Decisions... Geneva or Paris

[DivaSkyChick]

Hi Ladies,

We are Americans living in London, and we find our shortly if we're going to accept a new position on the Continent. We would have the option of Geneva, Paris or the French Alps, near Geneva.

Does anyone know any resources to research the cost of living / tax burden / child friendliness of Switzerland vs France?

Thanks!

You could try joining this online forum for info on CH. We spent 4 years in Zurich but Geneva is more relaxed and cosmopolitan.

Hi, I have lived in both - though before my daughter was born so I don't have direct experience of the family friendly thing but my observation would be that Geneva is full of families, esp ex pat families and people with children seem to really like it. BUT I found it the most godforsaken and deathly boring city in the whole wide world. It is totally empty at the weekends because everyone goes the mountains and even the tots are skiing. If you are into that kind of thing, great. If you like a more metropolitan kind of life, then go for Paris.

I lived in Geneva for 4 years and really couldn't wait to leave. It is expensive too.

Geneva is always coming top of quality of life tables and I really don't get it. Yes it has clean air but you also have to drive to the airport if you want to find a shop that's open on a Sunday and a lot of the restaurants are closed on a Saturday too.

Switzerland is lovely though. Would definitely go to the mountains for summer holidays (am not a skier) but to live, it drove me bananas.

Thanks Lizs, I'm joining now.

Margo - my husband and I are very outdoorsy - he climbs mountains, we both ski, cycle, etc., so I can see how Geneva might be great for us. Would not know what to do without restaurants and shops on the weekends, though... yikes!

The restaurants and shops opening on Sundays thing is gradually changing as is availability of British / US products. We found many restaurants closed on Mondays/Tuesdays but this could vary regionally like public holidays and you can buy basic provisions at small shops at stations or airports on Sundays. tbh you just discipline yourselves to cope and it is similar across much of Europe. Now, the in- house rules about vaccuming, noise, use of washing machines, cleaning cars etc are something else !

ha yes. My friend got fined for washing her car and leaving too much water on the street !

Diva, tbh if you are remotely outdoorsy it is amazing, even I would admit that and I never want to see a pair of skis again in my life. Ever.

DH worked in Geneva for a while - 18 months or so, I think - but DD and I never bothered moving there. He had an apartment but commuted weekly. We spent some holiday time out there and I loved it.

Have to smile at rules about noise. We owned an apartment - leasehold - in London for 10 years. The whole block had parquet floors but no-one was allowed to have them 'naked' as it would be too noisy for the neighbours. There were also rules about noise during certain hours. No rules to prevent the press camping out on the doorstep when a certain resident hit the headlines though!

LOL I don't know anything about the noise rules. I guess we better buy a book or something before we make any decisions.

Another option is to live on the French side, near the border. I used to spend summers in Annecy, which I loved.

Is the cost of living in Geneva less than London? I suppose it's less again in France (outside of Paris.)

What are rents like? We have a two bedroom terrace flat in Fulham, first floor, that goes for £350 per week. Our friend in Paris has a FAB flat, way more space, in the shadow of Monmarte, lovely neighborhood, and their rent is less than ours. What's Geneva like in that regard?

Anyone point me to an online resource for flats there? Is there something like Findaproperty.com for Geneva?

Thanks again!

Your friend's rent in Paris sounds unusually cheap to me.
There are several websites you can try for prices (rent and purchase) in France:
this one
or this one

I spent 15 years in Geneva and as a teenager couldn't wait to get out. Now that I have my own children, I'd like to go back, for the quality of life, clean air and safe streets.

Also spent 2 years in Paris, with children. Struggled to find somewhere to live and found renting expensive. Lifestyle ... it was much like living in London!

I would go for French Alps, near Geneva. My sister lives in Geneva and says that it's boring and everything closes around 7pm, including shops. Plus they have a very regulated society from what I can tell. She actually bought a house in Chamonix and spends her weekends there.

I wouldn't want to live in Paris with a young family as I don't think inner-city living is best for children.

French alps every time for me, given this choice...

Same as GameGirly. I grew up in Geneva and the surrounding French countryside and yes while it can get quiet and has quirky noise rules, I would trade those anyday now to bring up my children in that environment. London is vibrant but a hard life.

I live in the french alps, dc x3 all go to the local french school, it is quieter in the inter-season and busy and very cosmopolitan in the winter and a little less busy but tons to do in the summer. For quality of life I'd go for the french alp option. I just went back to london at the weekend, had the stress of gatwick airport on tuesday and have come to the conclusion that unless I lived in the remote countryside I could never live in the uk again. As far as your questions go I don't have a clue except that my kids do not know how lucky they are and the quality of life is fantastic and so clean and the tax situation is expensive!! Good luck.

I would go for the French alps