's the heating in the bathroom, so it could be on H24 the cool or freezing months. And yes useful to dry the damp towels, warm the towels and even dry the washing. Useful ! I don't have one yet in my house, but it's planned.
A beautiful informative video! I hope that you get many more such opportunities to visit other parts of France and share videos with us. Thank you
Loved the apartment tour! Since I first visited Europe years ago, I saw the wisdom in towel warmers, detachable shower handles, electric tea kettles, and bidets. I don't have the room for a bidet in my house but I made sure to have a detachable shower fixture and a towel warmer in my bathroom. I've kept an electric tea kettle in my kitchen for years! Didn't have to tell me twice with these lovely conveniences! As it turned out, I had to buy a slightly smaller refrigerator too - 1890 houses have narrow doorways! I've managed just fine. Thanks as always, Diane!
Looks lovely! Thanks for the tour. We live in the states and have had a wonderful free-standing towel rack for 20 years. It's wonderful Got it when we came back from Paris! Also have lever handles on all our doors-especially handy for arthritic hands. Thanks for great content!
St Jean de Luz is amazing!
At 2:53 on can clearly see a door knob on the bedroom door, and again at 13:21 there is another on the door to the toilette.
You're right. They are clearly round door knobs.
Hi, the ones you see at those timestamps are actually oval and enamel, part of the original build and not what I was trying to describe. Sorry for any confusion. My point was that the round ones we see in the US that are brass or a brushed metal finish with a locking mechanism in the center aren't ones you'll find in France.
Same "bathroom" situation in the UK and other Euro countries I've visited- the toilet is in its own room - WC. Sink & shower in the bathroom.
Next time could you show some larger apartment like 100 sq. Meter plus? Thank you.
Hi :) I live in Australia, and I haven't seen a stove-top kettle in decades. It's all plug-in types. As for those European-style sockets, I seem to remember that some had to be rotated after plugging in your plug to make contact. The metal rod would be the "earth". In Australia, the "earth" function is by a third pin on the plug if the item has to be earthed that way.
I will have to keep an eye out for the rotating ones. Can't say I've ever seen any like that.... thank you for watching ;-)
Great video. Mary from Florida
Small and cosy. I like such apartment
Merci Diane. Que de souvenirs grâce à cette vidéo ! Couloirs étroits, portes partout, les étendoirs, les volets, etc... et surtout le plancher! In each house I have lived in the US, I had to remove the carpets and replace them with wood floors; it is costly and painful if you do it yourself but so worth it!
I love your flat!!!
This is a fabulous episode!!! I always wanted to see a French apartment!
I 💟all of it except the no screens part.
yeahhhhhh i'm with you (and as i type this i have 5 flies congregating around my chandelier ugh
I renovated my home in 2008 and installed a towel warmer in my bathroom. I live in New England. Best thing ever!
Yesss!!! Such a nice feature!
Très belle appartement!! ❤
Great video as usual Diane. I enjoy visiting Basque country whenever I can. My French wife's from there. Make sure to eat tapas. They're especially delicious on the Spanish side in San Sebastián (Saint Sébastien).
Yes, we took full advantage of the tapas everywhere. So good!
Good explanation, Diane. We have a heated towel rack at our home in Texas. We fell in love with them during our many trips to France. 😊
They really are a nice touch!! Did you find that they were easy to buy at home decor/reno stores in the US? Curious where they have them
Cute, modest little apartment - great vacation rental! Thanks.
Years ago, when a Canadian businessman was being posted to the States for a longish period, he was often advised to purchase an electric kettle (if he needed one) before moving. If he was able to find one in the US, like a GE of Sunbeam, they were usually made in Canada. Today, of course, all this stuff is made in Asia. In Canada the electric kettle is as common as the toaster.
I enjoyed this so much! Thank you! I must share with you that because I was watching this video with others, I was surprised today with a new shower head and detachable one just like you have in France. I was talking about how awesome they are and then voilà! So, thank you Diane for being responsible for my new shower! 🤣❤️❤️ I had to share with you! Your influence is felt across the pond!
Love that, thank you!
First?
Really like this apartment, like a modest home!
Glad you enjoyed it!!
Volets are great to keep the heat outside on really hot days. Most apartments wouldn't have AC.
And keep the heat inside during the winter ! In sommer you close it partly or completely to avoid the sun to "touch" the windows and so heat them. During winter, Cole the shutters when the sun is down. It's very efficient !
Yup, fantastic for privacy, security, and temperature control!
I'm in FL. I've never seen that towel drying rack anywhere. I love it!
Your French pronunciation is great! Look forward to seeing more videos like this so that I may share this with my students. They'd surely wanna know what houses are like in France.
