Sarah in Paris
Many people dream of living in Paris. Sarah is doing just that. I met Sarah in August 2010. We were both employed for a new travel venture in Sydney. Initially, there were seven of us in the Sydney group. We formed close bonds and it was a really exciting time. Sarah revealed that she had a French boyfriend, Tony. My love affair with France had really kicked off the year before when Chris and I spent three months travelling around the country. Sarah and I shared a passion for France and we have kept in touch, thanks to social media. She, very generously, agreed to share some of the joys and challenges of her life in Paris, along with plenty of photos to entice you to visit.
Panoramic view of Paris at night from Montparnasse Tower
https://www.tourmontparnasse56.com/en/experience/the-best-view-of-paris/
Carole: Hi Sarah What led you to move to Paris and how long have you been there now?
Sarah: Hello Carole. Well, as you mentioned earlier, at that time I was seven years into a long‑distance relationship with a Frenchie. I’d been working in the same travel company for five years and was getting some pressure to move onto the next role, which in my case would have meant changing states. I knew if I was going to leave Sydney it was going to be to France to finally join my partner. He and I had been trying to figure out where to settle – Australia or France, but in the end, France just ended up being the right option for us. I’ve now been living here for almost five years (it will be five years in April).
View from Sarah’s Airbnb in the 6th arrondissement Paris when she first arrived
Carole: What are your favourite things about life in Paris that are very different to Sydney?
Sarah: I think I’d gotten a bit stuck in Sydney and needed a change. Paris offered me that opportunity to start afresh. Aside from my partner’s family I had no contacts here and I intended to change careers, and realign my focus. Perhaps changing cities anywhere in the world allows you to do this, but for me it just happened to be Paris.
In terms of my favourite things about living here I’d have to say (especially as an Aussie) that being able to hop over to a neighbouring country in a couple of hours is incredible. My best friend lives in Norway – the first time I visited her (from Australia) it took almost 36 hours with flight time and connections. I went back in 2018 and it took 2 hours!
One of the other things I love is the history and the beauty of the place. I don’t get as giddy as I used to walking through the streets of Paris, but every now and then I stop to look around and realise how lucky I am to live somewhere so beautiful and full of so much history.
Conciergerie in 1st arrondissement Paris
Arc de Triomphe
Carole: What are some of the more challenging things about life in Paris?
Sarah: Ha-ha, where to begin? Honestly, the idealised version of Paris/France that we’re sold in the travel brochures is exactly that – only for tourists. Living here is a constant battle with French administration. The French love paperwork and ANY time you want something official done you need to set aside nine months (or more) of your life, a couple hundred euros for certificates and translations and bucket loads of patience (everyone official you talk to will tell you something different). Something else I’ve found challenging is the sheer number of people on the public transport and the savageness of a number of them when your ride pulls up. COVID has put a stop to that for me thank goodness and I haven’t used the public transport system since March 2020, but I think coming from Australia where we have such a small population – I really wasn’t ready for how crowded and difficult it would be just getting to/from work.
Cooking supply shop
Carole: You work in Paris but how long did it take you to find work initially and was it difficult?
Sarah: Actually, I was pretty lucky, I applied for a few Business English teaching jobs about 4‑5 months into living here and got offers from all of them. I was in the fortunate position of being a native English speaker who was serious about teaching and intending to stay here permanently so it was relatively easy. If I had wanted to stay in Marketing which was the field I’d worked on and off in for 10 years I think it would have been much more difficult because of the language barrier and not being French. I’ve been teaching English to Professionals for 5 years and recently became a Micro-Entrepreneur which essentially means I’m a consultant. The freedom is great and the pay higher but there’s a lot more admin involved!
Bassin by Greek sculptor, Panayotis Vassilakis, known as Takis at La Defense, Paris
Carole: I know you started learning French back in Sydney. How is your French now? Do you speak French at work? Home?
Sarah: I’m rather ashamed to admit that I’m still terrible. Before moving here, I thought that by living in France and simply being surrounded by the language, that I would acquire it naturally – that did NOT happen, and so 5 years in I’m still only at a high A2/low B1 level. I think some of the reasons for this are that in my job I speak English all day and then at home my partner and I are so used to speaking English – we forget to speak French. I can get by with the basics in stores, at company reception desks and in very basic conversations with neighbours/my in-laws but beyond that I still find it very difficult. I’ve got a great tutor now though and am making in-roads (and planning my wedding last year definitely helped my written French).
Quartier Art Drouot located in one of the beautiful Parisian covered passages
Carole: Has it been easy to fit in, make friends?
