Table of Contents for this Episode
Categories: Moving to France, Paris
Episode Intro
Annie: This is Join Us in France, episode 609, six cent neuf.
Bonjour, I’m Annie Sargent, and Join Us in France is the podcast where we take a conversational journey through the beauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today on the podcast: We Moved to Paris!
Annie: Today, I bring you a conversation with Sacha Cohen, who packed up everything and moved her family to Paris.
We dig into the real reasons behind the leap, what surprised her most about daily life abroad, the hardest adjustments, and the unexpected joys of building a new home in France. If you’ve ever dreamed of an international move, this one’s for you.
Support the Podcast
Annie: Before we start, this show runs on listener support. If you want to work with me [00:01:00] directly, I do itinerary consults, I have written eight tours of Paris on the VoiceMap app, and I do day trips around the southwest of France in my electric car.
You can find everything at joinusinfrance.com/boutique, and if you shop on Amazon anyway, starting at joinusinfrance.com/amazon costs you nothing but helps the show.
Magazine segment
Annie: There won’t be a magazine part of the podcast again today because this recording ran long, and also because I was away all week visiting Brittany.
So many, many thanks to the patrons who keep this show going. To join this wonderful community of Francophiles, go to patreon.com/joinus. And to support Elyse, go to patreon.com/elysart.
And don’t forget to take a look at the other channel I’m developing, Join Us in France Video on YouTube.
[00:02:00]
Meet Sacha Cohen
Annie: Bonjour, Sacha Cohen, and welcome to Join Us in France.
Sacha: Bonjour, Annie. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Annie: Wonderful.
Why Move In Winter
Annie: So you moved to Paris?
Sacha: Yes, very, very happy to be here, very happy to be in Paris. And, yes, my husband and I moved here in December of 2025 after a long two-and-a-half year exploration of France all over the place.
Annie: Wow. All right. I have to say, this is something people should consider, if they’re going to move to France, perhaps the beginning of the winter is not the most auspicious time.
Sacha: Yes, I would agree. Well, let me just say this. We have been in France over many different seasons, and I personally don’t have a problem with the colder weather.
But that [00:03:00] being said, I mean, Paris can be very gray, and cloudy and rainy and all those things. So maybe it is not the ideal time, but for us it was great because it was a little more calm, and we could kind of get into the swing of things before everything, you know, picks back up and gets very busy in the spring.
Annie: Right. It’s just something to consider. And you moved with your husband, so you were not by yourself. But people who move by themselves, probably the beginning of the winter season is not ideal. And Paris, of course, there’s always things going on in Paris.
But this is especially true if you move some, some more rural part of France where it’s going to be very dead, dead, dead in the middle of the winter.
Sacha: Yes, you’ll be sort of all alone with the sheep.
Annie: Yes. People stay inside and everything.
Scouting France First
Annie: All right, so you mentioned that you had visited many other places. I remember we had an itinerary consult together, but I don’t remember what all the places you went. So to refresh our memory, [00:04:00] what places did you try before you settled on Paris?
Sacha: Oh, yes. So as I said, so my husband and I have been coming back and forth to France since our honeymoon in 2013. So this has been a long evolution. But over the past two and a half years when we decided, okay, we really want to consider the idea of moving to France, we took our time, and we explored all over.
So we have been to Normandy. We spent about a month in Rouen, this past summer.
We have been to Dijon, where twice, for extended stays. We’ve been to Bordeaux for several extended stays. We’ve visited your hometown of Toulouse. We have been to Rennes in Brittany. We’ve been to the Loire Valley. We did about ten days in Tours. We’ve been to Lille, Aix-en-Provence, Cassis, and Paris. So all over the place.
Annie: [00:05:00] Wow, that’s a lot of places you tried. So clearly you were pretty well informed as to, you know, which part of France you wanted to be in.
Choosing Paris
Annie: I mean, this is a silly question, but what attracted you to Paris?
Of course, you like Paris. Everybody likes Paris. But tell us what is it about Paris that you thought, “Okay, this is it for us”?
Sacha: Right. Well, I mean, I personally have been in love with Paris since I was twenty-six when I came here the first time with my family. But after traveling all over and honestly falling in love with all different kinds of places, we fell in love with Dijon, we fell in love with Bordeaux. But at the end of the day, Paris has the community, the international community, the access back to the States and all over Europe. It has so much going on and just the beauty, the energy, the culture, the food. I mean, there’s just an endless list. And so it made sense for us to come here, at least for our initial first couple of years living here.
Annie: Yeah, yeah.
Work And Midlife Reinvention
Annie: What [00:06:00] stage of life are you in? Are you retired? Are you still working?
Sacha: No. We are not retired. We’re in our fifties, my husband is a lawyer. I am a writer, and we are currently… My husband does work, and I do not currently, so trying to figure that out. I actually just wrote about that, trying to figure out sort of the next phase of my professional life.
Annie: So what sort of writing did you do? Magazines, books? What sort of writing?
Sacha: So I was a magazine writer and an editor for many years, and I did a lot of digital and online content. And then most recently, I had my own communication strategy business.
Annie: Mm.
Sacha: From 2013 until a few years after the pandemic, I ran that business, and I still, you know, will probably go back to some parts of it in the future.
Annie: Wonderful. Okay.
Blog And Visa Choices
Annie: So have you started a blog or anything about this adventure of yours?
