[le2012]

Hi all,

We are looking online at apartments in Lyon to get an idea of sizes and costs -- mostly to help decide what to bring when we move in August. From our limited visits to Lyon, we are looking in Arrondissements 2 (near Bellecour and Presqu'ile), 5 (Vieux Lyon), and 6 (near Parc de la Tete d'Or). We are interested in whether anyone here living in Lyon can give us more insights into some of the areas of Lyon -- and what they offer.

Our rationales for our choices:

Arr. 2 is where we stayed in an apartment on our visit, and we loved the quaint feel, the proximity to the market on the Saone (and everything else), and the ease of transport (including walkability).

Arr. 6, near the Park, seems to offer an easy place to go for a run or bike ride

Arr. 5, in Vieux Lyon, is similar to Arr. 2

My husband will be working at an organization located in Arr. 8 (close to Arr. 3). We have considered this area, but it looks filled with hospitals and other large institutions.

Our lifestyle is pretty simple

-- grown children, so no worry about schools
-- enjoy (need!) outdoor activities (running, biking, hiking, kayaking)
-- prefer walking to work (and elsewhere, e.g. the metro to get to work)
-- prefer markets, avoid large stores
-- mostly cook our own meals with local foods, but look forward to eating out in Lyon!

Other factors:

-- limited French, but improving and plan to make it a priority once in Lyon
-- I will go from full-time work (my husband and I have been in the same academic department for 6+ years) to part-time teaching online courses .... so no work contact with locals

So, I will need to make an effort to go out and make acquaintances, speak the language, etc. (I plan to take an Intensive French course when I arrive, so will meet some people there.)

All insights, advice, cautions are welcome! For example, what kinds of things did you not expect but which drove you crazy once you settled on a place to live?

Thanks so much!
Leslie

 

[Bevdeforges]

Definitely contact the AVF (Accueil des Villes Françaises) in Lyon avflyonrhone - Espace de communication de l'AVF Lyon Rhône

AVF is an association for newcomers to the various towns in France. The Lyon AVF is a large group and has a special section for foreigners just arriving in town. This includes French conversation groups to help you practice, and outings to help you make friends among both the expat and the French community in town.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[le2012]

Choosing place to live in Lyon

Dear Bev,

Thank you for the helpful information. The AVF sounds like a good way to find some human contact while my husband is meeting new work colleagues! A new (exciting) experience for me.

Leslie

 

[Marianne2010]

Depending on where you will work it is certainly very important to check the TCL (public transportation) map to see how it works. Going from Presqu'Ile to the 8th district will not be a charm. Then if you're more of an outdoor family, settling inside Lyon might not be the best choice if truly you wish to enjoy fresh air. The AVF has a great office here and will be glad to help.

 

[JaneLilly]

Hi Leslie

I would be interested to know how you are getting on with finding accommodation - perhaps you are already in Lyon. We are in a similar position, planning to move next summer and wondering which areas would be good. So far, our favourite area is La Croix Rousse.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Jane

 

[le2012]

Hi Leslie

I would be interested to know how you are getting on with finding accommodation - perhaps you are already in Lyon. We are in a similar position, planning to move next summer and wondering which areas would be good. So far, our favourite area is La Croix Rousse.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Jane

Hi Jane! Thanks for contacting me. We are just moving into our "new" apartment next week, which is a beautiful apartment in a very old building. Since moving here late August, we have lived in a furnished flat that was close to the area with which we were already familiar ... in the Presqu'ile.

To find where we wanted to live on a more permanent basis, we spent the first few weeks just walking around the entire city. The first week, I was averaging 5 hours a day of walking! It was very useful, though, to see what daily life is like in each section. (We love Croix Rousse, too, but we love cycling and walking ... and the thought of climbing the hill on a dreary evening in winter (or cycling it) would not be very appealing. However, we spent all last Sunday exploring the Croix Rousse area just for fun.)

Perhaps our living in this area (d'Ainay, which is just south of Place Bellecour, and north of Perrache) and getting to know the local merchants influenced our decision ... but we ended up choosing a place just around the corner, on Rue Vaubecour. It is close to Place Carnot, where there is a farmer's market on Wednesday, and a larger market on Sunday. It is also convenient to the center of everything, and close to the Saone ... so convenient to Vieux Lyon as well. I'm taking French lessons in the Eastern part of the City, and I walk home about 1.5 miles, although metro is available and convenient.

We looked at a lot of apartments in the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th arr. after our initial explorations, and settled on a quieter area in the 2nd arr. with less commercial business. (We used "Seloger" which has a great search engine.)

