Living in Aix-en-Provence

Essential Living Overview

Childcare

Internet

Laundry

Banking

Haircuts

Shopping

Telephone

Childcare

Where to Find Childcare

  While I was living in France, I really did not have the need to look for child care since my oldest daughter, at the time was 15 and 16.  I did, however, notice that there were advertisements posted all over Aix by young people looking for a babysitting job.  They have bulletin boards in Book n Bar and Paradox (see Bookstores & Library), and also in the Casino market front entrance (directions to Casino are in the Shopping section).

  You can also find advertisements at the college, too.  Usually it is a French high school or college student looking to make some extra money.  This is a great opportunity to have someone who can speak the language around your kids for a couple of hours while you go out. 

  I also recommend making friends with some of the mothers at your children’s school.  You can do a co-op and this way your children will be spending more time with the French kids and their families. Their French will improve and so will yours when you are watching their friends.  It is also a great way for the kids to get some homework help.

  If you live in a large enough apartment complex, leave flyers around.  There is bound to be someone there who would love to make some extra money or trade baby-sitting for learning some English. There are several teenagers who live in Les Balcon’s D’Entremont.  (See Housing Research )  Usually they would advertise over the school breaks. Most of the kids who are between 15 and 19 years old are extremely busy during the school week.  It is best to ask them ahead of time and have them baby-sit on the weekend only. 

Internet

How to Connect to the Internet

In Your Home

  You can have internet access in your apartment if you have a phone.  The catch is, the phone has to be in your name.  The first year I lived in France my landlord actually insisted on us putting the phone bill in our name.  She did not want to be stuck with charges.  This worked out for us since we wanted to have the internet available at all times.

  We went to France Telecom and signed up for Wanadoo.  That is the most popular server for the net.  They have DSL and they sent us a package with the modem and disk for setting everything up in about 10 days.  If you are a student under age 25, ask about their student rate. We were able to have unlimited hours for 21.99 euros per month. Once it is up and running you are good to go and have access in your own place 24/7.

  At the end of the school year, we simply canceled and sent the modem back about 3 weeks before leaving.  It is important that you send them a letter of cancellation and let them know that you are moving back to the US and no longer need service.

Cybercafes

  If you live in an apartment where the landlord has his name on the bill, you will not be able to obtain internet access.  There are, however, a couple of places in town that run about three euros an hour.  One is called Virtualis. They are open everyday Monday-Friday 10:00am-1:00am and Sunday 2:00pm-1:00am, including holidays. They are located around the corner from the Hotel de Ville at:

40 rue des Cordeliers
13100 Aix-en-Provence
Tel: 04 42 26 02 30
www.virtualis.com

The employees speak English and they have a small snack bar.  There is no time limit for the computers.

There is another internet place called Net’Games located next to Place des Tameurs at:
52, rue l’Aumone Vielle
13100 Aix-en-Provence
Tel: 04 42 26 60 41
www.netgames.com

  They have a room specifically for internet users and also a room where you can play online games with other people. The decor is fabulous and they also speak English. Net’Games is open seven days a week from 10:00-Midnight. Their charge is about three euros an hour, which seemed to be the going rate. They do offer a subscription rate of 30 euros/12 hours, 50 euros/22 hours or 150 euros/120 hours.

Laundry

Where to do Laundry

  If you’re one of the lucky ones, you will have a washing machine in your apartment.  This is a huge help even though they have a very small capacity.  Chances are you will not have a dryer so I recommend that you invest in a drying rack and a small fan.  The rack is about 25 euros for a decent sized one and you can find them at Carrefour or Giant. The fans can be bought there, too.  Since there were six of us, I ended up buying two racks.

  If you do not have a machine in your apartment (I didn’t my first year), you can find a laundry-mat any where in the center of town. Most of them open at 7am. There are three different size machines and the price depends on which one you choose. There is a top loader that is 3,10 euros. There is a front loader which is bigger and it is 3,70 euros and then there is a very large front loader which can be used for heavy loads or blankets and it is 5,70 euros.

