so are you staying for longer?

Hi Jordan, I love your blog and all your posts about Paris! But I’m a lil bit surprised by what you said about sitting on the grass at parks. I spent in Paris 2 months like 2 years ago and remember I used to have a rest on the grass at parks so many times, and I wasn’t the only one. Goshh, it looks like they have changed!
And about the compassion… You read my mind! I moved to Sweden 1,5 months ago (I’m Polish btw) and can’t speak Swedish. Ahh, feel powerless every day too which is also a huge motivation to start learning:)

Really great list. That sparkling Eiffel tower might seem so cliche but it gets me every time! Was just discussing the difficulties of arriving in France without knowing the language. What an experience. Opened my eyes to how so many must feel on arriving in the US. I am so grateful I’ve had the opportunity to learn French full time during this past year. It has been the key to unlocking so much of this beautiful country, it’s people and some (of course, not all!) of that difficult customer service.

yep, those washer/dryer combos were never a good idea. we bought a condenser dryer unit (no hook-ups necessary, and luckily had a perfect spot in our small london flat) and it changed my life after i had my second child. Vacation time in Europe is the best – my husband gets 5 weeks paid!

spot on – in austria is was very similar, only would add “strange aversion to payments other than cash” . but i think the best thing to love about paris is that it will always be there, pretty much as you remember it whenever you feel like you need to go back.

I’ve loved Paris (and every European city I’ve been to, actually) whenever I’ve visited. But while I’ve taken extended vacations, I have never attempted to live in a foreign country. I appreciate your adventurous willingness to navigate the challenges, and I think it sounds like a great experience – something I think I would love to do in the future!

One question – are your boys in a French school, or are they learning in English? I can imagine it would be a fantastic experience as a child to learn a second language, while your mind is developing and you can pick up new words and concepts so easily! I’m sure they pick it up day to day even outside of school, but as an adult, I know it’s much more difficult to master at this age!

This post is great, it seems the pros out-weigh the cons immensly 🙂 I vactaioned in Paris a couple years ago and have not been able to get it out of my head ever since. I would move there in a heart beat but I have heard the immigration struggle is crazy to deal with.

haha the milk think was definitely one of my biggest struggles of living in Paris. It still bothers me now.

Definitely agree with you on pros and cons. I used to live in Paris for a few months.
I speak French so my fitting in was less painful I guess…but Parisian attitude is rather hard one to get used to…And I mean specifically Paris, somehow in other parts of France it’s different. To cons I would add: ridiculously expensive rent and parking. Pros: shopping at the markets, walks at Montmartre (when there are no tourists ;), sitting in Jardin de Louxembourg reading book and watching people passing by….. Gosh , I think you made me miss Paris little bit 🙂

Little a propos… my boyfriend’s French is not the best so he struggled while living there. However he was trying his best. He’s coming to the shop once and in his best French asking: “Parlez-vous anglais?”… the answer comes back : “Mais, vous parlez francais” 😉

Bonne chance!!!!

I lived in London & another area in England and had similar pro/con lists. I remember our tiny kitchen, our washer/dryer (yep combo in one!) that barely functioned, going to the laundromat, seeing dairy especially eggs not refrigerated in grocery stores (just stuck on the shelf) and of course taking all day to do a few errands. I was a child and teen/adult for part of the 10 years so it was both magical and difficult all in one.

I agree with you 100% on the vacation time. And well said about what they expect from their government. I think we need some of that fire here. We seem to have fire, but it is wildly misplaced. Small little vent I guess.

Thanks for posting this. We lived in New Zealand for one year and the funniest thing: for the first month we had NO IDEA what they were saying and they speak English! Haha.

Hello there! I just discovered your blog, and just love it. I must tell you how much I admire the fact that you and your family went to Paris to just…live beautifully. People don’t do things like that anymore. What ever happened to living for livings sake to soak in the beauty of a city and cherish the little things that you discover along the way? I hope you and your loved ones are soaking in all great art, yummy food, and stunning people. I hope one day my little family and I will be as brave as yours and move to our favorite city {Paris}. Keep the posts about the city of light coming, I adore them  By the way, what do you recommend when eating out with small kids when in Paris? Last time I was there two years ago, it was quite frowned upon…

What an interesting post! As a french girl, who lived 10 years in Paris, and is now expatriate in the Netherlands, I can relate to a lot you say. French bread and cheese (and french food in general) is of coursewhat we miss the most here. When I was in Paris, I didn’t find people were so well dressed: when I moved to a little town in the French Alps, not far from Italy, I thought that women would dress much more nicely there… I guess everything’s relative in the end… And I also used to complain as a working mother, I thought it was not made so easy for us… But now that I live in the Netherlands, I can realize that the french public services are so much better than the dutch ones! And if you think French people are rude… well I feel that we are extremely polite and kind compared to the Dutch people who like to describre themselves as “direct and frank”! 😉

Hello Jordan,

Very interesting post I have to say and as Blandine said above (I’m French and live around Paris too), the subway here is awful, I hate it! Driving on the périphérique or downtown Paris is also the best way to hate Paris….! (that’s why I live in the suburbs:)
But as it’s the Chandeleur today, you can add to the pros : les crêpes!!!! (with Nutella of course.. and bananas… and chantilly:))
I hope you’ll add more cons in the upcomming year!
Good luck!

Love this list. Thanks for sharing with us what it means for a foreigner living in Paris.

Good post.

Jessie
http://www.mixandchic.com

Jordan, what a nice post. I love your positive attitude and I am positive you are getting the max from your time there. I can relate on so many levels — I moved, as an American, on the “two year plan” over 10 years ago to Sweden. With time, you really have to decide that happiness about where you live isn’t an “or” question — would I be happy here OR there — it’s an “and” I can be happy here AND there. You have to stand in your own shoes and live life and it’s really wonderful the way you express it. Since our lives includes to much Sweden and so much France — I can also observe so much conformity and rules in both cultures and then, with time how they’re looser with other. I love the idea in the US that we can be whoever we want to be and to embrace our uniqunesses — I’ve found that no where else in the world. That feeling stemming from exactly this and living abroad is indescribable until you’ve done it; having children abroad — same thing — in describable. There is so much good to be had from the experience but that doesn’t mean it is painless. (oh…. the frowny face!) I have no regrets with our international life style (living in Sweden with my husband’s famiy in France, as well — so I recognize much of your Paris analogy) and hopefully giving our kids the chance to truly be: citazens of the world. I definitely see the gift we are giving them. For me, every day that I live abroad is filled with something new and a new puzzle. Even though I live abroad so comfortably, it’s still foreign. (And I agree about the washers and dryer!) Nice post! Thank you for sharing.

I love this post! I used to live in Rome and even if I love the city there are a lot of things that are horrible and you can’t speak about them without being unpolite…you know, you’re so lucky to live in Rome and you’re always complanning, bla bla bla

Regards from Spain froma loyal but silent reader!

secondopilar.blogspot.com

in australia we have both fresh and long life milk. you CAN refridgerate it.. I think it tastes better cold. But it can be stored in the shops sans refridgeration… kinda the best of both worlds no? I buy fresh milk normally but have the longlife milk for emergencies (ie running out of milk and it is a lifesaver sometimes. Gotta look at the positives I suppose 😉