Moving to Paris or France

Moving to Paris

So you are moving to the city of light! Good news! However, Paris and the French organization in general can be painful for the unprepared. Several Japanese tourists moving to Paris have suffered the so-called “Paris syndrome” - a shock after discovering the difference between the dream city they imagined and the reality of Paris. For example unsafe streets (compared to Japan perhaps, but Paris is not unsafe compared to many other cities), a crowded metro and administrative hassle. The following guide lists some frequent questions newcomers ask when moving to Paris or France.

How to find an apartment?

First, choose the area! Paris is divided into arrondissements from 1st to 20th, often written in roman numerals:

I, II, III, IV, V, VI are very central, with mostly old pre-Hausmann Parisian buildings. They are well suited for wealthy students or workers, but don't even imagine parking a car.VII, VIII, XIV, XV, XVI and XVII are usuall…
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  • 2020-08-24
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Finding a job: Work papers France

Work papers France Finding a job in France most often requires a work permit if you are from an non-EU country. There are several ways to go about this task and none of them are easy or straight forward (rest assured France isn’t picking on you, it is just as difficult for a French person to go to a non-EU country). But here are a few suggestions for the persistent to obtain work papers for France. For Americans Founded in 1896, the French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC) is the country’s premier organization for promoting trade and investment between the United States and France. In the spirit of reciprocity and international understanding, the FACC training program for Americans in France brings together qualified young Americans aspiring to work in France, and companies interested in hosting them. The FACC has a visa program for 18-35 year olds who are currently in university studies or have just graduated. “This program has allowed me to follow through with my dreams of …
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  • 2019-05-26
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ABCs of life in France – A to H

The ABCs of life in France In my 33rd year in Paris, here is an ABCs of life in France (the French call that an abécédaire, from the Latin abecedarium, which gave us the English rarely-used-outside-of-academia “abecedary,” which is sometimes employed to denote not only the document containing the alphabetic list but also the teacher or learner of the contents of the document, who can likewise be referred to as an “abecedarian”) of random fascinating facts and figures about France and Paris that for the most part are inhaled, absorbed, stumbled upon during decades of presence as opposed to learned in lectures, browsed in books, witnessed on websites. In other words, to know this stuff, ya gotta be here: Here's A to H,  stay tuned, more letters in 2 weeks! I to P, has now been published Here's the link  is for army: Not only are the French not patriotic, they find patriotism shameful (associating it with extreme-right movements like Marine Le Pen’s Front National) and laughabl…
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  • 2018-12-14
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Paris en Citations

Paris en Citations (La France, La Seine) Paris est tout petit pour ceux qu'i s'aiment d'un aussi grand amour. -- Jacques Prévert On ne peut aimer mieux qu'à Paris, il n'est pas meilleur endroit au monde pour attendre un être aimé qu'une place parisienne en fin d'après-midi, sous la pluie. -- Jacques Attali Sous les ponts de Paris, lorsque descend la nuit, Toutes sortes de gueux se faufilent en cachette Et sont heureux de trouver une couchette, Hôtel du courant d'air, où l'on ne paie pas cher, L'parfum et l'eau c'est pour rien mon marquis Sous les ponts de Paris. -- Lucienne Delyle Paris l'Athènes de l'Europe moderne. -- Francis Parkman J'aime Paris parce que'on peut y être anonyme. -- Raymond Depardon Errer est humain. Flâner est parisien. -- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862 J'étais à Paris, et le monde était devant moi. -- Will H. Low Douce France Cher pays de mon enfance Bercée de tendre insouciance Je t'ai gardée dans mon cœur! -- chanson de Charles Trenet Marcher …
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  • 2018-08-17
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Jim’s Paris Kiosk

Jim's Paris Kiosk Jim Howarth, the only Englishman amongst the 409 kiosquiers in Paris, was born in Nottingham and has been in Paris since the mid 70s. He carries 1500 titles from the French dailies to specialized magazine press, including titles in English such as the British newspapers, Time, Newsweek, Vogue and of course FUSAC's LOOFE.  The best selling items are the gossip magazines also TV, satire and news weeklies. Cultural history magazines come and go too. Back in 2009 when we first met Jim his kiosk was one of the larger Paris Kiosk spaces on the streets of Paris when open onto the square in front of it. This gave plenty of browsing room for customers. In 2017 his spot was selected to be the guinea pig for the prototype of the new modern (and controversial) kiosk brought out by the city of Paris with a budget of 52.4 million euros. The new structure brings better insulation and keeps the weather out. There is also a closet for Jim's personal items and the display rac…
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  • 2018-07-18
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Clubs Associations Churches of Expat Paris

Clubs Associations Churches of Expat Paris Joining the social fabric in your new home is part of settling in. Of course you want to integrate into France and meet French people, but it is always pleasant, and some would say important, to join fellow expats or folks from your own country to pursue your favorite activities as well. Just like sometimes you need comfort food you also need comfort time in your own language, activities and customs. Churches and synagogues in Paris are great resources providing community, study and discussions, lunches, youth groups, fairs, choirs and volunteer opportunities just like at home. Many schools and universities have alumni clubs in Paris. Here below is a non-exhaustive list of clubs associations of all types as well as churches of the expat community in the Paris area. Index :  British Scottish Welsh Norwegian Finnish Swedish Polish Danish German Irish Canadian Australian American Worship in your own language  British : Association Fra…
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  • 2018-04-01
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All about the FUSAC brand

All about the FUSAC brand The FUSAC brand began with a magazine containing classified ads and advertisements in 1988. In 1998 we created our first website. Today FUSAC's classified ads are all online and we continue to serve the English-speaking communities (Americans, Brits, Canadians, Irish, Australians, New Zealanders, and many other nationalities who speak English as a second language) of Paris and the surrounding area. In 25 years FUSAC produced and distributed 523 issues of the magazine for over 20 million copies. Since 2013 all the classified ads are online. 40,000 readers come to our website each month and many more receive the monthly newsletter. We also publish the annual magazine LOOFE (Light and Lively Observations on France Extraordinaire).  FUSAC is well-known for ads offering employment, childcare and housing. In addition, the FUSAC site contains ads and articles for all aspects of the English-speaking community: music, dance, theatre, courses in English and Fre…
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  • 2018-01-19
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Hints and Hindsights: La Rentrée

Hints and Hindsights: La Rentrée by Shari Leslie Segall In France, September is the Monday morning of the year. You’ve just had a 60-day weekend and it’s time to get up, grope your way to the figurative and literal shower and go to work. Even if you didn’t take all of July and August off, it’s likely that almost everyone you had to deal with during that legendarily sacred span of time was away for at least part of it, in effect giving you a double vacation: yours and the forced unproductiveness produced in your universe by theirs. Now comes la rentrée (a word for whose English translation the French desperately scramble: it literally means “reentry,” can mean “back-to-school,” but is a general reference to returning to reality after those month-long strolls on the sand, hikes in the Himalayas and reunions with relatives). And the strategy for facing it is like that of ripping off a band-aid as quickly as possible to minimize the skin-scraping pain: “Just let me get through th…
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  • 2017-09-12
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