They also have large capacity dryers, which are expensive to use but they work well.  It is about 60 centimes for 6 minutes and 1,20 euros for 15 minutes.  If you have forgotten your detergent, you can always buy a small size box out of the machines they provide. It costs about 1 euro 20 centimes.

  A word of caution, the homeless people like to hang out in the laundry places when the weather starts turning bad. In all my times using one, they never bothered me. Just go about your business and chances are they won’t even notice you.  Many people would wait in the laundry mat for their clothes and listen to music or bring a book.  I would just leave my stuff and run errands and then come back later when everything was done.  It is highly unlikely someone will steal your stuff.

  The thing to look out for is closing time.  In most of the laundry mats, the door closes and locks at the end of the day, usually 7pm.  If you are in the laundry mat after this time it is not a problem, you can finish up and the door will open up from the inside to let you exit.  If, however, you decide to leave while your clothes are washing and drying, make sure you return before closing time or your clothes will be stuck in there for the whole night.  This happened to me over Christmas break and when my kids asked me where their stuff was, I had to tell them that all their clothes were having a slumber party at the laundry mat.  Needless to say, I got them the next morning and they were perfectly fine.

Banking

Where to Bank While Living in Aix

  I would advise you to open a bank account with Credit Lyonnais.  They will be at one of the orientation meetings the program provides for you during your first two weeks in Aix.  It is widely known that obtaining a French bank account when you are not a French citizen is very difficult.  Trust me, I have meet many people who said they had to go through a lot to set one up.  With Credit Lyonnaise it is rather simple, due to the fact that they are offering these special accounts to students.

  It is called Formule Zen.Take all the paper work that they give you at the orientation and after filling it out hand carry it to the bank branch located on the “Rotonde”.  The address is:

Agence Aix-Rotonde
Place Rotonde Jeanne D’Arc
13100 Aix-en-Provence

  Usually the two people who handle the new student accounts are Annick and Vincent.  These were the two representatives who worked there during my two years.  You can open your account with any euro amount you want and they do not charge you a monthly fee for the first 6 months.  After that the fee is 1 euro per month to keep the account and 1euro and 50 centimes a month to be able to access your account on line.

French ATM Card and Checks

  You will also be given an ATM card.  With this card, you may only withdrawal money from the bank or pay at a store.  You may not buy things online with it.  You will also be given the option of having checks. The checks are free and chances are you won’t even use all of them.  You just have to go pick them up about 10 days after they are ordered.  It is best to use the school office’s address for your statements.  When they come in Sophie just puts them in your mailbox. 

  Having a bank account allows for you to pay your utilities and insurance.  You are even allowed to keep it open when you come back to The States if you want to.  I took this option due to the fact that I plan on returning to France some day and don’t want the hassle of opening up a new account.

What to do When You Are Returning to The States

  Before returning to The States, I had to show the bank my California driver’s license with my home address in the United States and they started sending my statements here.  Each year, you have to send the bank a copy of your taxes with your current address or a notarized signature on a rental agreement before November 30.  They ask for this due to an increase in illegal account openings by foreigners.

  If you choose to close your account when you leave, simply go to the bank about two weeks before your flight and let them know you are returning to the U.S. and want to close your account. They will ask for the ATM card back and you will be given any money back that is left in the account. It’s that easy.

Haircuts

Where to Get a Haircut in Aix

  Haircuts seem to be a little expensive in Aix.  There are a couple of places that are cheaper than others but, on average, a simple haircut will cost you more.  If you get into the more elaborate things, like hair coloring and weaves,  you get a better deal in Aix than in Southern California.

For Adults

  If you really want to go all out and do something different and European, then SCULPT is the place for you.  They are located on in the center of town at:

16 rue Paul Bert
13100 Aix-en-Provence

  It is a salon owned by a brother and sister team.  The sister is Steph and she does the hair coloring.  The brother is Christof and he is one of the stylists.  Another stylist that I would ask for is Nathalie.  She would cut my hair if Christof was not there.  There are a lot of other employees and they are all very “colorful” people.  They do an excellent job and will help you with a new style and cut.  They all love what they do and you are guaranteed to be there at least 3 hours.  It is a totally pampered environment.

