How I Chose Where We’re Staying in France

If you’re just finding this series, we’re taking our 3 kids to France for a month next summer, and I’m documenting the whole process—from why we’re doing it to choosing where we’ll stay, figuring out the budget, and eventually getting on that plane. Start with Why We’re Taking Our Three Kids to France for the Summer to get the full story behind the trip.

Once I decided we could actually spend a month in Europe, I had one pretty big question to answer:

Where?

My first two options were Italy and France.

Italy was an obvious contender. The kids adored Italy when we visited, and we already have some favorite places there. If we were simply choosing based on where we most wanted to eat, explore and wander around, Italy probably would have won. Especially if we were going during soccer season.

But I started thinking about what would actually make a month abroad easier for our family, and that's where France started pulling ahead.

The biggest reason? The language.

I studied French years ago, and while I am very rusty, I can spend this year relearning it before we go. I’ve already found some great TikTok creators that are giving me all the conversational language I need. 

Another practical reason - Italian isn't offered at our kids' high schools, but French is. So if the kids pick up even a little French while we're there, that's something they can continue building on when we get home.

Once I landed on France, I started narrowing down where in France. And this is where I basically turned ChatGPT into my travel-planning sidekick.

The general path to finalizing the where and when looked a little like this:

1. Choose city

2. Find housing

3. Research language camp and summer camp options

4. Email camps and ask about non-French kids attending

5. Reach out to Airbnb host with questions on the location and apartment

6. Confirm train routes / ease of travel

   
   

All of this was done over the span of a week. The camp directors were really helpful too. The language camp assured me the kids would be together since they’re both newbies, and the soccer camp director said they’re used to having international kids join and the coaches generally speak English.

None of these camps are set in stone, but the important part at this stage is knowing what is available and the general price of everything (language camp was $450/kid for two weeks and soccer camp was around $200/week).

The budget is a critical aspect because if I’m not diligent about planning, the costs will run away from me, which is exactly what my husband is expecting to happen. 

It's easy to build a dream itinerary when you're planning a vacation. It's a lot harder when you're trying to actually live somewhere for a month.

I wasn't looking for the most beautiful city in France or the city with the longest list of things to do. I wanted somewhere we could afford to stay for four weeks, get around easily, take trains to other places, find the things we need for everyday life, and still have money left over to actually explore.

After a lot of questions, comparisons, spreadsheets and a lot of conversations with ChatGPT, we finally landed on a city.

I'm keeping the exact location private for now, but I can tell you this:

It's well connected, walkable, close to other places we want to explore, and it gives us exactly what I was looking for—a chance to experience normal life somewhere else, with plenty of opportunities to get out and see more of France and Europe.

Here's the general path I took to help me figure out where to go and how much it was likely to cost.

01

Find the city: My prompt

I want to take my kids - 8, 14, and 17 to Europe and stay in an Airbnb for 4 weeks. We’re considering France but open to other ideas. I want to stay in a place we can leisurely explore and live, maybe taking some classes or camps for the kids. I want to be close to a major train station that can easily take us to visit other places throughout Europe. Recommendations for cities, ways to maximize our time, places to visit, etc?

02

Research housing + budget

I figured out where I wanted to be and started looking on Airbnb for budgets. I found a couple that looked like they’d work and had ChatGPT compare them. It came back with great insight on the size and convenience and convinced me to spend an extra $600 on the larger one that was a bit closer to city center. 

03

Find things to do

Then I got more specific on what we could do all month - 

• Where could we find summer language programs and camps for the kids?

• What day trips and short overnights do you recommend and why?

• For each trip, ChatGPT also gave me an estimated cost for hotel, train, food, and activities to include in my budget.