That Paris is referred to as the City of Light is lost on Parisians — they all wear black.

It’s something that struck Bermudian Tiffany Smith when she moved to the city three years ago. Her view hasn’t changed since.

Everyone here wears black, day and night,” said the 27-year-old language teacher. “If you wear colours you are considered an American or English. In the summer they wear black lace, or maybe black and white. They say this is inspired by Chanel.”

She doesn’t consider herself to be a fashion junkie, but she likes clothes that are feminine and elegant.

“I prefer how the older French women dress,” she said. “The younger generation have a casual chic style in Paris. I really like Italian fashion so I try to go to Milan during the sales period.”

Miss Smith said one of the hardest things to adjust to was the weather in Paris.

“Being from Bermuda I had never experienced a hard winter in Europe before,” she said. “I lived in Puerto Rico and Martinique before coming to France. The lowest it has been in Paris since I have been here was 19°F. In the winter it’s very grey and rainy practically every day. I began to understand why famous painters such as Henri Matisse and Vincent van Gogh moved to the south of France to escape the terrible winters in Paris and be in a more vibrant colourful atmosphere.”

Miss Smith teaches Spanish and English to students at the Saudi Arabian Embassy High School. She also teaches business English to professionals in the city. She is finishing up a master’s degree in languages, civilisation and literature at the University of Versailles.

Her interest in languages developed while she was a student at Bermuda Institute.

“I always received good grades in Spanish, and I liked the culture,” she said. “My teacher, Brenee Mcdole, was American but always integrated salsa dancing or Mexican food and that upped my interest. “My grandmother, Kathleen Ford, also had a passion for languages and culture and encouraged me to become a language teacher.”

Her interest in language has carried her to various parts of the world. She studied Spanish in Puerto Rico, and taught English and Spanish in French-speaking Martinique. Then she wanted to see Europe so she moved to France.

“I moved to Paris to experience and understand the French culture after having lived in Martinique,” she said. “I also thought it would be an excellent opportunity to continuously eat such exquisite food, improve my French, be in one of the most visited countries in the world, have more travel opportunities, speak with the locals, and see famous historic sites from in films and history class.”

During her time in France, she has used her free time to visit 14 different European countries and 50 European cities.

“So many people will say the French are quite arrogant and do not embrace other languages,” said Miss Smith. “The French think it is rude if English speakers come up to them and start speaking English without saying ‘bonjour’ or without trying to speak French. If you do speak French they are very open-minded, happy and nice people. They can be very polite; it depends on the language being spoken.”

Miss Smith said most of her friends were initially non-French Europeans. Parisiennes usually didn’t warm up until the fourth or fifth encounter.

She said speaking three different languages can sometimes be confusing.

“One time I did make a mistake,” she said. “I was at my university and I started to speak to the people in my office in Spanish when I needed to speak French. I had just finished teaching a Spanish course. “They were looking at me blankly and I was wondering why they didn’t respond. I realised after five minutes that I was speaking the wrong language.”

She described Paris as a romantic, charming and photogenic city.

The Royal Gazette Lifestyle section is looking for more Bermudians living abroad who can give us the inside scoop on their location.

E-mail lifestyle@royalgazette.com.