Expenses in France

Quintessence Moon of The Metamorphosis Academy, roughly located somewhere near the Dakotas, wrote in to ask:

"Are things cheaper in France?"

Before I answer, I want to say that I am honored that I am on the slim list of allowable websites at the legendary Metamorphosis Academy, and I think it's nice that a young person like yourself would ask about my expenses.

Inscrutable, but very nice.

And the answer is...

sort of.

Much like in Japan, there is a quality of going back into the past with France. It's like before corporations and chains took over so thoroughly and there are still corners of things where it doesn't feel like every single possible commodity is absolutely as expensive as it can possibly get away with. A lot is, but not everything. There are the built in cheap things that astonish, like the croissant or the baguette for just over a euro each, but mostly, and this might be because I am in a famously rich and touristic city, there is this weird, enormous range to the cost of things. With a bit of care I can find a pretty decent potato for something like 50 or 75 cents a pound, which I think is how I remember the good old American potato from olden days. But also there are potatoes here running three or four dollars a pound. Oranges, growing all around here might be an even better example, depending on variety, quality, and country of origin, I have seen a range of under a euro a pound to seven or eight euros a pound. And the quality varies so wildly and inscrutably I kind of don't get them very often, finding it too risky.

Restaurants can be a bit tricky too. The ubiquitous pizza is usually about 16 to 18 euros in all the comfy restaurants, but down the street from here there's a guy who sells them for six euros! Six euros, hardly more than seven dollars, for the whole pizza, and it is the best pizza I have yet to have in France. Maybe I should get one tomorrow? Hamburgers, also ubiquitous, are sort of the same here too. They often are to me a faintly insane 22 or 23 euros in otherwise fairly reasonable restaurants, but can be ten euros or less at the better stands and take out places, and I found the take out ones way better. The U.S. seemed the opposite to me, where the 22 dollar burgers were at least incredible despite the soaring prices, and one of my favorite things to get when going out.

Wine shops are full of nose bleedingly expensive wine and I wonder who buys it all because I never see it happening. There is a small minority of the wine that is maybe more reasonably priced than where I came from. But is it good?

I like to pretend so.

Trains seem rudely expensive, but I've gotten used to it and it seems better than any alternatives and at least they exist. Local buses and trams are standard costs to me, no great bargain and overcrowded and walking is so regularly a better option. Housing is cheaper for rent, but not very cheap or available. Though I think our apartment at under 1300 euros should be appropriately compared to one in a place like San Francisco or Manhattan, at which point it is vastly, astronomically cheaper.

I could tell you about the biannual sales mostly affecting clothes, coffee, and the 16 euro carmelized fois gras we had yesterday, but I think we'll leave it here for now, and await your further questions.