One thing we regret .... we left behind a lot of our furniture, which is now being stored in the US. Our apartment here is big enough to have accommodated it all, and we regret that we didn't bring it! We'll end up buying some furniture.

A note of caution that we didn't expect: we thought getting an apartment would be pretty easy, but a lot of people are competing for the same apartments. It took us 2-3 weeks to find out if we got the one we applied for. The woman who lives there now (and has lived in the apartment for 15 years) said many many people looked it.

In short, our decision on where to live was based on: (1) a few specific areas we decided we could and would like to live; (2) what specific apartments were available in those areas, (3) convenience to my husband's work -- we don't want a car yet, (4) feelings of safety and "belonging", (5) overall ambiance -- we didn't really want a commercial area.

The nice thing about Lyon is that regardless of where you live, there are plenty of interesting places to visit in every other section of the city! We chose to live in a quiet area that is extremely convenient to everything. (When you look at apartments, check to see if there are bars and restaurants in close proximity ... we looked at a lovely apartment on the Saone, but the tenants said they couldn't tolerate the noise anymore. The bars here close around 4 am ..... we wouldn't have thought of this).

It's great to be able to share my experience! If you have other questions about specific areas, please let me know. I'll be glad to check things out for you as well.

Leslie

 

[emilymathews]

Leslie- if you need to buy stuff, go to Puces du Canal: Les Puces du Canal | Les jeudis, samedis et dimanche, à Villeurbanne

We live in a large house in Brignais, and needed lots of storage pieces to make up for the lack of closets. We found a GREAT dealer at Puces who has given us some great deals on some GORGEOUS antiques. And he delivers for free!! He is very, very nice, and we have ended up buying about 8 pieces from him. His name is Jean-Yves Chenguelia, and he's located inside the building. He doesn't speak English, but he finds our poor French amusing, and just make sure to know your numbers well to negotiate.

Puces is great fun, and it's a great way to spend a leisurely Sunday morning (open until 2 on Sunday). Another option is Dépot-vente Troc.com : achat vente de meubles d'occasion, d'électroménager d'occasion.... They have tons of furniture, but I personally think Mr. Chenguelia has better prices. Troc is fun for decor items though- I've gotten some great antique copper pieces there for dirt cheap.

 

[le2012]

Leslie- if you need to buy stuff, go to Puces du Canal: Les Puces du Canal | Les jeudis, samedis et dimanche, à Villeurbanne

We live in a large house in Brignais, and needed lots of storage pieces to make up for the lack of closets. We found a GREAT dealer at Puces who has given us some great deals on some GORGEOUS antiques. And he delivers for free!! He is very, very nice, and we have ended up buying about 8 pieces from him. His name is Jean-Yves Chenguelia, and he's located inside the building. He doesn't speak English, but he finds our poor French amusing, and just make sure to know your numbers well to negotiate.

Puces is great fun, and it's a great way to spend a leisurely Sunday morning (open until 2 on Sunday). Another option is Dépot-vente Troc.com : achat vente de meubles d'occasion, d'électroménager d'occasion.... They have tons of furniture, but I personally think Mr. Chenguelia has better prices. Troc is fun for decor items though- I've gotten some great antique copper pieces there for dirt cheap.

Emily,

Many, many thanks! We will check these out! We are buying a few things from the former tenant (kitchen cabinets and appliances, a wooden table, a huge old armoire, a few small tables) but we will definitely need other things. We also have a grenier and cave, so lots of storage space!

Yes, the numbers ... I recently used "seize" for "soixante" ... embarrassing context, too! And, in French class, everyone else was pretty amused at my "quatre-vingt-dix-cinq". My local fromager is helping me with the language and recently loaned me a little book "la lexique anglais du fromager". Great people here -- I love it!

Leslie

Leslie

 

[hils]

We live in a large house in Brignais

Just for personal interest, I spent a lovely summer in a caravan with my then boyfriend on the campsite at Brignais in about 1977 (al fresco sex etc - great memories lol), but one of our other pleasures was a fantastic Charcuterie in town. Is it still there? Is it still worth making the detour off the Givors- St.E motorway to get stuff?

Hils

 

[emilymathews]

Just for personal interest, I spent a lovely summer in a caravan with my then boyfriend on the campsite at Brignais in about 1977 (al fresco sex etc - great memories lol), but one of our other pleasures was a fantastic Charcuterie in town. Is it still there? Is it still worth making the detour off the Givors- St.E motorway to get stuff?

