If you’re thinking about moving to Paris and have always wanted some insider tips on Life in Paris, our interview with a Stylist who recently moved can get you motivated to take that big step closer to your dreams of living and working here in France. Oh yea, and we have lots of photos too! ?The funny German expat,?Anne B?rwald?took us to one of her favorite places in Paris at the open air market Marche Aligre then oyster &wine bar Le Baron Rouge.
She frankly and freshly shares her “My Parisian Life” with us.
Feel free to leave questions in the comments. xoxo
You decided to move to Paris from Berlin, why?
– I was hired for a 5 month project for a small design brand to come to Paris and I knew in that moment that this was the opportunity I had been waiting for a long time.
I knew Paris quite well, as I had been regularly visiting for years during Paris Fashion Week (PFW). But it never exceeded more than 2 weeks and I was looking for a reason to come here for a longer period.
There it is!
What’s one of the best things to have happened / discovered since your move here?
– The answer to that is definitively: my friends and all those inspiring people I met throughout the past 3 years.
And yet leaving ones own country and starting a new life elsewhere is also always a journey into the own identity. I would say that I am closer to my own self than I was ever before and I feel very glad to have had the opportunity to experience that. Also, living abroad and dealing with the French language revealed on the other side the beauty of my mother tongue to me, it would have probably never crossed my mind.
What’s something you didn’t expect, or found weird about Paris after moving here?
– Life in Paris is unbelievably complicated and hard, unless you have a lot of money maybe, but even then you will meet rudeness and incompetence at every corner. It is not a city that embraces you and invites you to stay. You have to want it and you have to accept its rules.
How did you transition into learning French?
– Well, I went to an evening school for 1,5 years and I read regularly French newspaper. Oh, yes and I heard French boyfriends can come in handy in terms of practice. WARNING: All prejudices about Parisian men are true!
Your profession is a stylist, how does being in Paris impact this?
– Massively. It is such an inspirational city, also it is one of the worlds leading capitals for fashion. Needless to say, that it is much easier to get into really good fashion productions compared to where I come from. It is vital to my mind set, absolutely essential. It is the birth place of my self-fulfillment.
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Today you’ve taken us to one of your favorite Parisian spot. Why this place?
– I have taken you to March? d’Aligre, because I generally like Parisian markets, there are plenty of them. Here I found these two Bars where you can eat oysters and have a glass of muscadet wine on a Sunday morning breathing the market atmosphere. Friends come and go, you make your shopping and simply enjoy your life for a while. It is so wonderful to indulge in what the French are famous for – the savoir-vivre.
Other favorite places or things to do in Paris?
– Living here I had to do pretty often the touristy stuff, which is quite exhausting. However I?fall in love with the city every time I can get a glimpse over the city on one of its viewing platforms. In everyday life I enjoy rather little things, but I can reveal at this point that the best hot chocolate is served at Caf? Charlot – you can forget about the rest.
Tips to people wanting to move to Paris?
– One should be prepared that the city will be testing you. It is hard to find apartments or lets call it spaces to live in. It won’t be easy with all administrative stuff, but you can make it. Learn French and go out and meet great?people.
