My wife and I are considering a month long sabbatical sometime in the next year. My top choice is Paris. I've noticed there are plenty of sites that will rent nice apartments for the month. My French needs some work, but I'll take some intensive instruction before I go, so I'll be fine there.

So, can anyone who has been to Paris for an extended period (in this case, extended means other than a week on vacation) comment on if this is a good choice? We're considering other places and other countries.

We are planning on taking our dog wherever we go. That will make a difference in some locations as we aren't putting our dog in quarantine.

[Edited on October 31, 2014 at 11:02 AM. Reason : .]

10/31/2014 11:00:31 AM

What are your other choices?? I think Paris is pretty awesome, but there are a couple other European cities that I might rather spend a month in.

Also...Munich might be the best place for dogs. They can go anywhere in the city except for pharmacies and hospitals...although that might actually make it more difficult to get your dog there considering it probably has to go through some "checks and balances".

[Edited on October 31, 2014 at 11:33 AM. Reason : .]

10/31/2014 11:31:51 AM

When we were in Switzerland we were jealous that dogs were allowed in restaurants

It is an open ended list. London, Venice, Milan, Rome. Has to be Europe. No Asian or former USSR states.

10/31/2014 11:44:56 AM

London: Shitty Weather
Milan: Found it bleh...too much industry, less history (compared to other large European cities).
Rome: Too much of a tourist shit-storm, IMO of course.

I personally found Venice awesome, but think it would kind of be difficult to have a dog there (we talking lapdog or real dog?).

I would take a hard look at Amsterdam. That was one of my favorite cities to walk and bike around in (had a "Venice feel" with all of the canals). Has a great outdoor area inside the city (Vogel Park) and lots of great outdoor places on the outskirts. Good food and beverage as well. Also a short train ride to other big cities. My wife had a friend live there for a few years while working for Converse and they fell in love (had two small kids and a dog, if that helps).

I'll throw in Barcelona because I loved the city and am a big fan of Spain. Would be cool to live there for a month and do a couple trips to San Sebastian, Sevilla, or Valenica.



(BTW, I do think Paris would be a good choice, but I would definitely look hard at other places. Also found the French to be the least friendly of everyone I encountered in Europe. Don't know if it would get better or worse the longer I stayed)

[Edited on October 31, 2014 at 12:18 PM. Reason : This is all coming from someone who only spent 3-4 days in most of these places.]

10/31/2014 12:16:03 PM

Thanks! That gives me some good feedback. My wife has London at the top of her list, but my feeling is that we aren't really engaging in 'much' of a new culture in a country that speaks our same language. I want language struggles to be part of the experience.

We have a 15 pound king Charles spaniel. So a small dog.

10/31/2014 12:23:51 PM

My husband lived in Paris for 2 years and in London for 1 1/2 years.

He took his cat to London and they had to quarantine for 6 months.

11/2/2014 10:54:25 PM

Check out Prague. It's in the EU but not on the Euro so your money will go much further. Amazing historic sites and architecture, a very simple modern and easy to use metro, wonderful food, etc. Easy Jet has a hub there so you can take weekend trips to other cities for dirt cheap. Highly recommended (I lived there over a month and went back several times since).

I also agree with the above posts about Amsterdam - I've spent a lot of time there as well and it's a great city, not just a pot-toursim place. However, their food was among the worst in Europe in my opinion.

I disagree with Rome. You can have a blast there without having to spend all of your time at touristy spots, but it's expensive.

I also lived for a few weeks in Barcelona and that was really fun. I was there in March so it wasn't beach season, but I imagine if you go in the summer it's even better.

11/6/2014 11:34:26 AM

Don't do London. I was born and raised there. I believe it recently was awarded the esteemed position of "Most expensive city in the world". On top of that it is filthy. No litter laws so there is rubbish everywhere. It won't necessarily be rainy every day but it will probably be at least very cloudy and probably overcast. Everyone there is in a hurry too (at least in Greater London, not so much a problem outside the city) so it is just kind of stressful. There are plenty of other European cities that are way nicer looking and more relaxed. Air/train fare is cheap enough from just about anywhere in Europe where you can go spend a weekend in London and see some of the sights.

That being said, if you DO decide on London I guarantee that there will be enough of a difference in culture. The food is excellent (despite what American stereotypes will have you believe), there is obviously a lot of shit to do and tons of history. Public transportation system is fantastic and you can walk a lot of places.

Only other country I've been to in Europe is France (Calais) so I can't really comment on the other cities, but my mum lives in Kent, England and won't stop talking about how awesome Spain is, specifically Barcelona. Nice weather, nice people, and very laid back.

11/6/2014 12:46:52 PM

if Australia doesn't count as Asia then I'd look into it - it's not as easy to get to so you want to spend more time than a typical shorter european trip - can do a long weekend trip to Fiji - i'd spend at least a week in New Zealand south island

11/6/2014 2:46:42 PM

I have heard nothing but great things from friends and family who have visited Barcelona. It's definitely high on my list of places to visit and it seems like it could be fun to stay in for an extended period of time.

11/6/2014 5:56:19 PM

Quote :

"Vogel Park"

Did you mean Vondelpark? Because that is a pretty nice area. I dunno what my problem was the week or so I was in amsterdam, but I just wasn't into it.

Quote :

"Also found the French to be the least friendly of everyone I encountered in Europe"

haha, so true. I was hoping it was just a bullshit stereotype, but nope.

[Edited on November 6, 2014 at 7:39 PM. Reason : ]

11/6/2014 7:38:19 PM

I found Berlin to be very nice. If I had to spend, like, 12 months in Europe, I'd very likely go there.

