Many of you may know about my fascination with Paris, France. The seed was probably planted as a small child while watching old black and white World War II movies of the French Resistance and reading Alexandre Dumas’ classic “The Three Musketeers.” Of course, watching luxury-car high-speed chases and rolling gunfights through the streets of Paris in 1998’s movie “Ronin” only added fuel to the fire.
I had connected through Paris’ Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport for years while travelling to / from the Middle East, Africa, and Europe for years. In December 2012, I finally scored a 12-hr layover connection in CDG… juuuuust long enough for a buddy and I to catch the train into Paris and play extreme-tourist. That 12-hr layover was all I needed to fall in love with the City of Lights. I knew I had to live there one day, if only for a while.
And so, on a crammed flight to Nouakchott, Mauritania, I began to hatch my plan to one day move to Paris. First, I would need to retire, so the plan was immediately pushed to sometime mid-2017. That gave me five years to visit Paris a few times, do a lot of Googling on all things French, heck… even learn French. Well, here it is four years later, and I’ve yet to learn more than a dozen words in French. I’ve travelled to Paris a few times, so I have an idea of what areas I would like to live in Paris, and I’ve done a lot of Googling… so, not a lot of progress. In a few months I’ll send in my US Passport to the French Embassy to request an immigration visa (fingers crossed). France allegedly has a pretty strict immigration policy, but I hope it’s no more difficult to immigrate between two NATO Alliance countries than it is for say a north African refugee. Wish me luck.
As far as w-h-e-r-e I’d like to live in Paris — my fave areas are the left bank districts; specifically, the 15th Arrondissement a.k.a. Arrondissement de Vaugirard near the Javel Metro stop. Why? The Seine, sunsets, quick views of the Eiffel Tower, the metro / RER / bus / tramway lines, the architecture, parks, markets, and eateries, etc. It’s an awesome somewhat sleepy (non-touristy) area of Paris. Next, I would stay in the 15th Arrondissement near the Convention Metro stop for the same reasons. After that, it’s a toss-up between the very touristy 16th Arrondissement of Paris a.k.a. Arrondissement de Passy near the Exelmans or Michel-Ange-Auteuil Metro stops; or the 6th Arrondissement near the Odéon or Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame Metro stops.
I’ve been looking for furnished studio or one bedroom flats in the ≤ €1,500 / month range. Ideally, above the fifth floor, with a balcony… and with an elevator! I plan to bring my Jeep Cherokee and Harley Davidson Road Glide to Paris. However, I’ve been told that my Jeep would possibly be illegal due to emissions and suspension modifications. Although Paris’ public transport is very efficient, I feel that I will require a motorcycle and a bicycle to still feel like myself.
So what does a day in my life in Paris look like? In my mind’s eye I would wake up, make the bed, go for a walk or run, come home, open my flat’s shutters, people watch from the balcony for a bit while enjoying my Nespresso, make a light breakfast while ignoring the television or radio in the background, wash dishes, shower, go to the neighborhood farmer’s market, grab a cappuccino while I’m out, come home, put up groceries, Google and Facebook stuff for a while, take a nap, take a bus to the museum, walk along the Seine, come home, freshen up or shower, hop on the motorcycle to meet friends for apéro and dinner, come home, shower, brew tea, brush my teeth, go to bed… over and over again for a year or the rest of my life. It’s just a thought…
And when is this all supposed to come about? My mark on the calendar is sometime in August 2017. Yeah… I’m starting to freak out at the prospect!
What about you… is there a city or town that you’d like to see yourself living in one day? Or have you found that place already… where is it?
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