Hils

Well, there are 2, and our house is about 100 meters from one, so we always use that one (and have been very pleased with it). It's Pascal Combet, but I think he's in his mid 40's, so I doubt he was the proprietaire back in the 70's. I'll have to try out the other one (need to anyway, as Pascal is on vacation to South Africa for 2 weeks!) and I'll let you know how it is.

 

[emilymathews]

Emily,

Many, many thanks! We will check these out! We are buying a few things from the former tenant (kitchen cabinets and appliances, a wooden table, a huge old armoire, a few small tables) but we will definitely need other things. We also have a grenier and cave, so lots of storage space!

Yes, the numbers ... I recently used "seize" for "soixante" ... embarrassing context, too! And, in French class, everyone else was pretty amused at my "quatre-vingt-dix-cinq". My local fromager is helping me with the language and recently loaned me a little book "la lexique anglais du fromager". Great people here -- I love it!

Leslie

Leslie

I struggle with the French numbers as well- what a bizarre system!!! That's great you were able to buy that stuff from the previous tenants. You'll like Puces if you like antiques- 200 year old French antiques at Ikea prices... what's not to like? Have you guys joined the American Club yet? I've met some really great people through there, and especially since you're children are grown it's a nice way to meet people. French people join it as well, so it has a good mix of people. We are loving it here, too- I find the people of the Lyon area to be very, very friendly and kind. Plus, it's absolutely gorgeous! I just love driving out in the countryside and up into the Monts Lyonaisse.

 

[Charlot]

Hi Leslie,

Thanks for posting back and congrats on a successful integration (I love that the cheese monger lent you a book!). Thanks Emily, too.

I plan to move to Lyon next spring and would love to benefit from your (or others') experience, if you have the time -- I see you're moving next week.

I currently live in NW France. It was easy for me to find and rent an apartment here, but the competition isn't fierce. May I ask:

1. What documents were requested by the real estate agency (or owner)?

2. Are there any agencies you particularly liked/disliked? FYI I've narrowed my search to the 6th.

3, Do you know why you were the chosen ones vs. the many others who were interested?

4. How did you find the opportunity to speak with building tenants (Saone apt)?

5. I will likely need to rent a furnished accommodation for a few weeks while conducting my search, if you liked where you stayed, could you PM the details to me?

If now's not a good time to deal with this laundry list, perhaps at a later date? Thanks so much.

In the spirit of sharing here are a couple of restos I really liked in Lyon:

M 47 ave Foch 6ème
Archange 6 rue Hippolyte Flandrin 1er
Yomogi 1 rue Hippolyte Flandrin (Pl Sathonay) 1er (yummy but huge green tea tiramisu)

Bonne continuation, Charlot

 

[le2012]

Hi Leslie,

Thanks for posting back and congrats on a successful integration (I love that the cheese monger lent you a book!). Thanks Emily, too.

I plan to move to Lyon next spring and would love to benefit from your (or others') experience, if you have the time -- I see you're moving next week.

I currently live in NW France. It was easy for me to find and rent an apartment here, but the competition isn't fierce. May I ask:

1. What documents were requested by the real estate agency (or owner)?

2. Are there any agencies you particularly liked/disliked? FYI I've narrowed my search to the 6th.

3, Do you know why you were the chosen ones vs. the many others who were interested?

4. How did you find the opportunity to speak with building tenants (Saone apt)?

5. I will likely need to rent a furnished accommodation for a few weeks while conducting my search, if you liked where you stayed, could you PM the details to me?

If now's not a good time to deal with this laundry list, perhaps at a later date? Thanks so much.

In the spirit of sharing here are a couple of restos I really liked in Lyon:

M 47 ave Foch 6ème
Archange 6 rue Hippolyte Flandrin 1er
Yomogi 1 rue Hippolyte Flandrin (Pl Sathonay) 1er (yummy but huge green tea tiramisu)

Bonne continuation, Charlot

Bonjour Charlot! Thank you for the recommendations -- we'll try these out!

I'll address your questions below:

1. What documents were requested by the real estate agency (or owner)?

- RIB from the bank
- Invoice showing last rent paid from our current landlord
- Proof of income (we used my husband's work contract)

We were fortunate we did not need a guarantor, because my husband's income was sufficient; however, people I've met at Alliance Francaise, where I have been studying French, have had difficulty finding guarantors. (Many of them are not working, though.)

2. Are there any agencies you particularly liked/disliked? FYI I've narrowed my search to the 6th.

We dealt with a few agencies to look at apartments. We found apartments through internet searches, mostly through seloger.com, and dealt with the agencies who were managing the apartments. We also dealt with some owners through pap.fr. All the agencies seemed to be pretty slow at getting back to us. We finally just went in person to Galyo, which manages the apartment we're moving into, and talked with someone. But after submitting the application, they took a very long time to get back to us. They said they couldn't contact the owner .. so that may have been the holdup.

