Paris outskirts?
Jan 29th 2013, 7:27 pm
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 87
Paris outskirts?
Hi all,
My wife's job is moving to St Germain en Laye later this year and we are trying to come to terms a bit with the move ahead so have a few questions to ask, especially when choosing a location to live. Plus our eldest will be starting school as well.
I guess we have a few options like staying as close as possible to St Germain and the BSP for covenience sake but we would also like to consider
staying a bit further like the Vexin Parc Natural region in Val-d'Oise, Septeuil or even a Rambouillet way. Not necessarily in those towns but in that general semi circle arc.
Do people have any experience they can share about these regions?
Good places, bad places or anything else that springs to mind.
One thing that I keep hearing is that the traffic in peak hours is quite bad and without being there to experience all we can go by is sites like viamichelin and even google maps has a travel time indicator. Although I know the traffic can be extremely different day by day.
Would people say that these type of traffic websites give a good indication of actual times?
Is there a better site still, Bison Fute maybe?
To have a half hour or 45 minute run to work/school in the morning is certainly doable.
For example it says places like Septeuil and Theuville are a little over 30 minute drives and a little bit longer in heavy traffic, are these time even anywhere near realistic?
Sorry for the rather broad questions and I'm sure I can think of more but for now I'll leave it at that and hope that a few people can share their experience too.
My wife's job is moving to St Germain en Laye later this year and we are trying to come to terms a bit with the move ahead so have a few questions to ask, especially when choosing a location to live. Plus our eldest will be starting school as well.
I guess we have a few options like staying as close as possible to St Germain and the BSP for covenience sake but we would also like to consider
staying a bit further like the Vexin Parc Natural region in Val-d'Oise, Septeuil or even a Rambouillet way. Not necessarily in those towns but in that general semi circle arc.
Do people have any experience they can share about these regions?
Good places, bad places or anything else that springs to mind.
One thing that I keep hearing is that the traffic in peak hours is quite bad and without being there to experience all we can go by is sites like viamichelin and even google maps has a travel time indicator. Although I know the traffic can be extremely different day by day.
Would people say that these type of traffic websites give a good indication of actual times?
Is there a better site still, Bison Fute maybe?
To have a half hour or 45 minute run to work/school in the morning is certainly doable.
For example it says places like Septeuil and Theuville are a little over 30 minute drives and a little bit longer in heavy traffic, are these time even anywhere near realistic?
Sorry for the rather broad questions and I'm sure I can think of more but for now I'll leave it at that and hope that a few people can share their experience too.
Jan 30th 2013, 12:34 am
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Hérault (34)
Posts: 8,907
Re: Paris outskirts?
Hi all,
My wife's job is moving to St Germain en Laye later this year and we are trying to come to terms a bit with the move ahead so have a few questions to ask, especially when choosing a location to live. Plus our eldest will be starting school as well.
I guess we have a few options like staying as close as possible to St Germain and the BSP for covenience sake but we would also like to consider
staying a bit further like the Vexin Parc Natural region in Val-d'Oise, Septeuil or even a Rambouillet way. Not necessarily in those towns but in that general semi circle arc.
Do people have any experience they can share about these regions?
Good places, bad places or anything else that springs to mind.
One thing that I keep hearing is that the traffic in peak hours is quite bad and without being there to experience all we can go by is sites like viamichelin and even google maps has a travel time indicator. Although I know the traffic can be extremely different day by day.
Would people say that these type of traffic websites give a good indication of actual times?
Is there a better site still, Bison Fute maybe?
To have a half hour or 45 minute run to work/school in the morning is certainly doable.
For example it says places like Septeuil and Theuville are a little over 30 minute drives and a little bit longer in heavy traffic, are these time even anywhere near realistic?
Sorry for the rather broad questions and I'm sure I can think of more but for now I'll leave it at that and hope that a few people can share their experience too.
My wife's job is moving to St Germain en Laye later this year and we are trying to come to terms a bit with the move ahead so have a few questions to ask, especially when choosing a location to live. Plus our eldest will be starting school as well.
I guess we have a few options like staying as close as possible to St Germain and the BSP for covenience sake but we would also like to consider
staying a bit further like the Vexin Parc Natural region in Val-d'Oise, Septeuil or even a Rambouillet way. Not necessarily in those towns but in that general semi circle arc.
Do people have any experience they can share about these regions?
Good places, bad places or anything else that springs to mind.
One thing that I keep hearing is that the traffic in peak hours is quite bad and without being there to experience all we can go by is sites like viamichelin and even google maps has a travel time indicator. Although I know the traffic can be extremely different day by day.
