How did Richard Wagner support himself during his difficult years in Paris?

During his initial three-year stay in Paris beginning in 1839, Richard Wagner faced significant financial hardship and was unable to secure a breakthrough at the Opéra, despite receiving a recommendation from the influential composer Giacomo Meyerbeer.1

To avoid starvation while living among a colony of impoverished German artists, Wagner supported himself primarily through musical journalism and various forms of hackwork. Despite these difficult circumstances, he remained artistically productive, completing his opera Rienzi in 1840 and composing his first representative work, The Flying Dutchman, in 1841.1