Voices of Experience

ATELIER INFORMATION

In 2002, I compiled the information below, in hopes of saving future residents much time, energy and expense. In ensuing years, there have been changes and suggestions by others, which I have added at the end of these suggestions. I have removed individual’s names to protect their confidentiality. While I am sure these comments will get fairly lengthy as others add their experiences and contradictions, I believe they will provide a very informed and balanced view, which should benefit future residents. I hope each new resident will keep me informed of their suggestions as well as email addresses, especially since I am trying to link future residents with current residents. At this time, the Euro has increased in value about 17%-25% compared to the rates described in these suggestions where a dollar and euro were about equal. With all this said…...:

Mark Baldridge


Congratulations: Paris will change your perspective, if not your life. Working at the “city of the arts” is a unique, superb, pivotal experience and opportunity. It would be helpful if after you read the recommendations of other former residents you keep a list of things you think should be added to these suggestions so others can benefit by your experiences. Your recommendations may be added by using the comments link at the end of each post.

Administrative Details: The Cite Internationale des Arts will ask you to send a couple of passport size photos of yourself, one of which they will keep on file. They will use the second to make a special ID card that will allow you free admission to most national museums in Paris (and perhaps France). This card will allow you (and sometimes companions) into the Louvre, the Metre de Art and many other national museums. It would be also wise to bring your faculty identification card since apparently it will often get you in to places for free, or at a discount. If you bring friends or children, make sure they have any school identification card proving they are students, since it too may save you money at various museums. One person recommended calling 1-800-777-0112 and buying an identification card as a professor for about $20, which supposedly gets you into many museums for free.

Currency Considerations: Second, don’t buy many (any?) traveler’s checks unless there are some very special reasons. I bought too many and had to bring most back. Most businesses and some cash exchange places won’t accept them, while others will give you a little more, or less euros than if just cash (many are afraid of counterfeit money so like the checks). You always need to show your passport to cash traveler’s checks. Credit cards (Visa and Mastercard) are the way to go, especially in France where you can use them virtually anyplace, even the post office, usually with a fifteen euro minimum (approximately $15). Make sure you notify your credit card companies you will be in Europe and to expect foreign charges on your statement, or otherwise, they may put a hold on your account so the cards don’t work until you contact them authorizing these charges (they actually monitor these things). There is a bank cash machine on the outside of the art center (the side facing the river) in the middle of the ground floor for 24-hour access to your bank accounts. If you dropped a rock from your atelier window, it would hit the ground very near the bank machine. After inserting your credit card, it will ask whether you want instructions in English, etc., so is very consumer friendly. There are ample bank cash machines in all the tourist and business places in Europe, so seems to be the best way to change your dollars to euros unless you are traveling in rural areas. At cash exchange places, you can easily lose 10% on one money transfer. When exchanging money, it becomes confusing and deceitful, as some places supposedly don’t charge commissions or other fees, but surely make up for it in other ways. Shop around and ask specifically if you give 100 US dollars, how many euros will you get back? I had it vary by almost as much as 12% within two blocks of each other. The best exchange rate I got was by taking the Cadet metro stop, on Rue La Fayette, go west a block or until Cadet runs south. Take Cadet south one block, then the next left and go about a block or so and on the right side was a business called CDM CHANGE, and the address was 21 rue du Faubourg Montmartre, tel 01 44 83 99 11). They were giving 100 euros for 100 dollars when other places were giving between 84 and 97. However, there was also another exchange place just a few places before them that didn’t give nearly as good a rate, so make sure you get the right place and you may be able to do even better with others.

Tax and Tipping: Another curiosity is that in much of Western Europe, the taxes are figured into the sales price and even the tip if a restaurant. So, in the stores, whatever price is posted on an item usually includes the tax. In restaurants, you don’t have to tip, although they surely like it if even just a little extra. When buying more exotic luxury items, the tax is very hefty (12-17%). However, as a non-resident of the European Community, if you spend a hefty amount in one store at one time ($100-300, varies with store) you are entitled to get the tax back when you leave the country, and indeed you can although it will take you about thirty minutes at the airport (and they reimburse in euros). You can get more information about this process from the places that are selling the items, at the airport or other governmental centers.