Sacha: Yes, I have a… I started a blog [00:07:00] right at the beginning. It was at the end of 2023. I started a substack called A Good Vintage, and it doesn’t have anything to do with wine. I know people are thinking, “Oh, A Good Vintage, it’s got to be all about wine.” But it was really more about a good vintage relating to being in midlife.
Annie: Ah!
Sacha: … And as you get older, you get better, sort of a concept.
So that’s what, what it’s about. So it’s all about France and midlife and reinvention and the ups and downs that come with uprooting your life at this pivotal stage that we’re at.
Annie: Right. So, I assume you went through some sort of process. What sort of visa did you go after?
Sacha: Yes, we have our long stay visitor visas.
Annie: So, you’re here on a temporary basis, I guess? You’re here as visitors for a while?
Sacha: Well, it’s called a long stay visitor visa, but it’s renewable every year. You get a visa. It’s a year-long visa that you renew each year. So we are actually [00:08:00] coming up on our one-year renewal, which we’ll be doing momentarily. And I’m actually considering some other types of visas, so the profession libérale visa, the micro entrepreneur visa, which would allow me to pursue some business ideas that I have. So that is something that I’m seriously considering.
Annie: Yeah, and French administration is not the easiest to deal with, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now. Did you run into major snags?
Sacha: We were… I mean, we were lucky. I don’t know if lucky is the right word. We paid to not run into snags. I mean, we hired an immigration lawyer, which, you know, we did it because I think we wanted to feel that we were in good hands, and we were in good hands. At the same time, I think that a lot… I know a lot of people who’ve done this themselves, and it’s absolutely doable. It just, for us personally, this is what we wanted to do. The next time around, I think we might attempt it ourselves.
Annie: Yeah, yeah. [00:09:00] Interesting.
Paperwork Stress And Language
Annie: So some people find the whole process really exhilarating and exciting, and they don’t lose any sleep over it. Was that you, or did you have moments? Okay. I want to hear about that.
Sacha: Yeah, I mean, my husband and I… All right, I’ll, let me speak for myself. I tend to be a somewhat anxious person. I’m not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person, and I… I’m a planner, I’m organized and all those things.
I went about this in a very prescriptive way and did a ton of research, you know, put together all kinds of spreadsheets and lists, but along the way, you know, there were certainly moments of wondering, you know, how are we going to do this? This seems overwhelming. The paperwork can be intimidating, but I think that we did… we did take our time. We didn’t just sort of pick up and move our lives overnight. So because we took our time and hired an expert to help us at least with the visa piece, that [00:10:00] has been very helpful. But you know, there are moments where I wake up in the middle of the night and go, “Oh, my God, I’ve got to get, you know, we’ve got to apply for our carte vitale coming up,” and all these things and trying to find a French doctor and…
Well, we can get into the housing thing later because that’s a whole, a whole other story. But yes, there are definitely ups and downs, and it’s an emotional rollercoaster.
Annie: It really is, and even for me, who’s French born and raised, speak fluent French obviously, coming back to France after really 18 years away, two years in England and 16 years in the US, it was a cultural shock for me because I… I mean, I thought I knew France, and I did, but this France I knew was a France where I was still a young adult.
I was living at my parents’ house. They were taking care of, you know, all the health insurance things and all the paperwork I didn’t ever have to worry about. And [00:11:00] when you come back as an adult and you have to set up household in France, there’s a lot of little things that are just… They make it too difficult, in my opinion.
But compared to setting up a household in the US, it’s truly a lot more time-consuming, and also it takes so long, you know? That’s the biggest problem, I think.
Sacha: Well, especially if you don’t speak the language, and my husband speaks French fairly well. I am a intermediate beginner, and so that is a… that’s a big hurdle, and that is one of my biggest, you know, pieces of advice for anyone considering this move is to learn the language, as best as you can, and continue to pursue that knowledge as you go along.
Annie: Yeah, yeah. So yeah, for instance, if you want to rent a place, open a bank account…
Sacha: Oh, yes!
Annie: … Buy a car, get a driver’s license, [00:12:00] all of these things are going to be more cumbersome in France. Even if you have the cash to buy the house and to buy the car, it is completely impossible to get a car delivered in less than a month.
You saw the car, it was in the lot. You test drove it, you liked it. Say you’re buying a used car. And it’s going to, still going to take a month for the dealership to get it ready, to get it inspected, to get it to where they can sell it to you, to do all the paperwork for the ownership and stuff. So even if these are people you know, even if these are people you’ve bought a car from before, you know?
Sacha: Well, fortunately, we’re going car-less, so that’s not going to be one of our issues.
Annie: Right. But this is just an example.
Driver License Photo Tips
Annie: And then you have to have a French driver’s license. You should probably get a US driver’s license that you can exchange once you get to France.
Sacha: We’re doing… Yes, so we’re in the process of doing that. We come from a reciprocal state, [00:13:00] which is Virginia. One of them is Virginia, and we both sent in our application for French driver’s licenses a couple weeks ago, so we’ll see what happens.
It certainly was an amusing process, amusing and somewhat frustrating. Probably the most frustrating part was just the photos because we stupidly went to a shop where they take your photos, but what we didn’t realize is that you can just go to the photo booths that are all over the place there you know, in the Monoprix, they are in the Metro, they’re all over, and they have codes on them. So when you get them done at one of those photo booths, you get this code, and then it makes it a lot easier to submit it.
Otherwise, you have to mail in your photographs separately from your, or with a printed out application, and it’s just more cumbersome. So that is a tip. Definitely be sure to use a photo booth where you get the code that goes along with your photograph.
