NOTE: The following information is provided by the students having participated in the Nice Exchange Program in 2017-2018. The Department of French Studies is not responsible for A) Banking arrangements B) Portable phones C) Housing A) Banking arrangements BNP Paribas (http://www.bnpparibas.com/) Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Difficulties in setting up the account? It took a couple of tries to get the proper paperwork from the bank and landlord, but once this was sorted out it has been fairly smooth. We will see how closing the account goes shortly. They send everything by mail, so it takes a while to receive everything. Also hard to transfer from Canadian bank to French bank. It took almost a month to secure an appointment to set up my account, and my card did not arrive until February. Would you recommend this bank? Yes! BNP is everywhere around Europe, which made withdrawing very easy. You can also withdraw at several other banks for free (no charges!!) Go to Société Générale bank: you get 50! Yes and no. It depends how long you are waiting to set up an account. If you were not satisfied, how would you do things differently? I don t think it will get much easier. It is very typical of France to have these complicated process. Go in in person and make sure you are clear and get what you asked for. I would likely go to a different bank (Société Générale maybe) as I ve heard other set up processes were not nearly as long. Other advice about managing money in Nice? Save lots ahead of time. Convert money when the exchange rates are good! It s expensive; try not to spend a lot when you first get there. Nice is expensive. Préparez-vous à l avance. Find things you want to invest in (travelling, sports, museums, etc.) and don t feel guilty spending money on incomparable opportunities and experiences that you can only have while on exchange.
A) Banking arrangements (continued) BNP Paribas (http://www.bnpparibas.com/) (continued) Student 8 Student 9 Student 10 Student 11 Difficulties in setting up the account? Yes. You need a numerous amount of documents to open you account and it takes weeks to get your card. Don t count on having a French bank account right away. Took a month to get bank account set up. (Very normal in France.) Yes, you need a lot of documents to apply and they are incredibly picky. Yes: account was closed due to inactivity when I hadn t received my bank #; got it reopened. Would you recommend this bank? If you were not satisfied, how would you do things differently? Other advice about managing money in Nice? Yes Definitely open an account because many landlords won t accept Visa Direct and money transfers are expensive. Yes It is expensive. Apply for CAF! yes, all French banks are difficult so BNP is average. I would go to the location closest to my permanent residence because you cannot do your banking at any location, like you can in Canada. It is expensive to live here; save up your money in the summer. Get a Scotiabank debit card prior to arriving so that you can take money out at BNP without machine charges. Yes Create a spreadsheet and track your purchases over time. Watch how the value of the Canadian dollar rises or falls to adjust your spending accordingly. 2
Société Générale (https://www.societegenerale.fr/) Difficulties in setting up the account? Would you recommend this bank? If you were not satisfied, how would you do things differently? Other advice about managing money in Nice? Student 4 Yes. Required too many Yes. Got my card fast Go with full-list of documents: Get it done early. documents, wouldn t give full list, long wait time for appointment once account approved. passport, landlords ID (copy), copy of utility bill, proof of address. Student 6 No Yes Open your bank account ASAP, it might take a while to complete the process. Student 7 No Yes! They give you 50 just for opening an account in September. Easy app to use. Make a budget for food, rent, travel expenses, phone, and emergency costs. A) Banking arrangements (continued) Other Type of arrangement Would you recommend this arrangement? Student 5 I never got a bank account as I No, it became difficult could take out cash free and I couldn t get CAF through BNP with Scotiabank If you were not satisfied, how would you do things differently? Other advice about managing money in Nice? 3
B) Portable Phone Did you get a portable phone in Nice? Student 1 Yes Free Mobile, no abonnement (contract). Student 2 Yes I bought my phone and went with Free Mobile Company Cost Was the expense worthwhile? If you were not satisfied, how would you do things differently? 19.99 / month. 2 / month. (phone plan) Student 3 Yes Free Mobile 19.99 / month Student 4 Yes. SIM card. Free Mobile, no abonnement. Student 5 No, I brought a phone Free Mobile, you unlocked from Canada and could to it at a set it up here in Nice with a self service kiosk French SIM For sure! Unlimited SMS/calls within France. 100GB data in France, 25GB in Europe. It was so easy to set up. The store is in the mall (Cap 3000) and you use a selfserve machine to get a SIM card. Yes. So cheap compared to Canada. Absolutely! Loved Free Mobile, no complaints. Sold at Cap 3000. Easy to set up, inexpensive, and tons of data while travelling. Would recommend! 20 / month Obviously. 20 / month Yes. 100GB data, unlimited call and text, and landline calls to Canada. 4
