kovsie

I have an offer for a home exchange in August with a family in Paris. They live in VILLENEUVE LE ROI.
They write: "We live in a house in a small town near Paris. The RER C station is 5 minutes on foot to get to Paris in 20 minutes".
All I can make out from the internet, is that this area is definitely not part of the touristy spots (which is fine with me), and it is near to Orly Airport (should this be a problem?). To me it seems more like a suburb than a small town? I have never been to Paris, and have no idea how the city 'works'.
In principle I would love to spend a month in "a small town near Paris"!!
Is this a safe area? Would you like to stay there for a month? Please help!

justineparis

No, I wouldn't but we have a poster here who I think might be a lot more help,, he lives just outside Paris and I think he will be able to give much better idea.. MrFM ( Frenchmsytic I think is name he goes by.. sorry not sure) If he sees this hopefully he will help.

I think its just a suburb by the airport.. and I bet the commute is optimistically stated ( five minute walk is ten minutes.. then WAIT for train,, could be 5 minutes or 15 .. then the ride.. 20-25 minutes.. it all adds up.

This assumes you are planning on going into paris most days. if you just want to sit in a house in a French suburb.. then its likely a good deal to exchange houses.

kovsie

Thanks Justine! I do not particularly want to spend money on plane tickets to sit in an unfamiliar house in a suburb. But: if the commute is not too optimistically stated, and if the area is safe, we can use it as a base to explore Paris and also other nearby areas. My fear is that the 20 minutes will turn out to be 40 - 45 minutes each way ... as you rightly say.

nukesafe

Well, it depends on which RER station the house is located near, and where you want to go in Paris. If the station is Villeneuve-le-Roi my quick look at RATP says it will take you 26 minutes to St. Michel Metro station. If it really is five minutes to walk to the RER station you are up to 31 minutes, plus a wait for the next train. If you need to transfer to a metro or bus to get to another destination it will take you longer, of course. Perhaps your 40 minute guestimate is not so far off.

Also, I looked at the town, and it is really close by the airport. You should ask about aircraft noise before you commit, I would think.

Sarastro

Villeneuve le Roi is just to the east of Orly airport and just below the flightpaths of the East/West runways. Without actually being at the residence, it would be difficult to assess the potential noise distraction.

The Villeneuve le Roi RER station is in zone 4. A one way ticket into Paris is 3.45€ or 27.60€ per group of ten tickets. Transportation cost and time consumed traveling into Paris should be considered and can be significant drawbacks.

This would not be a difficult decision for me. If you are going to Paris, stay in Paris.

kovsie

I am a bit sorry that all of you are confirming my initial reluctance!
"Small town near Paris" sounded so nice. If it is not really a 'small town' everything else also becomes suspect.

justineparis

There are other ways to get small town fix( I just don't feel commuting into to Paris each day makes much sense) . first.. am I correct you are considering staying for a month? If so there are plenty of places, outside Paris.. that you could spend a few days or a week at.. and they will likely be cheaper then Paris itself.

May we know what you consider a reasonable price range for accomadations.. in euros per night. It may help us suggest places to stay .

kerouac

If you are staying a month, I think a suburb like that would be fine since you won't feel the need to do a death march to Paris every day. If it is a much shorter stay, you might be frustrated.

stokebailey

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Free lodging in fairly easy distance to Paris, for a month? I'm sure I'd take it.

Have you been able to locate the house on maps.google.com, to verify its location and scope out the area to be sure it's fairly close to shops and not in some desolate industrial wasteland? The Orly thing would make for a certain amount of noise, certainly, and I'd bring my trusty earplugs.

I'd think this is the same RER line that takes you south to Fontainebleau and Moret-sur-Loing, where you can rent a bicycle and explore the same routes and towns that Kerouac and FrenchMystiqueTours have documented so beautifully.

If you don't want the trade, I'll take it.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Can you provide a specific address of the house in question? I sort of specialize in knowledge of the towns/villages/countryside around Paris and I think last year I may have ridden my bike south along the Seine out of Paris and passed through Villeneuve-le-Roi. I don't really remember anything specific about it other than it is a typical suburb of Paris. I don't think you have any safety issues there. If it were me me I would certainly take the free month of housing and deal with the commute/commuting costs into Paris vs. what I would otherwise spend on lodging in Paris.