Annie: Right. So this is called Photomaton, and when you go, [00:14:00] you know, this… I don’t know, I don’t remember what it’s like in the US, there’s a seat that you can raise up and down depending on how tall you are, and it will ask you to put your head in the circle, and it will ask you to pick if this, is this an ID, this is an official ID photo, or whatever else you want to do. And if it’s an official ID, it will make sure you’re not smiling and stuff, and then it will send you… It will print some photos, but it will also email you a code, and that is how you submit your photo.
Sacha: Yes, and I have to say that if you have a delicate ego- the photo that comes out of the photo booth will be the most hideous photo you’ve ever seen of yourself, so just be prepared.
Annie: Yes. Yes. Yes, these photos, you look like a murderer in some of those.
Sacha: You do. You absolutely…
Annie: yes.
Sacha: I looked, I look like a hag, a witch. I don’t know what. It was not good.
Annie: It doesn’t matter, and even nobody’s going to look at [00:15:00] that photo. It doesn’t really matter. But yeah, so this is another thing.
Banking And Healthcare Basics
Annie: Then for bank accounts, you have all these people, “Oh, you’re an American. Well, we don’t really take Americans because your government makes it too hard to declare all the… Too much paperwork.” Which is really funny, French people complaining about too much paperwork. That’s kind of rich.
Sacha: It is funny, and well, we are about to go to a bank this afternoon.
Annie: Ah.
Sacha: So, yes. So, wish me well. Wish us well. It’ll be interesting to see if we are able to open a bank account easily or not.
Annie: Yeah, just be… just be patient. Getting your French healthcare, I mean, look at it this way, at least we have, we let people who come live in France, even if it’s just a temporary thing for you, we let you apply for a Carte Vitale, which is the, kind of the green card that gives you access to French healthcare. You know, there’s plenty of countries-
Sacha: It’s an amazing, it’s an amazing system. And we [00:16:00] are going to be paying into the system. That is our… our long term. I mean, we want to pay into the system. We want to pay into the social services here because you know, it’s only right. But, it’s certainly been an adventure setting up doctor’s appointments, because if you don’t have a Carte Vitale, you can still go to the doctor, of course, but you pay out of pocket, which I have not gone to a doctor’s appointment yet, but my husband has. And the out-of-pocket is far less than what we are used to in the States.
Annie: Yeah, I think it’s… Is it 30 euros yet, maybe?
Sacha: It depends on the, which… So my understanding is that doctors are on different levels here, and I don’t know the exact terminology. Like sector one, sector two, sector three, I believe.
Annie: Yes.
Sacha: And, so that, it depends on what sector they’re a part of.
Annie: Right. So you have general practitioners who are just the run-of-the-mill general practitioner, and they’re just sector one.
And then you have the general practitioners who want to be more like [00:17:00] gurus. I don’t know. They will just keep you longer. They will talk to you about your emotional state, blah, blah, blah. And those are sector two or three. And then you have the specialists, and they charge more, and they tell you upfront, “You know you’re going to be paying more.” And then you have specialists, so eye doctors, cardiologists, people like that. I think the basic visit there is 55. But then there’s-
Sacha: Which is great compared to the States!
Annie: Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, you can see a cardiologist for 55 bucks, for heaven’s sakes. You know, like-
Sacha: That’s hard to… Yeah, that’s… that’s amazing. That is really something.
Annie: And the thing is, they’re no less competent than their American counterparts. It’s medical school. It’s very demanding in France as well. It’s just that because it’s part of the national educational system, when they finish medical school, they don’t have huge loans that they have to pay back, and so…[00:18:00]
Sacha: Right. Exactly.
Annie: Yes. And so doctors live well. You know, I have a nephew who’s a dentist, and his wife is also a dentist. Trust me, they’re young people, but they live very, very well. But it’s not the sort of money you can make in the US, but of course, it’s… they don’t have any medical debt from their education. So that’s… that’s the big difference. Yeah.
Homesickness And Expectations
Annie: So there are a lot of frictions. And then if on top of that you have, kind of the difficult emotional moving away from your family, from your parents, maybe your elderly parents, maybe from your kids, maybe from your grandkids. You have to consider all of these things because even if you’re very happy to be in Paris, after a while, you might think, “Oh, I can’t stand not to be close to my grandchildren,” or something.
Sacha: Yes. I mean, there is definitely the emotional component.
Annie: Yeah.
Sacha: My father, who’s 88, still lives in the US. My brother’s in the US. My husband’s parents and our extended [00:19:00] family are all there, and we have dear friends in the US. It’s not easy. We are going to try to go back as often as we can, but within reason. But at the end of the day, I mean, it was kind of something that we just, in our hearts, in our hearts we have wanted this for a long time. And honestly, Annie, we’ve met some amazing people in the short time that we’re here. It doesn’t replace those longtime relationships that you have, but it certainly makes the transition a little less jarring when you do make those connections early on.
Annie: Right. And you’ve only been here for three months, really. I mean, for your full-time move, so that’s great that you’re already at this point where you’re thinking, “No, we made the right decision.”
Because for me, even moving home, for the first year, I thought, “Oh my God, what have I done?” You know? For me, it was a more difficult adjustment. Now, I would not go back.
Sacha: Yeah. Well, talk to me in [00:20:00] six months. You know, every week, every day is different, right?
