The Eiffel Tower - Bastille Day, 2005.
Photo, Qingbo Sun
Many people write to me expressing interest in moving to Paris and asking questions about various practical issues.
Like any big city, Paris is full of anomalies, both good and bad. For instance, in the summer mosquitoes sometimes travel on the metro. One of my husband's colleagues was bit more than a dozen times last weekend!
But seriously, if you want to move here, you've probably consulted your embassy or the state department about visas and assorted regulations, which vary depending upon from whence you hail.
Before you pack your bags and excitedly jump on a plane, take a moment to see past the romance and beauty and relaxed atmosphere you enjoyed when visiting here and take a hard look at some practical aspects of living here.
If you are from any country outside the European Union - including the United States - you will not be able to work legally in France, other than in extremely limited circumstances. This means you might have a long shot at working for an international organisation, such as UNESCO, but ONLY if you can fight off the competition and there is a slot available to meet the quota of jobs allowed from your country of origin.
French youth unemployment hovers at 22 percent, so many qualified French applicants are having trouble finding jobs. Some 300,000 French residents are now commuting to London, so limited is the job market in Paris. An administrative position at an international organisation in Paris recently fielded 287 applicants - almost all of them overqualified.
Do not fool yourself into believing you can find a job teaching English. Hundreds of English courses are offered in Paris, taught by people with university teaching degrees or who have trained to teach English as a second language. If you lack either of these qualifications, your only hope is to tutor students or offer private lessons. Even if you manage to find enough students to fill eight hours a day, this income will not pay your costs of living in Paris. If you have a partner who's earning a full-time salary, your lack of steady income won't be an issue. If you're on your own, the romance of living in Paris will soon be replaced by discomfort at your precarious financial situation.
A cautionary tale: An American friend lived in Paris for 16 years, 14 of which she was working for an international organisation. When she left that job, she did some apartment relocation work, taught Reiki, etc. Even though she spoke French fluently and knew how to manuever through minefields of city bureaucracy, she was unable to earn enough money to pay her bills and reluctantly returned to the U.S.
In a survey earlier this year, Paris was ranked the most expensive city in Europe and the fourth most expensive city in the world. Rent for an unfurnished two-bedroom apartment is typically about 2000 euros (about $2,300) per month. An unfurnished studio can cost from 750 euros monthly to 1,200, depending upon the arrondisement, or section of the city.
If you try to rent an apartment without a verifiable source of income, you may experience difficulty. Some landlords may ask you to pay up to six months' rent in advance. We have a French neighbour who works full time but lacked adequate financial means to rent an apartment. A wealthier French friend stepped in, renting the apartment on his friend's behalf.
If you rent an unfurnished apartment, you are renting an empty shell - no closets, no kitchen appliances or cupboards, sometimes not even any light fixtures. Each time a tenant moves out, the apartment is completely stripped of all accoutrements and repainted. The next tenant must buy and install kitchen components, etc.
If you have a short-term lease for a furnished apartment, you may have a washing machine, but you will not have a clothes dryer. Electricity in Paris is wildly expensive and few apartments have dryers. Instead, you will become accustomed to hanging your clothes in the hot-water closet or airing cupboard, draping them over radiators or at the first outbreak of warm weather, hanging them on a rack on the balcony.
Utility bills are expensive - cable television, DSL line, electricity and telephone. Basic cable and DSL services run an average of 100 euros per month. Hardly any apartments have air-conditioners, so you will experience some hot summer weather.
If you are female exceeding an American size 10 or a British size 12, you will have difficulty buying clothes here. French women are small and thin and clothes shops stock accordingly. Other than in a few chain stores, French clothes are quite expensive. I recently bought a simple cotton shirt and trousers for a friend's newborn baby - the cost was 70 euros, or nearly $80!
This post isn't meant to be discouraging, but too many people who contact me seem to think they can manage Paris the same way they might manage in New York or San Francisco. You can't. It's very very different. The rules are different and you can't bend the rules in a country that thrives on bureaucracy. French logic is something you may never come to understand, although you will learn to live with its consequences.
So if you've faced the practical issues and think you can handle the challenges of living in Paris, then good luck to you! I hope you have many wonderful experiences in this amazing city!
Yes, great reality check. Now get this - to rent a similarly stripped-of-everything 2 bedroom flat here in Maputo, Mozambique it will cost at least US $400 and up to US $1,000 depending on the neighborhood and the renter's negotiating abilities and portuguese skills.
Foreigners are suckers here and have greatly inflated the local market for just about everything. Imagine having a meal here in a simply restaurant with waitstaff that have never had a day of training in their lives and paying at least US $20 per plate. And don't even get me started on the cost of food in supermarkets. It's outrageous. Due to the lack of local industry and the catering to foreginers, prices are through the roof. Because of this, we rarely eat out and I only occasioually buy "luxuries" like cheese, Diet Coke, broccoli, red bell peppers, whole wheat anything, granola, etc.
Despite all the challenges and potential barriers to entry, I am grateful to lead a life of a nomad and I imagine you are even more grateful to be sustainably set up in Paris (a city that, by the way, I have never visited).
Posted by: Ali | 19 June 2006 at 18:48
This is so interesting! I love the reality of it.
