Here’s Hannah Lamarque, hailing from the UK on her second(!) move to Paris. She’s found that transitioning from working as an au pair to a freelancer has made all the difference in her happiness and independence in the city. From running in her favorite Parc des Buttes Chaumont to experimenting with ceramics and other crafts on her free time, Hannah has found time to “reinvent” herself abroad. Perhaps even more surprisingly, she’s also had the opportunity to see her English culture through the eyes of a foreigner, which has allowed her to feel even more appreciative and proud of her home country’s traditions, jokes, and mannerisms. Richard Attenborough, anyone? 🙂
What is your Paris story?Â
I first moved to Paris back in 2013, working as an au pair in one of the city’s suburban outposts. My initial experience was testing at the best of times and when, one year later, I arrived back in the UK, I vowed to myself that I would never again return to live in the city of lights. In the late summer of 2015, however, plane tickets in hand, I somehow managed to find myself back where it all began. Working as a freelancer, I am lucky enough to be able to choose where I live and while I didn’t get on with Paris the first time around, there was something about the place that refused to budge from my mind. I had a feeling that, living on someone else’s terms, in someone else’s home, I didn’t get the chance to give Paris the time it needed to really show itself to me and, by going back to the city independently, I would finally find what it was I was looking for. Over the course of the last year and a half, I have more than made up for my first wasted experience and while I certainly have my ups and downs, I know that this is the place for me.
Tell us about this spot you chose.Â
I have chosen the Buttes Chaumont as it is, by far, my favourite spot in the city. The very first time I visited the park was only a few weeks after my initial arrival back in 2013. Back then, the whole environment seemed so abstract, so removed from my perspective of Paris that I had a hard time making head and tail of the place. Now, I live about 100 meters away from where I first stood; the unknown has become my home. The Buttes Chaumont figures a lot in my day to day life and whether I’m going for a run, walking to a nearby café or paying the place a visit with friends and loved ones, I find myself in the area a handful of times a week. I love the méli mélo of people that you find here and for me, this is the perfect representation of the Paris population. Hipster couples, growing families and tai chi groups gather in any of the park’s corners and no matter the time you pick, no matter the season, you’re guaranteed a smorgasbord of Paris’ finest.
What is a typical day like for you here in France?
Depending on the day of the week, my alarm clock wakes me up between 7 and 8am. If I’m going for a run before work, I get up an hour earlier to shovel down a bowl of porridge and feed my cat. Running in the winter time is one of my favourite activities and even though I have faced a lot of dark, freezing mornings, the following hours have always been vastly more productive as a result. Must be all that blood flowing. Coming back home, I try to sit down to my computer at around 9am to take a look at my emails and chase up any late night requests. My workload varies quite a lot from week to week so while one day, I might have a constant stream of social media activity to take care of, another, I can have an article or two to research and write up. In the afternoon, I often head out to work at a coworking spot or a cafe just to change my environment and see a little life. Evenings can involve anything from staying in and cooking to heading out to grab a drink by the canal with my friends. I tend to be much more of a homebody in the colder months, visiting my friends in their homes or inviting people around for dinner.
What do you like most about living abroad?
I’ve met people and tried things in this city that I would never had had the chance to before. One of my favourite discoveries is Klin d’Oeil, a shop that stocks local creatives and artists. The girls that run the place put on workshops with a number of their stockists every couple of weekends and over the last few months, I have tried my hand at things like ceramics and embroidery. Holding my (very amateur) creations in my hands is one of the most satisfying experiences I have had so far! I am a very introverted person but living abroad has forced me to develop certain traits in order to keep going; when you live in Paris, you discover pretty soon that you can’t afford to keep quiet if you want to get things done. Living abroad has given me the chance to reinvent myself according to who I want to be and who I feel I really am. As clichéd as it sounds, moving elsewhere does give you the chance to wipe the slate clean, and that is an incredibly powerful tool to have. Of course, the fact that French bread and pastries are readily available on a day to day basis helps things to keep ticking along, too!
What challenges do you face as an expat?
Even today, I really struggle with cultural differences and I don’t know if that is something that will ever go away. While most of my friends are expats, I do often find myself as the only Brit in a room of French people which, on the odd occasion, can be testing. On the other hand, living abroad has made me incredibly aware of all of my very English habits for the first time in my life and now, I feel so much more proud of my heritage that I ever did at home. When people find out about my heritage, I almost always get bombarded with questions about English habits, preferences and opinions. Having the weight of the entire English population weighing on my shoulders is a pretty big responsibility but when I talk about things I take for granted at home, like tea time, politeness or Richard Attenborough, I get a strong surge of nostalgia and pride. The English rarely pat themselves on the back but, viewing my culture through the eyes of a foreigner, I can appreciate its individual quirks so much more.
How do you meet people in Paris?
I seem to have stumbled into most of my close friendships, meeting friends of friends or through meetup.com. One of my closest friendships came about completely by chance, on my initial flight over to the city. I struck up a conversation with the girl seated next to me and completely by chance, she told me that she knew someone, my age, also a freelancer, who happened to be moving to the city a few weeks later. She gave me her phone number, I sent a tentative message and the rest is history! Of course, it’s not always been as easy as that and I feel that a lot of my experiences have been about going on lots of blind dates, trying to find the right fit. While my friendship circle is fledgling and relatively small, I am very happy with the people in my life!
What advice would you give to others wanting to move abroad?
Make sure you have covered your back, in every way possible. If you’re setting your sights on Paris, there is a lot of French bureaucracy to get through before you can score your first apartment, or your own medical cover. While it’s not the most romantic side of moving away, it’s worth paying attention to before it hits you out of the blue. Apart from that, don’t forget to celebrate the good days! Expat life can be a serious roller coaster and when you’re feeling far from home, or isolated, it can be easy to focus on any negative experience you might have had. Try and do something for yourself every day – be it grabbing a coffee or popping in to your local patisserie on the way home – and celebrate your time in the city. Just moving to a new place is something worthy of celebration, so don’t forget to pat yourself on the back from time to time.
How can people continue following your story?
You can follow me on my blog The French Reader, on my Instagram page or through Twitter.
