• The residence

I used to live in "Residence Berlioz", which is on campus. It is a renovated residence which means that it is newer than the other but not to the same standard as Warwick accommodation. It was, nevertheless, one of the best ones available... The photo is the view from my room...

I paid 279 euros for the following facilities (before deducting the government help - see administration section):

• 15 m squared room with ensuite shower and toilets
• a 30x50x30 fridge in my room
• a kitchen shared between 30 people (but I never saw all of them)
• bare minimum appliances in the kitchen: 2 big tables, 8 cooking hobs(not all working), 2 sinks and a few power sockets, no storage space
• a study room with a table
• a room phone to receive calls or make internal phone calls (quite useful)

There is one other residence to the same standard (Residence OUEST) but then the standard is quickly decreasing. The places to avoid are Residence "Condillac" and Residence "Village Olympique" or so I was told...

Living on campus means that you are further away from the town centre where most of the night life is happening but it also means that you are close to the lectures in the morning.

Where I was is a big residence: 30 x 5 x 6 students and most of them were ERASMUS while I was there. This meant that I met most of my friends there.

When the university year is over, most of the students leave and therefore it becomes very quiet... I stayed over the summer because I was on work placement and although it was not as good as the rest of the year, it was okay. There was other people on summer courses or on internship!

• Facilities around

The big missing point was the Internet. There is no connection at all in the residence which I learnt to live with... They were thinking of installing it but it takes time... ages in fact! I therefore discovered that there was a wireless hotspot in a bar on campus (Batiment Eve) where you can even rent computers. The connection was okay but not great but they were in the middle of upgrading it so it should get better!!

For info about how important the Internet is in France read the section about university... It's not that important apart to keep in touch with friends and family.

 

If you don't like cooking, there is quite a few university restaurants on campus (Restaurant Universitaire). Their objective is to be cheap (2.65 euros for a meal) and balanced. In most of them you will get a side dish, vegetables, rice or pasta with some meat and a dessert. The quality is not always great but it's ok. Some places sell only sandwiches or salads while some others sell chips...

 

The supermarket is 5 mins walking distance with a hard discount one 10 mins away. Within walking distance there are also a pharmacy, a bike shop, a ski shop, banks...

Doctors, nurses, health advise as well as family planning is available FREE on campus (Centre de Sante universitaire). You just need to register with your student card by going there. Their opening hours are not always great but there is everything there and that's very convenient.

 

Link to the Geography page to see where the places mentioned are...