It's worth thinking, incidentally, about the cultures of the various cities. For example, I'm a serious, earnest, straightforward sort of person, and I found Berlin to be a serious, earnest, straightforward sort of place.

By the way, regarding the "French people are rude to foreigners" stereotype - I didn't experience it one bit.

11/6/2014 7:51:07 PM

^ I ran into my fair share of super friendly people in paris, but the overwhelming majority were just straight up dicks. Bad luck, perhaps? In contrast, Amsterdam and the surrounding areas had the most ridiculously nice people I've ever met in my life. I didn't know how to take it

Not trying to say Paris sucks, btw. I'd go back for an extended stay in a heartbeat. It's not like people were going out of their way to run you down on the street and spit in your face or anything. lol

[Edited on November 6, 2014 at 7:56 PM. Reason : ]

11/6/2014 7:55:51 PM

I actually discussed this exact point at a Halloween party. Some people have found Parisians to be uniformly nice, and others have found them to be mostly dicks. It seems to be about a 50/50 split.

My theory is that the French character either warms to an individual, or detests him, i.e. the opinions of all French people regarding a given non-French person tend to coincide. I heard that African natives were the same way with British settlers: they either unanimously liked a guy or unanimously despised him. French people just like me. (shrug)

11/6/2014 8:49:32 PM

^ I don't think thats it at all. I just think, overall, that there were more dicks in Paris/France. I met plenty of really nice people in Paris, but there were overwhelmingly more asshole French people than any other country I visited in my travels.

People who thought they were all nice, just met nice people...and vice versa. Paris was my first stop in my European travels and I had no idea what I was doing...so I talked to EVERYONE. I had several people be extremely polite and helpful...but there were plenty of dickheads scattered about as well.

11/7/2014 9:21:04 AM

I dunno...I was in Paris for around 5 days, and not a single person (French or otherwise) treated me disrespectfully. Indeed, a large proportion of French people were downright nice to me.

By the way, I spent a slightly longer period of time in England, and encountered quite a number of dicks there.

It's worth remarking that just because Jacques is an asshole to you, that doesn't mean he's going to be an asshole to other people. I'm not in any way suggesting that you're a douche or anything like that; but maybe you were too confident or well-dressed or characteristically American or something, and French people found that obnoxious.

*** Come to think of it,
people in my acquaintance who found the French rude = extroverts
people in my acquaintance who found the French unvaryingly nice = not extroverts

So maybe, I dunno, the American version of extroversion doesn't go over well with the French culture. (Or maybe it's only the extroverts who talk to enough French people to encounter the dicks.) Either is a possibility.

11/7/2014 12:07:53 PM

Pretty much all I did was ask for directions. But keep on with this retarded argument you are making up.

11/7/2014 2:00:13 PM

Sry, I can't help it if French people hate you.

11/7/2014 2:34:59 PM

Paris is awesome.

The only thing wrong with it is that it's full of french people.

11/8/2014 8:45:30 AM

You must be an extrovert.

11/8/2014 10:31:53 AM

^ LOL

Quote :

"people in my acquaintance who found the French unvaryingly nice = not extroverts"

I am an enormous fucking introvert

1 EXCEPTION == THEORY COMPLETELY BUSTED

[Edited on November 8, 2014 at 11:14 AM. Reason : fucknig?]

11/8/2014 11:14:01 AM

I live in Europe for 2 1/2 years, for the most part, Europeans are nice, normal people, however the ones that don't like Americans really make it known that they don't like Americans.

11/8/2014 1:21:06 PM

^^,^^^
Okay, fine. My ridiculous theory has been demolished by a single counterexample.

All I can say is that it's a very weird discrepancy. Because seriously, I (and half the people I've spoken to about going to France) met no rude French during their entire stay there. And we talked to hundreds of French people. Weird as fuck. It's possible we just got lucky, as ^'s post suggests. But American-haters are extremely rare, in my experience.

11/8/2014 1:45:46 PM

ITT I propose that JBSG doesn't notice people being pricks IRL because he is among their ranks

11/8/2014 2:00:00 PM

no, I'm a nice guy

anyway, pricks are inclined to think that everyone is a prick, I would assume.

11/8/2014 2:08:03 PM

11/8/2014 2:13:59 PM

Dude, you were in France for 5 days, in what I can only assume was the most touristy part...people were nice to you because they wanted your money.

11/8/2014 2:16:24 PM

still, they didn't all want my money, and quite a few natives were dicks to me in London/Lucerne (both of which are big tourist centers.) anyhow, I'll continue to be cool with the French until they give me reason to do otherwise.

11/8/2014 2:25:20 PM

Also, ran into a bunch of enormous douchers in Brussels, too - I lump them in with the French

[Edited on November 8, 2014 at 2:31 PM. Reason : ]

11/8/2014 2:31:29 PM

whenever i go to France i chastise them for the failure of the Maginot line.

11/8/2014 3:06:13 PM

^^ Most of those people probably weren't even Belgian

11/8/2014 6:50:31 PM

Yea, there were tons of foreigners

But the only ones being pricks were the french speakers

11/8/2014 7:32:39 PM

So, we decided to go to Paris for a month. I am studying the ever living fuck out of french, including 1-2 hour long lessons by a PhD in French at NC State (starts in a couple weeks). I am going to go to France with a non entitled attitude, attempting to speak French at every opportunity, and if we are universally treated poorly (which I do not expect), then I'll take a big shit at the base of the Eiffel Tower, never to return

11/13/2014 4:57:58 PM

hahaha

be careful - they have armed military around that fucker at times

You'll love the city, though.

[Edited on November 13, 2014 at 8:17 PM. Reason : ]

11/13/2014 8:16:30 PM