I wish to study French in Paris from January 2003 to May of June 2003.
 I have traveled somewhat extensively and I prefer to live alone.  I
need to rent some sort of apartment in Paris from Jan to Jun 2003.  My
requirements in accomodation are as follows:

1.  Priced for a single person
2.  Within easy metro access of the city center
3.  Cost under $600 per month, preferably as low as possible
4.  Has a bed (single, double, etc. does not matter), not just a
sofa-bed
5.  Has its own rudimentary kitchen (burners, microwave, sink, etc.)
6.  Has its own bathroom (must have a sink and a shower, bath tub not
required)
7.  Has some sort of table or desk
8.  Can be a studio, one-bedroom, and so-on
9.  Not on ground floor, and preferably not on first floor either
10.  Preferably a slightly newer place, built recently (not a
requirement, just a preference)
11.  Ideally there would be pictures of the apartment that I could
examine, or at least some means by which I could verify the quality of
the accomodations (I am open to suggestions about how to go about
making sure that I get a quality apartment).

If you have any other suggestions regarding how to find quality
accomadation in foreign cities that would be appreciated as well. 
Sorry for all the requirements, but "the more details you provide, the
better the results you'll receive."

Dear JKnecht, 

Rent in Paris is very high, and you may have to settle with living in
the 15-20th boroughs. (see map here to understand the boroughs in
Paris) http://www.e-hotellerie.com/annuaire/hotel/paris.htm

About the Prices. The Euro worth now a little more than the Dollar,
but it might change the other way round by the time you get to France
- basically the values are very close.

Moreover, the number of flats that are furnished is very low in any
place, including Paris.

I have found these apartment for you: - 
20th borough - Studio - 16m - w/shower, toilet, separate kitchen -
high floor in a 8 storage building (with a lift) - close to the Metro
line - 375E
20th borough - Studio - 16m - 7th floor - kitchen, wc and shower -
459E
18th borough - 1 room - 5th floor - shower, wc - 485E
18th borough - 1 room (20 m) - w/bathroom,wc,kitchenette - there is
some walking to the train. E580
17th borough - 1 room - w/toilet and shower - furnished - no lift at
6th floor -also not far from the Metro - 435E
16th borough - studio (20m) - 8th floor - w/shower, wc, kitchenette -
some walk to the train, but i"d recommend this one if you'd checked
the area's map.
All of these rooms are from: 
http://www.club-paris-agences.com/search_en.htm?idtt=1&idtypebien=1%2C9&nb_pieces=1&surfacemin=&surfacemax=&t=loc&px_loyermin=&px_loyermax=4000&cp=%2C+%2C+%2C+&IMMOBW_ANN_QRYpg=2
(copy and paste it to your browser if it's too long).
http://www.club-paris-agences.com also ebanles search in English and
is very user-friendly (but the price limit is still in FF, so write
4,000 as the equivalent of $600).

Another site that has lots to offer is http://www.paris.seloger.com/ 
which claims to be Paris' real-estate portal. They have several
furnished apartments under $600 for you at this link:
http://www.paris.seloger.com/recherche.htm?idtt=1&idtypebien=1&nb_pieces=1&surfacemin=&surfacemax=&px_loyermin=&px_loyermax=600&euro=1&etagemin=&etagemax=&si_meuble=1&i.x=34&i.y=10
If you can't understand the French term, run it under Babel Fish or
similar site (http://world.altavista.com).

http://www.stone-investissement.com/ - also rent flats for limited
periods and furnished ones. Such apartments were nto found in my
search (but it probably changes the whole time - their search site is
here - http://www.stone-investissement.com/location_lt.php?langue=2&type_operation=2).
Right now they had for your price only unfurnished flats:
11th borough - 23m2 - w/kitschen, wc, shower, lift - 530E
17th borough - 30m2 - w/kitchen, wc, and shower, lift - 516E

Other agencies that might have something (but had nothing in the
current search):
http://www.warbel.com/index.htm 
http://www.martine-immo.com 

I hope that helped. Please contact me if you need anything else.

---

Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 25 Jul 2002 03:22 PDT

Forgot to add the search strategy, which is pretty easy: paris
appartement and also in Google's rench directory -
http://directory.google.com/Top/World/Fran%C3%A7ais/R%C3%A9gional/France/R%C3%A9gions/Ile_de_France/Paris/Commerce_et_%C3%A9conomie/Immobilier/?tc=1

Have the best time in Paris!

---

Request for Answer Clarification by jknecht-ga on 25 Jul 2002 03:57 PDT

One last quick question, I looked at the two websites and they did not
appear to have pictures of the apartments available.  I was wondering
how you would suggest (not really a search question) I go about
ensuring that I get a decent quality apartment with fair furnishings,
reliable utilities, etc.  Thanks for your help.

---

Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 25 Jul 2002 10:57 PDT

Dear JKnecht, 

My best suggestion is to contact the people and to ask them (the
agency or the people who rent the place) to send you pictures (by
email). I think it's pretty legitimate to ask for something like that.

Another note: it's almost August, and the French, unless they *really*
have to work, go to "Vacance" (vacation) and leave Paris. Don't be
surprised if you'll get less service in the real-estate field until
September.

Best time, 
Politicalguru

For the price, it was a great answer.  I had searched using google and
couldn't find what I needed.  Politicalguru tracked down answers that
almost perfectly met my requests.  Thanks.