Getting there from CDG: If you are flying into Charles DeGaulle airport, you can go outside the front door of the airport and hop onto a free shuttle bus that will take you to the train station about one mile away---make sure you get onto the right bus. Once at the train station, you can buy a ticket (approximately $7) that takes you into Paris, most likely Gar Du Nord (the north train station) where you can hop onto the metro line 7 toward Villejuif, getting off at the Pont-Marie stop right at the Atelier. You don’t need a cab if you can carry your baggage through the stations and metro stations (sometimes an underground block or two long). When you ride on the metros or trains, you insert your ticket into the turn style machine, and then it will pop up near the middle of the machine. Make sure you get your ticket back as it pops up and the turn style door opens, since you may need this ticket for free transfers or to get OUT of the metro or train station. If you need to use them again, you reinsert them into the turn style machines in the same way you initially did. Always keep your train or metro ticket until the journey is completely finished and you are out of their system. It is imperative you get a metro map, which you can get for free at the train or metro station. When you use the metro, always plan ahead and see which number metro you are taking and where the final destination is on that particular line----all directions in the metro stations are designated that way so you make sure you are not only on the right line, but headed in the right direction. There will be signs at every intersection to direct you to the right metro and direction, as long as you know where your ultimate goal is. Tickets are 1.30 euros each but if bought in groups of ten, only .90 each. You can even credit card them if you buy enough, or you may wish to buy the monthly pass if you are going to constantly use the metro (if so, you need another passport photo made). These tickets also work for the buses if you use them. When you come out of the Pont-Marie metro stop, at the top of the steps turn your body so your back is facing the Seine River (you will be able to see it). At this point, you should almost be facing the art center where you will be staying, just look across the street and a little bit to your left (ten or eleven o’clock position). The art center is a child’s stone throw away.

What to expect: When you finally get to the art center, you will be confronted with a mostly empty studio. There is a small refrigerator you will have to plug in. Make sure you don’t turn it on full blast, you only need 2 ¾ or 3 at the most. Any higher setting will freeze fruits, vegetables and even explode cans of soda overnight. The good news is it does make ice, so you can have ice cubes in Europe. There are a few pots, pans, dishes and silverware, but nothing more technical (like carrot peelers, bottle openers, specialty spoons, etc.). I highly recommend you bring your own carrot peeler or be prepared to pay about $5 for one. Similarly, I suggest you bring a plastic spatula and a couple big wood or plastic spoons or be prepared to pay about $5 per item. Your first task should be to plow through the items in your storage closet (that place directly across from your bathroom). The stuff in there was either what the art center thought appropriate, or lots of good things left by previous residents. There are a lot of dishes, kitchenware, coffee pots, paper and cleaning products, etc. There is also a hammer, broken tape rule, colander, clothespins, pillows, blankets, radio, fan, etc. Use the consumables but leave the bigger items for future residents to enjoy. While there are no towels in the bathroom, you can utilize one from the storage room if you aren’t too particular. There is no television in your studio, which is either a blessing or curse, so forces you to focus on your work. There is a community TV room in the center but few people utilize it for reasons I never heard. The atelier is furnished with one very narrow single bed, a set of sheets, pillow, pillowcase and one blanket. If you have guests, you are supposed to notify the center many days in advance so they can install an additional bed for the time needed. They will charge for guests; they charged me around $100 for my son and daughter to stay there six nights. If you are single and going to have a lot of guests, you should check and see how much they charge per guest, per night. It might be cheaper to tell them someone else will be accompanying you (although they will want to know who), and pay the double rate for an entire month, since it will cost you about 75 euros per month that way. The sleeping area is exactly that, a sleeping area without a door; in other words, if you have guests, you do not have complete privacy except for the bathroom. There is no microwave, stove or oven, but the double hotplate performs many/most heating operations. (see updated inventory list below)

Canal St. Martin is also close to the Belleville artist community. (above and below)