Posted by: Thea | 16 June 2006 at 03:02
This is great advice, a good reality check for anyone caught up in the romance of moving to Paris. There is definitely a big difference between visiting here and moving here. Very comprehensive and detailed, right down to the warm apartments in summer, the difficulty finding clothes over size 10, and having to put up a six month deposit when renting an apartment
Posted by: La Page Française | 14 June 2006 at 14:03
Ah yes, the romance of living in France. It is a fabulous country and I love it but I could never do it if I hadn't married a Frenchman. He gets upset at trying to deal with the French government and he is used to it. Also, sometimes I am on the metro in Paris and I look up at the Mount Everest of stairs in front of me and wonder how old people-as I am becoming-can ever get around here. Only one line has an elevator, there are a few escalators here and there and many apartment buildings don't have elevators. I certainly wouldn't recommend that anyone try to retire in Paris. I got a job teaching English for a short time and I hated it as it required long crowded rides on the RER out into the suburbs. There are so many people wanting to do it that most employees are considered disposible. I'm very lucky to have a French husband to deal with the difficult things.
Posted by: Linda | 14 June 2006 at 10:54
This sheds a whole new light on our inflating real estate costs and burgeoning unemployment issues. I hope our state (Calif.), our country won't reach this point.
Thank you for your cautionary tale.
Posted by: tinker | 14 June 2006 at 09:16
Very interesting - my daughter has just gained her library qualification, and had an interest in working in France. I'm not sure if it had to be Paris, though. Still, it sounds as if many things may be no better elsewhere.
She certainly has experience of French bureaucracy. She spent a 7 months teaching English in New Caledonia, and they gave her a visa which expired on her last day of work, but the first available flight out was a couple of days later. It took her months to get it changed so that she would be "legal" for the last couple of days. (Of course, she could have just said 'illegal immigrant - fine, send me out on the next flight then' but that might not have worked if she wanted to go back)
Posted by: Catherine | 14 June 2006 at 08:20
Great advice -- I've wanted to live in Europe for a long time (since leaving as a fourteen-year-old) and have some envy for my best friend from highschool for marrying a Dutchman! But I do know about the unemployment statistics and difficulties, and if Jim and I ever move forward with our dream of having a home in Italy (or 2nd home, in the far-off future), it will be have to be supported by writing/art income. Knock wood for that! But the thing I wonder about more than the discouraging logistics, is the idea of being an expatriot. What's it like living somewhere longterm where you're not a citizen, where you don't have roots like those around you? Having grown up "rootless" I really want my future kids to have a sense of belonging and neighborhood, and i want it for myself too. I'm afraid we might have to flee the US if the religious fundamentalism and conservatism continues how it is, but I kind of hate the thought of giving up on my country too. (not saying you're doing that!) I don't know. Mabye the second-home idea would be best. Again, knock wood!
Posted by: Laini | 14 June 2006 at 02:59
wow - check out that incredable red tower of eiffel.... red; seriously???
is it red like the golden gate bridge in sf is golden? I had heard that there is a copyright on the color of the golden gate bridge which does not allow that color to be sold so that it will remain unique to the golden gate.
Posted by: AscenderRisesAbove | 14 June 2006 at 01:45
I would never have known about these statistics if not for you. Fascinating!
I'd be happy just to visit!
Posted by: Tammy | 14 June 2006 at 00:48
If we move there, can we all live with you?
Posted by: Neil | 14 June 2006 at 00:15
Tara - I'll admit, I have never wanted to live in Paris. Visit? Yes, of course, but for some reason, I've never had the romantic vision of living there. Your post was so interesting - especially the part about stripping the apartments bare when tennants move. I suppose there are harsh realities like that no matter where you live but it was very interesting to hear of the ones that relate to Paris. Have a great day!
Posted by: KimG | 14 June 2006 at 00:05
You are a very wise woman in posting this warning. Many get caught up in the romance of Paris or any far away escape.The reality is living there and making ends meet and finding a new life for yourself away from everthing that is familiar to you.Loneliness can become a debilating demon as can other factors that come with relocation.I speak from the heart having moved to different cities with job relocations.Now to visit Paris France...ou.la.la.! :)
Posted by: naturegirl | 13 June 2006 at 22:02
Very good advise Tara!
Posted by: Catalina | 13 June 2006 at 21:50
Hi,
I forgot to write this..when i was a kid in school there used to be a question" Where in the world there are no Mosquitoes?" and answer used to be France....today you have broken that myth and now when I go back to the school I'll have to tell the kids a new answer...any guesses?!
Posted by: abhay | 13 June 2006 at 21:22
Hi Tara,
this photograph is stunningly beautiful...and realities of Paris very well written...
Posted by: abhay | 13 June 2006 at 21:18
wow... I love to read your entries.. this was very educational.. I love reading about
French living, history, and current affairs thru your eyes. I think I will pass this info onto my little college princess who fantasizes about living in Paris... or do I want to be that mean right now ?? lol
Posted by: diana | 13 June 2006 at 19:59
EXCELLENT reality check, Tara. I'll stick to traveling and visiting well-placed friends. With luck, I can throw down my sleeping bag, crash on the couch and save on the hotels. LOL
Posted by: AnnieElf | 13 June 2006 at 19:12
If not for my husband's job, I could not afford to live here!
Posted by: Paris Parfait | 13 June 2006 at 18:08
Fine! Crush our hopes! LOL.
How is it you are there, again? How lucky you are to have the experience, then, I guess, huh?
Kory has thought about moving with his company to England or Ireland, just for the experience for the family. I am all for it! If we had a job like that, it would be the way, it seems...
:)
Posted by: amber | 13 June 2006 at 17:26
Exactly, Tara. I tell people the same thing -- about Ireland, about Paris, about Toronto. It's nice to think of moving somewhere where you've had a great vacation, but the reality is a different story.
Posted by: Colette | 13 June 2006 at 16:40