Moving to Lyon, any advice?

[Mirabel26]

We?re moving to Lyon in October.

DP has found a job, I?m hoping to work part time while 2.5yo DD is at maternelle. But we haven?t found a flat yet, and it seems we can?t register for maternelle until we have an address ... Will October be too late to get DD into maternelle this year? And any tips on areas to live in Lyon that give access to good nurseries?

Also, anyone know if there are toddler groups in Lyon that I could go to with DD on my days off?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hi there,
Lyon is a lovely city and I think big enough for there to be toddler groups.

I think the "message" groups are all over France but not sure.

In our village maternelle is from the year the child is 3, so DS who was 3 in January will start this September (but my SIL got her child into a private school by going in and begging .

How much French do you speak and what qualifications do you have?

It is quite hard to get work in France without the relevant diplomas, although TEFL work is always easy to find (but badly paid and bad hours).

good luck

Thanks, Jamais. DD isn't 3 until March 2011 next year, so I guess might not be able to get into maternelle until September 2011? In which case I'll have to look for a creche. My french isn't bad, and I'm hoping to do some freelance work for companies in the UK, so hopefully that should work out ok. All seems a bit daunting at the moment, but I'm sure things will come together!

There are "halte garderies" which are like drop in creches which are v.good and not v. expensive.

This site anglo info might be useful and AVF http://www.avf.asso.fr/Website/site/accueil.php avf can be very good too.

avf

Thanks very much for the tips, Jamais, that's really useful. I'll follow up those leads.

There's also www.totalfrance.com with loads of sections about living in France, as well as specific sections covering the different regions.

I've lived in the Limousin for nearly 4 years. Our was just 9 when we came and now, according to her form teacher speaks French without any accent 'unlike the other English pupils'.

Good luck with the move.

Thanks tb, I'll follow up that website.

Any tips from others gratefully received!