A Voice of Experience
When we first began to consider the possibility of moving to Paris I contacted a friend from a former life who had taken her two daughters to Paris for a study abroad year when they were in elementary school. Beth’s daughter Ellen was a friend of Abi’s whom we actually visited whilie they were in Paris when Baker &McKenzie’s annual meeting was there. They had a wonderful apartment near the Eiffle Tower.
Thank goodness for modern communication methods…I found Ellen on Facebook and messaged her to ask her to have her mom get in touch with me…(dad had retired and mom and dad had moved). Beth promptly emailed me and graciously volunteered to guide me through the process. She told me which books to buy on Amazon that would provide me with basic information about relocating to France and told me what to look for in apartments. She dug out old files and found names of Real Estate agents and forwarded an online newletter called http://www.bonjourparis.com/story/ to me twice a week.
She told me to look for a furnished apartment near several transportation lines (bus and metro). She told me to get an apartment with a washer AND a dryer because it takes forever to dry laundry. She told me to notice whether or not shopping was convenient because I would be doing it several times a week. I discovered that unfurnished apartments are REALLY unfurnished…no sinks, cabinets or appliances in the kitchen, no light fixtures, etc. She told me to have Joe look for FUSAC which is an English language monthly newsletter with classifieds and articles for the English speaking expat community… and she told me that I needed to take French lessons. She also told me to get started on my application for permanent residency and to open a bank account or I wouldn’t be able to do anything.
The week before we actually moved to Paris, Beth gave me the following warning. “You should plan on accomplishing no more than two things a day. The rest of the time will be spent just doing the day to day errands required to live.” No truer words have ever been spoken.
Andrus Foe Paws 