My daughter kind of stuck in France

[JeffK]

My daughter Danielle is in France at the moment.  She went over in mid-March to take up an Au Pair position but lost her job after six weeks.

I'm encouraging her to find another position but in the mean tme we have to find her accommodation.  She has a tentative offer that doesn't start until late July.

I may have to bring her home to Australia which would be a real shame as we have put a lot of energy and money to get her there.

Do any forum members have any ideas as to the best places to look on the internet or contacts for short term (but relatively cheap) accommodation in France?

Regards,

Jeff

[Deozaan]

I'm probably not much help, as I've never been to Europe, but I've heard from people who have that staying in a hostel is a cheap way to travel. It might work for a temporary solution.

[4wd]

Do any forum members have any ideas as to the best places to look on the internet or contacts for short term (but relatively cheap) accommodation in France?

Craig's List for France?  Looks like you can get a room in Paris for around EUR400/month.

Hostels.com - I used them to find a hostel in Valparaiso, Chile, where we stayed a couple of months ago.

Trav - Used them to find a hostel in Cusco, Peru, a couple of months ago, (then booked through the hostel's own website).

Both the above sites have a user rating system which I based my decisions on and they turned out to be fairly accurate for the two places we stayed.

The problem will be you're going into high season.

[tomos]

havent used this but I know someone who's giving it a go
CouchSurfing

CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.

Idea being for travellers you can crash on someones couch and they get rated by visitors so as things will (hopefully) stay above board.
So, not a recommendation, but an idea.

[brotherS]

A similar site/service: http://hospitalityclub.org/

I used it successfully once (great experience) and failed another time (no one would reply or be able to host me when I needed it).

Your daughter has a really long period to bridge, it might work with sites like http://hospitalityclub.org/ and http://www.couchsurfing.org/ plus some cheap youth hostels in between.

Not sure if such sites allow minors (which your daughter probably is?) though - they might not for legal reasons (but no idea).

[Carol Haynes]

Anywhere outside big cities I would say Youth Hostels - though how long she can stay I am not sure. City prices are quite high these days.

How about YMCA/YWCA they often have cheap accommodation.

[Dell[a]]

dunno if this helps at all, but Gothic and I are going to be in Belgium as of June 4th.  She can crash with us if she needs to, I know it isn't France, but... it can be a last resort-- without having to go all the way back to Australia.

[MerleOne]

Here is a long  list of youth hotels, published by Paris Tourist Information
http://www.parisinfo.com/hotels-paris/pour-les-jeunes/ (in French - I found no such equivalent so far in English, but thanks to google translations...)

[lanux128]

i believe that you could also approach the Australian High Commission office in Paris to find out about temporary lodgings.

[katykaty]

She could try the universities. They should have lists of available property/recommended agents.

[ecaradec]

I live in France, but I don't live near Paris. I don't know if I can help in some way. All hints given are good. An hostel is the easiest solution in the short term. Popular sites for classified ads in France are http://www.leboncoin.fr , http://www.vivastreet.fr and http://www.topannonces.fr. The cheapest solution would be a room in a homestay family ("chez l'habitant" in french ).
Avoid agencies that sell lists of apartments (it is very common with cheap price announces ).

[JeffK]

Thanks you everybody for your help.  I am working through the tips provided.  Haven't sorted anything yet but will keep trying.

Thanks again,

Jeff

[katykaty]

She could always spend a few weeks in London.

Since every Aussie will sooner or later find themselves working behind a bar in the UK she might as well get it over and done with now 

Seriously, when I was a student in London - please don't ask when - it was always easier to get accommodation around this time as students dropped out.

[cranioscopical]

it was always easier to get accommodation around this time as students dropped out.

Memories of Earl's Court Road?

[katykaty]

Strewth yes 

[40hz]

She could always spend a few weeks in London.

Since every Aussie will sooner or later find themselves working behind a bar in the UK she might as well get it over and done with now