When Magalie (aka Petite Planète) and her partner, who live in a 48-square-meter flat in Paris, received an exchange request with a large and beautiful house in Australia, they just couldn’t believe it was real.
When two couples exchange their homes and their lifestyles, here is what happens.
“One day, we received this home exchange offer. A mistake?”
David, Kym and six-year-old Liam are used to big views, the ocean, and a relaxed environment. Their house in Ballina, New South Wales, is located near the ocean. While they definitely enjoy a laid-back lifestyle, they wished to visit Paris for a few weeks. This was in the month of February. The family decided to leave behind the Australian summer, the beach, their quiet life and spacious house with palm trees, art and a Jacuzzi to spend three weeks in a Paris winter, immersed in an urban jungle and shacked up in a two-bedroom apartment.
When Magalie and her partner first received the home exchange offer, they didn’t believe it was real. It had to be a mistake! How could these people really want to exchange their seaside house for a small apartment? But soon they understood the value of their assets: a flexible calendar and the location of their home.
Leaving the Australian summer for the urban jungle
How did the Australian family feel about the cold and the Parisian hustle? During their first days in Paris, David, Kym and Liam had a few misadventures, like feeling lost in the building’s interior courtyard because they couldn’t remember in which building the apartment was located. Or their first outing to the Louvre: after a full morning of sightseeing, Liam wanted to go home, so the family split into two groups. That was when David realized he did not know how to get back to the apartment and his wife had the address and all the emergency phone numbers of Magalie’s friends and family in Paris. He had no other choice than to call the land line of his own home in Australia – in the middle of the night – and ask Magalie to remind him of the address and of the subway route to get back home.
After that, they got used to the subway system and handled all their outings perfectly well, including a day trip to Disney World (in spite of the tricky split in the train line). Back home again in Australia, they showed to the Parisian couple the list of the places they had visited, all items checked off, and their well-worn subway maps.
So long, Paris winter – g’day, Australian summer!
Meanwhile, how did the two French travelers find Australia and this completely different lifestyle? Magalie, taking part in her first home exchange, and her partner were living the dolce vita – beach, bicycles, dolphins… and Magalie’s favorite occupation: “Going to the beach every day, after a five-minute walk. Seeing and hearing the ocean from the house. Riding bicycles. Summer in February…” What surprised them the most? “The UV index gets incredibly high in daytime (up to 14!). We had to adapt our daily schedule to enjoy the beach safely.”
And what did they think of this very special house? “Even when working inside, we never felt shut in. There is a perfect place for each kind of weather or time of the day: the inner courtyard, the glass-walled dining room, the Jacuzzi. The one less-practical aspect of the house was its location in a residential area, somewhat removed from the city center. It is best enjoyed with a car, or, if you don’t mind, cycling to go shopping for groceries.”
“People in Paris are not always nice…”
On their side of the world, the Australians enjoyed their stay. David favored the museums: “especially Orsay and the Rodin Museum. Being an artist, I was afraid of being intimidated by all these masterpieces. But on the contrary, I came back home with renewed inspiration. Managing to visit all the places we had listed, at a leisurely place.”
Kym most enjoyed “the shops, in so many neighbourhoods of Paris, and they stay open quite late. The few days we spent in the countryside, in Normandy.” What Liam loved most was ice skating “on top” of the Eiffel Tower.
Paris being vastly different (to say the least) from Ballina, the Australian family was bound for some surprises. What were they? “The cold! And people in Paris are not always nice. But out of five persons we asked for directions, four took the time to help us”.
What about the flat? Was it unsettling to suddenly be in a place so different from home? “The flat is small, but has everything we needed. Above all, the location is excellent, it is very easy to go to the subway station, and from there to reach any place in Paris.”
“The perfect solution for us aspiring nomads”What did Magalie’s think of her first home exchange experience? What lessons did she learn? “Too much information defeats the purpose! Overwhelmed by the instructions on how to use all the appliances, the advice on which places to visit, and how to buy a public transport pass, our guests had forgotten… where the apartment was located in the block.”
Would these Parisians exchange their house again? “Sure, with pleasure! It really is the perfect solution for us aspiring nomads. We take advantage of our flat in Paris without making any drastic decision (like renting it out long-term). And this is an excellent way of meeting very nice people. Our next exchange with an Australian couple is already scheduled for April. For our next trip, at the end of this year, we would like to find a home exchange in Japan. Depending on the offers we receive, we may also be enticed to visit places we had not though about!”
An Australian family delighted by the experience
Ready for a new home exchange? “Yes, of course! February is the only time of year when we can travel away that long, because business at the gallery is slow. But we’d like to make some shorter exchanges inside Australia, for a week or a long weekend. With the independent flat beside our house, we can easily organize non-simultaneous exchanges.”
- *Read the whole story in Magalie’s blog “Petite Planète” (in French) *
