FrenchMystiqueTours

If you'd like to learn more about Moret-sur-Loing I have written a trip report about it as well as trip reports about many of the towns nearby. The reports are full of photos and historical tidbits. If you'd like to have a look here are the links to my reports:

http://tinyurl.com/6d7a9jn

http://tinyurl.com/69dvhyz

If you need any help with transport or what to see and do in the area I visit that area frequently and can give you some advice.

FrenchMystiqueTours

One more thing, as mentioned you'll need to get from the airport to Paris. In Paris your train will depart from Gare de Lyon for Moret Veneux les Sablons. To get info on train times for that journey use the website www.transilien.com.

learningfrench

I think that Moret-sur-Loing looks like the type town I would like to stay in--thank you for the info re/ the train, and French Mystique Tours, thank you for the info and great pictures! Now I need to find an appartment, small gite, someplace to stay that is within walking distance to everything. I will look on chambre d'hotes and gites d'hotes.
Any ideas? FMT--would you recommend this town or perhaps another one nearby that you saw in your travels>

FrenchMystiqueTours

The towns in my report that I think would best suit you would be Moret-sur-Loing, Montigny-sur-Loing and Bourron-Marlotte. Each of these towns has a train station, although in any of them you could be a 1km to 2km walk from the train station. Moret has the most to offer in terms of services, commerce, shopping. It is also the largest in terms of population (pop. 4,600) and is the town that attracts the tourists. Montigny and Bourron-Marlotte are a little sleepier and more fit what you described in terms of looking for a little village. The only tourists here will be French. They do have less to offer in terms of shopping but I assume you can probably find your daily necessary items. Montigny has a population of about 2,800 and Bourron-Marlotte a population of about 3,000. I looked on the gites-de-france website and found no listings in Moret-sur-Loing. I found 1 place in Montigny that is for 1-2 people and 5 places in Bourron-Marlotte that are for 1-2 people. Most of them looked rather charming. I did find a charming place for 1-2 people in Saint-Mammes, which is 2km from Moret, but I think the other villages have more charm. The website I searched was www.gites-de-france.com. I didn't search any other websites but there are loads of websites you can check for self catering accommodation. Here is a list:

The two that I always use are:
www.abritel.fr
www.homelidays.com

Here are links to several more:
www.gites-de-france.com
www.clevacances.com
www.holiday-rentals.co.uk
www.frenchconnections.co.uk
www.papvacances.com
www.cheznous.com
www.vacationinfrance.com
www.francelodge.com
www.vrbo.com
www.ownersdirect.co.uk

Something else you might want to consider would be renting a bike for the duration of your stay. As you saw in my reports I ride my bike all over the area and it is a great way to get around cheaply. Most places around there are fairly flat and easy to ride. Sure, there are some hills but no Tour de France type stuff. On a practical note you might like a bike to go back and forth to the train station to go to Paris. You can lock your bike at the train stations. It would also be good for trips to get groceries, especially if they're more than a 5 or 10 minute walk. I know a guy in the area who rents bikes and if you want I can give you his contact info. He speaks English too. He may only rent mountain bikes, if that's a problem, but you can ask.

Others have already pointed out that mixing with the locals might not happen the way you were hoping and they listed their reasons why this could be so. However, you have the benefit of their advice and can make up your mind for yourself if this is still something you want to do. If you just consider it as a chance to enjoy a month in a lovely, small French countryside village and you're just there to relax and enjoy life and that is your minimum expectation then I don't think you will be disappointed. If you get to mingle with the locals and work on/improve your French skills consider it a bonus. If you make some new friends then it's an overwhelming success. I say go for it just for the thrill. Let me know if you need further help.

Coquelicot

Your plan sounds good to me and FMT has given you lots of good advice. You can arrange your visit so there's a balance between the excitement of Paris and the comforts of your own quiet place.

I see you're considering a gite. You may find that a B&B works out cheaper. But the bigger draw for us is the opportunity to talk to other guests in the morning and evening. In a gite you're on your own, maybe not even interacting with the gite owner. Many B&Bs have cooking facilities for guests if that's something you're interested in.

Once you decide on your village, you can email the tourist office there and ask if there's somebody in town who can give you language lessons (better to find somebody with training in this area). Also, some areas have enough new residents that there's an association of language learners you can join.

learningfrench

Actually, I thought about looking into a B&B for the same reasons---I would have people to talk with., but I would wwant to have a place where I could cook once in a while. So I have homework to do! Thank you for your help-it is great!

learningfrench

Another thing--walking is not a problem, I walk every day here, and will certainly enjoy walking there. I also thought about the bicycle, so FMT, if you could send me the name of your person who rents bikes, that would be great.

