After three years of living in someone else’s apartment in Paris - sharing with my landlord with them coming to visit for 2 months each year, and me moving me and my stuff out for these 2-months - in 2018 I decided that it was time to search for my own home in France.

Renting in France is difficult. Due to laws that favor tenants, landlords are very picky about who they will rent to. They have insurance that guarantees a tenant’s rent payment and qualifying for this insurance can be difficult, especially if you’re not French.

After looking at some apartments in Paris and not finding anything that improved upon my current situation, or a landlord that was willing to rent to me, it was time get creative and think to the future.

When I moved to France, Paris was not my first choice, but at the time it made the most sense. I have always wanted to live in the south and now seemed like a good time to explore my options there. And because rents are so reasonable I could afford to have a second apartment.

I made a list of my wants. I wanted to live in a city or town that was easily reached from Paris and didn’t require a car. There needed to be an expat community and good weather, because I wanted to be able for get away from the seemingly never-ending gray winter days in Paris. Being near water would be nice too.

I then studied a map of France, did tons of internet research and joined Facebook groups From this I made a list of possible locations: Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Arles, Nice and Nimes - with Nice and Nimes coming out on top, partially because their main train stations were in-town, as opposed to out of town as in Aix and Avignon.

I already knew Nice well and had friends there. I seriously considered it. But being almost 6 hours from Paris by train and the higher rental prices kept it from making the top if my list.

On paper, Nimes was now at the top. The problem was that I had last visited in May of 2013, for just a half-day. I didn’t know Nimes at all. Time for a reconnaissance mission. Which I tacked at the end of trip to Nice in June 2018.

I loved Nimes the moment I stepped out of the train station and saw the gorgeous tree-lined avenue Feuchères. I immediately said to myself “This is a bigger version of Uzes”. Uzes, being nearby village that I had visited many times, most recently in 2017.

And it got even better when I reached the top of the street and saw the ancient arena - that I vaguely remembered visiting in the late 1990’s. Then I walked down the also tree-lined avenue Victor Hugo until I reached my vacation rental for the next 3 nights.

Now it was lunchtime and my host suggested several nearby restaurants out of which I chose Ciel de Nimes - on the rooftop of the mediatech, and overlooking the 2,000 year-old Maison Carree.

My lunch was very good, but the views were even better. I was falling in love with Nimes already even though I had only been there for a couple of hours.

My favorite view in Nimes from Ciel de Nimes restaurant.

This trip also included a day trip Arles. Another city on my list that I had last visited 20-years earlier. Arles had a completely different feel - which didn’t really speak to me. Plus the location wasn’t as convenient - requiring a change of trains to get there from Paris.

Lavender at the Saturday market in Arles

In August I made a second reconnaissance trip to Nimes, where I spent a little bit more time met with some local expats. After this trip I started monitoring the online rental listings - and keeping a spreadsheet of them!

In late November I was back in Nimes to search for an apartment. Actually searching is a LOT different than casually looking at listings on the internet. After a few frustrating days I came to realize that looking for a rental apartment is an exercise in finding someone willing to rent to you - a foreigner. It has little to do with finding THE apartment you want to live in.

After nearly a week of beating my head against a wall and worrying that I’m going to end up renting the one apartment I found where they are willing to rent to me, or going home empty-handed - which is not an option. I decide to add a day to my trip, keeping my fingers crossed that something else would come up.

Courtyard of the not-so-perfect apartment

My plan worked! On my extra day in Nimes I found MY apartment. While I still had to make some compromises I ended up with a wonderful apartment and a landlord who was happy to rent to the American. Now I was nervous, had made a big mistake? What was I doing renting an apartment in Nimes?

View from my bedroom window - the pre-Roman Tour Magne

The apartment search was a soul-sucking experience. I missed out on several good apartments just because I didn’t have the typical French rental dossier, even though I had a French guarantor (through a start-up called Garantme) many landlords and agencies just aren’t willing to take the risk renting to an American.

But in the end, I am thrilled to have my second home in France in a city that I have come to love. And I live just a 5-minute walk from the restaurant with the amazing views over the city.