I arrived in France on a long-stay visitor visa, got married to a Frenchman, and applied for the carte de séjour “vie privée et familiale” (VPF) in Paris. This residence permit provides stability, allowing me to stay in France and work.
Like most Parisians, I rushed out of my small apartment as soon as I could, ready for freedom and direct sunlight. This summer, I’ve been spending a lot of time outdoors, hoping to never be subjected to lockdown again. It’s a strange new world out there, with an extreme lack of tourists, and I’ve attempted to capture a bit of this period in photos.
Those who have been following my story for a while know how tricky French bureaucracy is. Getting access to the national healthcare system is a BIG win in my book. I have a permanent numéro de sécurité sociale as well as the highly sought after green carte vitale. I’ve included all the steps for how I did it in this post.
This is the story of how a French teacher from the United States of America and a New Caledonian, who was working and living primarily in Tunisia at the time, met and fell in love in Paris over the course of two weeks. It wasn’t love at first sight or a fairy tale romance. But it’s our story.
In this post, I would like to explore France’s taboo surrounding the topic of race and the implications that this has for talking about and acknowledging racism.
Do I talk about food a lot? And if yes, do you have a problem with that? No? Good!
Here are some French food habits I’ve picked up over the years. As always with my cultural comparison pieces, I write from my own experience and from a place of love. Enjoy!
As we head towards the beginning of the deconfinement (French people literally just made this word up, and I’m following suit), I want to give you an update on the situation here in France, and specifically in Paris.
I think we can all agree—relationships are complicated. There are a lot of possible points of contention that could either bring you closer together or drive you apart. When you’re in a relationship with someone outside of your own culture, the divide between these topics can be augmented as a result of our unique cultural lenses.
I am a blogger. It feels weird to say that, but I’ve decided to embrace my new identity. How did I get here?
In France, bank accounts are required for many essentials, including getting paid and paying taxes, paying rent and bills, participating in the national health care program, and signing up for a cell phone contract. You absolutely cannot live on a long-term basis in France without a French bank account. If you are a foreigner, opening a French bank account is a hurdle you must overcome in order to prove yourself and your merit to the French people. Only then will they let you stay!