Finding an apartment in Paris is a special circle of hell, get help by whomever is hiring you, because it's a very lengthy and humiliating process for foreigners.

I've visited apartments for about two months before finding a place outside of Paris and have been asked all sorts of private questions about my life, for example looking at your tax and salary receipts is considered standard practice.

I'm sad to say, quite painful. A sibling mentioned the housing problem. There's also the immigration problem.

If you're in France on a visa, you'll have to renew it every year. To do that, take a day off to go through a humiliating process that will have you wait in front of a government building from 12PM for 10 to 15 hours until it opens and then until it's your turn.

Of course, if you dare forget something, you'll just have to lose another 10 hours of your life another day, waiting in front of that same building. People sometimes take pounds and pounds of paper when they do that to be sure they'll have what they're asked for.

One of my friends is in this situation and she dreads it for weeks when the time comes to renew her visa...