Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Introduction

Living in Paris can be rewarding, but it has its moments of stress, too. Like when the guy fails to show up for the 3rd appointment in a row to put in your phone or hook up your cable. (Word of advice? Don't bother waiting around past the window; if he didn't show up by 6, he isn't coming.) There are lots of books on the subject of living in France. They cover such topics as moving your belongings, looking for work, buying a house or signing a lease, running your own business, negotiating the legal labyrinth of French regulation, and so on. This is not one of those books.

This is a blog to tell you how to actually live in Paris - how to do laundry, where to go for what you need, what to expect when you least expect it, when to get help, and who to get it from. It assumes you've already done all the stuff any responsible human being would do before moving to a foreign country for any period of time and gets down to the nitty gritty involved in actual daily living…the stuff everyone takes for granted and no one thinks to tell you.

I hope you find it helpful.

4 Comments:

At 9:02 AM, Blogger Dan said...

Jenie: I just found this blog, and must tell you that i have never written or gotten into one.
Anyway, my wife and i have been thinking of moving to Paris, we have two dogs and would like to know how diffcult it maybe to bring them with us?
They are both Agility dogs and i would not even think of leaving them behind.
I have many more questions, but i thought i would start with a small one first.
Thanks for your help.
Dan

 
At 1:31 PM, Blogger Marc Sutton said...

Hi Jenie,

What can I say "bienvenue", I've been living for 3 years now and the big upsets here are "Customer service" and the "locals" apart from that I compensate by the good food, concert venues and exhibitions... If you want to follow what I'm up to here, you can visit my blog: http://lecompterendu.blogspot.com/

 
At 3:04 AM, Blogger Jenie said...

Dan - I don't know if you're still planning to move or not, so I'll go ahead and answer. I'm very sorry for the lengthy delay. :( If they're smaller dogs, it probably won't be that difficult. Since they're Agility dogs, it sounds like they're larger. Paris isn't very big dog friendly, in that there are no actual yards anywhere to be had. You might be able to get an apartment with an enclosed patio on the ground floor, though; when I was there in 2003, the apartment on the ground floor had a HUGE enclosed patio all to itself. If your dogs can stand being cooped up all day, however, Paris is a great city for dog walking. There are parks EVERYWHERE, and the French love dogs like it's nobody's business. I used to run into an American man who would walk his sizeable Golden Retriever around the Trocadero (across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower) every morning just before sunup. I think if your dogs can stand being inside all day, and you are diligent about walking them, you might be okay. They probably won't be able to run, though; I don't know how you'll solve that. The man at the Trocadero would go there before the city was awake and let his dog off leash, but I don't know how much the police frown on that.

I'd love to know what you did or do end up doing.

 
At 3:05 AM, Blogger Jenie said...

Rice - Thanks! I wish I'd been able to live there longer, and I dream of moving back, permanently! I agree about Customer service being awful, but the rest of it was perfect. I like the locals. :)

 

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