Help me choose a Paris neighbourhood

[lekkerkroketje]

I'm just moving to Paris, and for the very first time I am moving to a new city on a decent salary. I'm therefore looking for actual flats rather than house shares, which means a bit more commitment/risk when choosing a neighbourhood! I've lived in some interesting neighbourhoods in the past, but have always been able to run away!

Despite my description of my flakey career, we're actually in our 30s, combined income ~€100k, one garant (2 if they will accept foreigners) and looking for somewhere relatively quiet and boring with a decent fromagerie and cave. (Middle class Waitrose wankers, us? Non! ) I work in the 5th and would prefer to cycle commute, therefore 8-9 km out from the Pantheon is about the limit. So far Montrouge about fits the bill. The 14e looks nice, but eye-wateringly expensive and I'm a bit suspicious of how quiet and warm those lovely old fashioned Parisian flats will be.

So, wonderful Parisienne MNers, can you think of any other neighbourhoods that might fit the bill?

We always stay in the St Germain area when we have visited Paris and last time we were about 5 mins walk from the Pantheon - it's lovely round there. Like anywhere in the world, there seems to be one road not far from the Pantheon that has Irish theme bars on it

Hopefully the more knowledgeable MNetters will be along shortly, but I do love that part of Paris and good luck with the new job/accommodation. Take a stroll along the Seine in the evening for me.

It's beautiful around there, but priced accordingly! 20m2 'apartments' start from €1000pm

It's a wonderful place to work though. I can go in a different restaurant every day for lunch and eat baguette and croissant until I'm sick sitting in the sun next to the Pantheon. Good job I'll have to cycle in from a bit further away!

Oh, and the Irish themed bars are because it's the student district just above the Pantheon. If you go the right wrong ones, they serve Belgian triples by the pint for €5 and the dirtiest cocktails ever. I used to love work trips to Paris...

Yes to the student district! We didn't go in the bars (preteen daughter with us) but maybe another time. The park at the end of the road opposite the Pantheon is nice in the evenings too.

I stayed near the Glacière stop earlier this summer and liked it quite a bit. It’s in the 5th arrondissement and has lots of busses but the neighbourhood is nice. Try looking in that area.

Glacière
75013 Paris, France
goo.gl/maps/yV9C4sJSYcB9b4nh7

We stayed in Paris over the summer and were in the 15th arrondissement, near Javel-Andre Citroen metro. Modern flat, right above a Carrefour Express, good rail links into town and you could see the Eiffel Tower from one of the bedroom windows. And not touristy at all either.

7ème or 15ème. Rue Cler near École Militaire has a lovely street market (with necessary fromagerie etc). In the 15ème, near La Motte Picquet, Cambronne, Pasteur plus parts of Montparnasse. It also depends on what type of property you are after - ie traditional haussmannien style or a modern block. The further out you go in the 15th (for example) eg towards Commerce so you get more more modern properties.

Look at the 19th and 20th!

Depends massively on your budget. Batignolles is currently popular with couples in their thirties.

That looks good, thanks Wesh! That's the sort of info I was hoping for. I don't really know anyone local in our income and age bracket to ask.

I've been pushing out south because that's the area I know best. Bagneux is currently my mental no further limit, but that limit stretches by one neighbourhood per week! I'll be in Massy by Christmas. It's amazing how the city changes street by street, so it feels like I really have to know the area because it can go from naice bourgeois to classic social banlieue by crossing the road, then back again two blocks later. Do British cities vary so fast? I seem to remember that they just have sink estates which were easy to avoid, but maybe that was the easy local knowledge that you don't have to think about.

As for trying to get responses from agents, that's a whole other story! I'm spending this week going into offices in person because they don't answer phones or emails. Hey-ho

No advice but London can vary that much by a few streets!

Oberkampf (is that how you spell it? 11th basically) is very popular with our friends.

What’s your budget OP?

Not the 15th/16th boring as fuck or oberkampf, absolutely mental and overpriced and you may get mugged. 12th 9th or 10th. Not the latin quarter it's a toy town. You want somewhere real people live!

