Hi all!

I'm new to this site, have just been googling all things French today as we're moving from Sydney to Lyon in August 08. My husband (a kiwi) has just signed a contract to play rugby for Lyon OU. We have two children, 7 yrs and 10 mths.
For those of you with young children, would you recommend putting them in a local public school without knowing any French? Or would an International School be better (although very expensive)?
Are there any other expats on here living in Lyon? Does anyone know of a mothers group or paly group in the area for expats?

Any other helpful advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Kelly :)

Hi Kelly and welcome

Sounds like you have an exciting time ahead of you. How long is your husband's contract for? August is a good time to arrive as the new school year will start in September. Personally at age 7 I would just put your child straight into public school so he or she learns french and keep up with reading/writing in english at home. You may have a few tough weeks but within a few months you'll see your child speaking and understanding french.

As for mother's groups or play groups, its not quite the same as back in Australia but I have managed to find a few activities for my toddler through the local MJC Maison de L'enfance. There are sure to be some in Lyon. There is also a group called Message in Paris. They apparently have a good forum at www.messageparis.org (http://www.messageparis.org). I say apparently as you have to pay to read and I was too cheap to subscribe:). But I did buy their Parenting in Paris book which was very useful with lots of background information.

The other thing is do any of you speak french? If not, maybe consider some french lessons before you come especially for your 7 year old.

Good luck with the move and let me know if I can help with any other questions. We live in Annecy which is a couple of hours from Lyon.

Hi,

I'm magali. I moved from Sydney last Sept to Saint Emilion near Bordeaux with my hubby and little boy (now 13 mths). As Penny said, there are no or very few play groups. I found it tricky at first been with my little one and not knowing many people. I decided a few weeks ago to put him in a creche - halt garderie ( like a kindy) but only for a couple of mornings a week. This has allowed me a little of time to myself and also I am slowly meeting other parents. Also I am going to try and go to nanny playgroups. Most children are kept by nannies as of 3 months old in france and some villages organise playgroups for these nannies a couple of times a month. At the moment, the person who organises our area in on sick leave so they are replacing her soon. I am not sure if they will allow me to join in but I will keep you up to date.
You will meet new parents also with your 7 yr old. French people can look a bit cold at first. But once they warm up to you, they will be great especially you are aussie (they fantasize on australia like we do for europe). Rugby groups can also be a good way of meeting people. My hubby is very rugby and there is a good family feeling about this sport in France.

Anyway, all the best and chat soon.

Cheers
magali

Hi Kelly

I live in Lyon and my husband regularly goes to Lou to watch the games.

I came to this site whilst looking for info on websites and I had a look at the forum and came across your post.

I only recently did some research for a young Englishwoman also looking for an English-speaking mums group

I found two: one is Accueil Villes de France (AVF)

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/lyonavf.grandlyon.accueil/frameset.htm

for the other one you need to contact Karen Betts at bettschastagnier@free.fr

their website is http://www.english-mums.com/

Do join the international section of the AVF and you will meet plenty of people in your circumstances and willing to help out with advice etc

Do you speak French - you mention your husband is a "kiwi" ! where do you come from ?

also where do you plan to live in Lyon ?

For your children's school I would recomment the Cite Scolaire Internationale (CSI) in Gerland, a French school with International Sections. You can do a google search for more info or ask me for more details

do keep in touch and ask me for anything I can help with. I am a bit pressed for time as I have to try and get my 17 years old out of bed as he will be late for school !

Hope you like Lyon, it's a great city

Dominique

Thanks Penny, Magali & Dominique for your messages, they've all been really helpful!!!

HI, yes we're here. Australians who've spent a few years in UK before here. Basic French but surviving and absolutely loving it here. yes CSI is good but very competitive for Anglophone slots. drop me a personal email and we'll touch base with more info.

