Paris - the city where everything my heart had desired became a reality

In the early 2025, I moved to Paris. The city I never thought I'd ended up living in. As someone who's deeply and proudly campagnarde, I assumed Paris wasn't for me. It was simply because of work that I said goodbye to Lyon.

Only 2 months had passed and I felt as though I exhausted 90% of energy. Finding an apartment in Paris seemed impossible. But I wanted a comfort living. A shabby and tiny space was absolutely No for me. Sharing a flat didn't appealing either.

I only had 2 to 3 months to find a place.

I managed to make an appointment with 3 proprietaries for the 1st February 2025. Visited all of them, none of apartment really lined up with what I was looking for. One was definitely out of the list because of its filthy neighbourhood. Two left. Apartment A was a fully renovated mini studio in a decent residence, located in a bit isolated but calm area. Apartment B was a bigger studio & fully renovated but the neighbourhood was less appealing. Access to Paris wasn't so bad.

It wasn't difficult to choose. I got a text message from the owner of apartment A saying that he decided to take someone else. So I signed a lease with apartment B. The landlord has been nice and proactive when there's issues, although we don't often see each other. And now I have my boyfriend living in this apartment. The place is well connected to every corner of Paris and Parisian region, where my boyfriend and I work at. This felt somehow meant to be.

This is a brief episode that may not reveal much but that's where everything started. I heard people saying that it would be challenging to find a place to live in Paris. I felt quite fortunate that I came through this 1st chapter "Finding an apartment" with as least struggle as possible. And that's when I started thinking Paris might actually be for me. I might have judged a book by its cover.

I met my partner right after moving to Paris. I bought my first Yves Saint Laurent bag. I could experienced things that wouldn't have been possible to experience outside of Paris. It's easy to travel. Authentic Japanese restaurants are within 20 minutes. It's a whole package of what I actually longed for in my life.

Cosmopolitan, cultural, symbolic, many people head to this city. I am not sure in where I will settle in yet. My nomadic journey may continue. But Paris will always be special - it's definitely the city where everything that I'd desired became a reality.