Which is the "greenest" most family friendly arrondissement in Paris?

[LJRVParis]

Hello! We (me DH and 3 young kids) are moving to Paris this summer and I have been researching different neighbourhoods. I have found lots of great info but would be interested to learn from you (the experts!). If you had to choose the greenest, leafiest arrondissement of Paris, which would you recommend? We would like to be able to escape to a park or have some sort of nature about - while recognizing that Paris is a dense, urban city. Is it possible to find a bit of breathing space? For the moment, let's assume that location of work and school are not considerations. Suggestions anyone?

Jardin du Luxembourg,the 6th arrondissement The park is the garden of the French Senate, located in the Luxembourg Palace.really nice area, grate little cafes, plenty well heeled types and lots english mums.

there is a lady posts on mn, shes english lives in paris,sorry cant recall her name hopefully she willl pop uo with lots useful advice

There are quite a few of us in the 17th, near Parc Monceau, which gives a little bit of green, but not as much as the Jardin du Lux. 6th is also ver' expensive!

Yeah, but in Jardin de Luxembourg you can't go on the grass except in a couple of designated areas. That is the case of most parks in Paris.

If you lived in the West of Paris, you would be close to the Bois de Boulogne, which is nice and fairly big.

And the Parc de St-Cloud is not that far either.

The advantage of Parc Monceau over Jardin du Luxembourg is that, although it is smaller, it doesn't attract tourists, only locals, so it has a lovely community feel about it. And large grassy areas for summer family picnics until 10pm (grass is out of bounds in winter).

I also like the very wide roads and pavements in the 17th and 8th arrondissements. Although some of the older arrondissements are very attractive, with their 16th and 17th century buildings, the pavements can be very narrow and very difficult to negotiate with buggies/scooters/bicycles/shopping trolleys. The pavements around Parc Monceau are über scooter friendly and easy to walk along with lots of children.

Thank you all! How interesting....

I had researched the area around Parc Monceau and found it appealing. I never considered the 6th or Luxembourg, mostly because I assumed it was more of a garden with not much on offer for children. I will check it out.

What about Jardin Ranelagh in the 16th? That garden seems to have alot for kids but everyone says the area is boring, conservative and snobby. True? False?

True. The 16th is full of old ladies with tightly stretched faces and small dogs. I work in the 16th, and lived there briefly when I first moved to Paris. Lots of Americans in the 16th - rue de la Pompe and rue de la Tour seem to be almost exclusively American!

And what Bonsoir says about the roads around Parc Monceau. We rollerblade down to the park - the pavements are plenty wide enough. And the wideness of the roads means that the apartments are a lot lighter/brighter. In my flat in Passy it was impossible to see whether it was sunny/raining/day/night - it was just grey all the time due to the narrow streets.

16th very conservative and boring. There are also parts of the 7th which although not terribly natural are green and child friendly and bois de bolougne is fairly easily accessible. Quite touristy though.

I can echo what others say about the 16th round Ranelagh - my DP grew up with Ranelagh as his local park and his father still lives round the corner, so we have been there quite a lot over the years. The 16th is über conservative and the streets are narrow and dark. We have absolutely no desire to go and live over there!

I find the 16th a bit aloof and snooty - also completely empty in Summer which is a bit eerie. All off back in the states or in their residence in the south.

I live on the border of 7th and 15th by the champ de mars / eiffel tower. Great area and lots of parks - yes the eiffel can make the immediate vicinity slightly touristy but it is lovely, close to the river, playgrounds every 10 minutes and parc andre citroen (15th) is fantastic too with fountains to play in, woods and lots of space. 7th more expensive than 15th as lots of ministries / embassies etc.

Thank you all! DH will be working in the 8th and the kids will either be at EabJM or Eurecole or as a last resort, Marymount (which buses kids in) so I guess that will determine where we concentrate our search. I am going to check out the 8th around Parc Monceau and then the 7th and 15th around Champ de Mars since those areas seem highly recommended by many of you.

