We are going to Paris in September and will look for an area we would like to live. So far I have been recommended 16e or 12e. We would consider living further out with up to 30 mins in the metro/train. We are an Australian couple and our kids have flown the nest so we dont need schools, just a nice environment. We hope to live there for about a year. Any ideas?
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I do not know your budget but a friend of mine stayed in the 7 th a few years ago they loved it.
Outside of Paris just at the end of the Vincennes metro is a lovely little village Vincennes. I have always want to stay there for a long period of time. It is a very friendly town.
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I%26#39;ll go out on a limb here but it%26#39;s possible you will need some kind of visa to stay longer than 90 days, so check into that (if you haven%26#39;t already)...
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I will be staying in the 17th for a month when I go back in Sept %26#39;09. The gentleman I am renting an apartment from says the neighborhood is gorgeous and that on weekends famous actors and the Sarkozy family can be seen hanging out in the cafes.
I am not sure what you are looking for. What do you find appealing?
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Long story short;
--You will need one of the various %26quot;long stay%26quot; visas and you%26#39;ll need to apply for it before you leave Sydney.
--You can%26#39;t get a visa without proof of a place to live (lease, electric bill, letter from landlord, all of the above).
--You can%26#39;t get a visa without a local bank account. You will need the minimum balance of at least the bottom wage earners (as of 2008, around 16,000€ to prove you aren%26#39;t displacing a French worker.
--You can%26#39;t get a visa without proof that you have health coverage and won%26#39;t tax the French health services.
--If you%26#39;re planning to WORK in France, you%26#39;re in for some serious complications.
Assuming you%26#39;re retired and/or don%26#39;t need to work in France:
As we learned, to actually pull this off, you%26#39;ll need to do a %26quot;scouting mission%26quot; to set all this up, and then go back home to your local French consulate with all this *proof* in hand to apply for the long-stay visa.
That said, the %26quot;scouting mission%26quot; is where you%26#39;ll discover the realities of the real estate market, the places that are *livable* given your particular lifestyle, and the most important reality, _can you live in a city of 7+ million people?_
I may be wrong but Sydney is similar in scale to Seattle, the city we left to move to Paris. All I can say is, %26quot;NIGHT AND DAY%26quot;. It ultimately became home to us but our exploratory mission (one full year) tested our resolve.
Bottom line, you%26#39;ll need to camp here to find your home unless you have unlimited funds.
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How uplifting Metromole. Thanks for that cheery bit of advice. (smile!)
Of course you know I think it is fantastic that you could offer such detailed useful information.
I am a marriage counselor and had thought about coming to France to work with some of the ex-pats. The French woman I stayed with last September told me it is extremely complicated and there is tons of paperwork required. I guess that is the way it should be so a country can keep tabs on who is there and what they are doing. I think I am just too old for all of that. For now, I have set that idea aside temporarily or maybe permanently.
However, it all sound really exciting and I wish you well Merribel in your pursuit to make this happen.
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I just wanted to give you something to think about regarding living 30 minutes out of Paris and having to take the train itself to get to Paris. My 15 year old son and I did that about 7 years ago. We stayed at a beautiful pensionne in Vaux-sur-Seine which is about a 25-minute train ride northwest of Paris. We loved where we stayed and we didn%26#39;t mind the train.
The problems were:
1. The trains didn%26#39;t run late at night and we had to give up lots of night life in order to catch the last train home.
2. You can%26#39;t go back to your apartment to rest or do anything during the day. If you purchase something you must lug it around all day. You can%26#39;t go home to eat a meal and then go out again.
3. The expense of taking the train adds up. It isn%26#39;t cheap.
4. On the day we were headed to the airport from the Vaux-sur-Seine train station, a train ran over a person before it arrived at that station and the trains were temporarily cancelled. It was at 6am, the station wasn%26#39;t actually open yet and we were absolutely panicked as to how we were going to get to the airport. We managed to call a taxi who drove like a maniac and got us there on time--barely. What a hassel.
5. You are more likely to need a car if you live outside of Paris than if you live in Paris. If you live in Paris and want to travel you could rent a car. If you live outside of Paris, having a car would make getting around much easier.
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Regarding areas, not visas or other paperworks. There are nice areas all over central Paris, so you should tell us a little more about what you would like to find in your environment.
For example I agree with In Love with Paris, the 17è is very nice (I used to live there too), but what are we talking about? There are at least 4 or 5 very different areas in the 17è, from %26#39;high end%26#39; districts in Ternes area or around parc Montceau to popular/becoming trendy ones (I prefer these) for example in the Batignolles area. And also areas I wouldn%26#39;t stay in, such as north from boulevard Pereire!
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I never said it wasn%26#39;t worth all the work. I%26#39;d say it%26#39;s worth every minute of the work invested. This is an incredible place to live. There%26#39;s no way to describe it. You only live once.
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Agree with what Metromole has said. Short of the bank account requirement, we did exactly what she has said. I made a scouting trip over first and secured a rental home. Then, I came home to apply for the VISA. That was 8 years ago, so perhaps the bank account requirement is a newer one. Many things have changed since we obtained our long stay visas, but overall, the process is the same.
It isn%26#39;t that easy. And, unless you come over on a work visa (meaning you have obtained a formal offer from a France based company - and THEY process the VISA request), you will not be able to work for the first five years of living here. You will need to obtain your Carte de Sejour within 30 days of arriving in France (the days may have changed since we did this) and you will need to renew your Carte de Sejour each year, providing, for the most part, the same data you provided to get the Visa in the first place. After five years, you can APPLY for a 10 year carte. It is not guaranteed. If obtained, that will change other things with reference to your life here.
For non-EU citizens, you need to do your homework and know exactly what you%26#39;re doing.
Not suggesting anyone NOT do it. Just saying that a lot of people have the intention and they don%26#39;t know the facts or think they know the facts and get in trouble along the way.
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Wow, thanks everyone for all the advice. It sounds much more difficult that we imagined. I will have to do some more research! We don%26#39;t intend to work there. I think living in Paris would be nicer than living too far out. I will check out the 17e and Vincennes as well. Charenton, Passy and Neuilly have also been suggested to me. Sydney has about 4 million people but many more at the moment because it is World Youth Day this week and The Pope is in town. More people than the Sydney Olympics!!
