Bonjour, Paris!

A new adventure has started

I’m a fan of superlatives. A competitive person in arenas that have no real impact on life (ask my family how a game of Hearts goes with me), I like to win accolades. Perhaps the accolade that has stuck with me the longest is the honor of “Most Stubborn Child.”

I come by it naturally, having two grandmothers who did things their way, dammit. But I first earned this title in 6th grade when I told my parents I wanted to speak French.

Growing up in Colorado, French did not seem like the logical option. Spanish would be much more useful (a fact that was proven in my 20s when I became a choir teacher in the Colorado public schools), but I was determined. French was the language for me, and I loved it—at least until classes became focused on passing the AP test and the learning method stopped making sense to me. So, I quit. What a fun experiment in defying the logical path.

Flash forward 18 years, an obsession with a French TV series, many French classes and happy hours in LA, and a healthy dose of ADHD hyper focus later, and I find myself sitting in a café in Paris, calling the city my new home.

I have always wanted to live abroad. As far as I can remember, I have been fascinated with Europe, and every time I have had a crossroads in my life, the first thing I think is “How do I get abroad?”. Having had the opportunity to travel to France several times in the last year, something deep in my gut told me it was finally time. So, I quit my job, left my friends and family behind, and boarded a plane across an ocean. Once again, throwing the “logical path” to the wind.

I have been in Paris for 4 days now, and things are entirely overwhelming and I’m exhausted. And I’ve never been happier.

Moving to a new country was always going to have its challenges: On my first night, I succeeded at buying shampoo and soap…only to learn that my gas hasn’t been turned on and I wouldn’t have cold water for 3 more days. I also almost couldn’t turn off the water in the shower (quirks of old apartments). The first few interactions I had in French made me stop like a dear in the headlights and I secretly wondered if I actually spoke French at all. I spent my first full day almost entirely asleep as the exhaustion and stress of the past few weeks finally caught up with me.

At the same time, I successfully navigated a call with the gas company confirming my appointment and the subsequent appointment. I set up internet and a French phone without translating the website to English. I bought a hair dryer and socks. This does not seem like a huge accomplishment, but honestly, finding a store that sells everything you need in one place is a challenge in Paris. I’m still trying to find a trashcan and hangers.

Having rested a bit and taken the coldest shower in the world, I have started to explore my neighborhood and the surrounding areas. Coming from LA, it’s incredible to be in a walkable city and have everything you need just outside your doorstep. I live in a very multicultural neighborhood, and within a block, I have several Tunisian restaurants, some Algerian places, a lot of Vietnamese food, and your friendly neighborhood McDonalds right down stairs. Every five feet, I stop to book mark another restaurant I want to remember. I have not bookmarked McDonalds.

Speaking of food, however, my first night, I treated myself to a delicious wood-fired pizza at the local pizza joint. I have had two delicious pitas—one because I kept passing by the stand and it smelled incredible whenever I walked by. It lived up to expectations. I also went to the grocery store to buy food to prepare myself (as much as I would like, I can’t eat out at every meal), and I made the best salad I have ever had. I think it was the cheese.

Perhaps the biggest thing making me feel at home in my new city is feeling like I fit in here. One of the reasons I felt fairly confident about my move to Paris was knowing that I already have contacts in the city. Be it friends from college or friends of friends (both French and American), I have people to turn to if I need anything. More than that, I feel like I fit into the fabric of the city as I walk down the street. Something that I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so immediately anywhere else I lived, despite building wonderful communities over time.

In fact, meeting people in Paris has been way easier than I could have ever imagined. When I was here in November, I went to a networking event for people working in film and television hosted by a friend of a friend as the world of film and television is something I have always wanted to get into. I moved out to LA to be a screenwriter, after all. While at that time the “practical” path took over and I fell into marketing, something I am continuing here as I content write and translate materials for clients, I have not given up on living my creative dreams.

So, when someone I met at the aforementioned networking event posted that she was looking for extras for a film shoot, I immediately said I was interested—which is how I found myself on a film set on my third night in Paris. There, I met fellow extras, the cast, and other crew members, some expats like myself, who were coming together to create. Despite being brand new to the city, I felt a kinship with the people around me in a way words can’t fully express. It was a long shoot, and we were standing around a lot, but the evening allowed me to gain confidence in myself and my abilities, both in French and as an artist. I left the shoot with several new contacts and potential collaboration connections. When I walked home, I was smiling from ear to ear, full of gratitude about where I am in my life.

I don’t know where this journey will take me, but I am already loving it—the highs and the lows. I know there will be challenges ahead, and if I know anything about myself it’s that my stubbornness (or as I prefer to think of it, tenacity) is ready to tackle them head on.

À la prochaine.

Bisous! 💋

Melanie