Would it not make more sense to consider EAB Monceau rather than EABJM, as EAB Monceau is in 8th arr and EABJM is in 15th/7th?

Eab Monceau looks wonderful except that DD1 would have to transfer to another school (I understand that the junior high is not that great at Eab Monceau ??) after one year because she would enter in Grade 5. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the way the french distribute the grades. She is 10 years old and in grade 4 now. Given the upheaval of an intl relocation, I would prefer to shield her from having to integrate into two different schools during our time in Paris. That is another big plus for Marymount. All three kids could be at same school the entire time (DD1 entering grade 5, DS 2 entering Grade 2 and DS3 entering maternelle). I realize Eab JM would also entail a physical change of schools since different levels are at different campuses but it would still be the same school and same friends etc. Now if you tell me that Eab Monceau is a great school after primary school as well... then that changes things!

Do you actually have places for your children in any of these schools? I ask because EABJM is notoriously hard to get into and EAB Monceau is often full too. I wouldn't personally touch Eurécole with a bargepole. Marymount is, as far as I understand, quite easy to get into providing you have the cash to pay for it! I wouldn't choose a home until I had secured school places...

I am completing the applications now and am just trying to figure out which would be best logistically. But you are right that the decision may be made for me.

Yes I can appreciate not wanting the move between schools. I have no intimate knowledge of EAB or EABJM but I do know the college of EAB Monceau is less than 500m from the primaire/maternelle EAB Monceau. It's not really that far, at least I wouldn't consider it far.

If your daughter is born in 2002, she'll enter CM2 (last year primaire) in September 2012.
If your daughter is born in 2001, she'll enter 6e (1st year college) in September 2012.

I imagine that a good proportion of the children who are in 6e at EAB Monceau come from CM2 at EAB Monceau, so would it be such an upheaval when moving buildings of the same school in effect?

Yes apparently EABJM is more academic than EAB, their published BAC results are perhaps proof of this. But would it not be also the case that children not likely to pass the BAC would move away from a school like EABJM, so in fact it loses the children likely to fail? Other schools might be more encompassing of children who may fail, that in turn brings down BAC results for the school. Surely what matters is how well your child will succeed at a school, not how everybody else's children succeed?

If you were to work, live and go to school in a small area which is also a really pleasant one, well I would see that as a great relocation. I've never really experienced our younger children having to commute far for school though, we have always lived within walking distance of maternelle and primaire, secondaire is 1.4km away for one child and 6km tram ride away for the other. I just couldn't imagine having the children bussed about over a long distance, not if I had the possibility of schooling near home. Well that's my opinion!!!!

There is one factor I'd consider when looking at individual schools. At international schools tend to have quite a large turnover of children, local based schools tend to have a more static student population. I have a child at an international school and 3 in local schools, the child in the international school has had to watch his friends come and go, come and go, the 3 children at local school have not had to say goodbye quite so often! It's an upheaval too, for children to make friends, for parents to make friends with the parents of friends, just to have to say goodbye again.

One last thing, just an anecdote. We have just hosted 2 students from another international school who live in a city where hubby has worked and we have spent 2 months in during the school holidays. Both students were in their 2nd year at this school and in this city, it's a large European capital. The students knew hardly anything about where they lived, knew none of the language (ok in your case that's irrelevant), I was rather stunned.

natation is quite right: many children are forced out of EABJM because they are not up to the academic pace whereas EAB generally holds on to its pupils until the end (unless they are very badly behaved). EAB is also very unusual for a French school in streaming rigorously in English, Spanish, Maths, History and Geography, thereby allowing siblings who do not have the same academic profile to remain at the same school.

Be under no illusion: places in French private schools in Paris are hard to come by.