  They do not take appointments, it is first-come first-serve. It tends to be a pretty crowded place because it is very popular.  Do not go on Saturday, go during the week and be there when it opens because towards lunch time they get more crowded.  All the employees speak only French so you will have to muddle through the first few times unless your hair styling vocabulary is up to par.

  Their hours are Tuesday – Saturday 9am-7pm.  They are closed on Sundays and Mondays.  This is not a place for children’s haircuts.  It is too specialized for that. For my coloring it ran about 35 euros and for the cut, another 35 euros.  If you wanted a weave on top of that it was about another 25 more.  It pretty much is the same price here in southern California if you want to go to a nice salon.  The good part about being in Aix is, the tip is included in the price!

For Adults and Kids in Town

  If you are just looking for something simple or a place for the kids, then go to____________.  It is actually located just around the corner from Sculpt.  They charge less for a haircut depending on how elaborate the style.  For my oldest daughter it was about 22 euros.  For my son and two youngest daughters it was about 14-16 euros.  This was just a wash and basic cut. It tends to not be a very busy place, but the people are friendly and it has nice décor.  Their hours are___________________.

For Adults and Kids Living in the Balcons D'Entremont Appartments

  When we live just a little outside center ville, at les balcons d’entremont, just around the cornor was another salon.  It is located on the cornor of a medical building and is very small and quaint.  I got to where I would take my three younger children there.  It was about 12-14 euros for them to have a basic cut and wash.  The name of this salon is________________.  The lady who owns it works there and her operating hours are______________.

  Aix is full of salons and it is pretty easy to find one that you like.  If you do, however, go to Sculpt, then tell Steph, Christof and Nathalie “Salut” for me.

Waxing and Spa Treatments

  For beauty and spa treatments, go to Carita.  It is located at 30 Cours Mirabeau. The phone number is 04 42 26 09 14.  They have facials, massages and do waxing.  If you are going to make an appointment, then ask for Brigitte.  She was the person who took care of me for the two years that I lived in Aix. Make sure you tell her that Ashley from the United States sent you and says "Hello". She is really nice and will help you out with whatever you need.  They also have a full line of cosmetics. The ground floor is a salon and the spa is located through the front door and down the stairs.

Shopping

Where to Shop in Aix

  Shopping is a word that has a lot of meanings.  There is shopping for groceries, clothes, toys, furniture and of course knick-knacks.

  If you want to buys gifts, cards or chocolate, the center of town is the place to go. The entire center is one big shopping experience.  This area is mostly for the well off people, as the clothes and shoes are expensive.  There are however a few stores that are fairly reasonable and have really nice stuff.  After a couple of weeks, you will soon find your favorites and stick with them.

School Supplies

  If you need school books, the place to go is Le Librairie de Provence. www.librairie-provence.com. They are located at 31 Cours Mirabeau.  Hours of operation are Monday-Saturday 9:30am-7:30pm.  Their phone number is 04 42 26 07 23. The school books are all the way to the back.  They will order something for you if they don’t have it in stock.  There is also a basement which has an entire selection of dictionaries and school books all in French.

  Librairie Goulard is another bookstore.  It is just a few stores over at 37 Cours Mirabeau. Hours of operation are Monday 10:00am-7:00pm and Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-7:30pm. Their phone number is 04 42 27 66 47. They have a nice selection of school books on the top level.  They will also order something for you if you ask.

  If you are running low on school supplies and can’t make it to the grocery store, go to Michel’s.  It is located at the very end of the Cours Mirabeau on the left hand side.  They are a stationary store and carry everything you need for school, mailing letters, making copies and even some crafts.

