Hi my partner is shortly moving work headquarters from Canary Wharf, London to Geneva (close to the airport) We (my partner, me, 8 year old daughter and two cats) are considering where we would like to live. This feels very daunting as we don't know where to start, but someone suggested Annecy. Is commuting to Geneva feasible? We want to rent a house to give us outdoor space, any chance in or round Annecy? Your views and advice would be very welcome

Hi Annemarie,

I do the commute from Annecy to Geneva. It is quite manageable, and a lot easier with the new autoroute. Shouldn't be find to hard something on the outskirts of Annecy if you are looking for a house. Real estate prices are a lot more reasonable than in Geneva too. Obviously the other issue is schooling for your daughter - it might be worth checking out the options before you commit to a particular property.

Cheers,

Craig

Thanks Craig, roughly how long is the commute? I bet it won't be worse than the Blackwall Tunnel.
I've read with interest some of the posts about primary schools, it sounds like we need to sort a school out first then look for properties?
Is there a French equivalent of Ofsted reports? if not how do you find out the approaches and skills of individual schools, visiting them, word of mouth? Any advice is very welcome.

Anne-Marie

Hi Annemarie,

It takes me about an hour door to door, but that's mainly because we pick someone up on the way (we carshare....). If I was doing it myself from the centre of Annecy to the Palais de Nations in Geneva it would take about 45 minutes (less if I leave really early in the morning). Probably deduct 5 minutes to the airport, and if you can find somewhere near the autoroute exit, that will win you some time too. At any rate it's a pretty stress-free commute (especially if you have flexitime arrangements...)

No Ofsted-type reports that I have heard of in France, although I seem to remember some noises being made about independent evaluation of schools.
Visiting the schools is the best idea, otherwise word-of-mouth advice is very helpful :).
If you choose private you are obviously not subject to catchment areas, but it is up to you to decide how much time you want to spend taxiing your daughter around...Traffic can be a bit of a pain around Annecy (that is why we chose to live in the centre, but had to sacrifice quite a lot of space.. :()

HTH,

Craig

Thanks Craig that is really helpful, the commute sounds managable which is great, but obviously we need to get over there for a few weekends to explore where we might want to settle. I daresay that I'll be back on the forum soon with more questions!

Thanks again for your help

Anne-Marie