© April 2005 Kevin W. Wright
page 2
The restaurant food we experienced was second to none and we found it very amusing
to be sharing the last table available on Valentine’s Day at a
restaurant with an older French couple. When we asked them
what they thought of their meal they said, "Comme ci, comme ça"
("It's just so-so"). I was floored, since for the previous
hour I had been in gastronomic heaven, as every bite of
delectable orange duck brought me closer and closer to the
Promised Land. Meanwhile, my vegetarian girlfriend raved about
the salmon and later we agreed this was one of the best meals
of our lives. How could this seasoned couple be merely
satisfied?! Needless to say, I liked French food, to the point
that I even embarrassed myself a little by explaining to my
friends what a wonderful first meal I had shortly after our
arrival. Unknowingly, we had nipped into a bar for a quick
bite and I ordered a Croque Monsieur, which I loved. Only
later, while raving about it during dinner with friends, did I
learn it is considered a child's meal. Yep, they had a good
laugh with that one, but c’est la vie, I enjoyed it.
Despite having never visited Paris before, my girlfriend and I have a
surprising number of friends living there and they were all
too happy to have us over for home cooked meals. One night our
friend, Gilles, invited us to a party and while I was excited
to witness the different customs of French revelers, I was
also a little nervous that I might spend the entire time in
the corner suffering from poor language skills. But within
seconds of walking through the door, I found myself eye-to-eye
with a woman I thought was a model. With her good English, I
quickly learned she was a Parisian who lived in London. She
also turned out to be the only Parisian who was even slightly
interested in our lives back in Los Angeles. So, while others
hung on our stories about San Francisco and Chicago, this
woman lobbed questions Southern California. Her interest
proved mostly professional, as she turned out to be a
biologist who was fascinated by Southern California's growing
scientific community, which globally is thought to be on the
forefront of medical research and bio-technology. She also
told me how she was longing for some sunshine and rents
cheaper than her tiny 1700€ per month ($1,500) flat in London.
I told her that she might save a little money moving to Los
Angeles, but not much, as we had been taking note of rents in
Paris and were shocked to learn that we could actually find
better apartments for less money in Paris than in Los Angeles.
Finally, it sunk in...French food, French wine, a thirty-five hour work
week, no smog, traffic or Valley Girls... What were we waiting for?
Needless to say, our trip to Paris has changed the question from
"whether we should live there” to “how soon can we make this
dream possible?” My girlfriend and I have a few ideas, and
have set a goal of landing there within the next two years.
Ambitious? Perhaps, but we think it is obtainable. Whether you
are already an expat, curios about moving, or a
died-in-the-wool American, Paris is definitely not to be
missed. It is everything we hoped it would be, and more. We will make it home.
About the author:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Kevin Wright enjoyed
all things mechanical and complex as a child. A big fan of
automobiles and airplanes he considered becoming a race car
driver or pilot as a youth but chose a more grounded study
when he attended Columbia College Chicago.
He graduated with a BA in film studies in Spring 2002 from Columbia and headed to the
Mecca of the film industry, Los Angeles. After a short year bouncing from such television flops
as “The O’Keefes” and “My Big Fat Greek Life” he settled at
Pacific Title and Art Studio where he currently works as a
coordinator. He is happy to work on major studio films and that he gets a
paycheck weekly. Kevin enjoys camping, going to concerts, and riding his
motorcycle in his spare time. He lives with his girlfriend of five years in the Studio City neighborhood of
Los Angeles. Like_I_amuse_you@hotmail.com
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