Shoes

  My favorite place to buy shoes was Andre’s.  They can be expensive, so go when they are having a sale.  It is usually in January when they are getting rid of their winter collection to make room for their spring and summer styles.  They do have shoes for kids, but they are marked way beyond a reasonable price. Andre’s is located in the center of town. 

Open-Air Market
 

  If you want fresh fruit and vegetables, the open air market is the place to go.  It is located on the back side of the small post office in the center of town.  The prices are very reasonable and all the venders are there everyday (except Sunday of course) from 6am-about noon.

  The town becomes one big open market on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings (weather permitting).  Venders will be on the Cours Mirabeau as well as in front of the Court House to sell everything from clothes to antiques.  It is a wonderful place to find some good deals.  Beware of the high tourist season (Christmas, Spring Break, and Summer Holiday). It can be very crowded and I noticed that the venders will raise the prices.

  There is also a flower market each morning in front of the Hotel de Ville.  They have some really beautiful seasonal flowers and many types are fairly inexpensive.

Hypermarkets

  For doing the main grocery shopping I recommend Carrefour, Geant, and Casino.  With the exception of Casino, which is a smaller store, the other two are like a Costco-Target-Food market all put together.   I found that Carrefour and Geant had better prices than Casino.

Carrefour

  To get to Carrefour ( www.carrefour.fr) go to the Rotonde and take either the number 16 bus or the 15 bus.  The 15 is a more direct route but either works fine. The trip is about 15 minutes each way. They both drop you off directly in front of the store.  You can’t miss it.  It looks like a giant warehouse.  You will need to catch the same two buses back to the Rotonde.  If you are going later in the day, be aware of the last bus back! You don’t want to be stuck outside of town trying to walk and lug back home your groceries.  It is impossible.  A word of warning, you will be in Carrefour for a while.  It is a big place and very popular. There is a lot to see and buy.  They even have a section on international foods.  You can get tortillas, chips and salsa, peanut butter and other favorites if you are missing them from home.

  The main building also houses smaller stores for buying clothes, shoes, gifts, contacts, video games and there is even a McDonald’s.  I might add that the McDo(long o sound,as McDonald’s is called over there) has a much better quality of food than the one in The States.  In any case, plan on staying a while to shop. It is actually quite fun.

Geant

  To get to Geant, go to the Rotonde and take the number 3 bus.  It drops you off directly in front of the store.  Geant is just like Carrefour but a tad smaller.  The nice part about this store is it is less crowded. It has a small cafeteria (more on this in the Resaurant section) and small stores inside the main building just like Carrefour.  It is also closer in proximity to the center of town.  The trip is about 5 minutes. To get back to the Rotonde just hop on the number 3 bus going in the opposite direction you came.

Casino

Casino is located on the outer rim of the center of town on:
1, Ave De Lattre de Tassigny
13100 Aix-en-Provence
Tel: 04 92 26 73 10

  It is a smaller supermarket.  It has all the basics but no international foods.  Their prices are a bit higher, too.  I would go there when I needed one or two items.  They also carry a nice selection of breads and bakery items.  They are owned by Geant and carry a lot of the same brands.  The number 13 bus is the one that drops you off in front of Casino. 

Petit Casino

    Throughout the center of town you will also find Petit Casino.  They are small, two aisle stores which carry limited supplies.  Geant and Casino are owned by the same company. They have three web sights (www.france-supermarche.info, www.groupe-casino.fr and www.geant.fr)

Spar

  There is one store called Spar which is open on Sundays.  It is located on the corner of Boulevard Artiside Briand and Rue de Gaston just down the street from the college.

Monoprix

There is also a store called Monoprix.  It is located at:
27 Cours Mirabeau
13100 Aix-en-Provence
Tel: 04 42 91 31 40

  This store is not very reasonable when it comes to prices.  I do not recommend shopping here unless it is for one or two things or an emergency. It is three levels: the top two levels have clothes, school supplies, kitchen and house wares, and books.  The bottom level is a small market.

