General information and housing in Paris for scientific visitors, students, and interns

Official resources

Resources of our university (Université Pierre et Marie Curie (a.k.a. UPMC or Paris-6)): Official (government or academic) agencies aiming to help foreign students and researchers in France: Official student housing bureau:
CROUS
39, avenue Georges Bernanos
75005 Paris, France
+33 1 40 51 36 00
http://www.crous-paris.fr/
Their main property in Paris is Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, boulevard Jourdan, 75014. To apply for accomodation, see Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris above.

Comprehensive list of hotels, hostels and homes

This comprehensive list of cheap hotels, youth hostels and homes for young people is maintained by the Paris Tourist Office: http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-hotels/young-paris/.

A comprehensive list of housing resources for students is maintained by Université Paris-IV Sorbonne (a partner of UPMC in the Sorbonne-Universités alliance).

See also the list of "foyers" admitting students maintained by CROUS (overlaps in part the previous list).

Short-term lodging

Long-term housing

Young persons' homes in Paris

There are many (see Paris Tourist Office listing above, or search for "foyer d'hébergement" in the Yellow Pages http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/). Although some homes do not normally take students, interns ("stagiaire" in French) and PhD students are OK. Here are a few that look promising, but there are many more:

Useful links:

Beware! Scam alert!!!

It is difficult to find housing in Paris. Demand is very high, offer is small, and prices soar. This opportunity has not been lost on criminals and scam artists. Fake advertisements are commonplace. Be very, very cautious. The more tempting the offer, the more you should be careful.

Never, never, never, NEVER send money by Western Union or "mandat cash urgent" to someone you don't know personally! There is absolutely nothing stopping the person at the other end from simply walking away with your money, and it happens all the time. Check it out for yourself: search for "western union scam" or "arnaque mandat cash urgent" or "arnaque western union" on google ("arnaque" means scam).

If you must send money, do it in a way that is traceable. The best is a bank-to-bank transfer. If your prospective landlord will not accept, then he is definitely trying to screw you.

By all means stick to reputable agencies, especially if you are not personally present in Paris.

Vocabulary

French English
Auberge de jeunesseYouth Hostel
Chambre de bonne"Maid's room": Small room, usually on the 6th floor with no elevator access, outside toilet
Cuisine américaineOpen-plan kitchen (in the living room)
Doctorant, thésard ; doctorat, thèsePhD student; PhD
FoyerHome, hostel (similar to YMCA or YWCA)
Garçons uniquementMen only
HostelCheap hotel (not to be confused with a proper hostel, which is called "foyer").
Hébergement pour les jeunesAccomodation for young people
Jeunes filles uniquementWomen only
Logements étudiantsStudent housing
Fumeur ; non fumeursmoking; non smoking
Stage ; stagiaireInternship, practical; intern
StudioOne-room apartment (no separate bedroom or kitchen)
2 pièces or F2; 3 pièces or F3; "n" pièces or F"n" Apartment with 1 bedroom; 2 bedrooms; "n-1" bedrooms

Marc Shapiro

This page was put together as a personal service to visitors to the Regal group of INRIA and LIP6. I cannot answer questions from other people, and will ignore any such requests.

The information is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the "Last modified" date hereafter.

Last modified: Fri Jan 23 13:06:39 CET 2015