Introduction to Secrets of Paris
Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to live in Paris, the City of Light? Do you see yourself shopping each morning in the open-air markets? Having a quiet café on the sidewalk terrace of your favorite bistro? How about spending your whole weekend visiting museums and strolling through the gardens? For many people, this is an unrealised dream. Especially for those who've actually moved to Paris.
The expatriate community, specifically the English-speaking one, seems to get larger every day. More and more people are relocating here, lured to a city by the words and images of their favorite artists and writers who once lived here. And that Paris, the one that mystifies and fascinates us, still exists somewhere, in a place and time where we can calm down and let it sink into us. Unfortunately, the average Anglophone expat, used to the high-speed chase of life back home, has found that living in Paris can be the worst way to enjoy the city. Most Parisians, even the expats, live their lives similar to the lives of anyone in a large city. "Metro, boulot, dodo," a popular French saying, illustrates the 'commute, work, sleep' routine that traps many of the world's city dwellers. Paris's beauty and culture is easily ignored when one is stuck in traffic on the motorway. People are passing over the outdoor markets to shop in the cramped and fluorescent lit supermarkets, either because it's closer, it's cold outside, or because it's just faster. Residents also tend to stay away from any places that might be crawling with tourists and the tacky shops that follow them. Trips to museum exhibits and monuments tend to occur less than most of us will admit. For the expats, it's not hard to forget why we moved here. How many of us spend more time watching English Cable channels or playing around on the computer than in the café terraces just below? How many of us only see the sights when our friends come to visit for a week? And how much time do we spend simply trying to survive in this city? Therein lies the culprit.
Living in Paris as an expat can be more difficult than it looks. Cultural and language differences aside, there are secrets to getting through the French system, of getting things you need, and of being treated like a human being. The French have had their whole lives to discover these secrets, and even they struggle at times. And when you're an expat, once you become a law-abiding and heavily-taxed member of the French society, you may start feeling those twinges of rage that come about when things don't go as smoothly as hoped. Imagine you have finally wrangled your way into an exclusive and expensive club, only to find that once you're in, you still have to beg the bartender to serve you a $20 cup of warm tap water. Paris is the City of Hoops and Forms. The former you jump through, and you're always missing the right one of the latter. It's easy to be blinded to the exhilarating sights of Paris's monuments when your eyes are focused on the pavement looking out for dog droppings.
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