Description
Our flat has 3 bedrooms (a parent's bedroom with a kingsize bed, and 2 kid's bedrooms), a large living room, a well-equiped kitchen (Alain is fond of cooking), 2 bathrooms and two toilets. In each of the kid's bedroom there is a possibility for 2 kids to sleep. We are 4 in this flat right now (my wife Anne and myself and two kids: Martin and Estelle). The flat is ideal for a family of 4, but 5 is perfectly OK.
The flat is located at the 8th floor of a building that has 10 floors altogether. It was built some 15 years ago. It is modern style and comfortable, with two fast elevators and is well maintained. It is also perfectly safe. The neighborhood is nice and quite.
The view that we have from the living room windows at the 8th floor is magnificent ! We overhang the "Jardin des Plantes", the Museum of Natural History, and the river Seine. On a clear day we can see many of the ancient Paris buildings and churches such as the "Sacré Coeur". At night the view is also wonderful.
We have a box for the car in the basement garage.
There is a fast internet access in the flat.
Neighborhood
Our home is idealy located in Paris. The immediate neighborhood is nice and quite. The wonderful "jardin des Plantes" (botanical garden of the Museum of Natural History) is next door: http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/transverse/transverse/accueil.xsp?cl=en) . It is widely used by joggers all day long. There are also two kindergardens and a small zoo. The river Seine is next door.
Shops for everyday living are available nearby: a supermarket, a bakery, post office,.. At walking distance (10 minutes walk) you will find the picturesque "Rue Mouffetard" with a market place where we are doing most of our fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese and wine shopping. (http://www.pocketvox.com/do/visit/2?siteLanguage=EN)
Nice typical french cafés and restaurants are also located in this area. We will provide you with a complete list of "what to do-places to see- shops to go to" in the area !
Visiting Paris is pretty easy from our home. A walk along the river Seine (next door) up to "Notre Dame" cathedral takes about half an hour, and is one of the most enjoyable walk in Paris. A boat is also available, called "batobus" for a trip along the river Seine. It can be used as a shuttle to reach many of the most interesting places in Paris such as the Eiffel tower, Orsay Museum and so on. http://www.batobus.com/english/index.htm)
Subway lines (the parisian "metro") and buses are available next door to reach every destination in Paris and suburbs. The Paris Metro is clean and safe. It works from 5 am to midnight. After midnight, taxis can used to get back home if one is tired of walking.
It is not advised to use a car in Paris, since it is so easy to walk, catch a bus or a use the Metro. Car parking is a problem in central Paris, as it is in most big cities. On the other hand, we advise to use the car to visit nearby places like "château de Versailles", "Fontainebleau", "château de Vaux le Vicomte", or any other place in France !
About Us
My wife Anne is a scientist. She is a senior research fellow in physical chemistry. She works for a state agency called Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Her place of work is University of Paris-Sud at Orsay, near Paris.
I myself is a University professor in chemistry. I am currently head of a graduate school of chemical engineering in Paris called ENSCP (http://www.enscp.fr/spip.php?article139).
We are both french citizens. I was born in Switzerland and Anne in Paris. We are traveling a lot for our work, attending scientific meetings for instance. We spent 6 months in Santa Barbara CA some years ago, as visiting scientists.
We have two nice kids: Martin, 9 years old and Estelle, 5 years old. Martin loves sports, all kind of sports ! Estelle likes playing with barbies and soft toys. She likes reading books too. They are lively and doing well at school. They are cute !
We used to spend our summer holidays in "Provence" in the south of France. But last year we exchanged our flat with a friend's home in San Francisco CA. Also a family of 4. This has been a wonderful experience, the kids simply loved spending 3 weeks in california ! This year we would like to do it again, in some other place in the US.
What we like to do during the summer holidays is simply to spend time with our kids, playing around, swimming, visiting nice places, meeting nice people, .. all kind of things that we don't always have time to do for the rest of the year !
Destination
We are open to all kind of destination in the US, and also perhaps in Canada. Ideally the home exchange should be simultaneous.
