American tourists abandon New York to find peace in Paris

Every time she leaves her apartment in Montmartre hill (Paris), American Michelle Harris cannot predict the time she will return. The trip can last from a few minutes to an hour, especially in the summer, due to unexpected conversations with neighbors. “The French are very open, they always care about what you are doing even if it’s just taking out the trash,” Harris said.

Moving to Paris since 2020, the female tourist both lives and travels. Here, she was cared for by local people and never felt lonely. Harris describes Montmartre, a famous tourist destination in the 18th arrondissement, as having the pace of life like a village. She often visits the Chez Ammad bar, which once hosted famous singer Edith Piaf.

“Life here is very interesting, this is where I belong,” she shared.

Harris never planned to live permanently in Paris. Before 2020, she focused on developing her career in the pharmaceutical industry in New York, USA. After experiencing three consecutive events, including the sudden death of his father and the loss of his long-term job, Harris began to change his life’s direction. She realized that life is impermanent and difficult to control. “No matter what you do, things can still slip out of your hands,” she said.

Although she found a new job and tried to move on, Harris realized that her inner self had changed. Wanting to renew her life, she sold her house, bought a one-way plane ticket to Asia to begin her adventure. In January 2016, she went to Japan, then traveled through Southeast Asia, to Australia and South Africa.

At that time, Harris had not yet overcome the pain of losing a loved one, so he found every way to cope. In 2017, she went to the Amazon forest (Peru) and met a shaman. Here, she was guided in meditation during a local ritual. During this process, the image of her late father appeared in her mind, causing her to accept his passing and no longer cry every time he remembered it.

“I was able to put the pain aside, which was magical,” she said of her meeting with the shaman that year.

In a state of meditation, in addition to the image of his father, Harris also thought about life in Paris. Before that, she always felt guilty about not being able to master French despite her efforts to study. When the image of the French capital appeared in her mind, she considered this fate.

During her trip to Europe in 2017, she chose Paris as a stopover and dated a local man. After breaking up, Harris fell in love with someone else and signed a non-marital cohabitation agreement (Pacte Civil de Solidarité). This relationship also broke up, but she realized she was suitable and wanted to stick with life here.

Harris has noticed a change in personality since moving here. Her French ability improved well, an American friend even praised her voice for becoming sweeter.