Sarah: Any outsider in France will tell you that making friends here is not easy. The French generally are slower to accept outsiders and befriend strangers, but once you get to know them, they are some of the most supportive and friendly people. Owing to the nature of my work – the majority of my ‘friends’ here are in fact my students/ex-students and one or two colleagues. My neighbour was my maid of honour at my wedding last year and she’s been a great support since moving here.
The Cathedral by Auguste Rodin, Musée Rodin
http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/cathedral
Carole: Do you feel Parisienne or Expat?
Sarah: I guess because I don’t live IN Paris, but in the suburbs, definitely expat. Plus‑there’s a strong expat community here that I’m part of and I identify more closely with them as we’re all experiencing the same challenges and frustrations.
Carole: Pre-COVID, did you have the opportunity to travel much, around France? Outside of France? Just being a tourist in Paris?
Sarah: It’s definitely been easier to travel around but surprisingly I haven’t done as much travelling as I’d hoped. Since moving over I’ve been to London, Oslo, Mallorca, Corsica, Provence, Lyon, Brittany and Normandy.
Carole: What do you miss most about living in Sydney?
Sarah: the proximity to the ocean, good Thai food everywhere and just the ease of being somewhere where I understand everything and can express myself correctly.
Napoleon’s Column, Place Vendôme
Carole: Describe a perfect day in Paris. Where do you go, what do you do/see and what do you eat?
Sarah: A perfect day in Paris for me is in mid-May – the cherry blossoms are in bloom; the sun is shining, and the sky is blue. I spend the morning perusing a new exhibition at a smaller museum (or perhaps the latest exhibition at the ‘L’Atelier des Lumières’), then have a late lunch in a traditional bistro – Salade de Brick de chevre miel or Canard a l’orange, depending on the season. If the exhibition is on the left bank, I’m likely to head over to the 6th to spend a moment in my favourite church the Abbaye Saint-Germain des Pres, before carefully finding my way along the uneven cobblestones of the ‘Cour du Commerce St Andre-des-Arts’ to ‘La Jacobine’ for their dessert of the day (hopefully it’s the Tarte au citron meringue!)
Cherry blossoms by Notre-Dame de Paris
Abbaye Saint-Germain des Pres
Inside Abbaye Saint-Germain des Pres
Carole: You married in 2020, a challenging year for most things but particularly when you had planned a wedding in France. Can you tell me a bit about it?
Sarah: 2020 was an incredibly stressful year for so many, and definitely for me. After getting engaged in 2016, my partner and I had finally decided 2020 would be the year we got married. We’d spent 9 months tracking down and translating all the required documents, planned everything for 29 May and my family were booked and ready to join us. Then COVID hit and everything changed. I can’t tell you how much I cried over all of this – trying to figure out the best course. Ideally, we wanted to postpone to this year (2021) but our mairie had insisted that we needed to be married within a year of submitting the paperwork or we’d have to redo everything (this was absolutely not an option for me as it had been highly stressful and costly), so after much deliberation we rescheduled everything and changed venue to have the wedding on 12 September instead.
To add insult to injury my partner shattered his ACL a week before the wedding and could barely walk. It was definitely not the original day I’d envisioned and it still saddens me that my family wasn’t there with me but it was an absolutely wonderful day. We had perfect blue skies and sunshine, the temperature dropped from 36 two days earlier to 23 degrees and we got in just before renewed lockdowns and restrictions. I cannot speak highly enough of the support of my in-laws and my maid of honour. I spoke earlier about French people being a little slower to get friendly, well they are proof that once you break through to them‑they’ll go the extra mile to help you out when you need it.
Sarah and Tony at la mairie for their marriage
Sarah and Tony married in 2020
Carole: Do you have a secret or hidden place in Paris you could share?
Sarah: If you want traditional French food served in the oldest restaurant in Paris, then head to La Petite Chaise in the 7th. It dates back to the 1600s and boasts royals/artists and writers as some of its former patrons, as well as being the site of a number of arrests of the famous policeman – Vidocq. I’ve never had a disappointing meal here and the wines are excellent too!
Carole: When you are able to travel freely again, where would you like to visit?
Sarah: As soon as the COVID threat is under control I am hanging out for a trip back to Brittany (crepes and cidre by the ocean!) and then to Strasbourg for the Christmas markets at the end of the year. Hopefully too I’ll be able to get back to Australia for wedding 2.0 with my Aussie family!
Merci beaucoup Sarah for generously taking the time to share your story.
