Solange the Bastard from Hell

So. I flew to sunny (except not) Paris Sunday night to spend February with my friend M in her fabulous new Paris apartment.
Unfortunately, she rented this apartment through Craigslist from an evil fucking bastard named Solange (if that's really his name, which i doubt) who doesn't exist. That's right, there are people who make a living scamming people out of deposits for apartments that don't exist; sending detailed emails with photos of the interiors, answering all kinds of questions about the neighbourhood, doing a full out lease; generally being highly convincing and seeming to be completely legitimate right up until the point where it's a couple days before you arrive in Paris and all of a sudden they're not getting back to you about where you're going to meet to pick up the keys.
Thank god M made a few friends at the institute who live in Paris; and thank god I'm tagging along after M the excellent problem solver. Right now we're staying in the beautiful apartment of J who we met at the institute and who is letting us stay there until Friday while she's out of town. I've always wanted to know what the flats in those huge beautiful buildings look like and now i do. When i grow up i want to live in an apartment in Paris like that one.

M has been trying to find another 1 bedroom with an extra pullout to replace the one she thought she was getting so we could go ahead with the original plan, but that's proving elusive. However she also found a really great studio that's available for sublet for 11 days and i've just come from paying the deposit and picking up the keys for that place; I'll be there from the night of the 9th to the 20th. It's a really cool little place in an incredible location (the 1st arrondisement), right between the louvre and les halles. The woman who lives there is very cool and i think it's going to work out well. I'm also liking this subletting idea more and more (but i think i will be wary of doing it over the internet from now on), maybe it's something to look into in Barcelona.

After the 20th things are up in the air for me, i might head to Spain early (need to be in Madrid Mar 3 to meet Mom and Dad) or i might go to Normandy or maybe Geneva.

It's crappy that this happened but generally things are turning out well, i'm very excited about this place i'm renting, it's a great deal and everyone's been really kind and helpful.