Paris. The city of love, light, art and fashion. Why wouldn’t you want to be Parisian? If you’re not fortunate enough to have been born in Paris, don’t fret cause there’s a new page turner about Parisian women out there: How to be Parisian. Have you heard of it and/or read it? After reading the book and coming across this video below, I took the plunge and asked Eline to write some articles on her experience as an inhabitant of the chic-est capital in the world: Paris.
Moving to Paris: What does it take?
Bonjour tout le monde! As I crawl on the couch of my Parisian apartment with a cup of tea, I’m happy to announce that Frederique has asked me to write a few posts for you in the next months! You might already know me from this post, which was first publicized on FAB le Frique in January 2015. If you haven’t read it yet, I’ll introduce myself once more: I’m Eline, a Dutch enthusiastic 19-year-old student who is currently part-time occupied with becoming a Parisian. I moved to Paris in the beginning of February and I will stay here until July to do an internship in a 5***** hotel. I have a big passion for photography, which I share on my blog. In the following articles that I’ll be publishing for you guys on FAB le Frique, I’d love to share my experiences on living in Paris! This first post: Moving to Paris – What does it take? If you’re interested in moving to Paris, I have 8 tips for you, just to make it all easier!
1. Set a budget – My first tip is to start by setting yourself a budget, before you even start searching the web for an apartment. Paris offers lovely rooms and apartments for a lower and higher budget, but you’ll first need to know what your actual budget is! In my case my budget was higher than in my home country (The Netherlands), as I’m currently receiving a remuneration from my internship and I might have the chance to get an Erasmus scholarship.
2. Apartment hunt – So, you’re ready to start searching? I decided to search for an apartment together with one of the other Dutch students doing her internship in Paris. At first we were a little bit shocked by the prices for the apartments with two bedrooms, so right now we have an adorable and affordable apartment with only one bedroom. The other one sleeps in the living room on a sleeping sofa, and we switch rooms each month. Prepare yourself for the fact that your room or apartment will cost you more than 550 – 600 EUR a month. Another tip: if there’s any chance to visit the apartment before you book it, please do. My roommate and I were lucky knowing another student from our school who was in Paris one trimester earlier. He was willing to visit the apartment and share his opinion with us. I’ve heard many stories of girls who rented an apartment and paid two months of the rent in advance, but when they arrived they found out that it was all scam.. Webpages on which you can find nice apartments and rooms are www.seloger.com, www.airbnb.com, www.pap.fr, www.chambralouer.com.
3. Manage your expectations – With every internship you’ll shed a few tears. Some are more homesick than others, but my tip is to prepare yourself for sadness too. Take for example a few cosy items (candles, pillows) from you home with you, so your new apartment will feel like a home. Apart from that Paris is portrayed like a dream city in every movie, living in Paris has its downsides too. Like the horrible smell of urine in the metro..
4. Make a bucket list! – Time flies when you’re having fun. I can’t believe I’m already living in Paris for more than 2 months as we speak! As time goes so fast and there’s so much to see, make sure to write down a bucket list of places that you definitely want to see. You don’t want to leave the city without visiting those.
5. Metro Card – If you’ll stay in Paris for more than a month, I highly recommend you to take a ‘Navigo’ cart for the metro. This card is very easy to purchase in every metro station. You’ll have to pay 70 EUR a month for the 1st and 2nd zones, which is the entire city centre. If you want to go to Disneyland or Versailles, you’ll have to pay for single tickets. If you already want to take a look at the map of the metro before you leave, here it is: www.ratp.fr/informer/pdf/orienter/f_plan.php?nompdf=metro_geo&loc=secteur&fm=pdf. I recommend you on doing that.
6. Erasmus Scholarship – If you are a student from Europe who’s going on an internship or study abroad in one of the European countries, you might be able to get an Erasmus scholarship. Ask you school or university for more information on that.
7. Travel and Health Insurance – Before you leave your home country, you definitely want to have both a travel – which most likely also includes your ‘inboedelverzekering’ (fire and theft insurance) – and an international health insurance.
8. Credit Card – In the Netherlands you can pay with your ATM card almost everywhere, but unfortunately that’s a little different in Paris. I definitely recommend you getting a credit card. I pay approximately 1 to 2 EUR each month to have it, but it is a great solution for when they won’t accept my ATM card one day.
I hope these tips were beneficial for you in any way. Feel free to add tips to this list! Are you living in Paris yourself, have lived there before or have visited the city for fun things, just let is know what you found interesting about Paris. You can also ask us questions on Paris or suggest what you want to know about (living in) Paris!
À la prochaine and kisses from Paris, Eline ♡ and from Frederique 
Remember, if you want to enter the FAB Talent Room yourself, feel free to write Frederique an e-mail (), tell your ideas on a new ‘How to’ post and why Frederique should pick you as a new guest writer! Image below is from Dark Blue Stripes. You can get the How to be Parisian book here if you wish.
