I met Nelli Orozco when we were working as language assistants in Spain. She lived in the Canary Islands while I was in Asturias. I visited our mutual friend Laurie in Tenerife during a long holiday weekend, and we hit it off while exploring Spain’s tallest mountain in one of my favorite national parks.
Nelli moved to France this year to work as an au pair, taking care of children for a host family, and offers insights for those who want to move to France, too.
Nelli and I met while exploring Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Now she works as an au pair in France.
What’s your background? Why did you move to France?
I’m from Pennsylvania. I studied Spanish education pre-K-12, and I’m a Spanish teacher. France has always been a place I wanted to go. I studied French in high school, and it was always the dream to go to Paris and just be there. I always had this in the back of my mind, but I forgot about it until I met my French boyfriend a year ago.
How did you make it happen?
I thought au pairing would be a great way to get to France. Americans are really lucky that we have passports that allow us to be in European countries including France for up to 90 days. I can stay here for the summer with zero visa issues. I know a lot of au pairs who are in France for years on end. For Americans, we can au pair in France for up to two years, and they just created a new visa for au pairs.
Other people do the student visa route. I know a lot of au pairs who transitioned into a student because they wanted to stay in France longer. Right now, the visas have been prolonged because of COVID, so I could stay until December. I’m able to see my boyfriend every two weeks. I can host him in Paris and have been to his tiny hometown.
In two years, my plan is to move to France and do their language assistant program. They require you to have a B1 in French. (B1 is a designation that shows you have intermediate French language skills. There are several ways to prove this including taking a language test or having a French teacher write a letter on your behalf.)
What’s the best part of living in France?
I think my favorite part is learning everything anew. I lived in Spain before this and had been really comfortable in Spain. This was learning everything from scratch in terms of the language. I like being a student, and I’m taking weekly French lessons from a private tutor which has been lovely.
What’s learning the language like?
French for the most part is not too hard. It’s similar to Spanish since they’re both Romance languages. There are certain sounds that don’t exist, but I just wing it. It’s easy to remember similar Spanish words. I get nervous and all choked up, but it’s not so bad. It feels good when I go out and know what things are on the menu or can read signs.
Where do you live?
I live in my host parents’ home. It’s very common for au pairs to have their own room. I’m in the suburbs of Paris in an actual house. Others live in the center of the city and have their own apartments. Your family provides you with food. I live with my family and have my own third floor. I have a living area, and I share a bathroom with the child. I feel like I have an off switch when I come up to the third floor, and I don’t feel like I’m working.
How did you find your job?
I found my family on AuPairWorld. It’s one of the biggest companies. Another is aupair.com. I think AuPairWorld is the most popular site. It’s easy to navigate. It’s free for au pairs, but the families have to pay a fee to use it. I used it exclusively for finding families. My family is not French, they’re actually Scottish. I play with a three-year-old all day. It’s a pretty good setup.
What’s the biggest challenge of living in France?
The biggest challenge is finding friends and people to hang out with. There are lots of other au pairs who live in the center of the city, and I can meet up with them on a good day when the buses are running and the suburban train is not being worked on. But the commute from my door to one of the touristy areas of Paris is 45 minutes so it can be hard to meet up with them in the center of the city because I won’t have time to get back for my shift in the evening.
Also, I’m 25 and a lot of the au pairs are 17 or 18 so there’s a gap. I’m one of the oldest au pairs I know of. It can be hard to relate to them. They’re thinking, “Should I go to university? This is my gap year.” So we have a different mindset.
What advice do you have for those who want to go abroad?
Choose a good family first
If you’re wanting to au pair, choose a placement not based on location, but on who the family is. I’ve heard lots of horror stories of au pairs being mistreated or abused. Families think they can do this because they have a prime location that is appealing. I have my own au pair horror stories so I can know how that can be.
Learn the basics
I would say learn some French because many people don’t speak English. I live in the expat suburb, but at the supermarket no one speaks English. So have some basic French down already. Know numbers, greetings, how to ask questions, etc.
Know your reason
I would say have a goal. What’re your reasons for being in France? Mine were to be closer to my boyfriend and learn more about French culture and language. So think about what your goals are for coming here because maybe you’re not coming to France for the right reasons, and you’ll be disappointed in the end.
There’s more to see than Paris
Paris is great, but there are so many other places to go. Angers was lovely, and someone told me it was the best French city because it’s where they test everything to see if it will sell in France. They base their markets off of the statistics they get from Angers. Think of other places you might want to live in because Paris can be overhyped. There’s the Eiffel Tower and Champs-Élysées, but there are so many other things to do and see in France.
Think outside of the box.
I’m enjoying my time in France and there’s lots of ways to stay here longer than the term I’m doing, so I’m going to look into that for the future.