B) Portable Phone (continued) Student 6 Did you get a portable phone in Nice? Brought my cell (unlocked) and bought a SIM card here Company Cost Was the expense worthwhile? If you were not satisfied, how would you do things differently? 1) Free Mobile changed to 2) La Poste Mobile 1) 20/month 2) 10/month Yes. 1) 100GB in France, 50 GB abroad 2) 60 GB in France, 5 GB abroad Student 7 Bought a plan Free Mobile The plan was amazing, 100 GB of data / month, 25GB through Europe Student 8 Yes. SIM card for existing SFR. Yearly 25/month Yes, had the best reception of all the phone. contract. others and could use while travelling. Student 9 Yes Free Mobile. Best 20/month Yes. Unlimited text in Europe and Canada + plan ever. 50GB of data. Student 10 I brought my phone and Free Mobile, sans 19.99/month Yes, you get 100GB of data a month within got a SIM card here. abonnement France and 5GB outside France Student 11 Yes, a phone plan (phone from Canada) Lycamobile I found la Poste Mobile after already getting a SIM with Free Mobile, but it was very easy to cancel because you don t have to sign a contract. C) Housing Residence Student 4 Advice given based on student s experience I moved after 3 months. Room very small; not much storage space; kind o like a prison cell. 5
C) Housing (continued) Off Campus Address Type of Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 127 Promenade des Anglais 44 bis, Boulevard Gambetta 127 Promenade des Anglais accommodation Apartment. Modern, clean, beach front. 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living/dining room, bathroom. Balcony overlooking the sea Apartment with 4 roomies 2 bedroom apartment Cost / person 600 / month. (So worth it, apply for CAF and get money back every month which makes the rent about 520 500 / month 600 / month Rented through an agency? Try not to use an agency, often they take advantage as we don t know the rules in France regarding fees. No agency. My landlord was Mathieu Airaudi. I wouldn t recommend him. Found through appartager.com. Landlords: Gerard and Milena Steeg. Contact information: Vincent Steeg (landlords son, lives closely to the appartment): pho): phone +33 6 22 71 41 85 vincent@steeg.eu Business relationship with the owner Landlords live in Morocco, but their son (who took care of everything) lives around the corner. Great people and fairly easy to communicate. Not a good relationship, not a kind man. Landlord slow to respond but very nice and understanding. Recommend? For sure. It is a very comfortable and inviting place to stay. 15 min walk to the fac, 7 min walk to the grocery store, 10 min bus ride to Vieille Ville, Vélo Bleu right outside. For this apartment contact Vincent Steeg (the landlord s, Milena and Gerarad Steeg s son) at +33 06 22 71 41 85 I would recommend sharing an apartment with French people. But not this one, very small, not a nice landlord. Yes. Great location to school, airport and downtown. Amazing view of sea from balcony, and a newly renovated space. Felt like a real home for the school year. 6
C) Housing off campus (continued) Address Type of accommodation Student 4 148 avenue de la Shared, small, Californie, no. 33 difficult to keep clean, came fully furnished, didn t need buy Student 5 148 avenue de la Californie, # 33 much. Apartment, 2 bedrooms, but 3 lived there, one room was shared Student 6 7, rue d Alsace-Lorraine Shared apartment with two other roomates Student 7 43, rue Rossini Apartment, 3 edrooms, bathroom and a kitchen Student 8 8, rue Alexis Mossa 2 bedroom apartment Cost / person Rented through an agency? Business relationship with the owner 400/month No Owner was really nice, left us slack on rent a lot. 400/month No Wonderful, the landlord was incredibly nice and understanding. 470/month 380 + 50 (utilities) / month No. I found it online at www.appartager.com Not much contact with landlord besides when looking for rent, not very helpful when responding to material problems in the apartment. Recommend? Sure. No, only because it s close to the new tram line so once that s up it won t be very affordable anymore. Yes. Good location, close to Jean Médecine. Perfectly fine. Yes! 10 min walk to the center (Place Massena), 5 min walk to train station, yet still a safe area. Furnished, good heating, everything went well. 450/month No Good, except they live in Italy so immediate service is difficult. No. I had a leak in my room which took 3 months to fix. House is falling apart. 7
C) Housing off campus (continued) Address Type of accommodation Student 9 8, rue Alexis Mossa Apartment. 2 people shared Student 10 1, rue de la Condamine Apartment, 2 persons Student 11 148, avenue de la Californie Apartment, 58m 2 Cost / person Rented through an agency? Business relationship with the owner Recommend? 450/month appartager.fr Good. No. House is old (1920 ), it needs to be renovated. Basically falling apart. 525/month, utilities included 400/month, utilities not included (around 20-35 when split between 3 people No, I used appartager.com to find it and then dealt directly with the landlord. He is a terrible landlord. We have one working burner and he will not fix the others. He told us he was in Indonesia for one month and could not be contacted, but he was in Nice. Very chill. Understanding when banking problems occurred, nice property manager. No, because the landlord is incredibly difficult to deal with. The house itself is not terrible, but definitely could have some improvements. Yes! Just keep in mind that it s a little far from Old Nice (20 min by bus), if you want to be where the action is, but only a 15 minutes walk from campus. It can house 3 people if you share the large bedroom. 8