I think it's worth doing a pros and cons list for all the possible schools.
Marymount pros
children stay all together for 4 years duration
school has lovely facilities
school is not bad situated for work in 8th
Marymount negs
school goes to 4e only, what happens if you find yourself staying longer than 4 years, eldest will need a new school
expat bubble
extra-curricular activities expensive??
possible loss of fluency in French particularly for younger children, if social lives end up being centred around school and not in local community

EAB JM
DD1 would be CM2-4e, whole time in Théatre
DS2 would be CE1-CM2, start in Dupleix/Suffren? then transfer to Théatre
DS3 would be in M-? start in Dupleix/Suffren, might transfer to Théatre depending on age

pros
excellent academic reputation
keep up French and English
if you live in 8th, still not a bad commute to 15th/7th
if you stay longer than 4 years, your DD1 can stay in the same school

cons
You will have have children in 2 different buildings for the first couple of years, they are about 500m apart, you might have to accompany all children to school at first, as you might not be too happy sending the eldest on her own to her building.
Entry tests even for the little ones!

EAB Monceau
DD1 would be CM2 in Monceau primaire, then 6e-4e in Monceau college
DS2 would be CE1-CM2 all time in Monceau primaire
DS3 would be M-? all time in Monceau maternelle/primaire
maternelle and primaire are all in the same building.

pros
still excellent reputation at primaire/maternelle, not so high BAC results as EAB JM but would that mean our DD1 won't succeed?
All 3 children in same building or 1st year, 2 younger children in same building for the next 3 years
keep up French and English
if you live and work in 8th, this school is very convenient
if you stay longer than 4 years, your DD1 can stay in the same school

cons
DD1 must move building in 2nd year, but by that time, surely she would be able to take herself .... and I am wondering if she will not be the only child with siblings in primarie/maternelle who accompany their mum/dad part of the way then walk off to the college with their friends.

natation - it's really not worth thinking this through until the OP actually secures places at the schools she has applied to! Getting three children into either EABJM or EAB Monceau would be an extraordinary feat!

I might have missed this but is there any reason, if DC are already bilingual, not to put them into French schools and full up on English extracurriculars?

Fraktal - to be brutally honest, there isn't much of interest in the way of English extracurricular activities if you aren't in bilingual schools that offer extracurricular after school in English. And once you enter the busy collège years, there frankly isn't time to do extra curricular activities that aren't on your doorstep.

Are there not things like British / American Guides and Scouts open to all in Paris? English children's theatres? In Brussels, if you know where to look, there are over 30 activities for children in English open to all, not just for children at bilingual / international schools. Surely some of the international schools in Paris have similar programmes open to all?

Bonsoir, I guess you are right, the OP might finally find it easier to enrol in Marymount.

Just to clarify a few changes from 2012/13 at EABJM for prospective applicants / those interested in bilingual schooling:

From 2012/13, the EABJM sites will have the following classes:
Suffren - MS to CE1
Dupleix - GS to CE2
Theatre - CE2 onwards

I could definitely walk from Dupleix to Theatre in 5-10 mins so the different site thing is not insurmountable, nor is it uncommon so it is easy to team up with other parents. All 3 are very close.

It makes sense to apply to EABJM if your kids are likely to go through college in France as there is a big demand for places in 6eme (1st year of college). The application fee is very low so there's no harm in applying either! There is word that lots of bilingual applicants come from EAB at that time too, but my experience is only of EABJM.

Certainly true that there is a big demand for places (5/6 per place) but it is possible to get 3 siblings in. And if not, approx 75% of siblings get accepted the following year.

For me, EABJM's biggest attribute is it's excellent parents' association - organises parent partners, schemes to get involved within the school (reading, media library, helping on trips / theme days), conversation/book groups and many cultural visits. Really great when you're new to Paris and helps get involved with the school community!

Contrary to Brussels there is not a lot of choice of english extra-curricular activities - theatre definitely but don't know of much else. EABJM has an excellent after school programme but it is all in French at the moment... very convenient and high quality though! American / French scouts from age 8 I think but my kids are too young!

There's dance, theatre, stuff at the American church (including cheerleading!) and the other churches, and the American library too. Trickier when you get to collège although still an option but that for me would be a big factor in choosing where to live if it were a possibility.