Do you want to MOVE to Paris for a YEAR???

 

So you want to spend a year in Paris?

I have decided to do a four part series on moving and living in Paris. I will do at least four posts on working in Paris, finding housing in Paris, hustling in Paris. I even plan to feature some fresh black girls who moved to Paris for a year!

Since I spent my year in Paris three years ago, many people have asked me, how can I do that? I want to live in France for a year!!! With the recession, many of my friends now have more time, and more freedom to do whatever they want to do—even to move to Paris.

So let me guess your situation...

So you're living in a big U.S. City. You have about $10,000 saved up and you want to move to Paris, NOW!!! You don't speak french and have no real desire to do REAL work in Paris. You just want to LIVE in Paris. You're also under 30....

First, let me tell you that it is not easy nor cheap. Paris is like the NYC of France. It's the most expensive city in the country so if you were to consider any where else your expenses would probably be half of living in Paris. Also, not knowing French actually makes your experience even more expensive.

What do I do in Paris? How do I live? How do I get a VISA???

The easiest way to get to Paris without a company sponsoring you is by becoming an English Assistant at a local school.

Basically anyone with half of a college degree can become an English Assistant. As an assistant, you assist a French English teacher in the classroom for 12 hours a week (about 20-25 with travel and prep). You don't need to speak French and the job is paid WITH BENEFITS. And you get a long-term stay VISA!! The applications is extremely easy and I have never met anyone who got rejected.

NOTE: The application date for a post starting in the fall is usually December and January.

But there are some catches:

1. It's not well paid. Even with housing benefits, you'll be earning about 1000 Euro per month and in Paris... that will pay for housing and food. NOTHING ELSE. No clubbing. No clothes. No trips.

2. It is unlikely that you be assigned to a school in Paris. But there are two suburban areas outside of Paris. I taught in the tony suburb of Rueil Malmaison, which is just east of Paris.

3. So you think you can't live on 1000 Euros? That's a good hunch. Unfortunately with your visa you CANNOT legally work another job while in France.

So why don't I just move to Paris on a tourist visa?

If you don't speak French and don't have many friends or family in Paris, I DO NOT recommend trying to live and work in Paris without a long-stay visa. You have NO RIGHTS. You have to leave the country every three months just to renew your visa. Believe me, the French authorities will soon catch on to that...

Is 1100 Euro a month enough to live on Paris?

When I left Paris, I had about $10,000 in debt that I didn't have when I got there. The reason being that the dollar SUCKED (every euro I spent was a $1.40) and quite frankly I was living a middle class life when I should have been living like I was poor....

Yes it is enough to live on if you are paying 300 euro for housing....but if you were like me and were paying 700, then no.

Comments

[Viajera]

Thanks for posting that. I checked the application on the www.ciep.fr site and they want applicants to "Be able to speak good French.". Do remember if you saw that when you applied?

[Black Girl in Chicago]

I did NOT speak good french when I applied...believe me this is NOT a requirement. But it certainly helps if you want to get through the bureacratic french system. The government people don't tend to speak english that well....So it will be difficult to get social security, get rent assistance etc...

[Maureen]

Thanks for giving us "live-abroad" hopefuls the real deal about challenges involved in moving to France! Sure, you'll probably make less money than we would at a corporate or gov't job in the States, but most of us don't move to Europe to get financially rich.

It's all about the rewards you get from living in a country where work-life balance isn't an HR catchphrase but something that's lived out EVERY DAY. I lived in Florence, Italy, for nearly one year and despite the self-imposed stress of it, I wouldn't trade one second of it when I look back. Moving abroad without the security of a full-time job takes nerves of steel, but once you do it, you realize there's NOTHING in the world you can't do. So thanks for showing it CAN be done!

[Heidi]

After I graduated from University I worked as an English Assistant in Meaux, 30 miles from Paris but within the suburban rail system. I wanted to say that as an Assistant you're a government employee and so the benefits include free admission to national monuments -- Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, etc. -- sometimes with a special entrance so you avoid the crowds. I have very fond memories of my year!

[Viajera]

Hi, Is there another post to come? REALLY interested! :)

[Nikki]

Hey, like the site. However I have to point some things out on this post because some of it is wrong info.

First off, I'm doing this program right now (I'm a black Cndn. female btw) and Paris and the South of France are the most highly requested 'regions' so it's hard to get into those places. Second, if you're living in France as an assistant you can apply for 'CAF', which gives you money back for housing. It helps low-income ppl. with housing. If your rent is 400, and you are under 25/26 you will get at least half of that back. Thirdly, although you don't have to be fluent, the application process varies from year to year. Some years you needed good French and no teaching experience. I know some ppl. who had excellent French and still didn't get in..so it all depends. This year apparently was popular because of the economic crisis and alot of ppl. not finding jobs in N. America. So, although this is a great program please keep in mind that people DO get rejected and the competition has increased. Great blog though!

[Future BGIP]

I have been checking in with your blog every so often over the last year and I just have to say THANK YOU. "Living in France for one year" is on my short list of things I MUST do in this lifetime. This post especially is so inspirational. I have been hip to the Assistant job for about 2 years but hadn't applied b/c the program I knew about required 3 semesters of college french. At the time, I wasn't enrolled in school, but returned this semester and was JUST THIS WEEK thinking I should go ahead and sign up for a french course next semester. Every time I read your blog I'm reminded that my DREAM will one day be a reality, I just have to put it into action one step at a time. Thank You.

[touring in Brittany]

You can be an english assistant in.... Brittany. Life is less expensive and it is nice too... yes it is