ED

  Many students who were very limited on funds would shop at ED (Europa Discount).  I personally never shopped there, but some students liked it.  It is very cheap for food, but the selection is limited and there are no name brands. It is located at:

1, rue Lapierre
13100 Aix-en-Provence

Clothing
 
  If you are looking to buy clothes for yourself and your kids, EuroDif is pretty good and their prices are reasonable.  They are not very big, but they have a bit of everything and are located just down the street from the Office of Tourism on:

6, bis Ave des Belges
13100 Aix-en-Provence
Tel: 04 42 27 74 20
www.eurodif.com

  For a bigger selection I would recommend Kiabi.  This store is located by Carrefour.  Take the number 16 bus and get off at the last exit before Carrefour.  They have a good selection for kids and adults and their prices are reasonable. Their web site is www.kiabi.com.

Sporting Goods Store

  There is also a sporting goods store called Decathlon.  It has a wide range of shoes and sporting goods for the whole family.  I bought my kids tennis shoes, hiking boots, roller blades, scooters, bikes, and clothes from this store.  There is a small one in the center of town, but the larger one over by Carrefour has a much better selection of things.  The number 16 bus also goes here, but you must exit several stops before the Carrefour store. The bus stop is located right next to the store so you can’t miss it. Their web site is www.Decathlon.fr.

  This whole area is a commercial center and there are shoe stores, furniture stores, electronic stores, a garden store, and even a store like Home Depot called Castorama(www.castorama.fr)

Commercial Center in Vitrolles

  If you have a car, there is also a large shopping area in the town of  Vitrolles.  There is an Ikea, a Toys R Us, an extremely large shoe store called Chaussland, and a large Kiabi.  It takes about 15-20 minutes to get there and you need to take the auto route A7.

Store Discount Cards

  All of the stores mentioned, with the exception of EuroDif, have a discount card that you can sign up for.  It is free and it works like a Ralphs or Pavillions card.  When you buy something just swipe the card. At the end of the month you will receive a check for a certain percentage of what you bought.  The check is like a coupon that you redeem at the store on your next trip.

 

Telephone

Using the Telephone in Aix

  If you have a telephone in your apartment, I would advise that you use a phone card with it to make out going calls.  This ends up to be much cheaper than having a plan with the phone company.  They charge you a lot and you get very little local minutes and it is extremely expensive for long distance.  The type of phone card that I bought was called Euro Latina.  You can usually buy them at your local phone or tabac shops.

Phone Cards

  There are two types that work for calling The States. The cheaper one is Blue and it cost about 7,50 euros it has less minutes than the more expensive Pink one which is 15,00.  This card is the best deal in town and it will save you a lot of money when you are calling family and friends in The States.  It also works just as well for local French calls.  Beware of calling cell phones, nothing eats up your minutes more than that!

  There is a phone shop called Telecom & Services on Rue de Cordeliers. They are open Monday –Saturday from 9am – 1pm and then again at 2:30pm – 9pm. On Sundays they are open at 10am. Ask the employee for a frequent customer card.  He will stamp it each time you buy a Euro Latina card, one stamp for the blue card and two stamps for purchasing the pink one.  After 10 stamps, your next blue card is free.

Cell Phone

  If you have small children it is wise to buy a pay as you go phone.  I went to Orange (a local cell phone server) and I bought a phone for about 90 euros.  Then all I had to do was go to the local tabac when I ran out of minutes and buy some more.  I usually put about 20 euros a month on it.  I tried to text message my friends and not call them. Text messaging was much cheaper.  If only used in emergency situations or quick calls, you will not be forking out a lot of money each month.  This pay as you go is much cheaper than the phone plans and you don’t need a contract.

  Bouygues Telecom has a good deal on the pay-as-you-go phones, also.  To get there from the school, go down the street toward Cours Mirabeau, go past La Place de la Ville and on to the next market area called Place Richelme, at the far end of this market area is the post office (La Poste ) and next to the post office, at the cornor of Rue Marechal Foch and Rue des Marseillais you will find Bouygues Telecom.  The people in the store are really nice and they are use to American students.  Some of the employees speak English and they have a student deal on their phones.

