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Advice for Paris
Rain in ParisI would advise people coming to Paris—or anyone traveling abroad, really—not to bring a lot of stuff. Really. It’s a huge hassle to have a lot of baggage, physical and emotional. First of all, you’re in Paris to have fun and see the city. You don’t need fifty books, a huge wardrobe, or a bunch of hangups over an old boyfriend. Leave it all behind. Let yourself have a fresh start.
In terms of preparation, it cannot be stressed enough that Campus France is a ridiculous, time-consuming, frustrating process that should be dealt with sooner rather than later. The French invented the word bureaucracy for a reason. If there can be a problem, there will be. With something as important as a visa, assume the worst will happen and go from there. Otherwise you risk ending up like a girl at the consulate when I got my visa, sobbing outside and unable to change her very expensive international flight.
Paris is a very wet city. It is constantly about to rain. Even when it isn’t raining, the air is so full of moisture that the temperature, hot or cold, is greatly exaggerated. Forty degrees feels piercing cold in a steady drizzle. The winter lasts more than four months and there will not be a single day with steady sunshine. It will be continuously grey with very few breaks in the clouds even in the spring. The cobblestones are not as charming when it rains, especially after the third time you slip within three steps. An umbrella, a hooded coat, and shoes that will keep your feet dry, and on the ground, are pretty important. (It should be noted that I have none of these things, hating umbrellas, hoods, and practical shoes. But I’m not as concerned for my own comfort.)
Any other advice I have is less cohesive, and is as follows:
• Eat food from outdoor markets really fast—those vegetables are cheap for a reason; they’re usually extremely ripe, and liable to rot quickly.
• Drinks are expensive (6-10 euro, usually). Do some pre-gaming.
• People will laugh at your French. Don’t take it personally.
• It’s not unusual for the French to eat bread, cheese, and wine for dinner. You won’t be a tourist for doing it, you’ll just be normal.
• There is no more Carte Orange monthly pass. There is only Navigo. And it’s worth it to get a monthly pass, given how much it rains.
also, to add to sloane's
also, to add to sloane's advice: if, like me, you arrived with far too much stuff, take that opportunity to reconsider what it is you really need and use, and what reasons you have for hanging on to things. maybe this experience will also help you shed some of your less useful material baggage. if, like me, you will still return from france with seven bulging suitcases, remember that stores like Tati and Rayon D'Or offer cheap suitcases starting at 10 euros, in case you are still in need of more room!
Explaining
Thanks for pointing out a few things for me, paz_mp.
Okay, so Campus France is this organization that you have to mail a bunch of shit to and pay in order to register the fact that you're coming to France as a student. They don't have a phone number and their website is very confusing, so your options are pretty much limited to sending your check and crossing your fingers. The earlier you do this, the more likely it is that if you don't hear back from them, you'll be able to do something about it.
A Carte Orange used to be a weekly or monthly version of the single-use train ticket that you buy for the Paris metro--it was orange, hence the name. However, now that doesn't exist anymore, so all the guidebooks will be out of date. Instead, you buy a card called a Navigo Decouverte, which costs five euro and is endlessly rechargeable (sort of like the Oyster card in London, or a costly version of the NYC MetroCard.) If you're living in Paris, you can buy a regular Navigo card, which is free but requires all sorts of standing in line and filling out paperwork (unless you get stopped by the police in the subway and they do it for you right there), so I got the Decouverte.
"The French invented the word
"The French invented the word bureaucracy for a reason." I laughed out loud when I read that.
Everything written here is very true-- especially the stuff about pre-departure, which was an extremely frustrating and slow process. I second your advice to anyone who reads this: be prepared and start early!
nice picture
I like your picture, and strongly agree with not bringing too much stuff. Whenever I can make my suitcase smaller, I feel like I've made a real personal achievement or something.
Regarding some other stuff you said...I used to know what Carte Orange is, but I don't know now...can you tell? Also "Campus France," don't know what that is. I imagine it probably wouldn't matter to me since I'm not planning on studying there next semester, but it would be nice to know :)