Happy Moving Memories

When I moved to Paris in August of 2005 there were so many things to do to establish myself as a new resident. The first thing I had to do was to find an apartment as I had my temporary apartment near Oberkampf for only six weeks.

I was lucky and found my Marais apartment, the one I still live in eight years later, within two weeks.

Next I had to make arrangements to have all my furniture and personal items shipped over, then set up cable, phone, Wifi services and gas and electricity.

But then I realized before any of that I needed to open a French bank account, as many of those services required me to have a French bank account. I didn’t have a clue as to where I would set one up, as a saw banks on every corner. I asked some friends which would be the best bank for a new foreigner to setup an account. I received as many answers as I had friends, which made it even more confusing. One friend had a smart idea, he said we should open two accounts. He said to open a French bank account and then also apply for an off shore bank.

I was surprised how painless it was to open the accounts. I also learned that in France it’s all about personal banking, even if you don’t have a lot of money. In the U.S. you usually have to deposit a minimum of $100,000 to have a personal banker. In France it doesn’t matter.  The officer at the French bank gave me his card and said I can call him anytime or make an appointment, which made me feel more at ease. My friend said to also look into opening an offshore savings account.

We moved into our apartment in mid-September and within 10 days we were all set except for our furniture, which took about another five weeks to receive. We lived very sparsely, with just a bed, two tables, and a few chairs, like poor but happy newlyweds. We bought some cool pony skin dining chairs at the flea market, so we could start cooking at home. Our furniture and personal stuff arrived in the mid-October and after many days of trying to fit all of our stuff from our 1500 square ft. New York apartment into 700 square feet here, we made it work.

Comments

[OuiOuiMarie]

Goodness Richard, You make it all sound so easy! You must have a way with the french.

[Claudia NYC]

Thank you, Richard, for sharing this most interesting event. As I am unable to visit in person, because of you, I was able to have a glimpse and then go to their website for one of the best "virtual tours", ever! I really felt like I was actually there, touring the building and seeing it firsthand. I may not have loved the artwork, itself, but was glad to have the opportunity as the presentation is such an unusual and unique manner. Leave it to Paris and the French for bringing us, yet another, new way to view art! And, leave it to you for being in the forefront, as always, and bringing it to our attention. Many thanks!