From: grob@opera.chorus.fr (Lori Grob)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: HELP! PARIS INFO NEEDED!
Date: 12 Aug 92 13:19:01 GMT
Reply-To: grob@chorus.fr
Organization: Chorus systemes, 6 av. Gustave Eiffel, 78182 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France

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In article <Bssn96.A9A@news.udel.edu>, davidc@brahms.udel.edu (David Casper) writes:
%% ATTN: To anyone who can help:
%%         I am desperately seeking information about travel to
%%         Paris, France (or nearby).  I have a girlfriend of 3
%%         years who is leaving for France on September 3, 1992
%%         and I am very concerned for her safety...She intends
%%         to stay for 6 months, but -- so far -- all of the 
%%         places that she has applied to (for living quarters)
%%         have rejected her.  She is stubbornly insistent on
%%         going anyway and hopes to find somewhere to live
%%         when she gets there...I really care about her, and 
%%         have heard many "stories" about purse-snatching,
%%         mugging, and rape...and fear that she, alone and in
%%         a foreign land, would be too obvious and easy a
%%         "target." 

First of all calm down. 

Paris is not that far. It is a major western city and
so most things work just as you'd expect.
You can fly  to Paris from the east coast cheaper and
more easily than many destinations in the US.
You will probably be able to dial
direct and you might even be able to send her email. She is not 
going off to do peace corps work in Africa after all. If this
sounds practiced it is because it is what I tell my parents
and inlaws in the USA when they wonder of we will ever live  
in the US again. 


Anyhow, Paris is a safe city. What do I mean by that? 
I mean that Paris is still a big city and of course in any
big city you should not be careless, but Paris is a city 
in which women walk around at night, take buses and the metro
without feeling or being told that they are taking their 
lives in their hands. 

I am not going to say crime is non-existent, but violent crime
is rare and purse-snatching etc. also. 

A more common problem although not dangerous that faces
young women who are obviously foreigners here, are men who
begin to walk beside you and want to strike up an acquaintance.

Telling them to go away or you will call for help is
always effective and generally leads to the reproach that 
it is not necessary to be so aggressive.

I think that you must be thinking of all the stories
you have heard of every foreign city and in your understandable
concern for your sweetheart, you are imagining untold perils.



%%            DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY SAFE AND AFFORDABLE (FOR
%%            A RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE NOT-YET EMPLOYED) PLACE
%%            TO LIVE IN OR NEAR PARIS, FRANCE?
%%         (NOTE: My girlfriend has registered for part-time study
%%         with l'Alliance Franiase...this somewhat narrows
%%         down the choice of location)
%%         Any information at all would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
%%         Are there families that accept straight rental fees
%%         for a room (as opposed to accepting baby-sitting 
%%         and/or housecleaning fees)?  What other choices are
%%         there?  Does anyone have friends/relatives in Paris
%%         who would rent a room for 6 months?

The Alliance Francaise is located in a charming neighborhood
on the left bank. The neighborhood is well served by public transit,
being just 15 minute walk from Montparnasse. (where we live).

Presumably school is accustomed to this kind of thing
and she will be able to find something through them.

If she doesn't want to live alone she might try and get a room
at Cit'e Universit'e. We have some students here at Chorus
who live in dorms full of people from their home countries.

I know it is possible to arrange rooms there without attending the 
university. 

It is very difficult to arrange anything for the fall, in July
and August.Many organizations like the Alliance Francaise will
not have their full staffs or be on a full schedule. She will
probably have an easier time once she is here.

Certainly she should be able to find a room to rent in an apartment.
She can look around the Latin Quarter, also not far from the
Alliance Francaise, many people rent to students.

Finally she should look at the American Church, which is 
not in a convenient location for her, but has a bulletin board
where people post requests for lodging, au pairs, etc. 

Many non-Americans use it because they know it is read by
people in Paris looking for services and not in the city
indefinitely. (For example, if they rent an apartment to
a foreigner, they have less fear that they will never be
able to dislodge him or her).

There are certainly lots of furnished apartments to be had.
If she has anough money  to rent an apartment, she should
look in Le Figaro, a french newspaper which you can find
in the USA at the sort of newstands that carry  foreign
papers. I don't remember which days are the best. The apartments
are sorted by arrondissement. But once again August is 
not the best time to arrange these things.




You don't say anything about her financial status or what
kind of class she is taking at the Alliance Francaise.

