Finding a home in the green suburbs or even the countryside outside Paris is an attractive idea, especially for families. Follow our guide to where the nicest areas are found, and what you should consider before making the choice.

Many people with jobs in Paris but with young families to bring up find living outside the city walls a more attractive choice: rent and property prices are generally less expensive, children have access to green spaces and the city's serious noise and air pollution problems are left behind.

Living outside the city is also an escape from its serious noise and air pollution

Because Paris itself is quite small, in comparison to other European capitals, living outside does not inevitably mean travelling vast distances. What's more, the transport links around the greater Paris region are very well developed and reasonably cheap. Few estate agents offer accomodation from outside their immediate neighbourhood, so this rough guide to the surrounding regions is designed to help you focus in on an area which largely corresponds to your needs. UNDERSTANDING THE MAP Excluding the overseas territories, France is administratively divided into 95 départements, the rough equivalent of a county or state, which are all given numbers as well as names. Paris is number 75, and its immediately surrounding départements are: the Essonne, 91, (south) the Hauts-de-Seine, 92, (south-west and west), the Yvelines, 78, (the outer south-west), the Val-d'Oise, 95, (the north), the Seine-St. Denis, 93, (north and north-east), and the Val-de-Marne, 94, (the east and south-east). The départements wider afield, but still within commuting distances, are the Seine-et-Marne, 77, (south east) and the Oise, 60, (north). The Paris ring-road is the easy visual guide to the Paris city walls. You may notice that the exit lanes are nearly all signposted with 'Porte de' something, which in fact indicate the city gateway to surrounding suburbs, like 'Porte de Vincennes' or 'Porte de Choisy'. The different départements begin here. CLOSEST TO PARIS

The wooded suburbs of SE and SW Paris are the capital's closest green spots

The west and south-west (92 and 78) and the east (94) offer the widest choice if your concern is finding a green and pleasant area close enough to the city from where you can still comfortably get into town for dinner appointments and back in time for the baby-sitter. On the south-west tip of Paris lie the hilltop towns of Saint-Cloud, Sèvres, Meudon and Ville-d'Avray, (92), all surrounded by sprawling forests. Train links into central Paris can be as short as 10 minutes and, outside of the rush hour, equivalent driving times can be less than half an hour. Rents are relatively high here - houses are exhorbitant - but there are many tasteful apartment buildings with breezy, private parks. Few areas offer the tranquillity of these wooded suburbs together with such ease of access to the capital. The green spaces are less abundant as you follow the hill top ridge north along to Suresnes and beyond, towards the sky-scraping office area of La Défense, but they still offer a leafy calm from the hurly-burly just a few miles away. East of Paris offers the only other sizeable patch of green, around the Bois de Vincennes (94), and among the towns of Nogent and Joinville. Adding to the charm here is the river Marne and there are many houses along its riverbanks. The area is more built-up than the south-west forested areas, but there are oases of calm. Rents are generally reasonable, the area is well-served by train although accessing central Paris by car is slightly less convenient than from the south-west. The densely-populated areas immediately north, north-east and south of the capital (95, 93 and parts of 91) are often ugly concentrations of tower-blocks and dilapidated housing, but which is appropriately cheap. You need to travel further afield to find a reason to have left Paris, and these areas are covered in the following section. HEADING FOR THE COUNTRY Rents in the greater Paris area vary greatly, but expect to pay a lot less than Paris or its immediate surrounds. Again, the south-west offers easiest access.