Michel_Paris

To throw in a radical Plan B....there are many well known french immersion 'villages' in Quebec Canada, that are designed to have you stay with a french family, speaking only french. Used by government employees here, since we are officially bilingual.

Not that I would not also prefer France

FrenchMystiqueTours

The link below, for bike rentals, is the one I mentioned. The owner, Mathieu, speaks English:

http://animation-pour-entreprises.fr/vtt.aspx

Here are a couple of other places in the area that rent bikes if you want to compare prices:

http://www.nature-loisir.com/vtt-fontainebleau.html
http://www.alapetitereine.com/pages/location-velo.php
http://www.moret-eauxvives.fr/location-velo.htm

For a month long rental you should be able to get a discount over any daily or weekly rental rates.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Also, Coquelicot brings up a good point about contacting tourist offices to find accommodation. All tourist offices provide that as a free service if you contact them and since they are local they have contact with most of the lodging establishments in an area. You've got the tourist office info for Moret-sur-Loing so here are the links for the other towns I mentioned:

http://bourronmarlotte.free.fr/assoc...e_Tourisme.htm

Montigny doesn't have a tourist office website or e-mail but they do have a phone and fax number:

http://www.canalmonde.fr/r-annuaire-...%20sur%20Loing

learningfrench

I am expanding my research now. I am looking at all the towns that are name in Annabel Simms book "An Hour From Paris".
I looked at Chantilly, but it looked a little big. Senlis, north of there? Last night I read about Conflans-Ste Honorine. That looked like a fun area, along the river.
One thing I did yesterday, which I thought was a good thing, I went to "Google Earth" to check out what Moret-sur-Loing looked like. I think I will do that for each town, I am thinking I might want to be in a little larger town(but not too big) where I would have somethings to do.I think I will do that for each town.
So, FMT- I would appreciate any advice you could give me., anyone else also. thanks also for the information about the bike rental shops.

learningfrench

Or, I could be in a small town and walk or bike to a town where they offer more---library, museum, etc.

Coquelicot

One thing that might help you decide on a village or town is to use the yellow pages (pagesjaunes.fr) to look up boulangeries, pizza places, cinemas, restaurants, cafes, museums--any kind of thing that's of particular interest to you or that you think might be helpful in language learning. The more hits you get, the more amenities the town has (or the bigger the town is). As far as I'm concerned, the more boulangeries the better.

Coquelicot

Back again. I just thought of three websites I use a lot that come in handy for learning French.

The first is an online dictionary, French to English and vice versa plus Italian, Spanish, Portuguese.

http://www.wordreference.com/fren/

The next website lets you listen to how words are spoken in French. You can see on a map where the speaker is from–could be from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, or elsewhere.

www.forvo.com/login/

Not having a French keyboard is not a problem if you use http://french.typeit.org/
You can easily click on the various accented letters to insert them into what you’re typing.

Sorry if I'm giving you information you already have, but I don't recall how good your French is already.

FrenchMystiqueTours

If you want something a little larger there are many options with about an hour of Paris by train. Fontainebleau would be a very good choice as it is near Moret and some of the other towns I mentioned but is quite lively in terms of restos and cafés. Yet it is not overdeveloped and still retains a town feel more than an urban feel. A town with similar character would be Chartres. Another option north of Paris like the other two would be Compiègne. These places are bigger than Chantilly or Senlis and have more to offer than the other two places. Chantilly or Senlis are not overdeveloped, if google earth made them appear that way.

Two other medieval places you could consider would be the towns of Laon and Provins.

If you want to be just a 20-30 minute RER ride from Paris you could consider the suburbs of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Rueil-Malmaison of even Versailles. They are developed but still feel very provincial and there's plenty to do in these places.

I've written trip reports about most of the places I've mentioned and they are all full of photos if you want to check them out.

Saint-Germain and Rueil-Malmaison: http://tinyurl.com/2fa3qsf

Chartres: http://tinyurl.com/33bksux

Provins: http://tinyurl.com/253zs6r

Laon: http://tinyurl.com/298tppr

Compiègne: http://tinyurl.com/6snrf3q

Fontainebleau: http://tinyurl.com/4bduunh

Here's a report another forum member wrote about Senlis:

http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...&page=1#112289

Note that there is no train service to Senlis so you need to take a bus to nearby Chantilly to get the train to Paris.

