Choosing a region

I want to preface this post by saying, I've never seen most regions in France and I cannot therefore say with certainty what each region is like. That being said, if you have specific goal in mind, certain regions are better than others. While I think you can always make good out of a bad situation, your placement can really make or break your TAPIF experience.

When giving your region preferences, TAPIF limits you to ranking three selections and only one section from each group. In my application cycle these were the groups. All the most competitive regions are in Group B with the least competitive regions in Group A.

Best Regions for Every Kind of Person

1. You Absolutely Have to Live in Paris

If this is you, you already know what you want. Unless you have already have strong personal connections to Paris, I suggest choosing a different region. Paris is expensive. Even the TAPIF website states that the assistant salary is not enough to live in Paris, and there are so many other interesting cities in which to experience French life. If you are absolutely set on Paris though, go for it! Just go in understanding that you'll probably need extra savings to work things out.

2. You Don't Want to End up Living in the Middle of Nowhere

Being the only assistant in your town and dealing with fewer transportation options can become a bit lonely. So if you don't end up in Paris, but still want to ensure that you are placed in a decent sized city where should you go? You might want to consider Lille, or Nancy Metz. These regions are almost entirely urban. The downside? They are also in the colder, rainy North. On the plus side, with great transport links you can easily visit Paris, Germany, Belgium or the UK. Lyon or Strasbourg could also be good options.

Want the most rural regions? Probably Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges or Toulouse. 

3. Finding Your Own Housing Really Stresses You Out

Talk to other TAPIF assistants and you'll probably hear that finding housing is one of the most stressful parts of living in France. Finding housing in the US can be stressful enough, but trying to find housing in a foreign country, in a different language, while also setting up a bank account, dealing with jet-lag, and familiarizing yourself with your new city among other things is even more difficult. 

Fortunately, many schools provide assistants with affordable housing, from 300€ per month to completely free, but finding information about housing from the different regions can be a bit difficult. That being said, if housing security is a high priority for you consider the following  académies based on their CIEP information page.

1. Besançon: States, "Almost all assistants are given free or low-rent (around 100€ utilities included) accommodation at the lycée."

2. Poitiers: More than 70% of assistants are provided housing.

3. Nancy-Metz: "Assistants are housed, most often, at the school"

4. Dijon: "Assistants are often accommodated at the lycée or elsewhere." [Emphasis theirs]

- "Often" (souvent) is somewhat vague, but I include Dijon because they use bold for this specific sentence"

(Translations are my own)

So if you want school provided housing, basically consider the Northeast of France or Poitiers. Even if you don't like the school-provided housing, you can always take the school housing and then move out later if you find a better place. If you don't have $2,000 in savings and can't rely on family to back you up then I highly suggest trying one of these regions. More than anything else, a lack of housing can really break your budget.

Unfortunately, nothing is guaranteed. I choose the Poitiers region in hopes of receiving school provided housing, but in the end I had to find my own.

4. You Really Enjoy Nature and Hiking

One surprising thing coming from my home in South Carolina is how much of France has been developed and used for farm land. Rural does not guarantee lots of trees and nature. If you do want to live close to nature, or if you really enjoy hiking, I would highly suggest choosing the Eastern regions of France like Grenoble or Besançon.

5. Cycling Everyday to Work is Your Dream Come True

This one is kind of hard as most regions have a mix of cities with varying levels of bike infrastructure.  That being said, Nantes and Strasbourg have some of the most widespread bike infrastructure. Lyon, Rennes, and Besançon also have a good number of bike friendly cities.

On the other hand, I would avoid Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand, and the Southern Coast.

You can also check out the map on this website which gives bike-friendly scores to French cities.

6. You Want Warm Weather, Ocean Cliffs, and Sunshine

France's Mediterranean Coast is an incredibly beautiful place. If you want the best weather and sunshine choose Nice, Aix-Marseille, and Montpellier. Just be aware that everyone else also wants to be there too and expect a higher overall cost of living. 

7. You Want to Live on a Tropical Island with its own Unique Culture

When choosing a region, you might forget that France also has a number of islands including Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, and Corsica. Like on France's Mediterranean coast you can enjoy warm weather and a beautiful environment on these islands. Of course, transportation on the islands is more limited. Except for Corsica, expect long layovers and expensive tickets, but the extra pay makes up for it. You still benefit from government benefits such as CAF and I've heard the cost of living isn't really that much higher.

8. You Seek a Really Unique Experience Living in the Rainforests

Guyane is a really unique place. Guyane is extremely rural with forests covering nearly 99% of the country. While part of the South American continent, Guyane's poor transportation infrastructure means that it is practically an island. I doubt that Guyane is a popular choice for assistants, but there are also very few assistants placed in Guyane. One blog I read stated there were around 35 language assistants total. Compare that number to the over 1,500 American assistants and 4,500 assistants throughout the entire assistants de langue program. In other words, your chances of ending up in Guyane are slim, but it's worth a try if you want a real adventure.

More Information

Finally, check out CIEP's website for information directly from each académie.