Four years ago, Emily Cooper bounded onto our screens, full of faux pas, Americanisms, and an excessive wardrobe poached straight from The Hunger Games\u2019 Capitol. I watched it from Cornwall<\/a> under lockdown, likely still clad in my sweaty gym kit, with a sense of nostalgia for my own gaffs and holiday romances during my student year abroad in France<\/a>.<\/p>\n Emily\u2019s initial move to Paris<\/a> comes as a surprise, when she steps in to replace her pregnant boss. My own move was no less surprising, although far more tragic, and it was my father\u2019s death that triggered the life upheaval. Since I\u2019m more comfortable spending the day in my gym kit than a Beetlejuice catsuit, I opted for Lyon<\/a> over Paris. As Emily in Paris prepares to wrap up her fourth season in France<\/a>, I\u2019m just beginning my fourth year here. While the show has lost none of its enjoyability, I\u2019m not too sure what expat world Emily is living in.<\/p>\n Oddly enough, Emily\u2019s work life at Savoir, chockful of office drama, is where I see the most accurate representation of French life. It\u2019s not for the catty comments \u2013 to my knowledge, no-one has ever called me \u2018la plouc\u2019 (country bumpkin) \u2013 nor for the mingling of business and pleasure, but for the work hours. I work in a co-working space, but even here, long lunch breaks (often at a restaurant) are an institution. An expat friend who works a \u201cnormal\u201d job arrives at work at 8.30am each day, only to spend the first hour of the day alone, just like the over-keen Emily. Like Emily, she\u2019s arrived at the office before to find the lights off and the doors still locked.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Lily Collins in her starring role \u2013 and inconspicuous clothing, of course (Netflix)<\/p>\n Read more: <\/strong>The best hotels in Paris<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n This is a show that has always served up eye candy. At the start of season four, Emily tells her best friend Mindy, who\u2019s in the shower (though, unbeknownst to Emily, she\u2019s actually speaking to her love interest, Gabriel, who\u2019s popped around the use the shower): \u201cI saw hot men everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n I remember thinking the same when I moved to Lyon from Cornwall<\/a>, my eyes on stalks as I was confronted with the selection. Are French men really sexier, or was I just flitting from a very small pool in lockdown to a much larger, more open one? Open in all senses of the word, it seems, as Emily\u2019s love life is entangled with love triangles, cheating and a general fluidity of relationships. But while I know many people in France that have cheated or been cheated on, that have dabbled with non-monogamy or polyamorous or throuple relationships, I can think of a fair few examples in my social circle in the UK<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n Emily in Paris perpetuates an unflattering stereotype that native English speakers cannot, or will not, learn French. It\u2019s only half true. In spite of their claims otherwise, I find that the average French person speaks more English than if you reversed the scenario, probably from having it thrust upon them through popular culture. But in many of the mixed nationality relationships I know, my own included, French is the de facto. That being said, I do know some anglophones who, \u00e0 la Emily, have spent years in France and still struggle to order a coffee.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Sunset over the Seine might be enough to make you think you\u2019re in a hit TV show (Getty)<\/p>\n Read more: <\/strong>Where is Emily in Paris filmed? How to visit every Instagrammable location from each season<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n If there\u2019s one area in which Emily\u2019s French experience is wholly unrealistic, though, it\u2019s her lifestyle. The average salary for someone working in marketing in Paris is \u20ac40,000 (\u00a333,772) \u2013 not to be sneezed at, but certainly not enough to afford Emily\u2019s apartment. A one-bedroom furnished flat in Paris\u2019s 5th arrondissement, where Emily lives, costs on average \u20ac1,756 (\u00a31,483) a month, over half her monthly salary. That\u2019s without factoring in her extremely generous clothes budget, always assuming she doesn\u2019t source everything from French charity shops. On Emily\u2019s salary, she\u2019d more likely be living outside the ring road, or in a four-person house share.<\/p>\n![\"Lily](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Lily_Collins_62690.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Sunset](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1745734452_147_newFile-8.jpg\")
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