Dear fellow readers.
From now on this blog will be in english.
I’ve said it before in French, but since I’m going to live in Paris and write articles belonging to the “I survive in Paris” line, I think it has to be written in English.
French are not interested into survival in Paris. They survive since they are born. I got nothing to teach them.
Quite exactly, I’m planning to survive in Paris. The big shock when planning to do that is the cost. The difference is huge between Thailand and Paris.
Now if I want to settle in Paris, I got to pay a 2 month rental as a caution, plus one month in advance.
Then, because a real estate company is supposed to do the search for me, I woud have to pay an additional 2 months rental to them. Plus the taxes!
It looks very very scary at first sight, but as a survivor in Paris, the first thing to learn is that there’s always some sort of schema to help people out.
Renting an apartment in Paris requires an MBA! Because there’s loads of paper work to fill. Proofs of this, proofs of that. Salary, tax papers, there’s also this rule saying that you can’t rent an apartment which rental is more than one third of your salary. Who came up with this kind of rules?!
So, since it’s a lot of money to advance if you are not born in this country, there’s this schema I’m talking about. It’s called LocaPass.
It means the french government pays your apartment and all the costs, including the real estate fees, and you pay it back monthly.
Right now I’m planning to say: Listen Guys, it’s very nice to try and look a place for me, but I think I will be better doing that by myself.
A very nice friend and ex-collegue I’ve haven’t heard of for years just contacted me as the story and horror was unfolding in front of my eyes just a few days ago, to tell me:
“You are coming to Paris, that’s great! I’m in Paris too now!”
Then, as I explained my difficulties:
“You can come to live with me for a while until you find something for yourself.”
I guess there’s someone listening to prayers sometimes.
Blog de beton 
Yeah! So happy you are switching to English. I will be looking forward to all your adventures, horror stories and good times, as they unfold. I hope Paris will be good to you. You can always come back to me though! That’s cool too.
heu … Tous les français ne vivent pas à Paris, et ceux qui, comme moi, viennent de la province, ont bien des difficultés à survivre ici aussi 😉
En tout cas, bienvenu chez les fous et comme on dit, plus on est de fous, plus on rit…
@Eveine: Let’s just say that law and culture is the same all over France. Maybe I’m wrong but we’ll see when I’m there.
best of luck, am pretty sure u’ll manage great in france!
Welcome on board Nico, outside temperature will be about -10°c on your arrival, but wine and all french stuffs are waiting for you, enjoy it 🙂
Most of the “parisians” living in Paris are not born in it! and just as an advise: you give a paper in a language they do not understand and with a big somme of money, they do give you appartment, I got mine (where I did live 23 years like that, with an english paper) and did not have (yet) any work then.
Yes, it is true, there are ways out from most of the problems, in plus, you probably have a work already, which I did not when arrived in Paris to a small hotel room and wanted fast a place. In 1980, the rents were lower but the same problems existed already.
Julie, thanks a lot for the advice.
It cools me a little bit.
As for the term french instead of Parisians, I can’t help to say “French”.
Otherwise I would have the feeling that I’m not living in Paris, France but in Paris, the country ,inside France the rest of the world.
It seems French outside of Paris already got that feeling and this would not help.
I’m thinking of coming to “survive” in Paris in a few years’ time, possibly for a Masters, so was interested to read of your troubles in finding accommodation. How much per year do you think I would need as a minimum (including rent, food, bills, leisure)? I don’t mind living very basically for a couple of years! Do you think I could work hard for a year to save up at home or do I need a continuous salary to rent an apartment? Merci en avance !
This topic is quite hot in the net at the moment. What do you pay attention to while choosing what to write ?
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