Country villages and old stone houses can be found within an hour of Paris

Versailles, (an exception for rent prices which can be high), and its surrounding region offer a provincial flavour and to its north, where the river Seine winds westwards, lies Saint-Germain-en-Laye (78), surrounded by the Saint-Germain forest. Both are dormitory areas, well-served by train, but far enough out to feel a world away from Paris. Versailles, naturally, is as gracefully old as Saint-Germain is modern. Further out, and south-west of Paris, lies the generally up-market area of the vallée de Chevreuse (78). The region is home to both modern housing estates and country villages with old stone houses. Travelling by public transport into Paris can take between 45 minutes to an hour. Just east of the Chevreuse valley, south of the capital, is the vallée de la Bièvre (91). Housing here is generally more modern although much of it is surrounded by countryside. Here lies the university town of Orsay and dozens of technical research centres. The greater south and west has a high-speed TGV train station at Massy, independent of Paris, and reasonable access to Orly airport. East of the capital (94 and 77) are many pleasant leafy areas surrounding the river Marne. There are stunning, grand old houses but most accomodation is formed of the explosion of modern housing estates stretching out towards the vast forest lands like the forêt d'Armainvilliers. While there is a definite flavour of provincial France (further out but still close enough is the town of Meaux, famous for its brie cheese - and mustard), the area is also home to Disneyland Paris. The area is well served by public transport and Roissy airport is not far away.

The outer NE region offers pretty countryside, but transport can be a problem

Worth a look, but surrounded by areas of ugly modern buildings, are the towns on the southern end of the forêt de Sénart, and near Melun, (91 and 77), south east of the capital. If you're looking for something truly away from it all, surrounded by picture postcard scenes of French countryside but within an hour or more of striking distance from the capital, have a good look at the south and south east, drawing a line west to east between Dourdan (78) and Fontainebleau (77). This is a land of fields and villages, some of them unusually pretty. There is a wide choice of charming old properties, which generally come with big gardens. Beware however that you will be, at the very least, partly dependent on a car in getting in to Paris. The town of Fontainebleau (77), one hour from the capital by train, offers a particularly pleasant environment and is surrounded by the impressively huge Fontainebleau forest. Directly north of the capital, you have to travel further to reach pleasant green areas, away from the ugly modern concrete skyline of much of the Seine-Saint-Denis. It's worth remembering also that road links from the north into the capital's centre are generally slower than when coming from other directions. But there are some very beautiful areas north and north-east of Paris, and the advantages of being in the region include the relative proximity to Roissy airport and the motorway link to the Channel and Benelux countries. Close to the forêt de Montmorency are a number of pleasant small towns, including Auvers-sur-Oise, made famous by one-time resident expatriate, Vincent Van Gogh, and l'Isle-Adam, both lying on the riverbanks of the river Oise (60). East of these is open countryside, peppered with some very attractive villages, but here you are well away from easy access by public transport. The town of Senlis (60), north east of the capital, offers a rail link, lies on the motorway and has wonderful surrounding countryside, including the forest of Halatte. Close to lies Chantilly (60), a very pretty old town, which is still an equestrian centre (famous for its races). There are pretty villages in countryside close-to and endless forest land all around. The area includes the Asterix amusement park and Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport (for the latter do consider the potential noise problems in some spots, notably Senlis). A FEW TIPS If you're interested in the immediate Paris surrounds, take your time in studying the area, looking at things like proximity of schools or crèches and making sure the metro/train links with Paris don't involve complicated, lengthy changes. Some areas have great demand, but little offer, for rented accommodation - so begin looking as early as you can and don't be rushed by estate agents. It might make more sense spending the first months waiting, if you can, for exactly what you want.

Check out RER express train stations which link into the centre of the capital

Enquire about local town taxes, known as the "impôts locaux", which you will pay every year. These vary greatly and are often considerably higher than those in Paris. If you're prospecting wider afield, look closely at a transport map of the Paris region to check out the RER express metro links which go right into the centre of the capital. Being beside one can mean all the difference between a 30-minute train hop or a gruelling one hour or more driving the car. Through any one year, there are frequent rail strikes, so if you're totally dependent on public transport, think again. If, on the other hand, you have no choice but to use the car for commuting, try out the journey during the rush-hour: what takes no time on a clean sweep of motorway in the afternoon or at night can become hell at 8am. Many commuters to Paris take long car-journeys for granted. Finally, remember that while a choice of bilingual/international schools is available in Paris and its immediate surrounding areas (see our separate guide to this), moving well outside the capital will likely mean putting your children in regular French state schools. Updated May 2004 © Expatica France Subject: Paris, home hunting, accomodation