Hello there, my friend Dominique has sent me an email telling me about finding your post on this website. She suggested I might want to contact you.
We've been in Lyon since 2001. My kids were 7 and 9 then and we sent them to a school called Ombrosa - a French private school that has 1 week English/1 week French during primary school.
Currently, my daughter goes to the Cite Scolaire (CSI) in Gerland. She has been there for the last 4 years in the Anglophone section (which is terrific). However, it is a French governement school and your child will be required to fit into the french education system.
I would suggest that since your child is quite young that you put him/her into a local French school. It's amazing how fast they pick up the language. On the other hand, if you are only going to be here short term maybe the CSI would not be so daunting as they would be in an Anglophone environment which is much friendlier than the French school system.
650 euros won't get you anything much in Lyon - and certainly not a furnished appartment - head the warnings carefully - you will need a guarantor - make sure your husband's company will do this for you - no ifs or buts - make it very very clear!.
Furnishing your appart. from Ikea is the most usual thing to do - you can get away with a smaller budget and still have resonable furniture.
Gerland has plenty of appartments and is on the metro and bus system which works really well in Lyon. It's not a bad place to be at all. There's a big park not too far away and it's easy to get into town - only a few metro stations away.
Lyon is great city! You will enjoy it I think.
Do join the AVF as someone else mentioned. It's an international group full of people like yourself from all around the place.
If you choose CSI there has been a group in previous years especially for mums with young kids.
There is also the Anglican church which has is also great for families with young kids (they are not to fussy about your denomination at all - everyone is welcome here - a nice 'family'- even if you're not really the churchy type!).
If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask - I've been here long enough to know most of the ins and outs and dos and don'ts of this place! and plenty of contacts to help you along.
Be prepared too for August - it is dead as a doornail in Lyon. EVERYONE is on holiday - don't think that you've arrived in the most boring city in the world! - It's just a fact of life here - no-one works in August -they're all down in the Med for summer! But once the 're-entree' starts in September everything springs back into life.
Hope this is helpful - do contact me again anytime!
Wanda

Hi all!

I'm new to this site, have just been googling all things French today as we're moving from Sydney to Lyon in August 08. My husband (a kiwi) has just signed a contract to play rugby for Lyon OU. We have two children, 7 yrs and 10 mths.
For those of you with young children, would you recommend putting them in a local public school without knowing any French? Or would an International School be better (although very expensive)?
Are there any other expats on here living in Lyon? Does anyone know of a mothers group or paly group in the area for expats?

Any other helpful advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Kelly :)
Hi Kelly
I just read your post about moving to Lyon from last year. I am Irish and married to an Australian. We (along with our 6 week old baby girl) are currently living in Melbourne but about to relocate to Lyon for a year for my husband's work in ten days.
Did you have any luck finding mother's groups or similar? I did e-mail to Lyon English Speaking Mothers Group a while ago but did not get any reply. Perhaps it no longer exists.
Also we are planning on renting a furnished apartment close to the city. The rent seems to be about 1200-1500 euro per month. Would you know if that seems a fair enough amount to pay?
All advice welcome!
Many thanks in advance.
Emilie.

Hello

Just saw your email: as far as I know, the group is still alive but this is August: everything closes down and everybody goes away ! although I am still here in Lyon !

I have the telephone no of the woman who looks after it and if you send me a PM, I'll give it to you

AVF - accueil ville de France - also have a mothers' group. Activities will start again in September.

There is also an Irish group: http://afil.fr/

re: renting a furnished apartment: they are quite rare in France but if you give me more details, where it is, how big it is, etc, I might be able to find out if the rent it OK.

this website has good info: http://www.fgb-lyon.org/html/en_general.html

You can email me direct at: esentziak@hotmail.com.

I don't know if Kelly ever made it to Lyon - have not heard from her for a while and she was still in Australia before Christmas.

Hope you like Lyon. Not so easy with such a young baby but on the other hand, it's a good age for travelling: they can't run away from you !

If you need info on English-speaking doctors, paediatricians, ec, I have all that on my computer. The info has been compiled by parents of the International School of Lyon and the Monday Club.

