Aurelia d’Andrea - Moon Living Abroad: Paris

AURELIA DANDREA

It was celebrated expatriate writer Gertrude Stein who wrote, America is my country, and Paris is my hometown. After five years in the French capital, Ive adopted Steins perspective. Paris really is homebut it was a long, bumpy, and occasionally confusing settling-in process.

The qualities that drew me to La Ville Lumire are the same ones that have lured dreamers and romantics here for centuries: the unabashed beauty of the citys urban landscape; the sense of history that beckons from every cobbled corner; the respect bestowed upon artists, writers, and musicians, no matter their educational background; and the lively multiculturalism that gives Paris not only its energy, but its metaphorical and literal flavor.

But theres no beating around the bush: Paris isnt an easy city to get to know. Beyond the language barriers are endless cultural idiosyncrasies known to propel less sturdy types into apoplectic meltdowns. Customer service? Forget about it. Those two words havent even entered the local lexicon yet! Dont have a dossier? Then dont even bother paying a visit to your insurance agent, doctor, tax office, prfecture de police, or banking institution. And we might as well address the weather: Its not great. And how about Parisian traffic? Its brutal at best, save Sundays, holidays, and the month of August. But what hometown doesnt have its share of minor detractors?

If youve got stamina and a willingness to learn some French, rich rewards are yours to be reaped in the French capital. The simplest acts here can border on the sublimesomething every flneur knows a bit about. Merely stepping outside brings into focus a multilayered sensory pastiche: the changing sky that beguiled the Impressionist painters, meshed with the seductive aroma of baking bread, atop the distinctly French sound of a distant accordion playing a familiar melody. Closer to earth are the stately reminders of architectural history, recalling epochs of royalty and revolution, and the quintessential city snapshot of a silver-haired woman walking her dog down a picture-perfect Parisian street. This is everyday life in the French capitalif you choose to see it this way.

As you settle in and attune to the rhythms of life in this eclectic city of 2.3 million, youll discover those charmssome of them bordering on clichthat keep the expat community thriving. Discovering that perfect neighborhood caf to call your own takes on a deeper meaning when the proprietor greets you with a bisou on each cheek and a simple a va bien? This is the signal that you have arrived. You have found your home.

Those first glorious, sunshiny days of spring, when Parisians cant help but smile as they bask in the sun at terrace cafs across the city.

Brocantes (antiques markets), marchs aux puces (flea markets), and vide-greniers (rummage sales), where scoring secondhand treasures is a popular weekend sport.

Mid-November, when Parisian streets get gussied up with twinkling lights, decorated trees, and marchs de Nol that usher in the holiday season.

Mastering the myriad meanings of the beloved expression oh l l.

Watching strangers helping strangers lug suitcases, poussettes (baby strollers), and grocery bags up and down those seemingly endless Mtro stairs.

The outdoor produce market in autumn, when summers ripe peaches and cherries give way to earthy mushrooms, fresh hazelnuts, and crisp Normandy apples.

The way Velib has transformed the city into a cyclists... well, not paradise, exactly, but something close!

Sharing conversation with friends over perfectly quaffable 3 glasses of ctes du rhne at a local bar vins.

Hopping an early morning TGV from Gare de Lyon beneath gray skies, and arriving in warm, sunny Nice just in time for a prix fixe lunch en plein air.

The way my neighborhood boulanger reaches for the tradition graine baguette as soon as I walk in the door.

The unabashed topless septuagenarians sunbathing at the public swimming pool.

The simple act of filling my empty wine bottles from one of the enormous wood casks at my favorite cavistes.

Community gardens, where growing kale isnt just an activity for transplanted Californians.

There are many ways to describe the French capital in the 21st century, but the most fitting might be traditional. Parisians, like their provincial counterparts, cling to their customs with an unrivaled tenacity for reasons as mysterious to foreigners as they are to the locals themselves. Ask why something is the way it is, and youre very likely to be met with a rote thats the way weve always done it, or