Based on the popular blog ‘Stuff White People Like‘, Paris wine guide Olivier Magny takes you through Parisian quicks and tics – an absolute must read for anyone trying to understand what makes Parisians Parisians.
http://www.o-chateau.com/blog/
The Paris Blog
The Paris blog aggregates several blogs written by expats in Paris. It’s always on top of what’s going on in Paris.
Gridskipper Paris
If you’re looking for ideas of where to go this weekend, you’ll be spoilt for choice going through Gridskipper’s Paris archives.
http://gridskipper.com/tag/paris
I V Y Paris News
Artist’s group I V Y paris keeps you up to date on the Paris cultural scene. Keep an eye out for their monthly events!
Swagger Paris
When you get to Paris, you’ll probably want to go through your wardrobe. Chic, cool, bobo, or absolutely ridiculous, you’ll find inspiration to find your own Parisian look.
Moving to a new place where you may not know many people is never easy, even less so when you don’t speak the language and the city is a big as Paris. And the truth is, the city can sometimes feel like an isolating place.
But there’s no need to sit at home alone feeling lonely! Last week I told you about the Pastas parties, but there are a whole host of things you can do to get out and meet people!
Kunveno Exchange
For the culturally and globally minded amongst you, Kunveno helps expats to feel at home in Europe and loves to share events that its members suggest.
Angloinfo
One of the largest directories of information for English-speaking expats around the world, Angloinfo has a host of links to organisations, clubs, and associations in the Paris area. There’s sure to be something for you!
http://paris.angloinfo.com/af/4/paris-&-ile-de-france-community-life-paris-and-ile-de-france.html
Meetups
Meetup.com has loads of groups that meet up on a regular basis around all sorts of themes and interests.
http://www.meetup.com/fr/cities/fr/paris/groups/
Language Exchanges
If you need to practice you’re French, a language exchange is a perfect way to brush up on your language skills while helping others to learn English or another language. Try the two links below!
http://letthemtalk.com/parler-in-the-park.html
Are you looking to meet people in Paris? Are you organising an event? Let us know below!
Paris is a great city to live in, there’s no doubt about it. However the fact that it draws so many people to it leads to its major drawbacks.
Housing in Paris is expensive
Paris is an expensive place to live. Apartments don’t come cheap, and the few houses that exist (yes there are some!) are even more expensive. Paris, even more so than the rest of France, suffers from a lack of housing. This has two repercussions: a) rents are expensive and b) landlords are picky.
In Paris you can expect to pay at least 20€ per square meter per month in rent, and the smallest studios are 9 square meters large, the minimum space for housing by law. So in your head, you calculate 180€ per month for such a studio. In fact, the rents are much higher than this. The lowest you’ll probably find is around 350€, and don’t expect the studio to be of high quality.
Studios are the most sought-after type of housing in Paris. Counting the number of people that come to study here, plus the number of young professionals just starting their career, and the demand for studios is very high while the offer is pretty low. So if you’re thinking in terms of value for money in your housing, a studio isn’t necessarily the best deal, but it may be all you can afford. Larger studios can go for up to around 700€ depending on the size and neighborhood, but if you can scrap together even 800€, you may be able to find yourself a one bedroom apartment.
Life in Paris is busy
In France we have a saying for a typical Parisian lifestyle: métro-boulot-dodo, which translates as subway-work-sleep. If you’re living in the Paris area, it’s not uncommon to spend an hour getting to work in the morning, and the same to get home. Urban planning in the region has been centred around major pools of housing being to the east and north, while the work is to the west and south of the city. This has led to some long commutes, although it is possible to find work near your flat, or vice-versa.
With this kind of commuter lifestyle, it’s no wonder that people can be frazzled, particularly on days when the metro and/or trains have problems. In addition to this, Paris has a large number of young single professionals who like to go out after work. Depending on your social network, you could find yourself juggling a lot of invitations. Which kind of leads me to my next point.
Paris can be isolating
Parisians are busy. Like New Yorker and Londoners, Parisians have a lot on their plates – staying late at work, movies, theatres, visits to art galleries, seeing friends, etc. If you only see your Parisian friend once a month, it’s not that they don’t like you. They do, it’s just that they have so much going on.
OK this is a huge generalisation, but it can be true of some people. There is so much going on in Paris and that you may have friends in the same city that you only see once every month or two. This can lead to a feeling of social isolation in a way, but if you want to get to know someone, take the initiative, call them up and ask when you can get together. It may not be right away, but if they’re your friend, you will get an appointment.
What are your gripes about living in Paris? Tell us in the comments!
All this week, I’ll be exploring life in Paris from a practical point of view. We all know Paris as a city of bakers and hairdressers, a city of museums where history seeps from every stone. But what is it like to really live here?
Paris, a city of diverse work opportunities
As a major tourist centre, Paris offers any number of opportunities for English speakers to work in related trades: as guides in museums, in hotels and bars. As the capital of France, the city contains all of the ministries of government that offers plenty of work for bureaucrats – and with the number of foreigners attracted to the city, translation and interpretation services are in great demand. Also Paris is a major economic centre for Europe and houses many of the world’s largest corporate headquarters. With all of these opportunities it’s no wonder that Paris has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world.
Culture on every corner
As we all know, Paris is a city of museums. But it is also brimming with art galleries offering everything from established artists to unknown students waiting to be discovered. The city also offers a number of theatres and concert halls that makes it almost mandatory for any artist doing a world tour. But in addition to the famous playhouses like the Folies Bergères and the Théatre du Châtelet and concert halls such as Bercy, l’Olympia, and the Bataclan, Paris has innumerable small underground theatres and bars that welcome small productions and singer-songwriters. With this amount of choice you could easily see a play or concert every night if you wanted to.
Great transport links
Paris is a great city to leave (ask any Parisian, and they’ll tell you the same). As wonderful as it is, sometimes you do just need to get away. As the capital of France, all roads lead here. Paris has great highways that radiate out to France’s major cities. You don’t need a car, however, as the trains and the famous TGV high-speed railways can take you away just as easily (oftentimes easier) than the highways. The city also has two major airports – Roissy (aka Charles de Gaulle) and Orly – that gives the city unrivalled links to the rest of the world.
All of these things unite to make Paris a major attraction for people all over France and the world. However, there are some major drawbacks, and I’ll discuss these tomorrow. To keep up with the series on Paris and learn more about life in France, sign up for free to my RSS feed!
What is it you like about Paris? Share with us below in the comments!