There are several approaches, including renting through an agency, buying (expensive!), renting from the owner, and subletting. Subletting - often these are found through office bulletin boards and English language (and others) sites like World Radio Service or Glocals. The process of finding a place can take months. I found an apartment in 5 days.
On my first weekend, I looked at one flat listed on WRS, but the owner had actually posted the link to the wrong flat - his girlfriend's - so the studio just seemed too small, albeit quite lovely, for me and Desmond and the myriad friends who have promised/threatened to visit.
I have walked around Geneva for 3-6 hours every day since I arrived. I contacted - in French - a woman who advertised a 4 piece (two bedroom) flat in Plainpalais that was advertised on the IFRC's employee bulletin board. We made an appointment for me to come Tuesday night. When I arrived, I realized I had passed the apartment both the night before and also when I was walking on my visit in July. I had even thought it seemed like the right area for me.
And it is. The flat is much larger than expected - 95m sq - and includes not only 3 closets but also a newly-renovated large kitchen with a refrigerator that is petite for the States but twice the size of the dormitory fridge in my temporary quarters. The flat is traversant, which means that there are windows on either side. It is on the rez (de chaussee), or ground floor, and has French windows overlooking a quiet street for the dining/second bedroom and living room and another set of French windows for the kitchen and first bedroom, which overlook a courtyard. In most sublets, the furniture stays, and so it shall be with this place, excepting a few pieces that will stay with G's mother. J & G are a young couple who are leaving the country for a year (hopefully more!). G has lived in the flat for 10 years, thus the flat is the equivalent of rent-controlled.
It is located in an older building, so there are lovely architectural features, including a fireplace in the living room and a beautiful heavy wood door, as well as old-fashioned radiators. There is no air-conditioning in Geneva, so it may be a little on the warm side for a very few months. The bathroom is separated into a room for the bathtub and sink and a separate one for the WC. This seems rather handy. A tiny washing machine is also in the tub room. It may be on its last legs, and I'm to ditch it if it dies, since there is also a common washer in the building. I noted, passing an appliance store on the way home, that washers are around 1,150 CHF, so I may well be "common." Before I moved here, I learned that one is assigned a wash day - and sometimes even a time - in communal buildings. This assignment is usually arbitrary, but it is normal to bow out of a meeting if your wash time is at the same time.
Back to the flat. The kitchen includes not only a fridge, but also a dishwasher, since the room was renovated last year. One wall is orange. The cooker is tiny, but there is plenty of storage and even room for a small table. This spaciousness is completely unexpected, but will serve my ambition to cook and entertain more quite beautifully.
With memories of making an offer on my house in Virginia within 15 minutes of walking in, I assured the couple that I wanted the flat and would be happy to provide any information immediately - before the next couple visited to look at the flat. The only issue we could think of was whether Desmond will pass the regie, but they think this will work, since there are other dogs in the building. He was with me, so they had the opportunity to observe his calm, good behavior. J even fed him water in a cooking pan.
Leaving the flat with a broad and probably silly grin on my face, I did a bit of re-exploring the neighborhood, first walking a block or two to the Parc des Bastions, which faces the National Theatre. I stopped to watch an open-air rhumba lesson, then let Desmond play with one of the first full-sized dogs (with attractive male owner) we have met, then stopped again to watch a few chess matches that were happening next to the Parc cafe's wine tasting event.
And then, we walked past the sushi restaurant and several other yummy-looking places, wandered through the other parc, which hosts a Saturday flea market, and passed a coffee shop (Central Perk), cheese shop, and English bookstore. Swarms of delightful plans are flooding my mind. Felicity, indeed.
Now, I just need to form my community. Good fortune is surrounding me, and I will prove myself worthy.
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