Living in Paris, I’m Just Another American—and the French Don’t Seem to Mind
My life as an American in Paris is a far cry from what the glamorous direct-to-DVD movies make it out to be. Still, that’s the story I tell.
Kate Gavino is the creator of the blog and book, Last Night's Reading. Her work has been featured in Buzzfeed, The Guardian, O Magazine, Rookie, the Paris Review Daily, and Brooklyn Magazine.
More by this author
“Où est ma nounou?”: What It’s Like Nannying in Paris
His mother said to me, “French mothers can be wild. That one in particular is a monster.”
Learning to Live in France With(out) The Nose Wrinkle
My relationship with my French teachers became more like the ones I had with my therapists: I desperately wanted them to like me.
Is “Paris Syndrome” a Real Thing?
When you don’t have sky-high expectations for Paris to begin with, the disillusionment you find in the City of Light is much more nuanced.
More in this series
How I Learned to Trust in Therapy—Even Without Homework
It was the form of therapy I feared that changed me for the better.
On Eve’s Temptation and the Monsters We Make of Hungry Women
There is a part of me, even after so many iterations of faith and years of living in an adult body, that is waiting for punishment, waiting to be banished from the Garden.
On Fairy Tales and the Ghostliness of Early Motherhood
What saves these lost mothers is different in every fairy tale; often they’re brought back simply by virtue of being recognized. For me, coming back to life took time.