Great tiled roofs. Charment
Agreed!
I always enjoy seeing how other people live. Thanks for sharing this video!
Do families actually live in these small apartments, or are they fashioned just for short rental stays?
Hi Jan,
St.Jean-de-Luz is touristy and gets really busy during the summer months but has a population of about 14k residents who are there year round. This particular building had one apartment with a full-time tenant and the rest seem to be owned by people who visit seasonally. The one we stayed in is a short-term rental though. Apartments we saw on the street from the balcony are occupied and we saw families, older couples, all kinds of people who presumably live there all the time.
Thank you for watching! xx
P.S. An apt like this would be considered spacious in Paris! ;-)
Even by French/European standards that's a small apartment fit for single persons and childless couples, or for short vacation stays. As Diane notes here, the exception would probably be in Paris where most people simply can't afford the price of a decent-size apartment.
A couple with one child would absolutely live in such an apartment.
@@jfrancobelge It was perfect for our family of four's vacation needs but it's definitely true that Plum Guide has much bigger and more luxurious options for people looking for that experience. ;-)
@@OuiInFrance Thank you for your reply.
Great editing!
Thanks for the video! I love seeing homes in other countries. I've never seen one of those warming towel racks in the U.S., but did for the first time in Italy last fall. Our hotels in Venice, Florence and Rome all had one and It was great for helping to dry some laundry that we hand-washed. I never figured out how to make the heat come on though. The racks would just mysteriously get warm on their own somehow.
hmm, maybe they were set on a timer or something like that. Yes, super handy for drying light items as well. An added bonus ;-)
@@OuiInFrance yes, usually you've got a timer and a button to adjust the temperature as well. Some models also have a blown air system to be auxiliary heating
Always fascinating to learn about life in From an expats perspective.
Diane, You are a wonderful tour guide. You make everything interesting and fun !
Oh thank you!
8:55 Where I live I've seen a lot of normal radiators that have water flowing trough them that look like this towel heater. And I'm not sure but I guess that one could work as an electric radiator too?
Yes, the towel warmer is great at heating small spaces, doubles as a heater
Japanese water boilers keep the water at temperature 24/7 and have basically the same footprint on the countertop.
Oooh that sounds great!
We are looking for appartements in france and are having a nightmare of a time without having a CDI. I show bank accounts with more than enough to pay rent for 10 years and no luck.
Yes, it's so competitive. Wishing you luck!
It's difficult also for french people. My younger son has to have somebody with a good job who agreed to pay for him if he can't. In some area it's because they are few flats like in Paris, or it could be because you have only months or years job contracts, as my son even he work for the same part of the state for 5 years ! Can't also have a loan to buy a car !
I've lived both in France and England - the towel warmers and free-standing electric kettles are very common in England as well, esp. in upmarket homes and apartments.
In Paris, the classic Haussmanian appartement has oval porcelan door knobs. Love them
I always love the toilet being separate from the actual “bathroom.” I don’t know why that isn’t the case in the US.
Not a fan personally of toilet only rooms!
@@OuiInFrance well at least behind it’s own door in the same room!
I don't like it. Some apartments I know in Switzerland & France don't have a sink there and I think it's a nuisance and possibly a hindrance to go to another room just to wash your hands. You hope that everybody does. And many times I am about to shower and suddenly need to use the toilet. Oh Phooey -- go to another room to do that? Not my favorite thing.
@@ntakovacj3644 Yeah I can't not think about how germy that inner door handle is in the toilet room when there's no sink....
@@ntakovacj3644. That’s why modern apts have a little sink in the toilets.
Very nice apartment tour! I grew up in Central Pennsylvania and in some older homes we rented, (at least two that I can recall) had the toilet separate from the bath/shower and sink. Sometimes there might have been a shower and toilet in the basement of these older homes as well, most of those were unused. Usually there was only one bathroom combination on the main sleeping floor and it was convenient if one had to use the facilities while someone was bathing. Some of those homes had two staircases as well. One home had an ornate stair well in the parlour and the "back" staircase led down from the bedrooms to the kitchen/pantry area. The ornate wooden staircase had a beautiful mahogany/frosted window pained door that slid on a track at the top to minimize noise from below and to regulate temperatures. The back stair case was simple and utilitarian but had the door at the bottom of the stairwell that opened up in the Kitchen, just off the pantry. What I'm surprised about is that most apartments I've seen in France don't have bidets! I always thought the French cornered the market on that idea, and truth be told, I wish they came standard issue here in America. One last observation, I truly love the shutters! I love that they actually work. Many homes over here have decorative panels that give the aesthetic of shutters, but none of the functionality of the authentic ones! Some older homes in the North East still have them, but they are getting fewer as time goes by. Thanks Diane for this tour, I really enjoyed it!