But to be fair 100k is looooooooads in france where they can be a bit mean with salaries so you can basically do what you like. Most people on far far less

I used to live in place denfert rochereau in the 14th.
Wonderful place to live, great, people, awesome cafes and food.

13th is fun.

There's a group on Facebook called 'Expatriates in Paris' which might be helpful for you. I joined this group the 2nd time I moved to/lived in Paris and made some great real-life friends. It's also a really useful source of info for looking for flats, selling stuff, finding an English speaking doctor/dentist/hairdresser etc etc.

Your budget is key to your search but you haven't mentioned it. Telling us what it is would help!

A friend of mine used to live near Sevres-Babylone (border of 6th/7th) Very quiet, easy walking distance to supermarkets, street markets etc and an easy bike ride to where you work. Might be too pricey for you though?

I've lived in the Marais and Passy, both were great, but will be way over budget unless you plan to spend all your income on rent. I've also lived in Courbevoie so much cheaper and more suburban but won't work too well with your cycling requirement as it's 11km from Pantheon. Neuilly's lovely and closer (at 8.5km) but expensive.

Some friends have a lovely split level studio in the 12th on rue de Lyon. Surprisingly quiet and really convenient plus walking distance to Pantheon. They used an agent who specialises in expat moves to find it for them. Other friends live near Chateau d'Eau in the 10th but they own rather than rent (they're Parisians rather than expats). The area seems a little edgy at first but there are some amazing restaurants and little hidden passages full of art deco treasures, as well as some excellent fromageries, patisseries etc. I would quite happily live here!

Other friends (both Parisians and expats) have moved out of the centre and all seem to have ended up around Massy-Palaiseau as they say you get much more for your money (both renting and buying). It's a bit too quiet suburban for me but they seem happy. Slightly north of there, the area around Parc des Sceaux is nice but I can't comment on the shops etc.

Thanks everyone! You've given me lots more places to search.

We're looking up to about 1700pm although I'm not sure they're going to accept that one contract is foreign, so realistically we might end up at 1400 even with garants. My work is pretty unstable so I was hoping to save for the next round of unemployment .

I've been airbnbing around. Massy-Palaiseau does indeed have some nice houses, but I'd go mad with boredom. Might as well commute from a nice city like Lille as live out there.

I used to live by Jules Joffrin and totally loved it. Now a boring banlieusarde.

We lived in the 17th- Ternes/ Monceau/ Pereire. We loved it. Before that we were in Levallois-Perret, which we also loved. Metro line three straight in to Opera. That’s twenty years ago though.

So, an update, partly in case it helps anyone else!

After 2 months of phoning around and going into every agent in the city, we gave up and hired an expat relocation consultant. Horrendously expensive, but at least they have the contacts and knew the magic words that could break down the first level of gate keeping.

Because of having a 2 year contract and foreign documents, they thought that unfurnished or suburbs were going to be impossible (which was what I'd found trying on my own). Le boncoin & PaP didn't work because we look too risky for a private landlord, and apparently only city agents will look at foreign documents. We ended up paying for rent insurance via a garant company, which is again eye-wateringly expensive.

But, 6k in fees later, plus deposit and rent, it looks like (hopefully, fingers crossed!) we have a lovely furnished apartment in the 14e. It ticks all the boxes of fromageries, cafes and funny little boutiques, whilst still being walkable to both the Eiffel tower and a Lidl. Perfect really! If I don't think about all the holidays we can now not afford We'll have to be tourists in Paris instead!

Sounds nice, can I pop round for a cuppa? Join the group English-speaking mums in Paris on FB.

I'm also moving to Paris; this has been helpful.

I'll need to get the RER A to work and would prefer to live within say 15 mins. walk of one of the RER A stations in the centre (rather than having to take the métro as well).

I love the 15è but am open to all / many arrondissements. I know Paris relatively well and have friends (mostly around Bastille / Nation / and the 14th and 15th) but, crucially, have never lived there.

I'm so excited for the move.

Where will you be working @Chochito?