So if there’s a particularly frustrating day where everything’s going wrong and, you know, I’m messing up this and that, and paperwork isn’t working, or someone’s rude to me because I don’t speak the language properly or what have you, then it’s… you know, then I might feel differently. But, you know, by and large, I would say that things have been going well.
But again, you know, we… I think that what happens sometimes is people have this fantasy of what it’s going to be like to live in France, you know, in Paris, in particular. I don’t think we came to this with any fantasy in our heads.
Annie: We knew that it would be living in a wonderful city, but at the same time, sort of the day-to-day things that you experience anywhere, you’re going to experience here. And the old saying, no matter, you know, where you go, there you are, I constantly think about that because it’s true. You take yourself everywhere. There’s no escaping. Yeah.
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Opening a French Bank
Annie: [00:21:00] So today, you’re going to see a bank. Which bank? Do you mind me asking which?
Sacha: I knew you were going to ask me that. And I’m like, I think it’s Credit Agricole. Is that right?
Annie: Yes. Okay. Credit Agricole, yes.
Sacha: Yes.
Annie: Yeah.
Sacha: My husband reached out to them probably about a month and a half ago, and then we had to reschedule and da-da-da, and the woman he contacted has been extremely persistent. She’s been calling him, so he said, “Okay, let’s just go with this.”
Annie: Yeah. So Credit Agricole, that’s our bank.
Sacha: Oh, okay, good.
Annie: Yeah. But, simply because it’s the closest bank to us, and we live in a rural part of, you know, outside of Toulouse. We’d have more choices if we were in Toulouse, but they’ve been fine, and Credit Agricole actually wants to find customers from the US because they have a whole department that takes care of all the paperwork.
Sacha: That would explain. That would explain [00:22:00] why they’re more eager, I guess, to have us as clients. Okay.
Annie: You will still have some things you can’t do. There’s some investments you won’t be able to do, because you’re American and things like that.
Sacha: That’s right.
Annie: But even for me, like I was born and raised in France, so if I don’t tell them that I also have an American passport, they would provide me any bank or any brokerage would give me any services I want. But my husband’s name couldn’t be on the account.
Sacha: That’s right. Yes. You have to be very careful with that, and that’s another big piece of advice is hire an accountant. We’re still in the process of finding a French, someone who can do our French taxes. We have a couple of names, but of course, always looking for good recommendations.
Finding Housing In Paris
Annie: So you mentioned that the housing was an interesting part of this. So, why don’t you tell us how you went about finding housing?
Sacha: Yes. Well, I’ll first start by explaining that when you are here on a long-stay visitor visa, part of that [00:23:00] process is you have to have three months of housing secured as part of the application process. So that was, that we did this past summer. We came to France for three months. We did Airbnb, a combination of mostly Airbnbs and a couple of hotels, but that’s why we did long stays in Dijon and a long stay in Rouen, because we did, we had Airbnbs in both of those places.
And then on top of that, when we were in Rouen, we got called to come to Paris for our OFII medical appointment. That wasn’t too bad in the sense of, you know, we were close enough, so it took about an hour and a half to come here. But, I can get into the medical appointment later on.
Annie: Yeah, let’s go back to that. That would be interesting.
Sacha: Yeah, we can put a pin in that. But, okay, so this time around, we decided that we would rent for three months in Paris so that we were here on the ground, and then we could look for a one-year rental, which is [00:24:00] exactly what we did.
So we rented our current apartment through a company called Blueground, which I will say that even though the apartment when we got here needed to be cleaned quite, quite well, I mean, my husband Jason and I spent a lot of time scrubbing every nook and cranny of this place. It is a very nice apartment in a great neighborhood, and the Blueground team has been exceptional in terms of customer service, and I was very pleasantly surprised by that. This is not a paid endorsement or anything.
So, and then we hired an agency to help us find the one-year rental, and I’m not going to say the name of this particular company because I wasn’t thrilled with their approach or the listings they showed us. It was very few and far between, so I ended up going onto a website called pap.fr, which is a person-to-person, like a landlord-to-renter website, and just happened to get [00:25:00] very lucky in finding a place. We went immediately, as soon as we found it, we set up an appointment. Jason called the landlord and you know, thankfully spoke in French to him, which I think honestly makes a big difference. And then we went and saw the apartment, and then immediately had to send in our application and quite a lot of advanced months’ worth of rent, which is a bit of a shock. Just heads-up, if you’re renting in Paris, try to set aside a chunk of money because you will be asked for not only your security deposit, but likely, you know, six months to even a year’s worth of rent up front.
Annie: Mm. So PAP is particulier a particulier, which means, owner to, well, person to person. So there’s no agency in the middle, normally. But there’s probably agents who are trying to get in there and get their commission, you know. But PAP is a well-known [00:26:00] site.
Did this person ask you for a lot of, like, personal income information?
Sacha: Oh, goodness, yes.
Annie: Okay. Okay.
Sacha: So, you really have to put together, and this is going to be, this is going to be the case for pretty much any rental in Paris, and I don’t, I can’t speak to…
Annie: Anywhere in France.
Sacha: Yeah. You will have a what’s called a dossier, and your dossier will include everything from a, you know, a year or two tax statements, your bank statements from at least, like, three months worth of bank statements, previous pay slips, your investments, your I believe birth certificate and marriage certificate. Don’t quote me on that.
Annie: Probably, yeah.
