'My French home is a houseboat in Paris'

My move onto a houseboat in Paris came about by chance. 

In 2021, I had been living in France for nearly a decade when a new job required a sudden uprooting from Perpignan back to the French capital. 

Paris is where my life abroad began. I moved from Scotland to France shortly after graduation and arrived in the city as a fresh-eyed 23-year-old with no real plans, just dreams of learning French and becoming a writer. 

Those fantasies were largely inspired by a high school trip to Paris, which had included a boat ride down the Seine. 

Aboard a bateau-mouche, my classmates and I glided down the river, enviously watching the people on the land go about their daily lives in this magical city. 

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Life as an expat in Paris

Much as I love Paris, however, my first years here were also a rude awakening to some of the realities of life as an expat. 

Certainly, I knew how difficult it was to find a flat to rent in the city, especially as a foreigner. Nevertheless, it was curiosity alone that led me to click on the online ad I found for a small studio flat to rent on a barge in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs. 

I did not think it could be a realistic prospect. 

“Don’t be silly,” I told myself, “you’re moving to Paris for a proper job, this is not the time to live out a bohemian dream”. 

And yet, somehow, I found myself composing a short email, asking if the apartment was still available. 

Not long afterwards, standing on the terrace during the viewing and gazing out over the water, I felt a wave of happiness wash over me. I knew I could not turn down this opportunity. Silly decision or not, I was moving onto a boat.

One of the advantages of renting my little studio on the péniche is that many of the biggest hassles of life afloat are dealt with by my landlord. 

Leaks, issues with pipes and cables, as well as general upkeep: there’s always something that needs attending to on a boat, and these tasks generally require good DIY skills, patience and not being afraid to get one’s hands dirty. 

Fortunately my landlord (who is also my neighbour) has these qualities in abundance. 

Read more: France boosts electric boat conversion budget

How much for a studio flat in Paris?

I pay €950 a month for my 25m2 studio (including electricity and bills), but apart from small tasks such as watering plants or taking out the bins, I do not play much role in the boat’s general maintenance.

My little home is compact but spread over two floors. When the boat was in use, this space would have served as the wheelhouse, or timonerie. The studio’s front door opens onto the kitchen, within which lies a trap door. From there, narrow wooden stairs lead down to my bedroom and bathroom. 

Incidentally, the studio is fully equipped with a functioning shower, toilet and washing machine, which always surprises people. 

I confess that I was so taken with the flat when I first saw it that I failed to notice how low the ceilings are, especially in the kitchen. I am not tall, but my boyfriend does struggle when he comes to stay. 

The barge’s largest living space, a multi-room apartment, is where my landlord and his family live. We have separate entrances to our respective living quarters but share use of the roof and lower terraces. 

In a city where access to outside living space is rare, that is a real boon. 

This year, I have managed to grow some beginner-friendly plants from seed and have discovered that begonias and cyclamens thrive on the barge.

For me, proximity to wildlife is the biggest perk of life on the péniche. As I write, a young moorhen is squawking loudly as it journeys from one bank to the other. Last year, a duck laid her eggs in a plant pot on the boat’s terrace, and later we watched as the fluffy ducklings made their perilous first leap into the Seine. 

It is cold in winter – unlike the bedroom, the kitchen is not heated, and my olive oil has sometimes frozen solid. 

However, waking for work in the early mornings of winter to spy a flock of cormorants overhead, and watching them duck and dive to fish, more than makes up for any inconveniences of boat life. 

Although I ended up living here by chance, I do not have any regrets.