The GF and I are pondering a month stay somewhere in France, renting an apartment. It'll be my first time in France, she's fluent in French and studied there a year (Clermont-Ferrand).
Size of city is unimportant, as long as it has a compact center and a good selection of cafes and nightlife we'll be happy. When I travel, I basically walk, eat, and read. The walking part means I'd like an appealing aesthetic environment. I'm more into twisty warrens than broad boulevards. The foodie part of me needs a good market and good restaurants, although the wallet will constrict us to bistros rather than elegant white linen locations. And the reader in me needs good cafes for such a thing.
She enjoys shopping and running. So a good, large park would be helpful. I reckon we'd want either hiking trails or beach in the vicinity.
Neither of us are really into more touristy stuff, like seeing churches or going museum hopping. Looking more for a cool place to live for a month. Is there, perhaps, a French version of Bologna or Montreal?
Any tips appreciated
----------------------------------- Pekorino, my food blog On The Road, Again [travel stories from 2005-2006]
Summer. I forgot to mention that we are young-ish (mid 20s), which might help contextualize my first post. I love the youthfulness of Bologna and Montreal - where can I find some of that in France?
Also, I am asking "not Paris" b/c I'm trying to familiarize myself w/ other options.
----------------------------------- Pekorino, my food blog On The Road, Again [travel stories from 2005-2006]
I'm with Kevin on this one - Aix would meet all your requirements! Lots of young people, lots of cafes, narrow back streets to explore, some great bistros, great bookstores, large park for running, close enough for daytrips to the coast and other Provencal villages if you decide you need variety, wonderful markets several days a week, and in general, a great ambience!
Great idea, Kevin.
Judy
Posts: 1902 | Location: Berkeley, CA | Registered: 22 March 2005
Here's another vote for Aix. We spent a week there in December and loved it. Here is my review of the apartment where we stayed -- a lovely place. Aix has a very nice tourist web site. Here is the English version. And here is my photo album from the trip.
I was thinking of Aix also. To get a little bit of a feel for the city, check out Kaydee's blog from last year when she studied French in Aix. Her time in Aix starts here in her blog.
For the summer - Aix would be perfect. Easy access to the Cote d'Azur and the rest of Provence. Also, Paris is only 3 1/4 hrs away by TGV and if you can plan ahead & nail a PREM ticket - the trip is dirt cheap. Also possible are trips into the Alps by train (Chambery, Grenoble, Annecy, etc).
Other places I would consider are Toulouse & Montpellier - both with large student populations.
Posts: 140 | Location: San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 21 January 2008
Refining my search: I'm examining in further detail Aix, Lyon, and Montpellier. Is expecting to find central one-bedroom apartments for 750-1000E/month reasonable?
Secondly, what is cost of living like in these three places?
----------------------------------- Pekorino, my food blog On The Road, Again [travel stories from 2005-2006]
what is cost of living like in these three places?
Provence is definitely more expensive than the Languedoc. We were not crazy about Montpellier, but there is a big student presence, and maybe it would be more attractive to someone younger. I just didn't find that the city had a lot of charm. Its main attractions seemed to be the gigantic downtown shopping center (maybe good for the GF?) and a rather sterile housing development. But there may be a lot of night life that wasn't what we were looking for.
Having been to Aix and Lyon and enjoyed them both, I would still like to recommend Dijon, another university town with the kinds of aspects you are looking for.
However, I do believe your price range is not realistic for an entire month. I would think you would be more likely to find 2000 euros more likely for a month. But good luck.
Here is a site for a great apartment in Dijon with a terrific location. http://www.myhomeindijon.com. We did not stay there but I did correspond with the owner for advice about Dijon before our trip in 2006. We were too large a party.
Fixed linked - marta
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marta,
Posts: 138 | Location: Philadelphia | Registered: 11 March 2007
Holger: thanks for the idea. Finding an apartment in Dijon looks to be more difficult than in other (more touristy, likely) places. But we'll keep it in mind.
----------------------------------- Pekorino, my food blog On The Road, Again [travel stories from 2005-2006]
Matt, my sister is going to be in Dijon for a month this summer researching a new book. She found a nice, inexpensive apartment from a small agency. I'll get the name and post back. I also like Dijon very much.
Matt, I don't know if you already made your choice. But Aix en Provence will clearly be my suggestion for all the reasons quoted before: On top of being a very lovely and lively city, it has easy access to the rest of Provence, the Côte d'Azur or even the Alps. Would you have the budget for renting a car, it would be even greater. One drawback,as Roz said, it is definitely quite expensive. Laurent
We're a long way from making a decision! We won't know till winter whether we're financially able to make the trip.
Laurent, are even groceries and market produce going to cost more? Food will be our biggest expense, and likely half of it will be made and consumed in the apartment.
----------------------------------- Pekorino, my food blog On The Road, Again [travel stories from 2005-2006]
Matt the agency in Dijon is Dijon Rentahome. The least expensive place (the Loft, where my sis is staying)is 540 euros/week, but I'll bet a month's stay would get a better rate. If Dijon interests you, I'd be happy to ask her to poke around for some other options while she's there.
Even if they granted a 50% off their weekly rate to book a month in July, it'd be 1200E - too much for us!
Regarding which city we end up in, the apartment will be a major part in the decision. We have to find a place that's inexpensive (1000E/month or under) and has enough space that we don't kill each other
So far I've looked at quite a few places (the usual suspects, and Annecy, Montpellier, Lille [thanks Marian soon Nimes too]) and there seem to be a few such apartments out there - but they are vastly outnumbered by outrageously priced studios or luxury apartments, neither of which will fly.
Maybe there'll be a miracle and the euro will depreciate 50%
----------------------------------- Pekorino, my food blog On The Road, Again [travel stories from 2005-2006]
Look at Tours as well. Large student population. Inexpensive local wines. Great food: the Touraine is the garden of France. And nice excursions to a lot of châteaux and wineries. Tours is a city of 200,000 or more so it has night life.
Where and how are you looking? Did you try searching in French under 'Meublés de tourisme' or Meublés appartment? I think meublés means furnished. You might get a bigger selection. Also what about something like Craig's List? Searching using French, I came across Kijiji listings for Aix en Provence. One interesting item I noticed is it looks like some students sublet their apartments for two months in the summer (July and August).