Heading home: When you return to the airport, take the subway to the Chatelet stop, then pick up RER 4 headed to De Gaulle Airport. Note there are two RER 4 possibilities since they split at the end and only one goes to the airport; make sure you catch the correct one, which will be noted on overhead signs as you wait for them. You can also grab a RER (rapid rail) at Gar De Nord, which is farther along than Chatelet. Make sure you know whether you are to get off at the first or second terminal at De Gaulle Airport (US Air is the first terminal). Once you have entered the subway system, you can ride the entire day as long as you don’t exit the system. Keep your used ticket for additional transfers that trip. Be prepared for a wide variety of musicians who jump onto your car to play a couple of tunes before passing the hat for tips. It is quite interesting and entertaining in the start, but after fifty million times it gets old, so you may wish to scope out the metro/train as it goes by, choosing your car carefully in hopes you will miss that trip’s “entertainment”.



Walks: An interesting place to walk in evenings is south across the two bridges, then to the left (east) along the river. There is a huge outdoor sculpture garden plus four large concrete amphitheaters next to the river where the French people dance at night, usually between 9 and midnight. On weekends, sometimes no one is there but all during the week in the summer, there are a variety of dancers from salsa to tango, and often African, Middle-east or Brazilian dances, especially on Thursday night. If you like drinking water, bring your own since I only saw one drinking fountain the entire time I was in Europe. All water supplies in northern and Western Europe seemed safe, although we decided not to drink the water in Spain (perhaps for no good reason). Another interesting evening spot is behind the Notre Dame Cathedral where crowds gather to watch rollerblade and skateboard competitions as well as other activities.

Open Air Markets: Thursdays and Sunday mornings, there is a market at the Bastille area within walking distance, where you can buy produce for about one third the price of grocery stores. However, you need to compare prices since they vary drastically. There are also lots of very discounted clothing and other items. If walking to the Bastille market, go north to Rivoli, then head east. Rivoli turns into St. Antoine which you follow until it hits Bastille. Several streets funnel together here, the market is across the street on your left. If you don’t see the market, it may be on the left across one more street. Friday mornings, there is an even better market at the Belleville metro stop, an area with lots of shops that sell much cheaper clothing and goods. If you buy fruits and vegetables in grocery stores, most of them require that you bag and tag them at the scales. You push the appropriate buttons on the scales (either via pictures or numbers), which then spits out the sticker with the weight and price on it, which you adhere to your bag. If you don’t do this, by the time you finally get through the line to the cashier, they will send you back to the scales and you lose your place in line, which is never short.

Email: the art center has its own computer and e-mail you can rent, if you can figure out how to use it. I’ve been told it is fairly expensive so you may want to explore other places. Most charge 4 to 5 euros an hour (a euro is about the same price as a dollar at this writing), so I found a place that you could buy an account of ten hours for 28 euros, getting it down to 2.80 euros an hour. This place was on the east side of the same street on which the post office is located (see map), I believe it had a big sign on its glass window in blue letters saying something like “Internet”, and was also on the way to the Champion grocery store listed below. If you are going to use the internet a great deal, you would be better off to go south over the Chatelet bridge, past the first street and you will see a large fountain on your right, with a large Gibert George bookstore on your left. If you take the first left past this bookstore, then the next left and go half way down the block you will find a large computer internet place where you can buy a whole month’s worth of use for 20-30 euros. You can buy service for just twenty minutes, an hour, a day, two weeks, etc., and their prices vary as they seek their market (July 2002 prices were: one euro-20 minutes, six euros-24 hours, thirteen euros-7 days, twenty two euros-14 days). Essentially, they are on the block directly behind the Gibert George bookstore. If you are going to use a computer a lot, bring a laptop with some blank discs so you can compose everything ahead of time which will save you a lot of money and the inconvenience of using European computer keyboards where many strategic letters, punctuation marks and all numbers are in different locations cutting your typing rate by 60-70%. (note that a reasonably priced WIFI signal can now be picked up now at the Cite if you have a WIFI card in your laptop)