Would people say that these type of traffic websites give a good indication of actual times?
Is there a better site still, Bison Fute maybe?
To have a half hour or 45 minute run to work/school in the morning is certainly doable.
For example it says places like Septeuil and Theuville are a little over 30 minute drives and a little bit longer in heavy traffic, are these time even anywhere near realistic?
Sorry for the rather broad questions and I'm sure I can think of more but for now I'll leave it at that and hope that a few people can share their experience too.
A lot depends on whether you intend to stay in France and want your eldest to go to a Maternelle rather than an International School. (Primaire only starts at 6 here, when they learn to read and write). If you want a French Maternelle, you'd only have the problem of your wife's commuting, as you must enrol your child at your local Mairie and she would go to the one nearest your domicile. I've no idea whether the International School has a Maternelle Section...
I wouldn't take any notice of traffic times, there are always "imponderables" making the journey longer.... I'd avoid driving, in fact.
If you didn't want to live in St Germain-en-Laye itself, there are some nice towns along the RER line (Le Vesinet, Le Pecq, Chatou...) to avoid the stress of driving.
On another thread you said your wife was French and you an Aussie. AFAIK, if you were intending to work, you'd have to apply for a working Visa? If you aren't working, you may find that small outlying towns will be a bit isolated for you and your children. Google the various towns and those you mentioned, to see what sort of activities your children (and you!) could have.
Hope all this helps! Maybe someone will come along with more details of that particular area, but I wouldn't recommend living too far from your wife's place of work....
P.S. Apologies if your eldest is a boy!
Last edited by dmu; Jan 30th 2013 at 12:42 am.
Jan 30th 2013, 2:42 am
#3
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 87
Re: Paris outskirts?
Thanks for the reply.
Yeah my eldest is a boy, that's alright though.
We don't really intend to stay and that is the main reason we are wanting an International school because if we are to move around a bit then it'd be nice to have something stable in their education like the one language.
We are trying to seek out alternatives to Paris so we may not even get there but at this stage we have to start treating it like we will be moving so are trying to prepare as best as possible.
Not ruling out a maternelle but at this point without knowing where we'll be it's not the easiest thing. I think if we were intending on staying then that's the way we'd go.
I agree it's not an ideal way to come to terms with the traffic times but without being able to make the journeys ourselves at the moment a rough guide is better than no guide. I'm hoping someone may know.
The RER lines all stop a fair distance away from where she will be working which would mean if she had to walk from the station then we'd probably have to move in a bit closer, I do think there is possibly a bus from one of the stations but we need to check on the timings.
I do get the whole stress of driving thing but am trying to explore all possibilities.
At the moment I look after the kids so that is my work in a way, once they are both in school and I have had a nice long nap then I'll go back to work but for the immediate future that wont be an issue.
As for visas I'm not sure how different it is than in Belgium but because she works in the commission that's all taken care of, although if I did intend to work I guess I'd need a different visa.
Yeah my eldest is a boy, that's alright though.
A lot depends on whether you intend to stay in France and want your eldest to go to a Maternelle rather than an International School.
We are trying to seek out alternatives to Paris so we may not even get there but at this stage we have to start treating it like we will be moving so are trying to prepare as best as possible.
Not ruling out a maternelle but at this point without knowing where we'll be it's not the easiest thing. I think if we were intending on staying then that's the way we'd go.
I wouldn't take any notice of traffic times, there are always "imponderables" making the journey longer.... I'd avoid driving, in fact.
If you didn't want to live in St Germain-en-Laye itself, there are some nice towns along the RER line (Le Vesinet, Le Pecq, Chatou...) to avoid the stress of driving.
If you didn't want to live in St Germain-en-Laye itself, there are some nice towns along the RER line (Le Vesinet, Le Pecq, Chatou...) to avoid the stress of driving.
The RER lines all stop a fair distance away from where she will be working which would mean if she had to walk from the station then we'd probably have to move in a bit closer, I do think there is possibly a bus from one of the stations but we need to check on the timings.
I do get the whole stress of driving thing but am trying to explore all possibilities.
On another thread you said your wife was French and you an Aussie. AFAIK, if you were intending to work, you'd have to apply for a working Visa? If you aren't working, you may find that small outlying towns will be a bit isolated for you and your children. Google the various towns and those you mentioned, to see what sort of activities your children (and you!) could have.
As for visas I'm not sure how different it is than in Belgium but because she works in the commission that's all taken care of, although if I did intend to work I guess I'd need a different visa.
