Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Judy and Gary are Aussies who a few years ago lucked into buying a studio apartment they once rented at the corner of rue Simon Le Franc and rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement. The entrance to the building on rue Simon Le Franc appears to be the narrowest building in all of Paris, as the building is no wider than the door itself. Deceivingly, that’s just a narrow path leading you to the main building at the corner with windows on both streets.

Their 17th-century studio is airy with high ceilings, exposed beams, one large window, an American style open kitchen and is decorated with industrial antiques they painstakingly sought out and treasure. It stays rented well while they’re on the other side of the world in their Melbourne home.

Being the “smart cookies” they are, they managed to recently purchase the studio apartment next door which has an entrance on the same “palier” (landing) as theirs. With luck, the “copropriété” (homeowners association) will allow them to purchase the landing and enclose the two apartments behind one entrance. Meanwhile, the new studio is undergoing massive renovation.

It’s a strange configuration…entering a hall that houses an L-shaped bathroom, one main room with a large window leading onto a small terrace (perfect for “barbies”) and a long galley kitchen with a window, that is of course, over the narrow entry path that deceives us all into thinking the building is the narrowest in all of Paris.

They started the renovation almost the very day they signed the “Acte de Vente” (sales deed). Fortunately, their apartments are a stone’s throw from the famous Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) department store on rue de Rivoli opposite the Hôtel de Ville about which we joke regularly…”If the BHV doesn’t have it, it doesn’t exist.”

Yesterday, Gary was laughing so hard, he could barely tell me what had tickled their funny bones so badly, so I asked him to put it in words we could all enjoy. Here it is…the story titled: “Everything But the Kitchen Sink”…