For new arrivals: if you're apartment-hunting in Paris, it helps to narrow your search to specific neighbourhoods. Here's our guide on which arrondissement is most likely to fit your lifestyle - and your budget.

On this page:

• Understanding Paris estate agents
• A guide to areas, arrondissement by arrondissement
• Arrondissements by category

UNDERSTANDING PARIS ESTATE AGENTS

The 7th arrondissement is one of Paris' chic postcodes

Paris has 20 arrondissements, and each is attributed with its own number. This is done according to the pattern of a spiral, beginning with the 1st arrondissement in the heart of the capital and ending with the 20th on the outer east

Most Parisians, like the inhabitants of other major French cities like Lyon or Marseille where the same system of arrondissements applies, describe their neighbourhood by its number instead of place names. So, more often than not, you'll find yourself being offered a home in "le 1er" or "le 10ème".

There is also a broad description which divides Paris into two; this is a split of the capital into Rive Gauche (meaning the Left Bank, the south-side of the river Seine) and Rive Droite (meaning the Right Bank, north side of the Seine).

There are very few town-houses in Paris and they therefore sell or rent at a premium. Most inhabitable property is made up of apartments situated in the six or seven-storey 19th century apartment buildings which make up most of the city.

When hunting a home, you are likely to be asked if you're looking for ancien — meaning any building more than 60 years old, and usually more expensive — or neuf, meaning modern constructions, and which are generally blocks of ten or more storeys.

Most Parisian apartments are made up of between one and four rooms. Smaller than an apartment is the studio, which is a bachelor-sized lodging with a sitting-room-cum-bedroom, an adjoining and usually non-separated kitchen, tiny bathroom and toilet. More than four rooms can be found, for a steep price.

The French describe apartments or houses by the number of rooms - called pièces - which they contain, but excluding the kitchen and bathroom. So a one-bedroomed flat with sitting room, kitchen and bathroom is a "deux-pièces". The description will also include the square-meter surface of the entire apartment (or house). So you could be proposed a "deux-pièces de 60 mètres carrés".

A GUIDE TO AREAS, ARRONDISSEMENT BY ARRONDISSEMENT

Most appartments for rent are in six or seven-storey buildings

While some arrondissements are big enough to contain several neighbourhoods very different in character — like the 13th, 17th, 10th and 20th — on the whole, the number, which also figures on Parisian postcodes, is something of a social statement!

For example, the 16th is synonymous with the old and very wealthy, the 18th with working class and ethnic populations, the 6th with the fashionable and chic.

Beginning at the city centre point, the 1st and 2nd arrondissements are essentially day-time quarters for business offices and institutions (including the Palais Royal theatre, the stock exchange, the Louvre etc.) There are magnificent apartments on the rue de Rivoli overlooking the Tuileries or Palais Royal gardens, and here or there a bargain flat can be had, such as close to the Bourse (stock exchange). But on the whole, there is little feeling of local community, witnessed by the lack of shops and empty streets at night.

The oldest quarters offering the most of Parisian charm, which are centrally-placed and which offer a rich street life are, in a broad sweep, the 3rd and 4th arrondissements on the Right Bank, covering the Marais, and the 5th and 6th on the opposite Left Bank, which make up the Latin Quarter.

The Marais is a young, trendy area, alive night and day, with an eclectic mix of everything from gay bars to specialist workshops, cultural venues like the Pompidou centre and the old Jewish quarter. It is graced with the oldest, some even mediaeval, buildings in Paris but it lacks any real breezy green spaces for kids to kick a ball around, excepting the tiny and very-exclusive place des Vosges.

Generally high-priced, the Marais has magnificent courtyards hidden from the streets, lined by equally magnificent timbered apartments. There are also quite a few renovated former rag-trade offices, offering tall ceilings and huge windows. The area is superb for the fast public transport links to anywhere around the city and it is within walking distance from anywhere central.

The picturesque Latin Quarter, traditionally a student neighbourhood, has a charming old world attraction, along with the widest choice of restaurants and cinemas of any Paris neighbourhood. Its streets are wider and calmer than the Marais, and its universities (including the Sorbonne) make it a centre for cultural activities and especially for bookstores.

Less extrovert than the Marais, its population ranges from the bourgeois to the bohemian. It is more family-friendly for those who want to be at the heart of Parisian leisure life, with a few parks, notably the Luxembourg gardens and the Jardin des Plantes. Generally expensive but not unaffordable, most of the Latin Quarter offers a picture postcard environment. It is also at the centre of the public transport network, with easy links to and from the rest of the centre.

There are 20 arrondissements, numbered according to the pattern of a spiral

A diluted taste of both these areas but with cheaper rents is found in the 10th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, close to the Marais, and the 13th and 14th arrondissements around the Latin Quarter.

The 10th, 11th and 12th are, with the exception of trendy pockets around the lively Bastille and République squares, more populaire — or working-class. The inner limits of the 3rd and 10th house the teeming rag-trade. The meeting points of the 3rd, 10th and 11th are worth a look for those seek a large, centrally-located apartment at comparatively low cost.

Moving eastwards and north to the outer arrondissements, with their mix of modern and old residential buildings, there is a stronger local community, but some parts here are shabby.

The 12th is a comparatively large arrondissement, which offers cheaper rents and a wide choice of middle- to large-sized apartments. It leads south-east to the Vincennes park, just outside the capital, which is one of the two largest green spaces around Paris (the other being the Bois de Boulogne to the west). It also houses the landmark Nation square, a regular departure or arrival point for mass demonstrations.

One novelty is the Canal St Martin, in the 10th, where residences have been built along this pleasant waterway which runs north from the Seine.