Good luck or An t-adh leat

Dominique

Hi Wanda,
I'm moving my family to Lyon from the USA this summer. We hope to enroll our girls (12 and 14 by then) at CSI. We met with the school (anglophile section) in November and were impressed with how they integrate new non-French speaking children into the school.

Our girls are pretty nervous about moving to a new country and learning a new language. I wondered if you could share your personal experience with CSI with us in hopes of alleviating some of those fears.

I'm anxious about finding the right location for housing. Would like for the girls to have 30 min or less for their commute to schoool. I'll be working west of the city so would like to somehow avoid the F. Tunnel, but will use it if I must. My partner will be teaching English through a company located North of Lyon. We've thought about 6eme, 3eme, 7eme. Also about St. Foy Les Lyons and some of the Mount d'Or towns north of Lyon. Any thoughts about any of these places and access to CSI? The girls want a house. The adults would prefer an appartment in the city (with parking and 2 toilets!!). So much to think about! Any info would be much appreciated.

Regards,
Jennifer



Hello there, my friend Dominique has sent me an email telling me about finding your post on this website. She suggested I might want to contact you.
We've been in Lyon since 2001. My kids were 7 and 9 then and we sent them to a school called Ombrosa - a French private school that has 1 week English/1 week French during primary school.
Currently, my daughter goes to the Cite Scolaire (CSI) in Gerland. She has been there for the last 4 years in the Anglophone section (which is terrific). However, it is a French governement school and your child will be required to fit into the french education system.
I would suggest that since your child is quite young that you put him/her into a local French school. It's amazing how fast they pick up the language. On the other hand, if you are only going to be here short term maybe the CSI would not be so daunting as they would be in an Anglophone environment which is much friendlier than the French school system.
650 euros won't get you anything much in Lyon - and certainly not a furnished appartment - head the warnings carefully - you will need a guarantor - make sure your husband's company will do this for you - no ifs or buts - make it very very clear!.
Be prepared too for August - it is dead as a doornail in Lyon. EVERYONE is on holiday - don't think that you've arrived in the most boring city in the world! - It's just a fact of life here - no-one works in August -they're all down in the Med for summer! But once the 're-entree' starts in September everything springs back into life.
Hope this is helpful - do contact me again anytime!
Wanda

Hi Jennifer

Wanda has gone back to Australia.

You obviously know Lyon if you want to avoid the Tunnel de Fourvières ! where exactly will you be working in Lyon. I presume from what you write that your husband will be working in different locations ?

The easiest way to find out how long it will take for your children to get to the CSI is to do an itinerary on tcl.fr.

All the places you mention are fine, but are very different. The 6ème is very bourgeois but near the Parc de la Tête d'Or, the 3ème is a huge arrondissement , so it really depends where you live, and the 7ème has lot of apartments and is near the Parc de Gerland.

Ste Foy les Lyon is also nice but access to Lyon is not the easiest and all the villages in the Mont d'Or are also nice (and expensive) but again access to Lyon is not too easy but you will find a house with a garden there.

If you want a garden, you will have to live slightly outside Lyon, although there are houses with gardens in Lyon around Montchat/Sans Souci in the 8ème but it's the only place I can think of at the moment.

If you live in an apartment in the city centre, it can be difficult to find one with parking and if it's an old one (18th or 19th century), it's unlikely it will have two toilets !

Our son left the CSI a while ago but discussing it at my last book club, there are problems with capacity with the school having now something like 300 more students that it can actually cater for, with lots of problems with larger number of students per class, the canteen, etc.

Why don't you contact the APESA (the parents' committee) welcome committee ? I think Jill Kirby is the still the president.

http://www.apesalyon.org/index.php?id=51

If you don't mind my saying the following: do not underestime the problems for a 12 and a 14 year old to cope with a new language and a very different education system: the French education system is not for the faint-hearted !

I have free calls to the USA in my phone package so if you want me to ring you to discuss things further, send me a PM with your telephone number and which city you live in, so I can check the time difference before I call !

Dominique