Just joined, so I may be looking in the wrong place. If so, please advise.
Our son and his family live in Paris XIX. We want a senior facility nearby where we can
now take advantage of independent living and evolve when needed to more care. We don’t speak French, so we need an Anglophone facility where we can socialize and get whatever staff support in English. Is there such a place?
Hello!
I think the kind of setup you’re looking for is what the French call a « résidence séniors » so that’s what you need to Google.
I just did but the only one I could see that advertises itself as « anglophone » (English-speaking) is the Emera résidence séniors Albert down near Grasse: https://www.emera.fr/trouver-hebergement-senior/residence-seniors/albert/
There MIGHT be an anglophone one close to Paris but I didn’t do a very thorough search.
I know someone who moved into one of these facilities in Strasbourg recently and they really like it. But it’s very much a French-speaking environment and my friend is well integrated, having been in France for many years. It’s not a care home in any way. Definitely more like a US-style retirement village. The residents seem to have a lot of fun. You have your own apartment with kitchen etc so can be as sociable or antisocial as you like.
My friend has found the fellow residents generally very friendly and puts this down to the fact that most of them now find themselves alone and are therefore in the position of having to make an effort with people.
If you DO find one that sounds good, you can do a « taster » week to try it out. Presumably some places are better run than others so do your research.
There are various arrangements - my friend rents but in some places, there is an option to buy. I think personally I would prefer to rent in case, say, there was a change of management and things went downhill.
If you can’t find one that’s genuinely anglophone, I would think long and hard before going into one of these places in France because you could end up very lonely. A friend’s English parents moved into one near Perpignan and ended up feeling quite socially isolated because they had only basic French. If you can’t find a suitable place in France, I would look for one in the UK. You’d probably have a lot more fun. My mum’s friend lives in one in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. We went to visit her and as we were leaving late in the evening we caught glimpses of various residents clad in silk smoking jackets, slinking along the corridors and nursing bottles of gin.
Am tempted to put my name down.
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Hello and welcome to the forum.
Not sure how many of us live in Paris and I suspect that your son and his family will be of more use to you than we can be.
Your son will have his finger on the pulse of local life and will surely be delighted to help you.
For general stuff, we are a mine of information.
Best of luck
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There is such a place but not in Paris, there are two homes on the riviera which are multicultural supported by a group called Sunnybanks
I lived in the 19e for a long time and never heard of anything like that, so you may be looking for a needle in a haystack.
Perhaps think about somewhere round Kings Cross in London so direct train connection.
Perhaps we could ALL move into the Albert.
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?? Our son and his family live in Paris XIX. We want a senior facility nearby
They don’t speak french and not many anglophone residences, with anglophone staff and anglophone doctors etc. So being 2.5 hours away might be best option.
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Although if - as his writing style suggests - the OP is American …
Two hours on the train. That’s nearby.