Communications: If you want to call people in the US, you are best to have an international calling card for the telephone. Many telephone calling cards will work but consuming minutes ten times the normal rate. In the summer, Virginia is six hours behind Paris time, so calculate that into your schedule. I don’t know what daylight savings time does for time differences. You can call out of the art center from the two phones in the art center lobby. You can call other rooms in the art center from your phone in the Virginia studio, but no other places. You can also receive long distance calls in your studio, transferred to you from the reception desk in the main lounge/lobby (01 42 78 71 72) if the person calling can speak sufficient French to convey the room number in which you are staying (8317 in French). If people are calling from another country, the total numbers you must dial are 011-33-1-42-78-71-72.
(Skype also works pretty well on the WIFI connection. For more information visit www.Skype.com)

Laundry: There is a small laundromat on the very bottom floor of the art center, but you must use the elevator or stairs that are in the middle of the building, not the stairs/elevator you normally use. It costs three euros to buy a token for the washing machine and one euro for a fifteen-minute session in the dryer (even though it says an hour). You can buy these tokens any time at the main desk in the reception area on the ground floor. In France and most of Europe, the floors of buildings are confusing so the third floor is not the third floor, etc. For instance, the Virginia atelier is on the fifth floor, but considered the third floor, but numbered 8317 as all studios on this floor begin with the number 8 instead of 3 or 5; doesn’t make sense to me. So, in the elevator, push button 3 for the Virginia atelier floor. When going back down to the ground floor, use the button in the elevator that says RC. Also, DO NOT put laundry detergent into the washing machine. Detergent is fed into the washing machine automatically with the water flow at the appropriate times, so use of additional laundry machine would result in lots of bubbles foaming out all over the place. At one point, I saw an ironing board in the closet where you discard your trash (bottom floor next to elevator). I assume the board is for general use and can be borrowed as necessary. While there is an iron in our storage room, there is no ironing board in our studio. I used one of the black easy chairs as an ironing board, carefully covering it with a thick towel, and then putting the chair on the bed so you don’t have to bend over all the time. This also insured the clothing you are ironing is draped over the bed instead of getting dirty on the floor. It worked great but the chair covering must be protected with a towel and this all is extremely dangerous, since the iron needs to be placed on a heat resistant surface where it can’t tip over. If you use the chair as an ironing board, do not leave the area while the iron is hot.

Rail Travel: If you utilize trains in France, you are supposed to get your ticket punched at an automatic punching machine near the area where you board the train. Failure to do this may result in an automatic fine on the train if they check. If you need to use a travel agent while there, one place nearby that had people who could also speak English was Lydia’s Voyages designated on map (2 rue Caron). Several of the train stations are nearby if you are in the mood for a good walk, or a quick metro trip and there are always people who can speak English at the information centers. If using the train any place, be sure you make reservations as far in advance as possible since it seems to become much more expensive (if even possible) at the last minute. If you are going to buy a one-way ticket any place, also ask how much the round trip ticket costs since it may be much higher one way than round trip. They were going to charge me 250 euros for a one-way trip to London until I discovered I could buy a round trip ticket for 155 euros. Discard or give away the return ticket. (see link to the right for direct access to SNCF schedules)

Shopping: Many of the stores you need are on Rivoli, a couple of blocks north of you running parallel to the Seine. Of the grocery stores, I had no one favorite running back and forth between Monoprix, Fran Prix, Supermart and Champion. I would definitely buy fruit and vegetables from the Bastille or Belleville weekly markets where you could buy a kilo of bananas, apples, grapes, tomatoes or peaches, for one euro (that’s about .50 per pound). The Monoprix designated on the map had the best selection and prices on meat (as I remember), Fran Prix had a superb price 1.75 on Gaillac wine which is a great red wine, and while Champion was a good distance away, it was quite large and had great prices on some items like a kilo of shelled peanuts for 2.55. Cheese is less expensive but everything else is probably 50-100% higher than in the US. If you like peanut butter, bring your own----most or all French peanut butter is not worth eating. BHV, designated on the map, was a great all round store for about anything. They had hardware, paint, building and gardening items in the basement, clothing on the first floor, books, CDs, computers, art supplies on the second, and everything else you could think of on the upper floors from silverware to furniture. Prices were about twice what you’d pay in a normal US store, but typical for Europe. They had a large, varied, excellent supply of art materials, but they were not cheap. It’s best to bring all your own art materials if luggage allows.

