Paris has a magic about it that draws people. What is it about this city that is so special? Is it the notion that French people are undeniably romantic? Couples walking hand in hand along the Seine, sharing bread, wine and cheese in the gorgeous green parks, snuggling up on park benches in winter, whispering to each other in cafes! Or is it just that the French sound so unbelievably sexy when they speak?
I am not sure, but whatever it is I would love to live in Paris just once in my life. Paris has all the romantic attractions for me, I could imagine myself as an expat walking the streets, shopping at Galleries Lafeyette or Avenue Montaigne and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré for the crème de la crème. Left bank or right bank you will have a ball.
Then there are the museums from The Louvre (which could take your entire stay in Paris to get through), Musee D'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou. The beautifully manicured parks will take your breath away and you could spend hours sunning yourself in deck chairs while life passes you by, from the elegant Luxembourg Gardens or Place des Vosges which is in the fashionable Marais quarter, and most importantly the Château de Versailles, which is opulent, fanciful and luxurious, the gardens cover more than 800 hectares - with woodland, ponds, fountains and statues. Picnicking is certainly one of the best Parisian past times that I have ever experienced.
Then there are the flea markets to browse, cafes and tearooms to experience, street markets, and last but not least the architectural wonders of the Eiffel Tower, The Opera House, Arc de Triomphe, Montmartre, Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, and Notre Dame Cathedral to name a few. Oh Paris, you are calling.
This is certainly not where it stops, as living in Paris gives you access to the rest of the France and well, Paris may well take you a year or two to get through, and then there is the rest of the country to experience.
Certainly enough good reasons to want to be an Expat in Paris!
But what will Paris cost you if you decided to make a career move here? What are you earning and what would you need to earn to live it up in Paris and her night clubs?
Use Xpatulator.com's SPPP calculator which calculates how much you need to earn in Paris to compensate for cost of living, hardship, and exchange rate differences, in order to have the same relative spending power and as a result have a similar standard of living as you have where you live now. If, for example, you live in New York and earn 100,000 USD, what would you need to earn in Paris to have the same spending power?
And to end off with Baz again:
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.....the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.
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