I think your problem is going to be finding that balance between "small town feel" and someplace where there is some activity. You're going to have to compromise a bit to get more of one than the other. Check out the list I gave you and let me know what you think. I haven't mentioned every place but that list is a good start.

learningfrench

ok, it looks like a have a little reading to do, FMT-I will look at these reports and get back to you. and
Coquelicot----good idea about the yellow pages, and I agree about the boulangeries!

FrenchMystiqueTours

Coquelicot brought up a good point about the yellow pages search on the various types of commercial/retail/entertainment services a town may offer. Also, you should look at official town websites or their tourist office websites. They are all different but quite often you'll find a link listing all the various types of services a town has to offer (pharmacies, restos, supermarkets etc.). Other things you might want to know are when are the weekly markets and about other food stores such as fromageries (cheese), boucheries/charcuteries (butcher and other meats), primeur (fruit stores), supermarché (supermarket) etc.

To find tourist office/official websites just google "site officiel (enter your town)" or "office de tourisme (enter your town)" and this will bring the town to the top of your search.

learningfrench

Well, now I am looking in another direction---Chantilly; which I thought was too big, too many trucks when I went to google earth. but then I found Mouroux, which looks like a beautiful town. I did find a rental there, waiting to hear back from the owner. It looked like exactly what I am looking for, in the center of the city, but I think you shoulld have a car. Also found the town of Coulommiers. I went to the office du tourisme page and had a hard time finding places to stay. There didn't seem to be an email address there either.
Still more work to do!

FrenchMystiqueTours

Are you still thinking about Chantilly? It wasn't clear from your post. I've been to Coulommiers. It's a nice town and it has enough activities, stores, cafés, restos etc. There's a lovely park there and the Morin river and a canal meander through the old downtown. There's also a 12th/13th century Knights Templar Commanderie in the town. I liked Couommiers. However, if you base in Coulommiers you want to be in the old downtown, which is near the river. As you move uphill away from the river it is all ugly modern apartment building style development. If you are in the old downtown you won't see or be bothered by any of the modern development.

I've actually explored that region by bike a few times and it's some nice country. How on earth did you find Mouloux??? Or Coulommiers for that matter??? I haven't been to Mouroux but I just googled a few photos and it looks nice enough. If you based in Mouroux you could certainly ride your bike to Coulommiers if you wanted a little more activity, or you could ride to Faremoutiers, which is smaller than Coulommiers.

There's a really lovely town not far from there called Crécy-la-Chapelle which is probably the most charming town in that area. It's referred to as the Little Venice of the Brie region because of the canals and the river that cut through the town. You would not, however, have a larger town like Coulommiers to bike to from Crécy though.

I've got a bunch of photos from my rides in that area and once I put them on photobucket I'll put a link up here so you can have a look. I really enjoy biking in that area. It's very pretty.

Just a tip about buying train tickets from Mouroux or Coulommiers to Paris. When you go from either of those places to Paris you want to buy a Mobilis Pass good for zones 1 through 5. These towns are in zone 5. The pass costs 14 euros and is good for all public transport for one day (trains and buses) in zones 1 through 5. You can use it all day on buses and the métro/RER in Paris. If you just bought individual tickets to Paris and back to Coulommiers or Mouroux it would cost more than the Mobilis pass and wouldn't even include métros or buses in Paris. The Mobilis pass is the way to go if you are day tripping to Paris from either of these towns or pretty much any town in zones 4 and 5.

Christina

I was going to mention that the idea of staying in a small village without a car is not really very practical. People who live there have cars, small towns/villages don't have public transportation. And train stations are often not in the center of such places, in fact, they are often on the edges. So being within walking distance of the train station and the center of town may not be that easy to do. IN any case, trying to find the perfect one-month rental that fits such requirements is probalby going to be very difficult if you stay in a small place. I know Moret-sur-Loing doesn't have any bus or public transportation system, and the train station is not near the center of town (relatively, it's probably about 1-1.5 miles). I visited it by train and walked from the station into the town but I like walking and it was summer, so nice weather, but if you had a place on certain sides of the town, it could be even farther. You have to walk quite a ways at Chantilly to get places, also IMO. People who live in these small villages have cars.