We have those towel rails in the Uk too though they’re usually radiators - part of the heating system. Oh and yea kettles as we Brits love our cups of tea! That’s a lovely apartment. I’m going to check out that area on UA-cam! Thanks Diane.
Andy, in France too the towel rails are radiators, heating both the bathroom and the towel . ;)
Super super nicely renovated ❤️❤️.
I grew up in Bidarray not far from saint jean de luz :)
Lovely apartment and great tour! Thanks Diane!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Those windows are called "impostes"
I do have a towel warmer here in New York but I also have a bidet, not a common sight in the US. But then, my late husband was French so...you know!
I've used a towl warmer in my massage business for about 20 of the 25 years I've been in business. People put their clothes on them during the massage & have toasty clothes to put back on! They LOVE it!
They're wonderful! No musty damp towels, just used washcloths and towels dry quick and easy. I've even washed wool sweaters, folded them over a towel on the towel warmer and they dry overnight! Will never live in a house without a towel warmer now.
I want to buy a house in France and I find it so difficult to understand the realtor websites, particularly when it comes to square footage. Everything is written in m2 metres carres. I only understand square feet or the size of the land in feet or acres. Can you make a video on this? I would say an average American single family home is about 1500-2000 sq ft, but a French home, appears much smaller when I read the description in square meters, even after conversion to square feet. Do they measure floor area the same way as we do?
Hi Monica, just bookmark this site and you can easily do the conversions. ;-) www.metric-conversions.org/area/square-meters-to-square-feet.htm
If you're in need of a real estate agent (any area of France), email me. I have a recommendation.
Hi, according to INSEE (French Statistics Institute) the average french house is about 1200 sq ft. The floor area are measured according to "Loi Carrez" (Carrez Law) : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Carrez
Enjoy Saint Jean de Luz. Enjoy.
Thank you! We loved it!
A few years ago I housesat for an American couple in paris and asked them where their electric kettle was, they looked at me like I was speaking gibberish. I had no idea they weren’t common over there.
Awesome apartment, glad to have an alternative to Airbnb to look at.
Saint Jean de Luz est une de mes villes préférées en France, typique Basque, magnifique 😊🤩
Donostia is more culturally interesting
Great video!!
Glad you enjoyed it, merci!
This town was just recommended to me as a nice place to visit yesterday!
Hope you can see it in person soon!
The French have style.. no doubt about that
Welcome to the Basque Country!
Thanks!! We had a great time! We chose it because it was a place we'd never gone before with my dog Dagny so we wouldn't have to go somewhere we had once gone with her (she passed away March 5).
@@OuiInFrance Sounds like a very sensible approach. I'm pleased you had such a great time.
Very cool! I checked out Plum Guide and I love it.
Marie
Hello Diane. I live in St Jean de Luz.
So cool! What a lovely place to be all year round!
@@OuiInFrance you’re right. Except in August: too many tourists. You stay in St Jean until when?
Thank you! Love your posts, enjoyed this one, good points on stairs 👍🏻.
What a lovely place, thanks Diana 😊
This was fantastic! I currently live in Portugal and have been exploring around in various apartments. Many of the characteristics of this apartment are similar to what we have. This apartment was very nice and I am checking out Plug Guide.
What is France like for mobility impaired? I'm partially in a wheelchair, can walk small distances, but flights of stairs are impossible for me.
Some apartment buildings would not be very accessible since not all have elevators but many do -- especially newer ones -- and all public buildings have ramps.
@@OuiInFrance thank you so much for the reply! That's great to hear :)
Is it difficult to find unfurnished flats? I mean for long term, not for a vacation. They are impossible to find in Malta.
Hi, no it's not. Apartments to rent are usually unfurnished in France, though you can find furnished ones too (not only for vacation, students often rent furnished apartments during their studies for example). Unfurnished can mean there will be no kitchen furniture too, except for a sink.
@@ClaireT63 Thanks. That's the answer I was hoping for.
Interesting. I do like the transom windows (above the doors) and even the levers instead of door knobs. But not having a dryer?!!
I've only seen towel warming racks in those catalogs full of strange things that cost a lot more than they should, like SkyMall. When I lived in a really old apartment in Chicago, I'd warm my towels on the radiator in winter.
nice spot!
Very informative video. The only heated towel rack I’ve seen in the U.S. is at my in-laws’ house in Montana. A neat idea for a cold morning!
The first electric kettle I used was at a hotel in London about 10 years ago. As soon as I got home, I ordered one.
Lol, smaller fridges definitely.... But I'm weird and ditched the big fridge in favor of 2 mini fridges for more counter space. Lol
Yes we have a towel warmer and it is fantastic! Don't know why they aren't more common in the US.