The 13th covers the city's outer south-east, and contains a large Indochinese community, notable Vietnamese. It is a relatively old and quiet "suburb" of the Latin Quarter at its closest to the 5th, but rapidly becomes turned over to a huge area of modern sky-rise buildings further east which, while they have none of the charm of old Paris, do offer sensational views and — not to be sniffed at — parking spaces.

The 14th, which is joined to the Latin Quarter at Montparnasse, and which stretches down to the southern city limits, has fewer modern buildings and has a lively local community in most parts, bustling with shops, traders, cafés and quite a few small restaurants. Rents are, in the main, reasonable. It contains the large and pleasant Montsouris park and quick access onto the south-bound motorway and Orly airport.

Staying south and moving west is the 15th, a mostly residential arrondissement, with a range of rental rates from the relatively cheap large apartments to a minority of very expensive habitations, like those close to the Eiffel Tower. It is very much an area with something for everyone. It lacks big green spaces, although there are both the André Citroën and Georges Brassens parks on its southern limits. The 15th is a mix of old and modern architecture, mostly bland but rarely ugly. A notable exception is the high-rise, futuristic Front de Seine complex of chic apartment blocks overlooking the river Seine.

The 7th is one of the most chic, and there is no cheap housing here. The character is very bourgeois and tame. It stretches from the 6th, at its east, across to the Eiffel Tower, and is also home to Unesco and most French government ministry buildings. It is a well-off, well-kept area with comparatively few shops and cinemas although it does boast a wide choice of restaurants. Quiet and safe, only its upmarket hotels and eateries shine late into the night.

Very similar, but even quieter, is the 16th, lying north of the river in the west of the capital. It is something of a ghetto for the seriously rich, especially the affluent elderly. This is home to most of the Parisian entries in the Who's Who and is also where the OECD is based. It runs from the Arc de Triomphe, at the top of the Champs-Elysées, spreading west out to the huge and rambling park of the Bois de Boulogne at the city edge.

The expensive property is mostly composed of six- to eight-storey buildings of large apartments There is little street life of any sort and it is a quiet, uneventful area at night. The closest suburb to the 16th, further west and just outside the city limits, is the district of Neuilly, which is a continuation of the same.

The neighbouring 17th, also running from the Arc de Triomphe - but north and north-west - is a chic, high-rent area, although generally more accessible than the 16th. Its outer limits are more populaire. It shares the pleasant Monceau park with the 8th and many of its streets are wide and airy. Many embassies are based here. Spots like the Place des Ternes have a lively feel to them, with restaurants and bars, but in the main this is a quiet area at the end of the day when its many offices close.

A broad division is applied by "Rive Gauche" or "Rive Droite"

Moving into the centre-north from the 17th is the 9th. This is a central arrondissement, dedicated to banks, insurance companies and lawyers as well as department stores and small businesses. It's a noisy, car-flooded area by day, suddenly quiet at night except for the through traffic on the grands boulevards. There are large apartments, some made of converted offices, going at comparatively reasonable prices But this is one of Paris' least residential areas and consequently has little to offer kids — just like the neighbouring 1st, 2nd and 8th.

The 8th is the élite part of the city centre, with the presidential Elysée Palace, the Champs-Elysées, the haute couture boutiques of the rue St Honoré and the capital's grandest hotels, including the George V, the Plaza Athénée and the Crillon. This is the postcode for the top 100 company addresses and much of the area is made up of sumptuous offices. Only the very well-heeled live in the few residential properties on offer here.

The northern 18th arrondissement could not be more different. Apart from a few sites, like the privileged apartments — and houses — overlooking Paris from the south side of the Montmartre hill, most of the 18th is a lowly-but-lively, residential working-class area with a colourful ethnic mix. The building rows are mostly old, interrupted by splashes of the new. The less salubrious parts notably include Clichy and the vulgar ‘sin city' Pigalle. But there are some pleasant areas, juxtaposing the shabby ones, and apartments are generally low-priced. The neighbourhood known as Barbès is home to a majority immigrant population, mostly African.

Moving east, the 18th slips into the 19th, an area (like the 10th) which lies close to the international London- and Benelux-bound Eurostar and Thalès high-speed train srvices leaving the Gare du Nord. The 19th is a less lively continuation of the 18th with many modern buildings and cheap rents. It is dominated by a hill with a park, called the Buttes Chaumont, and at its extreme north-east point, where the limits of Paris reach the old industrial suburbs of Pantin, lies La Villette with its industry and science park.

Below this, the outer east of Paris is gobbled up by the sprawling 20th. Here again, rents are cheaper, particularly for large apartments, and there is a wide choice of old and new buildings. At its heart is the legendary Père Lachaise cemetery.

The more spacious, leafier areas are just off Nation square (situated in the neighbouring 12th arrondissement) and out towards the Porte de Vincennes on the city limits.

ARRONDISSEMENTS BY CATEGORY

Trendy, lively and young-at-heart:
the 3rd and 4th, parts of the 10th and 11th.

Lively but conservative, wide choice of restaurants, cinemas and culture venues:
the 5th, 6th. Similar attractions with reasonable rents: parts of 13th. and 14th.

Most family-friendly (bits of green, local amusements):
The 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 19th and 20th.

Old quarters with architectural charm:
3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, parts of 2nd and 7th.

High-rise/modern apartment building areas:
13th, parts of 12th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 20th.

Cheaper rents:
10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th.

Trendy chic and expensive:
The 6th and 7th, parts of 5th, 3rd and 4th.

Conservative, quiet and expensive:
the 16th and parts of 8th and 17th.

Traditional chic, ostentatious and expensive:
The 8th, parts of 16th. and 17th.

Least residential (few shops, little night-life):
The 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th.

 

© Expatica France

                                         Subject: France, renting in Paris