What's it like to move to Paris, and live here? In this podcast, I discuss the ups and downs of living abroad with the author of The New Paris and The New Parisienne, about calling Paris home.
I just listened to your chat with Lindsey Truamuta and enjoyed it. Mostly it was very good but you and Lindsey gave some out of date information on how long you can be in France on a tourist visa . If people want to spend some time in Europe before deciding to live there they can't count on being in many of the counties for than 3 months. You neglected to mention the Schengen agreement. 29 countries have signed it and you can't be any of them for more than 3 months and then must be out of all of them 3 months. Schengen caught my son and his now wife by surprise many years ago. My American son had to flee to stay with a friend in Scotland until my husband and I could get to Helsinki for their wedding. The UK is not part of Schengen, but France is. It is too bad it is not easy to stay many places in Europe on a tourist visa anymore.
What a wonderful podcast! I found myself repeatedly nodding to comments either of you made. One of the most important, imo, was Lindsey's advice to avoid making comparisons. Everywhere you live will have its pros and cons, so either shut up or learn to bitch like a local, which, trust me, is different from how foreigners complain. Also, doing everything you can to learn the language will pay off (yes, some people just have an easier time; life is not fair.) Lastly, prepare as much as you can ahead of time. For us, knowing that opening a bank account was going to be very difficult was an invaluable piece of information, as it removed the surprise component.
This was such a great podcast. I very much thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing you guys talked about was speaking french in France. I have relaxed a little but when I was 19y I was so nervous that I insisted that my partner order his own beer in French at Les Deux Magots because he wanted… Kronenbourg 1884! after teaching him how to say it while we waited for the server.
“Kronenbourg mille huit cent quatre-vingt quatre” LOL
This was hilarious in that context- testing Pres Macron on noun genders which he did NOT ace, made me feel a little better:
It looks like you signed up for a subscription in October. I was able to issue you a prorated refund through the payment platform (Stripe). It wasn't allowing me to issue one for the month of November but if you have further questions, you can reach out here:
I have been listening to this, and am !/2 way through.
I am enjoying the insights, and am realizing that, as an American living in France, I am feeling so proud of both of you. I hope I have had the ability to adapt that you both hove.
I’m listening about friendship and food in France. Having only spent three weeks in Paris it may be that I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I tried to brush up on my school French, I spoke to people, I shopped locally, went to the local markets and supermarkets, and did my best to blend in. I don’t think for one minute I would have been immediately befriended, but I think most would know that at least I was trying. Perhaps that is the solution for people who decide they want to live in France, not continually comparing what it was like where they came from
A lot of people learn French in school, then come to France and find out it's not that easy to communicate. I think like any language, the way you learn it is often different than how it's spoken in daily life. (When I was in Japan, people wrote to me in perfect English, but didn't want to speak it because they said it was too difficult.) In my experience in France, people don't care if you speak perfect French - they know how hard the language is - and they'll do their best to communicate with you, especially young people, who are more engaged with global cultures.
I just listened to your chat with Lindsey Truamuta and enjoyed it. Mostly it was very good but you and Lindsey gave some out of date information on how long you can be in France on a tourist visa . If people want to spend some time in Europe before deciding to live there they can't count on being in many of the counties for than 3 months. You neglected to mention the Schengen agreement. 29 countries have signed it and you can't be any of them for more than 3 months and then must be out of all of them 3 months. Schengen caught my son and his now wife by surprise many years ago. My American son had to flee to stay with a friend in Scotland until my husband and I could get to Helsinki for their wedding. The UK is not part of Schengen, but France is. It is too bad it is not easy to stay many places in Europe on a tourist visa anymore.
Joan Moore
What a wonderful podcast! I found myself repeatedly nodding to comments either of you made. One of the most important, imo, was Lindsey's advice to avoid making comparisons. Everywhere you live will have its pros and cons, so either shut up or learn to bitch like a local, which, trust me, is different from how foreigners complain. Also, doing everything you can to learn the language will pay off (yes, some people just have an easier time; life is not fair.) Lastly, prepare as much as you can ahead of time. For us, knowing that opening a bank account was going to be very difficult was an invaluable piece of information, as it removed the surprise component.
This was such a great podcast. I very much thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing you guys talked about was speaking french in France. I have relaxed a little but when I was 19y I was so nervous that I insisted that my partner order his own beer in French at Les Deux Magots because he wanted… Kronenbourg 1884! after teaching him how to say it while we waited for the server.
“Kronenbourg mille huit cent quatre-vingt quatre” LOL
This was hilarious in that context- testing Pres Macron on noun genders which he did NOT ace, made me feel a little better:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAv09BXPkxr/?igsh=MWJ2anIzZTR3dmFrNA==
How did this happen
Hi Jean,
It looks like you signed up for a subscription in October. I was able to issue you a prorated refund through the payment platform (Stripe). It wasn't allowing me to issue one for the month of November but if you have further questions, you can reach out here:
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/contact/
Sorry for the incovenience.
I didn't pay for a subscription!
I have been listening to this, and am !/2 way through.
I am enjoying the insights, and am realizing that, as an American living in France, I am feeling so proud of both of you. I hope I have had the ability to adapt that you both hove.
I’m listening about friendship and food in France. Having only spent three weeks in Paris it may be that I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I tried to brush up on my school French, I spoke to people, I shopped locally, went to the local markets and supermarkets, and did my best to blend in. I don’t think for one minute I would have been immediately befriended, but I think most would know that at least I was trying. Perhaps that is the solution for people who decide they want to live in France, not continually comparing what it was like where they came from
A lot of people learn French in school, then come to France and find out it's not that easy to communicate. I think like any language, the way you learn it is often different than how it's spoken in daily life. (When I was in Japan, people wrote to me in perfect English, but didn't want to speak it because they said it was too difficult.) In my experience in France, people don't care if you speak perfect French - they know how hard the language is - and they'll do their best to communicate with you, especially young people, who are more engaged with global cultures.
Yay!
I love Lindsey's writing and insights -- what a pleasure to have the two of you together.