I'm going to break my response into a couple of posts so it isn't one long jumble of info. First, I'm going to give you some advice about public transport which will aid you in getting from Villeneuve into Paris, around Paris and anywhere in the Île-de-France region.

To learn how to get around Paris (and between Paris and Villeneuve) by métro/bus/RER use www.ratp.fr. Here is a link to a route planner:

http://www.ratp.fr/itineraires/en/ra...herche-avancee

Here is an interactive map of the system:

http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/carteidf.php?lang=uk

Since parts of this website are only in French you can also use www.transilien.com or www.vianavigo.com. Via Navigo probably has the most complete English website. Keep in mind that all these sites are time and date sensitive and they will use Paris time, not your local time.

Another thing to keep in mind is that they all default to the next available departure. So you may get one route that looks very complicated (multiple métro/bus connections) but scroll forward through the next few departures and you'll often find the simplest connections for your journey.

To learn about the various types of transport passes look here:

http://vianavigo.com/en/tickets-and-fares/

A good website to learn how to use public transport in Paris is www.parisbytrain.com. It will likely answer any of your questions about what is the métro, what is the RER, what kinds of tickets you need, how to buy tickets, what kinds of passes are available etc.

Buy a good detailed map of Paris of around the scale 1:12,000 and it will show all streets and street names, museums, monuments, gardens, parks, sites, attractions and the location of all RER and métro stops. A handy booklet to buy is called ''Plan de Paris par Arrondissement, L'Indispensable''. It is available in the Relay bookstores you'll find in the main line train stations and RER stations. It can be bought in many other places as well, such as bookstores, magazine/news stands, many touristy souvenir stores, larger supermarkets, tabac stores etc.

In any métro or RER station with an information booth you can get free maps of the Paris transport system and use those in conjunction with your street maps to figure out how to get around and determine where you are.

You can figure out walking times and distances between sites by using a mapping website like www.mappy.com or a similar website.

You can look at the Paris tourist office website for info about what to see and do in Paris as well as learn about the various passes for visits and public transport: http://en.parisinfo.com/

FrenchMystiqueTours

One thing I forgot to mention is to look at the vianavigo site to get info about the various transport passes. Depending on your travel dates it may be worth it to get the month long navigo pass (Navigo Mois) for at least zones 1-4 (Villeneuve is in zone 4). For about 8 euros more I would get the zone 1-5 pass. There are loads of worthy day trips from Paris that lie within zone 5 (Provins, Fontainebleau, Auvers-sur-Oise, Crécy-la-Chapelle, Moret-sur-Loing etc.).

http://vianavigo.com/en/tickets-and-...s-navigo-mois/

From the RER C in Villeneuve you have direct access to the lovely little medieval town of Dourdan as well as to Versailles. It is also possible to take the train into Paris and then from any of the main line train stations there are loads of options for day trips and you can look at the link below to see a list of day trips by train that you can do from Paris:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#55885554

If you do take this house I would rent a car for at least part of the time you are there. There are so many beautiful places to explore near Paris it would take an entire guidebook or two to cover them but you can not easily access many of these places by public transport. I can't even begin to tell you how many small and anonymous charming towns and villages I have explored near Paris and about less than 5% of these places have ever received a mention on any travel forum or in a guidebook.

I'll mention a few places/areas you could explore by car. West of Villeneuve is the Vallée-de-Chevreuse, which has lots of châteaux and charming little towns and villages.

http://www.parc-naturel-chevreuse.fr/

Heading towards Fontainebleau you've got not only there but nearby is the wonderful Châteaux de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Moret-sur-Loing and Barbizon among the well known places. For not so well known places here go adjacent to Moret-sur-Loing and visit Saint-Mammès, Bourron-Marlotte and Grez-sur-Loing. Further west of Barbizon I would visit the Château de Courances (http://courances.net/en/) and Milly-la-Forêt (http://www.millylaforet-tourisme.com/?lang=fr).

