One thing I’ve learned from all of the feedback from newbie foreigners moving to France is how hard it is to rent an apartment. I’m shocked that most people think it’s easy. If it makes you feel better, at least it’s not as hard as renting in Rome. But on a scale of London to Greece to Paris to Rome, Paris falls in the middle. 

I’m not someone who really likes change. For one thing I hate moving and would gladly find a place that I can comfortably grow old in. But as an expat in Paris that’s not how it works. If you’re lucky enough to find a long term lease (vide/non meublé) or better yet to buy a place, more power to you. But most Expats need to move constantly because it’s not easy finding a long term let. FYI a long let in France is 3 years, not 1 like in America.

Most foreigners have to take short term leases or even sublets because that’s all that they can get. I knew someone once who moved something like every 6 weeks. She would go on our women’s group, ask someone if they were subletting and take over while they were on vacation, or out of town. I think she finally found something more permanent, but the expat groups are full of people like this. 

You also have to remember it’s hard for French people as well. I’m amazed by how many people don’t realize that you need a guarantor, and that guarantor must be French. There is no getting around that. A Swiss girl was once complaining because she couldn’t use her parents. Not even Europeans are immune from the dreaded French system and surely if anyone is reliable, of means and trustworthy it’s a Swiss?

When I first saw 2 Days in Paris and it’s the beginning of the film when Jack and Marion are in the taxi, and she’s listing all of the arrondissements she’s lived in, I remember thinking at the time how? Even now I’m a bit shocked because she was French so why did she move so much? But, you see? It's hard for the French too.

However once you’ve done it, it makes you an expert on Paris. You really know the city. You can speak on it because you’ve seen it all. In some ways you’re more Parisian than most Parisians (who stick to their neighborhood radius). 

If you had asked me if I enjoyed moving around Paris I would have said no. In fact one of my favorite periods in Paris was when I lived at Port Royal (2 and a half years). My second favorite was when I lived at Passy (10 months). 

Even though I hate the 16th, those are the two places where I lived the longest, and with Passy I had my ex boyfriend, which made my Paris experience better (because we did a lot of things together which was a nice vacation from everyday life). But my "apartment" was a shoebox not fit for human habitation, and those last two years were some of the hardest in all of my Paris (mis)adventures, and I say that as someone who has had A LOT of horrible Paris experiences over the years. 

My ex had to help me, which strained our relationship. I was miserable. I was stressed. I was in a constant state of anxiety and uncertainty. It wasn’t fun living in hotels. It wasn’t fun looking for apartments 24/7, wondering where my next bed would be. It was insanely hard and I look back at it now wondering how I ever made it through... 

But I did. You learn from your mistakes and you try not to repeat them. Call it the growing pains that come with Paris. You’re going to experience a lot of them. 

For reference (I’m going by metro because it’s a bit easier to map) the places I have “lived” (meaning longer than a month) are as follows. Points are not placed exact on the map but are where I could fit them without the names running into each other:

And the places I've worked, which become like your second home:

Believe me, I did not, in the moment, enjoy having to learn all of those places. You have to learn the streets to get around, learn where the shops are because every district has one or more high streets, map out which metro is easiest for you (sometimes the closest metro isn’t the most convenient and you have to go out of your way a bit to get one that takes you where you need to go. Especially if you live Rive Gauche). Looking back on it I’m glad I had the experience because I know a lot more about Paris than most. 

Stock Hausmannian apartment. They all look like this inside.

So don’t be down if you don’t get that "perfect Paris experience' where you immediately move into a 60sqm Haussmann flat in a Pierre de Taille building at Iena and live there for all your years. That's not real life. Moving sucks but we all have to do it. You’re not alone. More of us have had that experience more than you realize. Join the expat groups, read the stories from other people, it might make you feel better to realize there are people also facing the same struggle. 

It took 6 years of living in Paris for me to be better at the game. I now have a long let, totally non meuble. I had to buy a fridge and a washing machine. I have a cellar, a fireplace that doesn’t work, and a guardian (tres Parisian). I have a French guarantor. I have a French lease completely written in French that I signed not understanding any of it. It’s more than I would like to have paid for it, considering the size and the sans acensur (I feel like it’s 200€ more than it should be), but it felt good to finally do it on my own. I feel like one of those blessed Americans who have it all taken care of. And it only took 7 years (and a valid visa) to get it right. 

I live near La Tour Maubourg again, and while I always thought it was where I wanted to be based permanently, now that I’m back here I wish I had found a flat at Solférino or Alma-Marceau or Pyramides, some place I have never lived before so I could form new memories and discover new places, and have a fresh new Paris. I would have liked to discover a part of Paris I don’t know (if that’s possible). 

La Tour Maubourg reminds me too much of the start of my previous relationship, and walking down Invalides is a bummer. I won’t even spend Nuit Blanche there this year because it’s where I spent two Nuit Blanches with my ex, and that’s sucks because there are like 7 museums in this area alone so I don’t really need to travel far. This will be the first year I don’t stop at the Invalides on that night, and Invalides is literally across the street from me. I can throw a pebble from my window and hit it (but I would never because it is one of the most beautiful places in Paris and probably my favorite landmark). I guess I’ll have to troop over to the 6th this year. xfingerscrossedx Beaux Arts is open to the public. It hasn't been since that one time in 2016.

At the end of the day don’t feel bad about being a Paris nomad. It’s a sad fact of Paris life. Sometimes discovering and learning something new isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes it’s actually better for our mental health. And sometimes it’s great when you want to form new memories and forget the past. 

Every arrondissement feels like a different Paris. Try them out and see which one becomes your favorite. I promise you won’t regret it, even if in the moment it feels really hard when you’re in it.