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An influencer's tiny apartment in Paris that costs $530 a month has shocked onlookers.
In a viral Instagram video, Peruvian communications student Natalia Vega showed off her 97-square-foot apartment in the beautiful 7th arrondissement of the City of Light. After moving from Peru to Paris in December 2021, she began posting content chronicling her adventures as a student in France. Over 50,000 followers later, Vega gave her followers a glimpse into the not-so-glamorous side of living in Paris.
He took viewers on a tour of his apartment, leading a cameraman up seven flights of stairs before finally arriving at his student flat, joking: “Welcome to my mansion.”
With a twin bed pushed up against the wall, a kitchenette right next to the bed and a tiny bathroom, Vega said she had to get creative with how she used the space. Because of the lack of space, she uses the kitchen counter as a desk. She added that she has lived in the apartment for two years.
When the person behind the camera asked her how she could live in such a small space, she replied: “I don’t know.”
She captioned the video: “Do you think this 97 sq ft apartment in District 7 is worth it?”
In the comments section, people were stunned and called the tiny apartment a veritable “closet.”
“That’s not an apartment! It’s a closet!” one person wrote.
“Death row prisoners live five times better in Norway than here,” one user joked, while another added: “I think a prison cell has more space.”
“She doesn’t live in Paris, she survives,” wrote another person.
A fourth person noted: “People move from third world countries to first world countries to live like third world countries.”
Meanwhile, others praised Vega for showing the reality of living in Paris, given the current cost of living crisis.
“Much respect for being transparent with your apartment,” one commented.
One person commented: “Respect, girl! This is finally reality on the internet.”
In an interview with Newsweek MagazineVega spoke candidly about her housing situation, noting that it was part of a student housing package offered through her university.
“I’m studying communications in Paris and my school has a database of housing, so it was very easy for me to rent the apartment,” she told the outlet. “Since these types of places are for students, I didn’t mind renting it because I usually spend all day at school and only go there to sleep.”
She continued: “Even though the apartment is 9 square meters, I have my own bathroom, washing machine and even a kitchen. Sometimes, those who rent this type of room, known in France as chambre de bonnes, have to share bathrooms, they don’t have washing machines or small kitchens.”
Some have called Vega's living situation the real one. Emily in Paris experience, referencing the Netflix series' penchant for fantasy when it comes to living in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
In a 2021 report for The economist, The experts wrote: “On average, prices for goods and services have increased by 3.5% year-on-year, the highest inflation rate observed in the past five years.”
As a result of the cost of living crisis, economists noticed that ordinary people, including students like Vega, pay a high price to be able to access housing and basic needs.
