My Paris Adventure

May 08, 2023 / Katrina Waugh

This month we have a slightly different spin on our regular ‘My French Adventure’ interview series as one of our chouchous* is off on a real adventure. Pip’s been a student at Lingua Franca since our Masters Street days and, after plusieurs* months of planning, is about to depart on an 8-week holiday à Paris*. Jaloux? Nous aussi*.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO HEAD TO PARIS?

Watching Emily in Paris. Je plaisante*! It’s honestly something I have wanted to do since forever. I’ve studied French on and off for years (with une enorme pause* between studying at high school and starting at Lingua Franca a few years back) and have always wanted to spend a few months there to really improve my grasp on the language.

A trip was in the back of my mind, then Covid struck. Now travel is back on the agenda, it seemed like the time was right. I’m self-employed and have no major commitments here (other than a very needy chat*), so it was a case of ‘pourquoi pas*?’.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING THERE?

I’ll be doing a bit of an immersion and working remotely for my clients (unfortunately someone needs to pay my mortgage and Airbnb fees). I’ll take a few weeks off and have two friends visiting, but otherwise, I want to try and avoid English speakers to make the most of the experience. I plan to be based in Paris and live like a local as much as possible but will do some day trips here and there.

WHICH AREA ARE YOU STAYING IN?

I’m staying in the 11th. I chose it as it’s quite nice and central yet relatively affordable and because there seems to be a good language school in the area (will report back). I also wanted a more lowkey ‘local’ experience rather than staying in a touristy or grand arrondissement* and peering into the designer boutiques and antique stores feeling like a paysanne*.

Katrina helped me make my decision and I’ve since heard from some Parisian contacts that it's a great area, so I can’t wait to check it out.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY TROUBLE BOOKING YOUR TRIP?

Bien sûr*. As they say, nothing worth doing is ever easy, and there have been some bumps along the way. One of the biggest challenges was finding accommodation due to the Bail Mobilité law. I don’t fully understand the ins and outs, but you essentially need to prove you’re either working or studying to be eligible to rent most properties on Airbnb (for longer than a month). And working remotely and doing casual, non-tertiary study doesn’t cut it.

So I had to trawl through hundreds of listings to find a suitable property as there’s no way of filtering them. It was un cauchemar* but I got there in the end.

Then there are the protests around the retirement age reform... I considered changing my dates for a while but once they started collecting the rubbish again, I thought I’d take my chances!

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

At the moment, I’m looking forward to getting on that plane and being able to switch off! But after that, just strolling around and exploring at my leisure. I have a giant list of things to do, see and book. But my favourite part of travelling is always the unexpected discoveries you make when mooching about.

Then, of course, there's the food. I’ve booked an extortionate dinner at the Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, but I'm equally excited about croissants and fromage* in the park.

GOALS WITH THE FRENCH LANGUAGE

I’ve booked in for a few weeks of immersion to start with, then I’m going to play it by ear. I didn’t want to overcommit and have the school component feel like a chore, especially as I’ll be working too. At the end of the day, I’m mainly hoping to soak up all Paris has to offer. If I manage to become more confident with speaking French along the way, ça sera la cerise sur le gâteau*.

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