In the centre of the charming old village of Chambourcy (in the suburbs of Paris, right on the verge between countryside and city) is our large, recently redecorated home (9 rooms, 3 bathrooms, large living, very large kitchen cum diningroom). Light flows in from all sides via the large French windows. Various terraces face west, so you will be able to enjoy the sun all day long, and spend time in or at the side of the swimmingpool. The pool has recently been completely redone, and now has a fully automatic system for chloride and PH regulation, based on salt water, this being much friendlier to your eyes and skin and much more ecological. So no need for you to take care of the pool, it takes care of itself! Since a few years, French law demands a strict safety-norm for pools, so we have a new floating cover that is secured, in order to prevent accidental drowning. Thus it is absolutely child-safe!
You can choose between the countryside (and visit pe. Giverny and the famous Monet-gardens, only 40 mins. away, or go to St-Germain-en-Laye by bike, take the bus in front of the house and go to the center of Paris (20' by car to the Arc de Triomphe. Even the Loire Castles can be done in a day-trip.
The practical side: january 2012 the shopping mall reopened into a very modern version, with an enormous supermarket, restaurants and many shops is a 3' walk away. The bank, the bakery and the butcher are practically next door.
Eurodisney can be reached by direct public transport in only 1,5 hr.
This is your opportunity to enjoy a holiday full of leisure around the pool, mixed with the cultural sides from a metropolis like Paris.
There is an Englishspeaking doctorsservice in St. Germain, and because of the international community here (this is where all the international schools are located) English is spoken in most hospitals.
Bicycles and swimming gear are available; exchange of cars is possible.
We are also in a position to host bed and breakfast guests in the periods that we are not exchanging. Contact us for further information.

Chambourcy is in the upscale suburbs of Paris, 12 kms from Versailles, where the beautiful Louis XIV Castle is, and where you can visit the worldfamous gardens, designed by Lenotre. You can take a walk in the gardens or hop on the small sightseeing trains that take you to all the sights in the gardens. Bikes and boats are for rent. Take your bottle of champagne and your picknickgear to enjoy what Lous XIV enjoyed. You can even buy vegetables in his former vegetable garden, and enjoy musical horseriding performances in the former stables of the Chateau. Sound and lightshows are organised around the spectacular fountains. And if you found that the Lenotre gardens are worth a visit, there are plenty of them in the neighbourhood: the Chateau of St. Germain-en-Laye 4kms, Chateau de Chantilly (1 hr drive) with equestrial performances and horseraces, the Chateau of Sceaux (1hr drive) where you can also visit the famous rosegardens, where very old species are kept.
No need to tell you about all you can do in Paris, with the Notre Dame, the Louvre, and St. Germain-des-Prés, the trendy Marais and Boulevard Saint Michel.
If you like the sea, Deauville, the worldknown seaside resort of princes and moviestars, is only a 1,5 hr. drive away, and so are the Second Worldwar beaches of D-Day. In summertime there is the American Movie festival in Deauville, where lots of famous stars make their appearance.
Nearly every village in France has a Brocante/Antiquitiesshop, and prices are rather affordable, especially in the countryside.
And in this area every town and village has its own golfcourse, in the most wonderful surroundings. There are lots of them around us.
For children there is plenty to do, boatrides over the Seine, bustours on 2storeybuses; where you can hop on and off at many Paris sights. Aside from Eurodisney, there is Parc Asterix, the French version of Disney, and according to our children much more interesting! There is Mer de Sable (cowboypark) and France Miniature.
The woods are very close by, many have small lakes and fishing ponds.
Our neighbours are nice and helpful, when needed.

Though we ourselves are non-smokers, we do not object to an occasional cigarette, but please no heavy smoking. Pets are welcome, on condition they are damage-proof. We ourselves have a dog. Car exchange is a possibility. We exchanged our car on our last exchange in Singapore, as well as during our exchange in San Francisco, summer 2004

17th february-3rd march
10th april - 26 may (or part of this period)
end july - end august

Abierto a cualquier fecha

Surprise us with your offers!
We have friends in Toronto, Shanghai, Singapore, Rome and Céret (France) that we would like to visit.
We do love the Far East (Vietnam, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Italy, Spain, USA, France as well as the Netherlands If a contemporary exchange is not possible, we could go for a non simultaneous exchange, since we have an apartment in the Netherlands.

We are a Dutch family, Frans (59) is the principal of the Dutch section of the Lycee International in St. Germain en Laye, loves reading French literature. Harriet (61) is a senior purser for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and a court and police interpreter (Italian),loves handicrafts of all kinds, and collects chinese antiques, enjoys her volunteerwork for the Dutch "make-a-wish" foundation. Charlotte (25), graduated from French International School and is a university student in Holland, .Her sister Stephanie(21) followed her example. If the girls come with us, they might want to take a friend along for the holidays. Instead of our daughters we might want to take a couple of friends, or come just the two of us.
We all love our dog Mara, a 11-year old Softcoated Irish wheaten terrier, a real family dog, very obedient (we could either leave her with your, or bring her to relatives). We did plus minus 15 very succesful homeexchanges, experiences we thouroughly enjoyed.Through homeexchange we have met wonderful people, and have had the chance to get better acquinted with the countries we visited by being really in the middle of dayly life. We would love to meet new homeexchangers!

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