Moving to Paris...any advice?

[barbie1]

Hi Paris mumsnetters

We are relocating to Paris from the UAE at the start of April. I know nothing about Paris or what to expect! Except it's going to be a darn sight colder than here

Dh will be working in the la Défense area of the city, so we are ideally looking for a 3 bed unfurnished apartment or house suitable for our family consisting of two young children and a Labrador dog. My DH's company are going to give him an allowance of around ?3500 and we would be willing to put a little in. Ideally we were thinking of areas to the west of the city between boulogne-billancourt and Le Vésinet. These areas have been recommended to us as they seem to have English speaking nursery schools, which is important as we have DD aged 2. We will only be staying in Paris for up to 1 year so think its important to have access to English speaking expats, neither myself or dh speak French to any kind of standard.

If any one could give us any feed back on any of the above or opinions good or bad of the areas, nursery school recommendations, cost of housing etc it would be much appreciated.

TIA

Hi! And welcome in advance.

Your family sounds just like mine but about a decade younger. I'll bet you will love le Vésinet and yes, there are plenty of nice international/ bilingual nurseries around for you. It will be a good commute for your hubby.

Boulogne-billancourt I am not so familiar with, even though I live in the west suburbs.

If you decide you must have a house with garden you will probably need to spend over your allowance.

I have to rush as dinner is boiling over... but I will get back with more specifics on schools, the expat scene (usually goes with the school, btw) and dog-walking opportunities (may help you decide whether you can get away with a flat rather than a house).

Thank you for taking time time to reply, any advice you might have would be invaluable.
We are returning for 6 weeks to the uk and plan to come over to Paris for a few day trips (with out the dc) to get a feel for the place and find accommodation.

If that is your budget and you want a house rather than an appartment you might also do well to look at Bougival or La Celle Saint Cloud. They are on the train line to La Defense, near the British School of Paris but a bit cheaper than the places on the RER line. TBH it's very nice in all of the places you mention, what you need to do is just go and find somewhere you want to live!

If I were coming to Paris for only one year I would want to live in Paris itself, not in the suburbs. There is so much to do within Paris and if you have DD aged 2, she won't be going to nursery school - though you could put her in a halte-garderie for a few mornings if you wanted.

I think you should join Message for advice.

Hi again, dinner salvaged but then glass of wine and bed...

The above are great suggestions.

I'm thinking quite possibly your lab will love this move, and depending on how much he/she needs to run, you may find yourself leaning towards the suburbs that have been mentioned, all the lures of central Paris notwithstanding!!!

I don't know when your dd turns 3, but in some schools you can get nursery places from 2.5 yrs. If you decide to live in Le Vésinet you could choose between:

Stepping Stones Nursery (Vesinet)
Pre-Elementary Bilingual School (Boulogne-Billancourt)
Ecole Internationale Malherbe (Vesinet)

If you decide on Boulogne-Billancourt to live, then you could add Marymount (US flavour) in Neuilly to your list of accessible schools (though whether it's accessible financially is another matter very high fees and a whopping one-off "capital assessment charge" at enrolment. Also note that you might be crossing the notorious Bois de Boulogne to get there, giving rise to the need to explain about/artfully ignore those nice ladies not all of them actually ladies -- in short skirts waiting on the lay-bys).

And of course BSP everyone loves, but it is also very expensive. Has uniforms too, which not many people are used to any more! But really, parents love this school, and those that have kids in three or four different places really appreciate how it goes "over and above", as compared to almost any other school.

Since I haven't rented in many years, I had a quick look on local estate agents sites and I take back what I said above, it does look like you can get very decent houses with small gardens, two or three beds two baths for around the 3,500 region... and very roomy, comfortable and stylish houses (eg 5 beds 2 baths) are in the 4,500 and up region.

MESSAGE is a brilliant place to join and you can get more first-hand appraisals of the above schools, might be worth doing since all I know is through word of mouth, I'm afraid!

Best of luck.

Stepping Stones no longer exists: went bust a couple of years ago!

Oh blimey! Will update my records!!! Thanks...

There is another bilingual school in the 15th worth considering - BISP - takes from 2.5years and is lovely according to friends of mine.

My DH works at La Défense and I wouldn't rule out living "in" the city - his commute is 25-30 mins desk to door - we live on border of 7th/15th arrondissement. Look at the ratp (public transport) map on their website. Boulogne-B is quite good as it is on the metro (lines 9 and 10).

I have to say, and to reiterate what Bonsoir said, if you are only going to be here a year, then make it as easy as possible to take advantage of all Paris has to offer. And unlike UK cities, the city is considered a "nicer" place to live than the suburbs. Definitely do not rule out the city or apartments in general - there are parks (and dogs) everywhere! I was concerned about apartment living but it is great and we still spend lots of time outdoors.

Look at seloger for apartment rentals. You should be able to get a 3 bed / 2 bath apartment for around your budget - it is even better if you can get one with "charges compris".

If you live centrally on one of the parks, you won't need a car, either, so you can spend more on housing.

Cheers for all of the above. Haven't had time to digest as we have had goats, ducks and ferrets running around in our garden for dd 2nd birthday party!

I will have a read through and show dh your post. Will also book mark that page you linked me too.

Thanks again