I've written photo reports about the above places so if you want to see what they look like then click on the links below:

Fontainebleau, Barbizon, Château de Courances, Milly-la-Forêt:

http://tinyurl.com/6aksvbd

Moret-sur-Loing, Bourron-Marlotte, Grez-sur-Loing:

http://tinyurl.com/buhknqs

I could go on and on and on but I'll stop here. If you decide to take the house I'd be happy to mentioned about a thousand other places you can visit by car near Paris.

nytraveler

Sorry that I don;t know this specific suburb - but I think you will need to count on having a car available. If the home exchange does not include the car (assume it will be manual transmission) then I would plan on renting one.

Distance to shops and local restaurants/services is key. Have you checked this out on google earth?

PalenQ

and it is a suburb I pass thru often when going from Orleans to Paris - it is part of the Paris megalopolis and in no way any small town - but it is a place with only locals so far different from cosmopolitan Paris. If staying get some week-long Navigo metro/RER pass that would give you unlimited metros/RER for the zones you chose from Monday thru Sunday - a great deal if staying out there.

The area seems kind of lower middle class and safe though I have never got out of the train or car to walk around.

Mathieu

Hi Kovsie,

My initial reaction when I first read your post has been mirrored by a few here too: what an ideal situation for spending a month in (or near) Paris - a suburban home exchange ! Having spent a month in 2011 in a hotel in the 15th, and then 2 follow-up weeks in 2012 in an apartment in the 14th, (both areas slightly outlying from the dead centre, a fact I loved,), if I were to do a similar longer stay now, I would happily opt for a suburban stay further afield, knowing how easy it is to get into the city, and not feeling obliged to do so every day having more time.

I'd pay heed to the noise factor being so close to Orly. I am an airplane afficionado and it wouldn't bother me, but it's not for everyone. Ask about this fact, and ask for views of the house and neighborhood and then google map it. (I also see that it is twinned with Stourport-on-Severn, a small town in England where good friends of mine live, but that's of no bearing.)

FMT gives excellent advice and very detailed information, and knowing him as I do (and I do know him) you can rely on everything he tells you.

VLR may not be the prettiest outlying town or area close to Paris (there are obviously others), but it seems close and convenient to getting around for a home exchange and perfectly fine, and you may be pleasantly surprised and tell us all about it. At any rate, since this is your first visit, it's a good place to build on.
Keep us apprised with your planning !

kerouac

Frankly, most people living near flight paths have had double glazed windows for years and you can hardly hear the planes.

justineparis

You do get used to noises.

And the 14th IS central compared to a suburb outside the perimeter road. Not really comparable at all.

But if going for a month it does put a different spin on things.. lots of time to explore the area around where you stay with a car.

kovsie

Every time I post a question on Fodor's I am blown away by how generous you all are. Thank you all for such solid info and well-considered advice.

Thanks especially FMT for all the important detail. This is the address: 10 Route de Choisy
94290 VILLENEUVE LE ROI.

Hi Matheiu and Stokebailey: how very nice to hear from both of you again!

As an aside: I also have an offer from a place near Granada, Spain. It seems like a much better house; but France had been on my personal bucket list for such a long time!

stokebailey

Hi, Kovsie. I'm glad to hear you're getting out and about again, and looking forward to reading about it. Oh, decisions! But I can't see you merely sitting in a house, no matter where it is.

We'll be in Fontainebleau for a week, and Paris another week in June.

kovsie

FrenchMystique: I have scrolled through your photo essays and I am hooked. One question: all the photos are blissfully empty of people - no tourist buses, no schools of People from the East swimming behind an upheld umbrella ... Is it because you were there early mornings, or because you are just off the beaten track?

PatrickLondon

I've sneaked a peek on Street View, and I note that this house backs on to a large open space that appears, from the other side, to be the local cemetery, so there won't be too much of a problem with noisy neighbours, at least. There's a big shopping centre quite close by.

The nearest station seems to be Orly-Ville, but it looks as though there isn't a direct route to the station across the railway tracks, but rather a detour round by the shopping centre and town centre {something to check with the owners: but then, from my experience of home exchange, you also need to bear in mind what you're offering them in return).