Student living in Paris leaves people gobsmacked by cost of tiny studio flat

Everyone dreams of living in the heart of a capital city.

It's at the centre of everything, but the truth is it can come at a hefty price. Now one woman left Instagram followers floored as she showed her flat in Paris.

Located on the 7th floor of a building without a lift, it's in a central neighbourhood of the French capital. But while the location is more than ideal, it's rather small.

The apartment measures just 9 square metres and the cost to rent is rather jaw-dropping. Now Peruvian influencer Natalia Vega, who boasts 53,300 Instagram followers, shared she spends €485 (£415) to rent the tiny place.

She posted a recent video clip and it left many people questioning the size with some labelling it as a prison cell.

In the video, which has been viewed more than 958,000 times, Natalia gives fans a tour of the apartment. She takes another woman to see the place where she lives.

Since it was shared, one person asked: "Where do you sleep?" While another admitted: "This is depressing."

A third even slammed: "I think a jail cell has more room." Then a fourth chimed in: "No windows? That should be illegal."

Natalia even decided to reply to one of them as she said: "People from 3rd world countries going to 1st world countries to live like in 3rd world countries.

"Leaving behind a very comfortable life is not for the faint-hearted. I love my country and my culture, but I've never been happier than I am here. I started living, really living, when I arrived here.

"In the last two years I've learned so much about the world, met so many people, travelled to so many countries in Europe. Get out of your comfort zone."

Natalia told local paper g1 she went to Paris to study and is finishing university while working as a social media strategist.

She admitted: "9m² is very small, but I'm a student, so I spend all day in the library and only go home to sleep. It can be uncomfortable when you start working, especially in the home office...

"I had to go to cafés all the time. It's very uncomfortable to cook there and it's impossible to stay at home all day, so I always go out. If I forget something, I'd rather leave it there than go back upstairs."

Asked how she dealt with the comments, she revealed: "I'm very surprised that people don't realise that living in a 9 m² place is very normal.

"Before I moved to Paris, I had already seen this kind of video, so I wasn't surprised. I wasn't offended by any of the comments, but I feel that people lack a lot of culture."

After two years, Natalia is now moving to another place – a bigger flat who she will share with two other people. In the bedroom alone, she'll have twice as much space as before.