Posting Mail: The closest post office is across the Seine as indicated on the map. You can buy stamps there or at any tobacco store (however tobacco shops add on an extra charge). There is a mailbox outside the art center within twenty feet of the stairs to the Pont Marie metro stop----it is yellow, not the blue we normally expect. Shipping things back to the U.S. is very expensive and not done necessarily by weight, but size is a major factor. Forget UPS in Paris since it is unlike UPS in the states. In Paris, they are more of a special overnight service and a typical cardboard box with one blanket in it could cost $100 to ship to the US, versus $30 at the regular post office.

Climate: During the summer, Paris was averaging 10-15 degrees cooler than Virginia, unless you are from the mountains. If you are traveling other places in Europe, it could be even cooler especially at night. There is no air conditioning at the studio so you will probably have to leave the windows open and there are no screens. Very few bugs come in, but occasionally you will have some visitors. The large portions of the window have a sunscreen on the outside of the glass. During the day, you can roll these screens down by cranking (in a circular motion) the metal rod that is connected to the top portion of the window. The screens really help keep the place cooler when sunny, and if you need, plug in the fan to keep cool. Europe uses 220 volt DC (direct current) where we use 110 volt AC (alternating current). This means if you plug in any of our electrical devices without an adapter, you will fry them in a matter of seconds. You can buy an adapter at some Wal-Marts, possibly Radio Shack and other electronic stores. I had two choices, one that probably would have worked for about $15, or a kit containing a variety of adapters to use electricity in Asia, northern, southern or Western Europe for about $18. I bought the more expensive kit since we were traveling through many parts in Europe.

Worth Checking out: One place you may wish to visit is the cemetery Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise (metro stop Pere Lachaise or Philippe-Auguste). It’s well-known since so many famous people were buried there with all sorts of fascinating tombstones, chapels, sculptures, etc. It’s free and definitely worth a couple of hours, but you may wish to purchase a map (two euros) or resolve yourself to getting lost. Maps can be bought at bookstores around the immediate area, but not in the cemetery. Another fascinating place is the catacombs, an underground opportunity to see hundreds of thousands of skulls and bones created by the removal and relocation of many cemeteries in Paris due to health reasons. If visiting, the admission fee is five euros and you take the Denfert Rochereau metro stop. When coming out of the metro, the entrance is almost directly across the street (a little to the left) although it is not well marked. It looks like a small, low, non-descript building, poorly marked. Once inside, you take a long descent into the ground, walk about one third of a mile until you finally reach five feet high walls of skeletons and skulls that become impressive in numbers (hundreds of thousands if not millions). The walls consist of neatly stacked long bones (leg and arm). There usually was at least one row of skulls low down in the wall, and the walls were always capped with a row of skulls on top and often some creative mixing of skulls into cross motifs every once in awhile. Once the walls were formed, the remaining bones were thrown in a solid pile behind them. I had been warned ahead of time, upon exiting they search any bags in which you might conceal bones of any kind, and indeed they did. When you leave the building, turn right to get to a metro stop since you are exiting a few blocks away from the entrance way. Take a flashlight; it’s a real trip.