Sacha: Yeah. And, I’m probably forgetting a few things, but yes, you will be turning over a lot of personal information. Another thing to, just a quick note that I didn’t know about, which actually is very helpful, is a letter of introduction that you might want to include with your dossier, which essentially says who you are, what you [00:27:00] do, why you’ve chosen to come to France, what kind of a tenant you will be. Do you smoke? Do you have kids? You know, all those things. That gives the prospective landlord an opportunity to kind of get to know you before they even, you know, take a look at your dossier.
Annie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Paperwork Survival Kit
Annie: This would be the case whether you are renting or even buying. Of course a purchase, if you’re going to have, if it’s a cash payment, that’s different, but if you are applying for a loan of any sort, you know…
Sacha: It’s a lot of…
Annie: Yeah, it’s a lot of information. You will be overwhelmed by how much they want to know about you and your money.
Sacha: It is. It is. And so the best advice, or some of the best advice I got is, you know, obviously get real organized with your paperwork and your documents. Have multiple copies. Keep everything in nicely organized folders. I have both one on my desktop and a Google Drive folder, and that way you can… because you’ll [00:28:00] need the same documents again and again and again, for different things.
Translations And Driving Proof
Sacha: And so some of them you will also need to have translated. That’s, you know, you’ll need to probably have your birth certificates at least and your marriage certificates translated, so that’s, you know, another…
Oh, and we needed to have that done, just a side note, when we got our licenses, we did have to have our US licenses translated, and we also needed to have an attestation from the Department of Motor Vehicles in the States saying that we had, didn’t have anything on our record, that we had clean driving records. So those will all need to be translated as well.
Annie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sometimes they ask you for proof that you were insured this whole time before, like…
Sacha: Yes, I think that came as part of that. Yes, I think that was, I think that’s part of the attestation that you get from your Department of Motor Vehicles. Yeah, your DMV.
Annie: And… and they do this sort of same sort of inquisitive sort of dossier [00:29:00] whether you are French or not. So this is, don’t take it personally.
Sacha: Don’t feel bad.
Annie: Yeah. Everybody has to go through this. Like, it’s just how it is.
France Moves Slower
Annie: And… you know, our daughter is in the middle of buying a house, and not only do they ask for a lot of questions, but it takes for freaking ever. Like, it’s so long.
Sacha: Yes, everything will take much longer than you expect it to, and that includes going to the market, you know, picking up your dry cleaning, running errands, taking the metro. Just build in extra time. I often feel like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off because, you know, everything does take longer.
Annie: Yes, yes, yes. So for example, we have good friends who are in the process of moving to France. They’re selling their house. Their house, they put the house on the market. A month later they had an offer. They’re probably going to be out of there within a month, and they will have the sale will be done within two months.
Sacha: That’s fast.
Annie: That’s very fast. That’s very fast. In France, it would take at least six months from the time you [00:30:00] see a house you like, you make an offer, it’s accepted, you wait a bit to get to your promesse de vente, which is when the notaire is going to do a lot of investigating into the title. All the I’s dotted and all the T’s crossed, they look through every single record to make sure that this house can be properly insured and sold and bought, and it’s like crazy. We had so much back and forth between us and the notaire. It’s crazy. And we’ve had to put off the promesse de vente a couple of weeks because the notaire was not satisfied that she had the right paperwork.
Sacha: Oh my goodness.
Annie: And so the realtor had to go chasing down the piece of paper that was missing, got it, good. But you know, everything takes such a long time, so don’t be in a huge hurry.
Renting Realities In Paris
Annie: But in the end, so you found this, through this particulier a particulier, you found someone who was willing to rent to you.
Sacha: Yes. Yes. After we jumped through a lot of hoops.[00:31:00]
Annie: Right. Right. And again, renting in Paris is difficult even for French people, you know. And if your budget is constrained, it’s even going to be more difficult. If you have plenty for the rent, it’s easier than if you don’t.
Sacha: I will also say that one thing I just learned from talking to other people, other expats who’ve moved here, a lot of, you know, and I’m sure you’ll agree with this, Annie, that a lot of what happens in France, takes place because of the relationships that you have.
Annie: Oh, yeah.
Sacha: It’s a relationship-driven culture.
Annie: Yeah.
Sacha: And so the stronger the relationships you have, the wider your net, more people you know, the more people trust you, it sort of makes things a little bit easier. I do think it really helped that we went and we met the landlord’s father when we went to see this apartment, and we immediately had a rapport with him. We were extremely responsive. Other people I’ve talked to, for example, [00:32:00] they will find an apartment by word of mouth, through a friend, through someone’s, you know, someone’s they went to school with here in France, or a colleague or… a lot of that happens sort of under the radar.
Annie: Yep.
Sacha: And as someone who’s new to France, it’s not always, you know, it’s not easy to get into that stream of things, but it can really help to broaden your social circle, try to kind of do a lot of networking and community engagement and community building is very helpful.
Annie: Right. So do go into those real estate agencies and see who is willing to spend time with you and help you out and lead you through the process. You will find that some of them just don’t give a hoot, and others will be very helpful and very happy to help you.
So just find the one that will work with you, and this also has to do with your personality, clearly, and their personality. You have to [00:33:00] click. And then talk to people. Tell everyone around you. Yesterday I was walking the dogs, and these friends who just sold their house in California, so I ran into neighbors that I’ve known for 20 years, and we were chatting about the dogs and blah, blah, blah, and then I said, “Oh, do you know anybody who has a house for rent around here?” Because they would like to live close to me. And they were like, “Hmm, let’s think. Oh, maybe you could go talk to this, you know, go to the…” It was the cousin of the lady who owns the tobacco shop. She thinks they have a thing for… Anyway.
