Forum France

[greensustainer]

Hi there,

husband just got a job in paris, and we moved out here already, but we're not expats, as he got hired on directly by the company. We're temporarily staying in a hotel, until they can find us a temp apt. But the time for school is nearing and we really can use some help!

Son is 6.5 years old and was speech delayed, but now talks pretty normal, except for a few grammatical mistakes that he still continues to make. We are looking for any affordable (trying to stay under 12,000 e a year max) bilingual school or even possibly a good regular french school, as i've read that it may be best to just immerse the children as young as possible.

We're staying in paris, but during the week i've been here, i've realized that paris is a little dirtier than what i expected. I'm not used to walking everywhere and having cigarette smoke blown into my face every 10 steps. Or having to watch out for dog poop everywhere. I'm just thinking that maybe the suburbs would be better for us, since i don't really see anywhere for my son to ride his bike, and am not sure if i want him to grow up in the city. Unless there are districts here in paris that i haven't visited and are more family friendly??? (and still fit into our budget??)

reading other threads, west of paris seems to keep coming up, but can anyone tell me where?? Specific names of towns/cities/areas? We are looking to spend max 1500 e on rent for a 2 bedroom, and of course less would be better. Is there anywhere also in/near the suburbs easily accessible to transportation into the city, so my husband does not have to commute a lot?

Finally, i'm really into organics, so i was thinking that the areas where they have expats already would have this more readily available to me....or farmer's markets....do any areas like this even exist?

Thanks for any help!

Edit: when i mentioned "suburbs," i do not mean too isolated, as i'm really more of a city girl, but just want my son to grow up like i did.

[texkourgan]

As far as schools, I perused the Easy Expat guide for Paris on International Schools (http://www.easyexpat.com/en/paris/schoo ... chools.htm) & came across:

American School of Paris
41 rue Pasteur 92210 SAINT CLOUD
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 12 82 82

- British School of Paris
38, quai de l’Ecluse 78290 CROISSY-SUR-SEINE
Tel: +33 (0)1 34 80 45 94/96

- Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel
Ecole Internationale de Paris
Primary, Junior and Senior High School
70, rue du Théâtre, 75015 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1.44.37.00.80
Site : http://www.eabjm.com

Primary School
15, rue Edgar Faure, 75015 Paris
141, avenue de Suffren, 75007 Paris

Admissions Office
Tel : +33 (0)1.44.37.00.76
E-mail : bureaudesadmissions@eabjm.com

- International School of Paris
6, rue Beethoven 75016 PARIS
Tel: 33.1.42.24.09.54
Fax: 33. 1.45.27.15.93
Email: info@isparis.edu
Website: www.isparis.edu

- Lycee International de Saint Germain en Laye
230 rue du Fer-à-Cheval 78104 SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE
Tel: +33 (0)1 34 51 74 85

- Marymount School
72, bd de la Saussaye 92200 NEUILLY SUR SEINE
Tel: +33 (0)1 46 24 10 51

- United Nations Nursery School
Association Paris 40 rue de Guerin 75016 PARIS
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 27 20 24
(international bilingual school for children 2-6; summer school in July)

- Ecole Internationale Malherbe
19 rue du 11 Novembre
78110 Le Vésinet
principal@ecole-malherbe.com
(British program with English teachers )

Unfortunately, I don't have personal experience with these schools- but hope this info might be helpful. Best of luck!

[Ecrivaine]

I don't have personal experience with Paris, but from what I understand, some of the suburbs are less than desirable. It seems that in many ways suburbs in Paris work opposite than how they do in the United States, where most suburbs are more affluent than many areas of the city. Some of the suburbs around Paris especially are very rough, from what my French friends tell me. I would consider using a real estate consultant or whatever they're called in France, LOL, rather than going out on your own.

[EasyExpat]

Some of the suburbs around Paris especially are very rough, from what my French friends tell me.

It depends on the suburb, talking about the North-East (boooooo ) can be very different from the South-West (aaaaaaaaah ), like the Bronx and Brooklyn or the New jersey.