It’s been a while since I’ve written here, but I’m making a conscientious decision to give this blogging thing a go. The last time I wrote part one about how I was in search of our very own Paris pied-a terre. Almost a year and a half later, we’ve not only made the move to Paris, but I’m also an ‘entrepreneur’. None of this has come easily or without the help of some incredible folks.
First, we had to get to Paris and be able to stay beyond the Schengen Visa limit of 90 days. The visa process isn’t easy, especially to those of us who are not fluent in French. I can finagle my way through a restaurant, boutique, grocery store, and even look for an apartment, but the legal French bureaucracy was way beyond my French comprehension. To avoid getting rejected and delaying our move to Paris, we enlisted the services of Allison Lounes of Franceformation. We initially met with Allison through a virtual Zoom consultation. This was enough to seal the deal for me. With her assistance, the process was so much easier than the horror stories I had read about. She and her team arranged everything from setting up our initial appointments in DC, sending us a detailed list of every document we needed for the appointment and then making sure we had every step covered once we arrived in France. I’ve continued to work with Allison as I’ve changed my status from Long Stay Visitor Visa to Professiones Liberale, basically an entrepreneur visa. With this I’ve been able to set up my business of Itinerary planning, tours, and photo shoots.
However to get the visa, we needed an address that was our place of residence. Here in lies the conundrum of moving to France, because to lease an apartment, we needed a visa. Basically, you need ‘A’ to get ‘B’, but you can’t get ‘A’ without having ‘B’. This scenario happens over and over again, but there’s always a way around it. And if you read my previous post, renting the apartment as nonresidents was not going to be an easy feat.
Because of the challenges of renting as nonresidents, we decided to work with Paris Rental, a long-term apartment rental company working with expats and corporate housing. I actually found them on Instagram. I think they had shared a photo of mine to their page so I sent them a message explaining our situation. Because they are accustomed to working with expats, they were familiar with what was needed specifically for our circumstances. Because we had already secured a guarantor with the company Garantme, Paris Rental was willing to work with us and immediately began sending me listings. I had sworn I would not rent the apartment sight unseen…which is exactly what I did. But with our agent’s great service of giving me a live video call, walking though the apartment, opening everything, and showing me everything…even the stairwell, courtyard, front of the building, the street, and the nearest metro station, I was convinced this would be the right place for us. Of course, I did message a couple of local friends and asked them about the area. They both gave me a thumbs-up.
No doubt I was super nervous when I returned to Paris to see my apartment for the first time. No matter what I thought, we were already committed for a year. I was welcomed by the owner herself and she was incredibly kind and accommodating. Fortunately, I fell in love with the apartment. It wasn’t exactly how I envisioned my perfect pied-a-terre, but it’s perfect for us. It’s a bit smaller than the 45-50 square meters I had hoped for, but our spacious 35 square meters is quite comfortable. What I did get in this tiny space was a large sized bedroom with amazing built-in wardrobes; a spacious living area with lots of wall space for a gallery wall of art, a chimney, parquet floors; and my ‘cuisine americaine’. Although the cuisine is tiny, it came fully equipped with a decent sized fridge, induction stove top, oven, microwave, and dishwasher. The apartment is located on the 3rd floor (4th floor American) without a lift. But who needs a gym, right?
The best part of this apartment is the neighborhood. I have easy access to so many incredible restaurants and my favorite market, Marché d’Aligre. The market is a dream. So many incredible fresh produce vendors. Within a 5-minute walk I can reach some of my favorite restaurants on rue Charonne, rue Paul Bert, or rue Chanzy And we have explored the neighborhood extensively and have picked our favorite shops…boulangerie, patisserie, pharmacy, florist, wine shop, fromagerie, boucherie, poissonerie, record store, and frame shop.
What I especially love is walking out to run errands, remarking to myself “This is my neighborhhood”, and always feeling like I need to pinch myself. Then realizing I don’t need to pinch myself; this is real and I am home.