Cute little apartment. 👍👍
It really is!
Sorry if this was already mentioned: where is this apartment located?
Saint-Jean-de-Luz
I'm from Germany and lived there for 25 years. My uncle had a towel warmer 1960 in his house. From Germany I'm used to the removable shower handles, live now for 46 years in the USA and almost every house even the upper price range have the useless shower heads...so where ever I moved to,I I replaced it with removable shower handles
fun fact in France, the double door fridges are called "american style" fridge : réfrigérateur (frigo) à l'américaine... that means a lot ;)
yup, love that!!
Do most French rent apartments? Is it difficult to own a home in france?
Hi, I'd say there's a mix of people who own/rent their properties. It just depends on the area. I wouldn't say it's particularly difficult to own your home in France.
Thank you for the great tour. ❤️👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Why didn’t you tell us it it was an apartment available for rent from the intro? It is lovely.
Hi Carolyne, I try to keep intros short based on feedback I got from people. Glad you enjoyed it! ;-)
@@OuiInFrance Yes we do appreciate that too 😉
My sister lives in Paris and their apartment is similar in many ways except yours has an exceptional charm. It's the combination of your modernized touches and the upkept original architecture that makes it so welcoming. The location offers a lot to its aesthetic. Well done!
How much do you pay, please?
UA-cam keeps hiding your posts from me, even though I've been subscribed for a while. No idea why. Loved this episode. Why is it, to me, French apartments seem so sensible and "just enough". Past life, I guess. I love the layout and clean lines and practicality.
Rent ?
Interesting that dual flush is becoming popular. An Australian invention - being the driest continent on earth we're extremely water usage conscious. Good to see it happening overseas.
Red wine into the fridge ??
I don't drink red very often although some varieties are better chilled a little. Our bottle in the fridge was white, though.
With the exception of a few jaunts into Mexico and Canada, my parents never ventured outside of the US. My grandmother might have been born in another country, but I don’t think so. Same with my great grandmother. My great grandfather was killed when my grandmother was 5 and she and my great grandmother lived in a convent attached to a Catholic hospital where my GGM was a nurse. My grandmother was a terrific baker, sewist and linguist. I cannot say how many languages she spoke but she was fluent in several Spanish languages (Spain, Mexico, Albuquerque..) French, Latin, Portuguese as well as the language of several different pockets of Europe (Pyrenees, Basque and I don’t know). When she started to explain the nuances and influence of different languages, I really wanted to learn them all but my eyes would glaze over. My mother and her sisters were also fluent in different languages but they used the other languages to speak confidentially and did not share their knowledge. I would hear several languages in the same sentence and knew when they were not speaking English then it was someone’s birthday coming up or someone was having an affair. Lots of husbands with 8 girls and some were good men and others not so much. Doesn’t matter as I am confident that my eyes would glaze over. But I truly wish I wasn’t so American. Standard things in the house were also European, electric teapots, medicines we kept, I don’t know. They are all normal American things to me but watching videos like yours where I learn that things I thought were everywhere are not,they must not be so American. Some mannerisms of Americans are not natural to me, either. Brazenness, drawing attention to yourself, I don’t know. I just thought I was different, until I was exposed to the French, the British, the Irish and the Spanish. Turns out that I am perfectly normal but a mix of different people. My grandmother spent the day in school and with many of the sisters, learning their skills, languages and their manners. I think that I would feel more at home somewhere else but I suspect that I would bring some Americanisms with me that I am not even aware of. Who knows! As an FYI, I also come from a big family and we did not have two bathrooms in our house until I was 12 or so. Having everything in one bathroom means you cannot bathe in private or everyone has to wait until you get out of the bath to use the bathroom. I much prefer homes with separate toilets and baths!
We had round handles on ground-floor doors in my childhood home. Only way to prevent a clever cat to open doors...
But I agree they are not the most common in France.
what did that cost you?
Hi Cynthia, I noted in the video it rents for $127/night but we were hosted by Plum Guide for the collab. ;-)
Just a correction : circular doorknobs can absolutely be found in France !!
I would say there is a 50/50 percentage of round and flat doorknobs. For exemple in Paris, Haussmanian apartment are almost all equipped with
round ones. In general, in older apartments you will find round doorknobs and in more recent apartments flat ones. But that also depends on the region, the place, how the house was built etc. In general there’s no big tendency, you can find one as well as the other !
Hi there, sorry for any confusion. I just meant that handle varieties are much more common in France whereas the round ones are most commonly seen in the US. Not that you can never ever find round ones in France. ;-) Thanks for watching!
This is 'le Pays Basque' / Euskal Herria first, not France.
The electricity plug is exactly like Israel