American Mom in Paris, one of our esteemed contributors, notes

There are no apartment numbers in Paris for reasons I’ll never understand, so you must give visitors turn-by-turn directions from the front door.  Sometimes the directions are so convoluted you know you’re never going to make it so you just pick any door and make a new friend!

Anyone who has lived in Paris has been reduced to fumbling with a scrap of paper, or a cell phone, in order to get directions, and code numbers, to make the convoluted trip from the exterior of a building to someone’s flat. (Suffice it to say that the metro ride to the neighborhood was the easy part.) The whole system is so French. What’s weird is that French people don’t ever complain about. One of the greatest French rock bands, Les Rita Mitsouko, wrote the definitive piece of comedy about it. It’s called “Au Fond du Couloir” (“At the End of the Hall”) and the entire song consists of directions to someone’s abode from outside it. Check out the video here and the lyrics here.