  You simply buy one of two phones and some minutes.  When your minutes run out you buy more.  You can lose your minutes if you don’t use them in time, but they give you plenty of time and there are six levels of minutes you can buy depending on how much you like to talk. Last I heard, their two specials were 49 euros and 59 euros for the phone.  The difference between the two specials is how long the phone last.  The first one is a little longer than a year and the second last definitely two years.  When you leave Aix you can simply sell the phone to another person since all they have to do is buy the minutes and maybe a new SIM card.

  With both the LAN lines and cell phones, you do not get charged for incoming calls.

   

Television

Watching Television in Aix

  If you live in an apartment that has a television, use it as much as possible!  You will need a small antenna to sit on top of the television.  If there isn’t one, you can get it at Carrefour relatively cheap.  There are about 5 or 6 channels you can get with the antenna.  Watching the television, even for an hour a day, will really improve your comprehension of the French language.

  During the day, around 11:30-1:30, a couple of stations have children’s programming.  Many children come home during these hours for lunch.  The other channels have news, talk shows, variety shows, and movies.  You have to get use to the dubbing, but it is still worth the slight distraction in order to improve your language skills.

Satellite TV

  France does have a satellite system which is comparable to our Direct TV.  It is called Canal Satellite.  You do have to buy the system.  It is about 40 euros.  You can do this at Carrefour or Darty ( an electronic store in the commercial center where Carrefour is located).  After you buy the system, you call Canal Satellite and they will come and hook it up for you and put the dish on the roof.  You just have to make an appointment.  Then you can choose the package that best fits your needs.

  My family chose the Family Package which included the Disney Channel, Toon Disney, Canal J (which is like Nick Toons here) and a few other kid channels.  They have several movie channels and news channels, music television, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel.  It cost about 30 euros a month and you pay a 90 euro fee up front, which they will split into two months for you.  Each month they will deduct the fees from your checking account.  It is a really good deal.  My kids enjoyed watching their favorite shows and it was all in French so we all improved a lot.  We even got into the Music Video stations. Not only do they play American music, but music from all over.  As a result we now have acquired a large collection of European artist.  Many are now our most favorite to listen to even here in The States.

  Pay attention to the late night schedule.  There are a few channels that turn XXX at midnight. You can put these on a parental control mode or simply take the card out at night.

  This system is on a contract basis.  Therefore, you must have the system for at least one year.  Since we planned on living in France for more than one year it worked out for us.  You can get the satellite for the time that you are there and pay an early disconnect fee.  I did know a couple of people who did this.  At the time, the fee you had to pay when you no longer wanted the system was the amount it would have cost you for the entire 12 months. So, in a sense, you would pay for those last remaining months that you would have used the system. 

Turning in the System When You Leave

  About 6 weeks before you are going to leave, you need to write to Canal Satellite and let them know you will be canceling the service, the date of cancellation and your name, address, and bank account number.  Sophie helped me on this one so I could write the correct wordage.  You also need to send the letter with a return receipt so you have proof the letter got to the company.  Canal Satellite will then send you a letter of acknowledgement of the cancellation and the final date that they will withdraw money from your account.  It will also come with a checklist.  KEEP ALL THE PAPER WORK THEY SEND YOU! YOU WILL NEED THEM WHEN YOU RETURN THE EQUIPEMENT!

  About 3 or 4 days before you leave, take down the dish and return all items (the box, the cords, the phone line, the card) to Carrefour or Darty.  They do not want the dish back.  We just threw ours away.  Take with you the paper work that Canal Satellite sent you.  It is a check list.  The person at Carrefour or Darty will go through and make sure that you returned all items and that they are in good working condition.  They will all be checked off.  One copy the store keeps, one copy is for you, and the other one goes to Canal.  When they receive it and it is all checked off, they will reimburse you the 90 euro fee that they took in the beginning.