Sacha: That’s exactly right.
Annie: Right. And so I’m going to go talk to them and say, “Oh, you know, the people live over this way,” whatever, and they have the big Leonberger dog. Everybody knows their dog because it’s giant. They said that you have a cousin who, who’s looking to rent a house. Anyway, that’s how you do it.
Sacha: It is.
Annie: … The websites are helpful, but it’s…
Referrals For Daily Life
Sacha: Yeah, and it’s not just, it’s not just housing, of course. It’s everything.
So, for example, I have [00:34:00] very challenging hair. My hair is fine and curly, and it’s got a personality of its own, and so I hate going to the salon, but I did… You know, I’ve just asked a bunch of people, and I got a referral to this salon in Montparnasse through a very lovely and well-known writer and food person.
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Sacha: I’m not sure if I should say her name or not, but anyways.
Annie: That’s okay.
Sacha: She recommended this place. Susan Herman Loomis, she’s a wonderful person.
She had a cooking school in Normandy for many years called En Rue Tatins On Rue Tatin. I am not doing my best French. In any event, I went to the salon. They did a fantastic job. I was so, so grateful. So there’s been that. I’ve gotten referrals to doctors, even though I haven’t actually gone to any yet, I do have the referrals. So all of those are just by asking people, and being willing to share that information has been truly priceless.
Annie: Yeah. So, today we have [00:35:00] to go pick up a car that went in the shop, and this is a body shop. And body shops, cars in France are a bit strange because most body shops will work with your insurance, and … Your insurance will send you to a specific body shop, and if you don’t want to go through the insurance, then most body shops will, don’t want to deal with you because they know you’re paying out of pocket, and they can’t charge as much.
When I took the car to begin with at this shop, two people asked me who was sending me. You know, “Do you know anyone who… Are you, were you referred to us? Otherwise we wouldn’t talk to you.”
Anyway, things are done that way in France, and it’s surprising to visitors, because you’d think any body shop would be happy to take you. Well, not quite. Not quite.
Sacha: Exactly. I mean, the currency here is different.
Annie: Yeah.
Sacha: It is not the currency that we are used to in the States.
Annie: Right.
Sacha: Whatever that may be, depending on where you live, but [00:36:00] in, you know, where I come from, just outside of Washing- or I grew up in Washington, DC, the currency is power and who you know, you know, what can you do for me?
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Sacha: Here, it’s more about… I truly believe that there’s more of an underlying current of kindness here, and of loyalty, like a tremendous sense of loyalty.
If you’ve been going to one boulangerie down the street for your whole life, that’s where you’re going to keep going for the rest of your life, you know? Or wh- whatever it may be, there’s just this great… this great, I guess loyalty is the best way to describe it, or just, the bonds that you make with people are very special, and they tend to really stick.
Annie: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. And we are apeople that work by relationships, if the way you operate is completely online, and you’re not comfortable meeting people and talking to people, France might not be for you because here, it’s really about meeting [00:37:00] people.
Healthcare Setup Basics
Annie: And in that same vein of thought, you’ve mentioned that you haven’t had to see a doctor yet, which is, I’m glad you’re in good health, but you should go have a first meeting with a general practitioner.
Sacha: I do. I have two set up, Annie.
Annie: There you go.
Sacha: I did it today. I have two. I’m going to go see two different doctors to see which one I like better.
Annie: There you go, and then you declare your general practitioner, and then if that doctor says, “You know, you’re at the age where you need to start doing a cardiology visit,” or this or that, go see that specialist.
The initial visit is really important, because then if you have an emergency, they can just tell, “Oh, this is a patient of doctor so and so,” and they will send you to this doctor, or wherever this doctor is practicing, and you will have a much better follow-up than if you just, they just take you anywhere, so.
Sacha: It’s really true. It’s true, and I’ve been procrastinating on this particular [00:38:00] thing for a while.
Annie: Well, you’ve only been here two- three months. It’s okay.
Sacha: It’s amazing, though, how quickly the time flies, you know? It’s just wild. I cannot believe it’s already been almost three months.
Annie: Yeah.
Planning Your Move
Annie: So what advice would you give to people who want to do this? Perhaps even people who are not sure they want to be here long-term, but maybe for a longer stay or a year or two or three or whatever.
Sacha: Well, I think the first thing is to think about your why. You know, why are you interested in doing this? And map that out, write it out. Are you coming here for adventure? Are you coming here for reinvention? Are you coming here because you love the culture? Are you coming here because you want to escape something? What is your why for coming to France? So that would be the first step. Then after that, I think it’s really important to research visas. You know, If you’re planning to come here for more than three months at a time, you want to understand the different visas that are available to you, and then consider, you know, engaging with an immigration attorney, someone who [00:39:00] really knows their stuff. Don’t spend, you know, endless amounts of time in Facebook groups listening to people who don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to visas or taxes or anything of that nature. Go and get, you know, go and hire an expert.
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Sacha: I would say that my overall philosophy in this has been to take one small step at a time, so every week, you sort of have something that you check off your list. And that will help propel you forward. It’s also important to narrow down the places that you’re looking to go. I mean, France, while it’s not a big country, it’s surprisingly maybe not diverse so much in the sense of the US, but each part of France has its own personality, its own…
Annie: Regional culture
Sacha: … yeah, regional culture. It has its own, you know…
Annie: Vibe!
Sacha: … Food specialties, vibe, all the things.
Annie: Yeah.
