Most such apartment blocks were traditionally presided over by a concierge（caretaker）, usually a woman, who occupied a ground-floor flat and wasresponsible for distributing mail and cleaning the stairs and hallways. Theconcierge was a figure of myth and legend in French life and literature. In realityshe was the guardian of the block, and kept an eye on all comings and goings.
Nowadays you press the intercommunication button of the apartmentyou want, and state your name; an internal button will open the porte cochdre（literally, carriage entrance） to let you in. Sometimes the porte cochdre isoperated by a code. If you dont know it, use your cell phone to contact theperson you are visiting to find it out. Otherwise you could be waiting for a longtime.
The public interior of the building may bear no relation to the opulence of the apartments inside. Electricity is expensive in France, and most corridorsare lit by timed lights that tend to go out at the most inconvenient moment. Asyou go upstairs or along corridors, look ahead for the light switches or buttonsso that you can find them easily if the lights go out.
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