Practical Paris

THE PARIS METRO IN 26 EASY LETTERS

Accessibility: You’ve probably noticed that when the printed coordinates of a Parisian place of interest are given (a boutique, museum, restaurant, even a party-throwing private home), there is often a funny little symbol following the name, address, and phone number.  The funny little symbol, a capital M with a «degree» sign after it (M°) precedes yet another name, as in M° Pyramides or M° Ecole Militaire or M° Michel Bizot.  This designates the métro stop nearest the destination in question, a practice affirming that the métro is everywhere and used by everyone but the most crowd-averse snobs. (The site and app of the RATP has an interactive map which can give you door-to-door itineraries with travel time indications for the entire metro, bus and train system in the Paris region. - Ed.)

Begging: On the rise in the Paris metro and becomin…

Hints and Tips for Running and Biking in Paris (and an impassioned plea at the end)

It’s no coincidence that “endorphin,” the chemical produced by the brain during intensive, repetitive exercise like running, biking, rowing and swimming, seems to rhyme with “morphine” (an opiate pain reliever).  It is morphine, its name being a contraction of “endogenous” (i.e., manufactured “within,” or by, the body [en = “in” in French, for example]) and “morphine”--or other “-ine” drugs, such as codeine, etc. Endorphins are natural pain relivers, which is why we get a “runner’s or biker’s high.” This would be the case even if we were pounding the pavement or pushing the pedals in Lost Springs, Wyoming (as of the 2010 census, population: 4). Or Charleroi, Belgium (according to the BBC, the ugliest city in the world).

BUT WE ARE RUNNING AND BIKING IN PARIS! Need we say more?

Yes, we need. In order to keep safe and happy while all that home-grown d…

How to meet people in Paris ?

Now that I am in Paris how do I meet people? is a question that is frequently asked. There are many possibilities according to your particular interest. Here is a list of ideas so you can start meeting lovely people in Paris! Please do not hesitate to share some new tips with us!

Paris Greeters are volunteers who warmly receive visitors from around the world. They propose walks free of charge in Paris. It is the occasion to see Paris from the point of view of the locals, to discover neighbourhoods that visitors would not have imagined or dared to visit. Greeters associations are also active in many other cities all over France, not to mention around the world.

Participate or visit Le 3ème Café. This café run by an association proposes lunch and snacks at moderate prices and also activities such as a knitting circle, cooking classes, chef dinners, CV and writing workshops with a goal to create commu…

Bicycle (and Trottinette) theft and BICYCODE As we head into this new period where new bike lanes are popping up like dandelions many people will be buying bicycles and trottinettes, many will also be stolen and resold. Bikes are stolen way too often in France and it is likely to continue to increase in the next months. Be sure you lock them up tight with two quality locks. Cable-type locks don't withstand the test of an equipped thief. U-locks are the best rated and will hold up longer. Add a fixed frame lock to be even better protected. Be sure to lock your bike to something solid and fixed as well. Position the lock on your frame - not on the wheel - and try to place it as high up as possible (50cm from the ground) so a thief doesn't have easy leverage. Many bike racks are not well conceived and only allow you to lock the front wheel to the rack, these are best avoided as they are pretty much useless. Lock your bike inside a hallway, courtyard, garage or bike room as well. …

Here are two developments in the fight for RBT.

The United States taxes on the basis of citizenship. This is sometimes referred to as citizenship-based taxation (CBT). CBT means that the United States taxes its citizens on their worldwide income regardless of where they live and earn their income. RBT Residence-based taxation taxes individuals based on where income is earned. By adopting residence-based taxation, US citizens living overseas who earn income outside of the United States or income unrelated to economic activity in the United States, would no longer be taxed on that income by the United States. Citizenship-based taxation is incompatible with the global economy of the 21st century where the tax policy of all other industrialized nations is based on residency and not nationality.

First a fund raising campaign to support research to lead towards RBT

ACA (American Citizens Abroad) believes that tax legislation is in the works and that the Congress will p…

Finding jobs in Paris: The CV The first step to finding jobs in Paris is to Frenchify your CV. Some readers may not even know what a CV is given that the term used in the United States is, ironically, the French word résumé (generally written without the accents). In the long run resume means the same thing: to sum up. CV stands for Curriculum Vitae which is a Latin expression which can be loosely translated as [the] course of [my] life. In that sense a French CV or an English one is the same and they tend to be longer than the North American resume which does not exceed one page and does not necessarily  include the entire work history. So how does one construct a French CV, because in fact it needs to be constructed from the ground up and not just translated especially when your working document is a resume. There is no strict style or order to respect although most of the time they are organized chronologically or sometimes by theme or career path. You can personalized i…