Sacha: Do your research. Look into what different places have to offer. Look at the weather. My God. I mean, the weather [00:40:00] is, you know, it’s not nothing. It’s an important thing to consider. We had no desire to be in a place that was really hot, so we’ve really focused our efforts on Paris and north of Paris.
Annie: Mm-hmm
Sacha: So look at that as well. Also, you know, the big things, right? Like access to healthcare, access to, if you don’t speak the language, if you don’t speak French, you’re going to want to have some other anglophones around, at least in the beginning, because otherwise you will be feeling completely isolated.
So that’s not to say that, you know, I don’t want people coming for me and being like, “Well, you’re supposed to integrate.” Yes, integration is extremely important. Learning the language is important. Trying your best to meet French people and to participate in the culture is important. But at the same time, you can’t just be expected to, you know, stop speaking English right away and speak French if you, if that’s, if you’re not, you know? If you, if you don’t speak the language, you know?
Annie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rent Or Buy Strategy
Sacha: And then of course, if you can, you know, plan a scouting trip, or two, or three, or as many as you feel comfortable with [00:41:00] so that you can come and explore and take your time.
I think it’s really nice to be able to settle in, into one place for an extended period, let’s say ideally a couple weeks or a month. That will give you a really good taste and sense for what that place is like. My other biggest piece of advice is, I mean, I don’t think it’s a great idea to buy something, unless you’ve spent some time in the area that you’re buying in.
Annie: Right.
Sacha: To just move to a place and go, “Oh, I’m going to, you know, I’m going to buy this house, or I’m going to buy this apartment,” It’s kind of a risky proposition because you never know. You may want to move around, and you don’t want to kind of lock yourself into that.
So at least that’s been… that’s been our approach, is that renting, at least for us, is what we want to do for the foreseeable future.
Annie: Sure. Yeah. I totally agree. Like, you don’t need to jump into… Now, if you have taken trips to France forever and you know exactly what part of France is for you, then maybe you could just [00:42:00] buy a property. I mean, I’ve had people on the podcast who’ve bought a place sight unseen.
Sacha: Yeah.
Annie: They always surprise me, but they knew that they loved the town, the city, and so that really helps, you know. The other thing is if you are renting, it affords you more flexibility to move about. Like, I don’t know what part of Paris you’re in, but maybe you’ll want to try a different arrondissement at some point.
Sacha: Well, we are currently in the 16th in this three-month rental, but we’re moving to the 6th.
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Sacha: So, and we initially really had… I mean, I love the 6th, don’t get me wrong, but I thought, “Oh, it’s got too many people. It’s too touristy,” this, that, and the other.
But we happened to find a rental that is in a very quiet little, you know, area that’s just precious and lovely. And so don’t rule things out. And yes, it’s nice to, it is nice to have that flexibility and to be able to say, “Oh, we want to try this, we want to try that,” and kind of, and test the waters a lot.
Annie: Yeah.
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Annie: [00:43:00] What would you say is a good budget for a rental in Paris these days?
Sacha: Oh, Annie, the million-dollar question. I mean, look, it really depends on what your needs and expectations are, and so there really isn’t a set number. But if you, you know, I’ll just throw out some very big generalities here. If you’re looking for a one-bedroom and you’re looking in the innermost arrondissements, the inner circle of arrondissements, close to the Seine, I would say probably 2,000. But if you’re willing to go further out, you know, the further out you’re willing to go, or if you’re willing to go to one of the nearby suburbs, you can get more for your money. That’s just, you know, how it is.
So, it’s not cheap, but you can get a really good sense for the prices if you go onto, for example, seloger.fr.
Annie: Mm-hmm.
Sacha: That is a, I [00:44:00] don’t, it’s not really a Craigslist and it’s not like an MLS, it does compile listings, and you can do a search and you can do filters and things like that.
Annie: Yeah, and on Seloger you have both professionals and individuals listing, so you have some of both. It will give you an idea, you know, it will help you get an idea. I would say 2,000 is, for the 6th arrondissement, is probably too low.
Sacha: Probably. Yeah, for the 6th, for a one-bedroom, that’s probably too low. But maybe if you’re in the 10th or the 11th.
Annie: Exactly. Or the 20th, you know.
Sacha: Exactly.
Annie: Yeah.
Sacha: Yes. The further out you are.
Annie: Yeah, yeah, the further out you are. There’s some arrondissement that are not as well-loved, I guess. But I mean, who doesn’t like Saint-Germain-des-Prés? Come on.
Sacha: Right. Exactly.
Arrondissement Picks And Transit
Sacha: I will say, I want to give a shout-out to the 15th.
Because, I am sort of new to discover the 15th. I’ve met some lovely people who live over there, and it’s a very neighborhood… it’s not touristy at all. It’s got a lot [00:45:00] going on. It just feels like you’re living in a more local, sort of… I don’t know what the right words are. But anyways, check it out. For anyone who’s looking, check out the 15th.
Annie: Yeah. If I was to move to Paris, it would probably be the 15th.
Sacha: Yeah. People love it.
Annie: Yeah. I think it’s nice. It’s very urban. Obviously, this is Paris.
Sacha: It is.
Annie: But it has some… some kind of out of the way streets that are not so loud, that are, and a lot of little shops, lot of little restaurants. No, it has a lot of, no big hitter, like no, nothing that everybody has heard of. Well-
Sacha: That’s right.
Annie: …I guess, Catacomb is in the 15th probably, or is it the 14th? Anyway.