3, Do you know why you were the chosen ones vs. the many others who were interested?


No idea! I know they preferred a family or couple over students, but no other ideas about why they chose us. Maybe we were one of the first applicants.

4. How did you find the opportunity to speak with building tenants (Saone apt)?

If you find an apartment that is not immediately available, you will deal with the current tenants. We looked at 3 apartments, including the one we got, that were not available until late October or early November, so the tenants showed the apartments to us.

5. I will likely need to rent a furnished accommodation for a few weeks while conducting my search, if you liked where you stayed, could you PM the details to me?

This is a great place ... but it has been sold and will not be available after October! We found it through Appart Ambiance, which has a number of furnished apartments. (I also communicated with someone from Sabbaticalhomes.com, where there are several furnished apartments advertised. If the timing had worked, I would have chosen one there. It turns out that one of the apartments from Sabbaticalhomes is our new next door neighbor!).

I hope this helps ... I'm glad to share our experiences. I can't believe how much I've learned since being here!

Leslie

 

[le2012]

I struggle with the French numbers as well- what a bizarre system!!! That's great you were able to buy that stuff from the previous tenants. You'll like Puces if you like antiques- 200 year old French antiques at Ikea prices... what's not to like? Have you guys joined the American Club yet? I've met some really great people through there, and especially since you're children are grown it's a nice way to meet people. French people join it as well, so it has a good mix of people. We are loving it here, too- I find the people of the Lyon area to be very, very friendly and kind. Plus, it's absolutely gorgeous! I just love driving out in the countryside and up into the Monts Lyonaisse.

Emily,

Thanks for the suggestion of the American Club. Just last week I decided I need to find some people with whom I can talk! When I finish October's french lessons at the end of next week, I had planned to check out AVF. Is this the same as the American Club?

Leslie

 

[Charlot]

Hi Again, Leslie!

Your reply was very helpful. Thank you so much.

Salut, Charlot

 

[-mia-]

To add to Emily's list of place to buy stuff:

Leboncoin.fr for used stuff. you are usually dealing with individuals but sometimes the brocante dealers are on there too.

maisondumonde.fr they also have real life stores so I'm sure you've seen it.

 

[le2012]

To add to Emily's list of place to buy stuff:

Leboncoin.fr for used stuff. you are usually dealing with individuals but sometimes the brocante dealers are on there too.

maisondumonde.fr they also have real life stores so I'm sure you've seen it.

Thank you!!

 

[emilymathews]

Emily,

Thanks for the suggestion of the American Club. Just last week I decided I need to find some people with whom I can talk! When I finish October's french lessons at the end of next week, I had planned to check out AVF. Is this the same as the American Club?

Leslie

They are different (I think- don't quote me on that, LOL!). It's 50 euros a year to join for your family, and they have TONS of events. One thing you would probably enjoy would be the coffee and chats on Tuesdays (generally near Bellecour). Here's a list of the other upcoming events: Events

It's a great way to make contacts and meet new friends. They are also a great resource for help (need someone to make a call for you, etc) and information (where do you buy...). My kids make it much easier for me to make friends (through their International school, at the park, etc), but I know my friends here without kids have a hard time meeting people.

 

[emilymathews]

To add to Emily's list of place to buy stuff:

Leboncoin.fr for used stuff. you are usually dealing with individuals but sometimes the brocante dealers are on there too.

maisondumonde.fr they also have real life stores so I'm sure you've seen it.

Thanks- going to check those out!! :clap2:

 

[Bevdeforges]

They are different (I think- don't quote me on that, LOL!). It's 50 euros a year to join for your family, and they have TONS of events. One thing you would probably enjoy would be the coffee and chats on Tuesdays (generally near Bellecour). Here's a list of the other upcoming events: Events

It's a great way to make contacts and meet new friends. They are also a great resource for help (need someone to make a call for you, etc) and information (where do you buy...). My kids make it much easier for me to make friends (through their International school, at the park, etc), but I know my friends here without kids have a hard time meeting people.

AVF is different from the American Club. The AVF in Lyon has an "international section" with members from all over the world. AVF in general is a French association dedicated to welcoming newcomers, whether French or foreign. One "advantage" to the AVF is that you get to meet both French people and other foreigners all in the same group. But there are also times you simply "need" to be with fellow countrymen and women. Nothing stopping you from joining both groups!
Cheers,
Bev