My stay with Dominique, unfortunately, did not go as well as I had hoped. The first night, I was happy to have a large room and comfortable bed. The next day, I came back in the evening and stopped at the store to get milk, cheese, bread, and cereal so I had a little breakfast and some snacks. When I got back and asked to put the items in the fridge, I was told no, the ad clearly stated no kitchen, and I couldn’t put the items in the fridge. In my experience, “no kitchen” has always meant no cooking or using pots and pans. She had told me before arriving that I could pay 6-10€ for her to make me breakfast each day or go out to eat. Since I have some food restrictions, I chose to go out. Once I came back with milk and cheese, she made an offer to make me cereal for 6€ in the mornings but otherwise I couldn’t keep those items in the fridge. I was told this is an issue that often occurs but I did not see it mentioned in any other review.
After this incident, on my last full day in Paris, Dominique knocked on my door and asked me if there was anyway I could take shorter showers, around 5 minutes. That was no issue, I could certainly aim to get as close to that as possible. (The last shower I took, I fully washed all my hair and shaved my legs so it was longer than usual.) However, she then continued asking me if I believed in climate change, why I needed such long showers, and what America is doing in regards to climate change. This is a topic I’m fine discussing but in the right setting. It made me uncomfortable to have it sprung on me seemingly out of the blue and about two minutes before I was leaving the house. On top of all this, the home had a constant smell of cigarette smoke, especially noticeable to me in the shower. I would not have chosen this accommodation solely based on that but I didn’t see it clearly listed in the ad that someone living in the home smoked cigarettes. Unfortunately, I would not choose to stay here again.