Sacha: I am not sure.
It’s a good area. I mean, I also like to be near green space, so I don’t think there are any really large parks in the 15th.
Annie: On André Citroën.
Sacha: Ah, okay.
Annie: André Citroën and also the banks of the [00:46:00] Seine, which is not really a park, but I mean, if you’re walking a dog, it’s good.
Sacha: It, yes. The other thing I will say that really surprised me, honestly, Annie, has been how easy it is to get around this city. I mean, if once you get used to the metro, it is just, we can get anywhere, not anywhere, but we can get to almost all the places that we want to go in Paris on the metro 30 minutes or less. And also the bus lines are great, too. Transportation in this city is fantastic.
Annie: Yeah, it is.
Resources And Wrap Up
Annie: So if we want to summarize our conversation, because we’ve been talking a while, learn French is really important.
Sacha: Yes.
Annie: Have some scouting trips so that you know what parts of France speak to you. Perhaps also be prepared for frustration.
Sacha: Yes, and do your research. Do a ton of research. And I love learning from other people, so I do love Substack in that regard, because there are so many people who write about France on Substack, [00:47:00] and they share their perspectives, and you can really learn a lot from them, and then you can meet them. I’ve met a lot of people through Substack in person, which has been delightful. You know, I’ve made a good friend who lives in Carcassonne. And a friend in Rennes and, you know, all over the place, and in Rouen. So, talk to people. I don’t love Facebook, but I do love your Facebook group, Annie. I have to say… it’s been great. But Facebook is really good for kind of just getting a sense for different places, and yeah, to read, connect with people, ask questions. You know, your listeners are welcome to reach out to me.
Annie: Yeah, tell us the name of your Substack again.
Sacha: Yes. It’s called A Good Vintage.
Annie: Ah, Vintage, yes.
Sacha: And they can also reach me at sachacohen.com. But yeah, I really love… I just, I enjoy helping people because I am very passionate about this country, and I’m thrilled [00:48:00] and grateful that we were able to come here, and I would like to, you know, support other people doing the same thing.
Annie: Yeah. Yeah. And there’s a lot to France. I mean, honestly, Paris is a never-ending place. Like you never fully see all of Paris, but the country is like that as well. Like, it’s not just Paris. You have so much outside of Paris as well, and there are places that you will like and others you won’t like as much.
I just, I was scrolling through the trip report preparation document that you sent me, and you said, “I didn’t love Lyon myself.” You know?
Sacha: Yeah. Yeah.
Annie: And that’s… that’s fine. You know, not every place in France is going to agree with every person in the world, obviously. Like, of course.
Sacha: Absolutely. No, and you’re so right, and also, maybe that was just that one experience I had in Lyon. Maybe if I go back a few times, it’ll be different.
Annie: But you don’t need to force it, if you didn’t like it, go somewhere else. There’s lots of places. Rouen [00:49:00] I thought was a lovely place as well.
Sacha: I loved it. Yeah. It was wonderful. It was wonderful, and it’s very affordable. I will say it’s very affordable, and it’s charming, it’s very livable. It’s smaller and much more manageable than other larger cities, so that’s something to consider as well.
Annie: Bordeaux is great.
Sacha: Yes.
Annie: Toulouse is wonderful, but the big problem with Toulouse is we don’t have a TGV connection to Paris, and so that slows us down if… you have to fly to Paris, really. I mean, I take the train, but I’m never in a big, big hurry.
Sacha: Yes. Being on the TGV line is great.
Annie: Exactly. So Avignon, Marseille, but if you’re going to Nice, you’re not, that’s not on the TGV.
Sacha: No.
Annie: I mean, you’re still on the TGV trai- This is what people need to understand is that the TGV itself goes everywhere, but not at TGV speeds.
Sacha: Right.
Annie: Right?
Sacha: Exactly, yeah.
Annie: There are only sections when it goes super fast. The rest of the time, it’s chugga, chugga, chugga, like any train.[00:50:00]
Sacha: Right, exactly.
Annie: It takes a long time to get anywhere, whereas if you have a TGV-specific train that will go direct from Toulouse to Paris, well, we could do, we could get to Paris in two and a half hours, and right now, it’s four, four and a half, you know?
Sacha: Yeah, that’s a long time.
Annie: Yeah, it’s a long time. So that’s something to consider as well is,you know, how often will you go to Paris, and are you okay not having a direct connection? But places like Rouen or even Dijon, like Dijon, you can get to Paris in what, an hour and a half?
Sacha: Yep, an hour and a half. It’s a super easy train ride, absolutely.
Annie: Strasbourg, same, it’s an hour and a half, you know? So you have a lot of cities in France where you can do direct TGV and at fast speed, and it’s really an impressive system.
Sacha: It really is. Yeah, absolutely.
Annie: Sacha, it’s been a delight having you on. Thank you so much for sharing all this good information.
Sacha: Thank you, Annie. It’s been a [00:51:00] pleasure.
Annie: I think you will do well in France.
Sacha: Merci.
Annie: Just get your French lined up and…
Sacha: Just get my French a lot better.
Annie: And good luck with the bank this afternoon.
Sacha: Thank you so much.
Annie: Merci beaucoup. Au revoir.
Copyright
Annie Sargent: The join us in France Travel Podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Annie Sargent and copyright 2026 by Addicted to France. It is released under a Creative Comments, attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives license.[00:52:00] [00:53:00]
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Episode PageCategories: Moving to France, Paris