Paris is one of the most beautiful, historically and artistically rich cities in the world. Being able to experience it, whether it be for a week or for six months, is such a wonderful privilege and opportunity for growth, as you have the opportunity for a life-changing adventure almost every day.

However, living there comes with its many ups and downs, especially coming from such a comfort-driven country like the United States. Here are twelve struggles nobody warns you about before you study abroad in Paris.

1. The pharmacies suck

The amount of time you can spend searching for cheap deodorant is insane if you’re not familiar with French convenience stores (or, the lack thereof). Those gleaming green signs that read “pharmacie?” Yeah, good luck finding anything you actually need there, as they tend to be full of overpriced moisturizers and foot creams instead of basic amenities like toothpaste. After a week, you’ll be begging for a Walgreens, CVS, or even a Rite Aid.

For pharmacy-like items, you’ll probably want to hit up large grocery stores like Monoprix or Franprix to save a lot of time.

2. Everything closes early

Now, you know to go to grocery stores to get your basic amenities. But when you discover you need toothpaste at 10 PM, right before you’re about to sleep? Good luck with that, because pretty much every store closes around 5 or 6 PM. Restaurants can be open late, but because of French labor laws, the 24-hour fast food stop or grocery store simply does not exist. Oh, and things close even earlier on Sundays, as that is most Parisians’ day off. Most grocery stores will close around noon, if they even open in the first place.

There is still a ton of nightlife, though, so never fear –– the city remains lively if you go to the right places.

3. You’ll spend a lot of time decorating your room… only to never sleep in it

You might be able to enjoy your fairy lights and photo-covered walls for the first few weeks, but after a while you’ll discover that most weekends, your nights will be spent in shady hostels in Brussels or Amsterdam instead.

With train tickets that can be as low as 15 euros, most people who study abroad tend to spend their weekends traveling to different European countries rather than staying in Paris. Take advantage of this. Book that 30 euro train ticket to Barcelona and sleep in a bunk bed surrounded by 10 other people instead of the comfortable bed in your nicely-decorated room. Trust me, it’s an experience you can’t miss.

4. You’ll become an expert at hang-drying your clothes

Your apartment will probably not have a dryer, so you’ll have to learn how to use a drying rack. While it may seem daunting at first, especially if you’ve never used one before, it’s actually not too bad once you get used to having your underwear on display in the living room, for everyone to see.

Sure, your clothes will get a bit bigger, and it might take up to three days to completely dry your jeans, but you’ll come home feeling a lot more grateful for those college laundry rooms, for sure.

5. You’ll probably put on a few pounds

There’s no avoiding this one. In a city known for its pâtisseries, fromageries, and boulangeries selling chocolate croissants, unpasteurized cheeses, and warm baguettes, weight gain will come almost naturally (which is not necessarily a bad thing, if you keep yourself healthy and happy!). This will be even harder to avoid when you leave the club at 4 AM, and see warm Nutella-filled crepes being cooked at a stand on the corner of the street.

Go ahead and indulge. You’ll probably only live in Paris once, after all (and those crepes are seriously good).

6. The only one who’ll want to help you practice your mediocre French is your Uber driver

Your six years of French, culminating in an impressive perfect score on the AP exam? None of that will matter to Parisians, because once you say you’re American (or once your accent gives it away), they’ll start speaking to you in English. The people who are most willing to practice your French with you will probably be your Uber drivers, who are often surprisingly very open and talkative.

The fact that you’re from the United States, though, will probably make them associate you with Donald Trump, or at least ask you about it. Get ready to say you’re from an English-speaking part of Canada, to avoid this awkward encounter.

7. You might black out at Chipotle

It’s true. The Chipotles in France, like certain locations in the U.S., serve house margaritas, and they’re strong. Like, impressively strong.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

8. You’ll never stop feeling like a tourist

No matter how many essential tourist sites you’re able to check off the bucket list early on, like climbing the Eiffel Tower or walking through the Catacombs, there will always be a million more to do. Even when you start to feel like a true Parisian, when you use your bougie Metro pass with your photo on it or your Franprix rewards card, one step into the Louvre and you go from local to tourist in a second.

There is no shame in being a tourist sometimes, though, so don’t let this deter you from experiencing all Paris has to offer (the Louvre is worth the long line).

9. When you come back, you won’t be used to being carded

When it comes to drinking in Europe, nobody cares about your age. You can go to bars and order six tequila shots for yourself and no one bats an eye (not that you should do this, but it’s always an option). It will feel very satisfying when you and your friends can just walk over to Monoprix and buy cheap wine to go along with dinner without any legal trouble or ID issues. Fueling your alcoholism has never been so easy.

However, once you come back to America, it might feel weird and a little unnecessary when you inevitably get carded for trying to buy your Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe’s (if you can even still drink wine, after having it with every meal for six months).

10. You also won’t be used to not having your gym be inside a literal water park

Lifehack: sign up for an Aquaboulevard membership. Just do it. Not only is is a fully-fledged gym complete with exercise classes and tennis courts, but it just happens to be inside a year-round water park that you also get access to when you register for the gym.

You’ll thank yourself when it’s cold and rainy, and all you want to do is ride a water slide or sit in a hot tub and decompress for an hour.

11. Everywhere you go, you’ll always think you see the Eiffel Tower

You’ll get so used to seeing the Eiffel Tower whenever you look up at the sky that you’ll never be able to burn it out of your brain. That tall, pointy object in the corner of your vision? For a while, your first instinct will be, oh, it’s the Eiffel Tower! And then you’ll remember that, no, it can’t actually be the Eiffel Tower, because you’re not even in Paris anymore. Unfortunately.

Hey, at least it’s historical and pretty!

12. You'll be ready to leave, but once you do, you’ll always wish you were back

At the end of your time in Paris, you’ll be so ready to just go home, dry your clothes in a machine, run through a Walmart, and get some fast food at 3 AM. But then you’ll start to remember all the good times you had. You’ll start to forget all the struggles you faced, how annoying it was that everything was closed on Sundays and how you had to trek to a super-sized Monoprix just to buy deodorant, because you’ll only remember how mind-blowing it all was –– living in Paris, getting to travel to all the surrounding European cities you’ve never seen before. And you’ll start to miss it all, remembering all the places you visited, all the good food you ate, all the friends you made.

You’ll be back, though. Everyone comes back, someday.