For 16 nights from the 18th of April to the 4th of May, my husband and I stayed in a bedsit in a lovely French town called Évreux which I booked through Booking.com.
We were very comfortable in the bedsit, it was advertised as an apartment but I feel it's more like a bedsit as it was 2 rooms and 1 of them was the bathroom.
The bedsit is a good size, we did not feel closed in, there was lots of room to move around. The main room fills with light from the sun in the mornings so we would put the shutters halfway down the windows at night so the sunshine didn't wake us up in the mornings. The shutters also kept the room quite cool when they were down on really sunny days. We would make sure the shutters were down when we went out so the bedsit was really cool when we got back.
We felt very safe because to get to it, you have to go through a coded gate which takes you into a courtyard and then the bedsit is in the corner with shutters over both the windows. There are a few other little bedsits/apartments, not sure how many but we think there was at least 4. We didn't really see anyone else.
The garden is a beautiful suntrap that is kept tidy by a couple who live in the complex. It was mainly grass with some bushes and flowers along the edges. There are large wheelie bins across the courtyard for rubbish which is separated out to cardboard, plastic and general waste. Glass goes in one of the glass recycling stations round the corner from the building.
The wardrobe is 2 large shelves and then a big section at the bottom with hangers, but that was our only storage so some of our bags stayed packed, it would have been nice to have a chest of drawers to put some of our clothes and personal items.
The bed was very comfortable but I wish I had brought some pillows from home as there weren't many on the bed but that is a personal preference. There was little tables either side of the bed as well as bedside tables and there was a set of plug sockets on 1 side.
The bathroom is a good size with a nice sized shower, heated towel rail, vanity sink and toilet. There were bottles of shower gel, soap and shampoo as well as a hairdryer.
There was not any cleaning products to help keep the apartment clean so we brought a bottle of bleach for the toilet, bin bags and a dust pan and brush.
There is a nice little table and 2 chairs where we could eat meals or just sit to watch TV. There is a lovely big full length mirror as well in the corner to check yourself out before going out 😁.
The kitchen comes with everything you need, plates, bowls, strainer, cutlery, glasses, scissors, a bottle opener, a bottle of washing up liquid, mugs and chopping board. There is an electric hob with 2 rings and a microwave for cooking. The coffee machine is a Dolce Gusto, there are some pods left for us but they are easy to pick up in Carrefour if you want more. There is a space where I think a washing machine once stood, we used for our shopping bags and large bottles of water.
The location is great, there are lots of shops, bars and restaurants only a few minutes walk away. There is a beautiful big cathedral you can visit as well as a clock tower and a big town square in front of the Hòtel De Ville with a big fountain. Be careful where you park as the street parking machines don't recognise UK number plates, go to the car park for Hòtel De Ville as that accepts UK cars and is quite cheap. You get a ticket when you drive in and then pay at the machine by the barrier on the way out.
Evreux is also only an hour from Paris on the train, we went to Paris for 2 days and going by train was super easy. But if you decide to go by Paris by train, book the tickets as soon as possible because they get more expensive the closer you get to your travel date. We found the cheapest tickets on the Trainline website.
The nearest laundromat is only a few streets away, it is called Laverie Libre Service Evreux. There is no attendant, is it all done electronical, so you go to the machine near the entrance and select the service you want, such as the washing machine, pick your settings, the machine you want to use and then pay using your card. There is a machine to buy washing powder, etc if you hadn't brought your own. You go to the machine you selected, put your clothes in and press the button for it to start. It's all very straight forward to use.
Parking outside the complex is free but if you end up going too far along the road, you will get charged, so make sure that you either park right outside the building in the pink circle or round the back in the yellow circle. If you park round the back, there is a French lady who will not be pleased if you park in her parking space so try to stay in the yellow circle and not go all the way to the end.
