Bored and Thinkin'
 

I'm thinking, ok, fantasizing, about what it would be to live and work in Paris. You know when you have those great, perfect vacations and you think if you move there it'll be like that all the time. Well, I have no illusions that Paris would be perfect all the time (hello, riots), but heck, there's a patisserie on nearly every street, and a bad day is nothing an apple turnover can't fix...

I think I would really try to do it... if I didn't have cats. I couldn't bear the thought of putting them in quarantine for 6 months.

You're not required to put pets in quarantine for six months anymore. The requirements are pretty easy to meet, as I recall.

But if you are a US citizen you would have to work out being allowed to stay in the EU for longer than 90 days (in an 180 day period) and obtaining a work permit etc. But don't we all have wonderful dreams brandie when we are bored..thinkin' can be dangerous, lol. But without dreams wouldn't life be dreary! If you really and truly want something get the facts, put yourself in the position to follow your dream and go for it!

The 6 month quarantine used to apply to the UK (not the rest of Europe as each country has its own rules, always less stringent than the UK as we are rabies free and Europe isn't) but has now been changed to a vaccination and passport scheme.

Cats can easily move to France. Your visa now, that's far more difficult!

"a bad day is nothing an apple turnover can't fix"

LOL, brandie!. Would it were so....

Reaaaaaallly? Hmm, I'm intrigued...

My DH was bored and started thinking about 8 years ago. B/C of that, we have lived in three different countries in Europe and soon, it will be 4. Dreams don't have to stay that way...:)

DH worked for a French company here in California. In 1990 they sent him to Paris for some training. They paid for my airfare, the apartment rental and his meals etc.

He loved getting up each morning of those two weeks, catching the bus to the gare and then the train to their facility. He especially loved passing the Louvre pyramid every day.

After lunch and for their breaks they went to a private coffee bar on the premises. This was before Starbucks, so the premise of a special coffee place, was new to him and made the day even more enjoyable. There were several Englishmen in the group, and the class organizer prided himself on having tea an array of teas for them.

I did all sorts of things on my own such as locking myself out of the apartment (no local representative) and spending several hours trying to get a locksmith. I finally found one who would do it. Trying to get a locksmith to make a housecall was like finding a doctor here that does the same thing ;-)

I also went to a Weight Watchers meeting which of course was in French, but was very easy to follow, chocolate is a universal word. I especially loved the weigh-in. Instead of weighing 100+ pounds, I weighed 55 kilograms! I wanted to put that on my driver's license.

We both enjoyed those two weeks so much, even though it was in February and it was a bit chilly and wet. We celebrated out 2nd anniversay on that trip.

Figure out a way to do it and go for it.

Good luck in realizing all of our dreams.

Nina

Why don't you go to Paris say for two months? Take a leave of absence from your job, leave the cats home, try it out.

great idea, suze!

I dunno, Suze, do you think they'll take Monopoly money over there? :D :D

Actually, after Nina's post, I was thinking maybe a few weeks or months might be a good idea...

Brandie- Since you asked the question I assumed you might be seriously thinking of it and had some idea how you could finance it -LOL!

A co-worker did just that... he and his partner rented an apartment and lived in Paris for two months last summer. If you are serious about wanting the experience this would be an excellent way to give it a try, and see if the reality meets your fantasy and expections.

Do you speak French? If not signing up for a language class at home would be another way to work towards this goal.

Oui, je parle um peu francais.

Well, I would have to find a job, otherwise I'd end up bored and thinkin', only in Paris instead of Atlanta.

Hmmm... working in Europe is a whole different thing. I'm not trying to burst your bubble but you could look into the legal requirements of getting working papers in France. I'm pretty sure you'll find that working in the U.S. saving money and taking an extended trip is easier than moving and finding permanent employment.

