Why We Love Paris Apartments on High Floors

Getting ready to take pictures of the Saumur Paris apartment for rent, I woke up early. First stop was one of my favorite pastry shops across the street to buy my standard breakfast in Paris with the usual request: “Bonjour Madame, un pain au chocolat s’il vous plait et un pain au raisin.?

Since it was a sunny day and I needed some exercise, I decided to take the stairs. From the 6^th floor (7th floor American) to the ground floor, the difference in light in the stairwell was amazing. We always talk about why it’s important to keep natural lighting in mind when buying an apartment in Paris. Often this means upper floors, especially if the setting isn’t west or south facing. But if the building is set on a narrow street or the apartment is closed in with only a courtyard view, an upper level makes a huge difference. Just take a look – these pictures say it all!

By the time I reached the third floor, it was time to turn on the lights. This difference in natural light is reflected inside an apartment, since city living means apartments face other buildings which can block the sunlight. I posted the second floor apartment doorway, but not below because the photos are completely black.

When you’re staying in a Paris apartment, look towards lower floors and observe how many apartments below turn on their lights by late morning.  We prefer natural sunlight all day long, which usually means apartments on higher floors where you can see the sky. However, if the apartment is located on a wide avenue and is west or south facing then you can often find lovely light even on the ground floor and lower levels. It’s something you simply must experience when visiting apartments, and something we always look for in our vacation rentals!

I didn’t realize how important it was to me until I spent my first winter in Paris. When the sky only starts to get light at 9am and sunset begins at 3:30 pm in winter, I realized that natural light is key to creating a warm and inviting living space in Paris year round!

Posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 6:55 pm in Apartment Rentals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.