Round World Jump-Around

I'm doing a little jump around on my travelogue writing. I'm working on a brief summary of my recent trip to Paris. I know it will be brief, as it was a moderately uneventful trip.

It sits at the forefront of my mind, though. I've been thinking a lot about moving. Paris is beginning to top my list. I don't speak French. I don't know anyone in Paris. I just love the city, I love the people. On the whole, it would be a fantastic place to live.

I wonder if the Parisiens think this. I know they have large amount of civic pride (hard to imagine this is true when they let there dogs and drunks piss in the streets). Some might say it is arrogance, but I'm starting to think it might be well deserved.

The problem, as I see it, is that it would take the willingness to up and move to another country. I really think I could only do this if I had a job to start when I arrived. This, I hear, is difficult to get these days. The EU has made it very difficult for foreigners to obtain work visas. I've haven't done a lot of research in this area, but I should really give it a shot.

Here are the steps (according to about.com):

• Find a job
• Obtain a work permit
• Obtain a visa de long séjour
• Go to France
• Apply for a carte de séjour

For anyone outside of the EU, finding a job in France is extremely difficult, for the simple reason that France has a very high unemployment rate and will not give a job to a foreigner if a citizen is qualified. France's membership in the European Union adds another twist to this: France gives first priority for jobs to French citizens, then to EU citizens, and then to the rest of the world. In order for, say, an American to get a job in France, s/he has to prove that s/he is more qualified than anyone in the European Union. Therefore, the people with the best odds of working in France tend to be those in highly specialized fields, as there may not be enough qualified Europeans to fill these types of positions.

It sounds like I have my work cut out for me...