Who knows, my company has an office in Paris, maybe they'd let me file papers for a month or something...

can one retire in paris without having to get a work permit?

that's our fantasy . . .

when you are fantazing...I'm the guy at the table across the cafe, having a cafe creme and croque monsieur:)
I'm been in that same mindspace for a while. I have an investment account that I contribute to every month, with the goal of either a pied a terre in Paris or a property in the south (Languedoc, Dordogne..) Every once in a while I check real estate listings to see if it makes sense, and try to think about how to buy a place and rent it out when I'm not there. Once I get enough money, I think I'll take the plunge. Just knowing I have place over there, even if I only use it 3 weeks of the year...that would be nice. Back to my creme...

Not trying to burst anyone's bubble, but Paris is much more fun to visit than it is to live.

At least in my experience - I appreciate it so much more since I moved away!!

melissa19- I don't know the dspecifics but there is paperwork necessary to remain in a foreign country longer than a tourist time limit (i.e., 3 months is common) even if you are not working. You'd need to check with the government to find facts about thse rules and regulations.

It can't hurt to ask (at work, that is)
There are loads of American expats in Paris, and in other countries as well. I'm living in Belgium; my husband's company has an office here and he had the chance to come work here for 3 years. In his case, all the paperwork, visas etc were arranged througgh a relocation company and was quite painless. they told him exactly what was needed, who he needed to send it to and when. And often, companies provide pretty sweet expat packages; we get a housing allowance, company car, travel allowance to go back to the states twice a year....grr but no help at all on getting the animals over here.

But like someone else said, we brought 2 cats and 2 dogs over from the states and there was no hassle whatsoever. Kind of scary actually; I got all the right papers, and the only time anyone even looked at the animals was when we checked in; they were all taken out of their kennels to be inspected for drugs, etc. Nobody on either end of the trip even glanced at any of the tons of papers I had.

You only live once! It can't hurt to ask, right? I'm so glad we took this opportunity. Granted we dont get to live in Paris, but we're only an hour away, as well as a couple hours from amsterdam, germany, and the UK; and most of the rest of europe one low-cost airline ride away....

Can't recommend the experience enough!
Has also helped me appreciate certain things about living in the US.

Carrie

All I can tell you is that it's a lot easier to get permission for an American to live in Paris than for a French person to move to the US. My cousin married his long-time French girlfriend in January and the last I heard, she STILL doesn't have a green card yet!! I don't know exactly when they began the process but I know it was before the wedding. It s/b obvious to the INS this is not a sham marraige to get a green card, as they've been dating for 10 years and they had a child together last year.

They have looked into what it would take for my cousin to move to France and the process isn't nearly as bad. The problem with that is my cousin is almost eligible for retirement from the Reserves so he has to stay in the US for about 2 more years.

So in the meantime, my cousin's wife is living in Paris with thier daughter, but she comes to the US as often as possible as a tourist. The quest for her green card continues....

If you can get a transfer from your own company or a company in Paris wants to hire you, that is (of course) the easiest way in.

OR... you could do a home exchange for two or three months. Check out this website. A lot of French people would like to do a swap with someone in America. www.homeforexchange.com It´s free for the first year.

BINGO Ainhoa! That is exactly what I have been thinking. I checked once though and it seemed a lot more people in America wanted to switch and Europeans. I'll have to check again.

After all, do I really want to leave my family and move to a foreign country where I don't know a person? Aging parents, grandchildren (someday), friends, etc.

I have also thought that it would be fun to exchange with someone only be here to host them. Wouldn't it be fun to make friends with someone from another country, have them stay at your home, show them all the little places that they couldn't possibly find on their own and then go over to their home in Europe and do the same thing. Kind of like exchange students only for the adult set. Heck, this could be a business idea - instead of e-harmony set up a site to match up people for exchange adults program. lol

GREAT website, ainhoa! Time for serious dreaming...and potential planning!

Though everyone's experiences are different, the one thing that I have found about opting to move abroad is that you need to be prepared for some initial suffering that apple turnovers will not help. Maybe a chocolate croissant will do the first few times, but then your clothes stop fitting and you just want to shoot yourself.

I got back to BCN a few weeks ago. I returned to my job, to a lot of friends, and had my apartment lined up. Well, that is a rare case, as most people show up with nothing (what I did 2 years ago when I moved here to do my Master's degree), and the paperwork to be done is out of control.

My time is almost up at the internet cafe. More to come on this topic. . .