I lived in Paris this past year!! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. I feel like a snob writing it, let alone saying it to friends and random acquaintances in my home town who ask what I'm up to. Which is kind of sad for the Parisians who are just normal, nice people (which is most of them, contrary to your probable belief). As an American, it is the "epitome" of the romantic, European lifestyle people dream about having or think they can only have if they own 5 yachts or are really old. As a person who has actually lived there, I won't lie and say it sucks. Paris is such a beautiful city with so much history and a feeling of nostalgia and romance that is inexplicable even when you live there longer than a couple weeks.
However, it is a city like many other cities. There's no air conditioning on many metro cars, people don't wear deoderent (well, maybe that's just a France thing), everywhere is at least 30 minutes away, it costs upwards of $15 to have a normal dinner, and the French bureaucracy will make you want to cry at any given point in the process of renting or buying anything, obtaining a visa and maintaining it, getting a phone plan or internet box (did you know you need a passport for each phone plan you start?! We didn't when we had to purchase 16 30-day phone plans for students that joined us in May), or doing most things that seem simple in the States.
I will say that when I came to Paris last September, I wasn't sold. I had lived in Toulon and Lyon and those cities were smaller and more "French" and I loved them. Paris had never caught my eye, even in the couple visits I had. All I saw was tourists, tourists. And (actually I was a bit of a snob then, apparently) it just seemed too "typical" or "expected" of a French place (because, news-flash, it is. I told anyone I lived in Toulon and Lyon and two minutes later they were introducing me to someone else and saying I lived in Paris. Only 8 hours away, so close. ) I wanted the lesser known, more "authentic" French experience. Hahaha. I laugh now, because Paris has grown on me. It snuck up on me and laced its spindly streets, hip bars, beautiful buildings, cafe culture around my heart these 9 months. It isn't like Toulon or Lyon, but those two cities are about as different as any two cities could be. That's the beauty of France and, especially, Paris, you get a little bit of everything. While still seeming wonderfully chic.
Enjoy some photos of this beautiful city I get to call home.