%%         ANY information and/or tips on living in Paris (not just
%%         that which concerns living quarters) will be greatly
%%         appreciated.  Has anyone been through a similar 
%%         situation?  If so, how did you survive?

Which situation, living in a foreign country?
Paris is full of people doing the same kind of thing.
As are Rome, Florence etc. People coming over for 4 or 6
or 8 months to improve their use of the language or because
they have won a prize or a scholarship which allows them to stay
and study for a short time.

We came over here the 1st time for 9 months and lived
in furnished apartment. But at the end of the 9 months we
decided to stay. (And yes, we had to go back to the US to get
our new improved visas)

%%  
%%         My girlfriend has also tried to find a reliable
%%         FEMALE companion to room with her for the 6 months.
%%         Is there anyone out there who would be interested?
%%  
%%         What can my girlfriend expect to pay for a modest (only
%%         safety and healthy-sanitary conditions are important,
%%         not luxury of any kind) one-room apartment with a
%%         bath or shower?  Are there any less expensive suburbs
%%         surrounding Paris?

I would reccommend that she stay in Paris. The nicer  suburbs are
no cheaper and would require a train or a car everytime she went 
out. Also, if she is only going to be here 6 months she might
as well stay in Paris. As an american, presumably non-french
speaking she would be pretty lonely living in the suburbs.




%%  
%%         I understand that my girlfriend must limit her luggage to
%%         125lbs.  Is this true?  What tips/advice are available
%%         for somehow bringing the correct belongings to survive
%%         for 6 months?  Is it too expensive for me to mail things
%%         to her once she has arrived (does the French government
%%         allow this?)?  How can my girlfriend avoid be taxed on
%%         possesions that she owned BEFORE arriving in France 
%%         (either when she arrives or -- more importantly -- when
%%         she leaves)?

The luggage restriction sounds like it has more to do with 
whatever means of transport she is using, than the French
government. You can mail things, be sure not to declare
a high value on used possessions or she will have to pay
duty on it. If you are coming to live in France, you 
can go to the French Embassy where you get your visa
and get a form which allows you to move your household
goods into the country, without paying duty.

When she leaves, she just tells the US customs agents
that these are her possessions that she brought in with
her and that she has been living in  France for 6 months.

At worst, they will inspect them. 


%%  
%%         Also, my girlfriend has not been able to get a long-stay
%%         VISA (not for any serious reason -- just paperwork 
%%         problems) and thinks she will get one once she arrives.
%%         Is this unrealistic?  Where should she go?  Are there
%%         any tips/hints on obtaining a 6-month VISA from within
%%         France?

In general she cannot get a visa here.
She has to get it in the US.
Even if she comes here before the paperwork is complete
she will have to go back to where the paperwork is started
to pick up her visa. I have seen this many times. I know
that you can get a student visa with the help of the Alliance 
Francaise, that the registration you get can be used as proof.

Even if the paper work is almost done she will have to go back to
the USA to pick it up. 

On the other hand she is only going to be here 6 months
and she doesn't seem to want to work, so why does she
need a long stay visa? The normal tourist visa is good
for 3 months.

What many people in her situation do is the following:
She can stay 3 months on her tourist visa, then she will 
have to go out of the country, for example go to Brussels 
by train (couple of hours), or the UK, and then come back 
in stamped with another visa which is good for another 3 months.

If she is not planning on working here that would be one "common"
path.



%%  
%%         I apologize in advance if any of the questions are not
%%         clear...
%%  
%%         If there is anything that I haven't asked, that someone
%%         thinks would help...please send the information.
%%  
%%         NOTE: About my girlfriend:
%%         NAME: Lara  AGE: 23  CITIZEN: U.S.A. 
%%         FRENCH: 7 YEARS OF STUDY (MINOR IN COLLEGE)
%%  
%%         Please send ANY information to:
%%         David (davidc@brahms.udel.edu)
%%  
%%         Great Thanks in Advance.
%%  
%% davidc@brahms.udel.edu   davidc@brahms.udel.edu    davidc@brahms.udel.edu
%% VOICE PHONE: (215) 943-4866
%% -- 
%% David W. Casper
%% davidc@brahms.udel.edu

-- 
L.S. Grob
Chorus syste`mes			phone +33-1-30-64-82-17
6 avenue Gustave Eiffel			fax   +33-1-30-57-00-66	
F78182 Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines	email grob@chorus.fr	
FRANCE					      grob%chorus.fr.uunet.uu.net
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Newsgroups: rec.travel