Opportunities to meet people: You may find your stay at the art center very lonely since it is difficult to meet people because of the many language barriers. The center holds one social reception every month as well as periodic art openings and musical events. If you want to meet people, attend them all. You will also be encouraged to take weekly French lessons for 8 euros per session, which are held in the basement. You may wish to attend these simply for social reasons since the lessons are conducted entirely in French whether you know any or not. It was suggested if you want to meet people, throw a party early in your stay. I put notices in all 155 mail boxes in the art center inviting everyone to a Saturday evening social stating I had some snacks, soft drinks and wine, but suggesting people may wish to bring more wine. The first ten people that arrived, all brought a bottle of some sort and by the end of the evening at least 50-60 people had attended. It was a great opportunity to meet people and they all knew who I was so I was invited to several other events later. Parties are permissible unless they get too loud and out of hand. I spent two hours the next day cleaning up the mess, mopping the floor, etc. There is not a good mop in the studio (the end keeps coming off), nor are there decent floor cleaners, but it was worth the effort. I later discovered there are art center annexes next door and in surrounding areas in which an additional 345 artists reside.

A Room with a View: The art center is a superb experience. At night, you can look out of your window to the right and see the Eiffel Tower casting its beams of light into the night sky as the river tour boats constantly cruise by lighting up the area with their high intensity lights. The leaves of the trees block much of your vision, but probably help with the constant and loud traffic noise created by the highway between you and the river. Notre Dame Cathedral is only two blocks away. It’s easy to visit tourist spots in Paris since they are so accessible and usually have their own metro stop so you can jump onto it only thirty seconds away. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call or write.

The information that follows are individual’s comments, suggestions, problems, etc. While some material may be contradictory, it is included to provide a variety of perspectives and past experiences. Please feel free to send additional suggestions that you believe are needed, email me directly or use the comment links.

Getting Currency and Holding on to it: If you have an American Express card, you can write a check from your checking account at home and get Euros with no fee at the American Express office located at Metro Opera. I’ve been told that pick pockets are very real threat and one Virginia artist had 300 Euro picked from her pocket in Paris after she had been to an ATM, and another had their Sony digital camera - worth close to $400 picked from their pocket (this person had been to Paris numerous times and always was careful about this not happening). In the fall of 2004, someone got into the Cite and was checking for unlocked doors, went into someone's studio and stole things. With changing times, everyone is on high alert and there are now security people sitting in the reception all night in the dark. The residents were all given a notice to not let anyone in the building who didn't have a key and not to give the entrance code to anyone. I would not recommend using the email service provided by the office at the Cite. It is verrrry slow and expensive. There is a place around the corner from the cite that is cheaper but the best deal is to use either the wireless service WIFIRST if you have a wifi card in your laptop or to set up a second phone line. I could pick up a signal no problem and it is very reasonable... 20 E a month with unlimited access to the internet but limited downloads.

Traveling with Technology: I had a terrrrrible experience with Northwest regarding my carry-on luggage, checked luggage, etc. My carry-ons contained all of my technology and they tried to force me to check them...and did make me check one out of Paris. Please note that baggage allowances may have changed since your last international flight. Between 2004 and 2006 Northwestern shifted from a maximum allowance of 70lbs per bag to 50lbs per bag.

Economy Shipping: When preparing for your departure from Paris I learned that you can ship 5 kilos of books/papers for 13 Euros at the post office. I purchased a number of catalogues and books so that was a good thing to know. If you ask around you can usually find someone with scales to weigh them or you can purchase a set from BHV or Monoprix for 20 Euros.

Laundry, etc: Cite washing machines (3 Euros a load), you don't need to add soap. You also want to avoid using the hottest temperature since the water there is much hotter than here...maybe 30 to 40 C is very hot.

Basically there is a lot of stuff that comes with each atelier at the cite which they will inventory with you when you get there and then there is a lot of comfort stuff (like a clock radio and the towels) that former residents have left. You will likely need a fan since the Cite is not air-conditioned and it will start to get warm in April or May.

Premier visit (!) : Once you arrive at the Cite gate you should press the top button (porte) at the gate and a buzzer will sound. You push the gate open and enter the glass doors on the left. The receptionist usually speaks some English if you do not speak French. You will need your passport and to sign and read some papers before Jospeh or Ravi will take you to #8317 to inventory the atelier with you.

Weather: During the early spring months since the weather is pretty horrible and grey and cold. You will need gloves, hat, umbrellas, etc (though I did leave one umbrella). When spring hits Paris it is hard to stay inside! Still, it RAINS A LOT.