Moving to Bordeaux – Bordeaux Expats

Moving back home… even as far as New Zealand or Australia!

Mike Foster — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:45:00 +0000

Hey there,

Good old Ozzie Mike has asked me what the deal is with Leaving France with all your stuff…

I recently moved back to NZ after 12 years living in France so I needed to ship my stuff and this is what I did!

I had a good shop around and did not find any serious solutions in France so I checked out the London TNT magazine www.tntmagazine.com/leavingtheuk and after not really getting anywhere with that either I managed to find this crowd: www.sevenseasworldwide.com

The service was OK and after 9 weeks my 5 x 30 kgs tea chests arrived at my door.

You will need to speak to the London office and they will simply UPS all the empty tea chest cardboard boxes you need with packing tape and even enough bubble wrap for all your fragile items. I paid 640 euros all up for Bordeaux to London and London to Auckland door to door service including boxes, packaging and insurance.

If anyone has any questions feel free to leave any comments on this post and I will reply back to you.

PS make sure all you guys and girls sign-up to this blog to get all of Mike’s great posts for all you need to know about whats going down in good old Bordeaux town!

Take good care,

Le Kiwi

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Bordeaux British Community

Mike Foster — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:12:00 +0000

The Bordeaux British Community is a long-established social club for English speakers in the Bordeaux region. We organise a full programme of varied activities where you will be able to meet people and get to know the area.

Activities

The big annual events are a traditional Christmas dinner, Burn’s night, a children’s party and sports day. Every month we organise midweek lunches and golf days or a variety of outings such as cycle rides, canoe trips, visits to wine châteaux and children’s activities. A popular event each year is a long weekend walking in the Pyrenées.

Who are the members?

Despite the name we are not all British and do not all live in Bordeaux. People of any nationality can join and members live in all parts of the surrounding region from the Médoc to the Landes and inland to the Dordogne. What we all have in common is the English language and what most people appreciate is the opportunity to relax and chat whilst appreciating good food and wine and a wide range of activities.

www.bordeauxbritish.com

membershipsecretary@bordeauxbritish.com

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8th RIRL Conference

Mike Foster — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:34:00 +0000

Since 1995, RIRL has monitored logistics and supply chain management research in terms of methodological aspects and associated workplace experimentation. This is a headline event where interested scholars and professionals have the opportunity to share their experiences during both full conference sessions and smaller workshops.

The 8th RIRL conference will be hosted by BEM Bordeaux Management School in Bordeaux who will offer an attractive scientific program.

AIRL conferences have a long standing tradition of critical discussion and drive for quality research in an open and friendly atmosphere. The social events are planned to allow the blending of networking among participants and the exploration of the city of Bordeaux, its outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, its wines and wonderful climate.

“RIRL 2010”, the Conference’s eighth biennial meeting, is a magnet for researchers throughout the discipline as well as beyond. The conference aims to enhance general understanding of a number of logistics and supply chain-related management issues:

Procurement and supply chains (purchasing and supply chain performance, purchasing/logistics relationships, purchasing of services, logistics outsourcing)
Supply chain implications and consequences of financial, humanitarian and natural crises
Training in supply chain management (learning, innovation, technology)
Supply chain competency and human resource management
Logistics, locations (urban, regional) and society
Operations management and supply chains
Managing supply chain performance (modelling and evaluation, benchmarking, best practices)
Strategy and supply chains (network governance and design)
Service sector supply chains
Sustainable supply chains
Supply chains and market globalisation (delocalisation, relocalisation)
Supply chains and inter-organisational relationships (collaboration, trust, contracts)
Supply chains and information systems (Technologies, exchanges, collaborative planning)

Plus other topics reflecting trends developing in the field of logistics (e-commerce, etc ).

When: 29 – 30th Sept & 1st October, 2010
Where: BEM Bordeaux Management School, Talence

Website

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Bordeaux goes Digital!

Mike Foster — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:21:00 +0000

During the week between the 21st – 26th of March, Bordeaux will be turning it’s streets a bit digital…

The project ‘Bordeaux Digital City’ includes a set of new e-services to accompany the urban development of the city and digi vibe of the residence. From the development of things like smart phone apps, public Wi-Fi access points, fidelity cards and large outdoor building projections.

I reckon it’s a step for the city of Bordeaux to step into the technology age and here’s a week to try to rally troops.

When: 21st – 26th March
Where: City of Bordeaux **
Cost: Free!

** Special note: There will be a digital projection on the facades at the Place du Palais from 8pm onwards.

http://semainedigitale.blog.bordeaux.fr/english-contents/

http://citedigitale.bordeaux.fr/

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UBB vs CLERMONT-FERRAND – Match Preview

Mike Foster — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:13:00 +0000

This weekend will see the Union Bordeaux Bègles go up against Clermont in their 3rd match of the season.

For the team of ASM Clermont Auvergne, they have started the season on a very good foot with two wins already to their credit, including difficult triumph against Toulon at home. The absence of their “World Cup players” doesn’t appear to have effected Clermont all that much with their younger players holding the fort. One point that could prove their undoing is that if they don’t come down from their ‘successive win’ cloud and take the match to their opponents.

For the UBB, the victory last weekend at Chaban Delmas to over 25 000 spectators, showed that the players learn quickly from their mistakes and work hard to get on the right track . Although it is still very early in the season, perhaps their level of aggression and desire to win is going to be the bench mark for the season. It’s most likely that the UBB will start most matches as the underdog, but perhaps this will play into their favour as it could alleviate the pressure that comes with the big matches.

TEAM against ASM

1    .    DAVIES Richard
2    .    LAUGA Romain
3    .    TOETU Patrick
4    .    TISSEAU François
5    .    JAULHAC   Adam
6    .    MADAULE Louis Benoit
7    .    CHALMERS   Hugh
8    .    HOUSTON Leroy
9    .    ADAMS   Heinie
10    .    LOPEZ   Camille
11    .    FERRERES   Laurent
12    .    CARBALLO   Rafaël
13    .    LE BOUHRIS Félix
14    .    BRANA Thierry
15    .    REIHANA Bruce

Replacements
16   .   ROFES Fabien
17   .   DELBOULBES Laurent
18   .   TRELOAR Caméron
19   .   TERNISIEN   Charly
20   .   SERON   Julien
21   .   FRASER   Gerard
22   .   DENETRE Michel23   .   DECAMPS   Nicolas

When: Friday 9th September, 2011 @ 8pm
Where: Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand

Live radio commentary on ARL 96.2 in Bordeaux, 92.9 in Langon, 95.9 in Libourne, 90 in Marmande and 98.1 in Agen.

Original article: http://www.ubbrugby.com/actualites/2106-avant-le-match-contre-clermont-ferrand.html

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UBB vs Toulon – 4th Round Top 14

Mike Foster — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:25:00 +0000

After a great second round win at home against Bayonne it seems the lads struggled somewhat when they went up against Clermont last week. They eventually went down 34 to 6, with Clermont controlling the majority of the game.

Gerard Fraser (UBB Fly-Half) commented after the match saying, “we didn’t stick to the basics of rugby, with the aggression and desire to play. To take the ball in hand, pass and get our kicking right is something we just didn’t do!”

Prop forward, Nicolas Decamps also went on to say that he thought the first 30 mins were of play were good but with Clermont’s confidence and possession at the ruck it became much to hard to defend. “This is the TOP 14, where there is no room for errors. We’ll have to play as a team (against Toulon) to better next week”.

Following on from the raging success of playing at home at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in front of 26,000 spectators, the Union will be wanting to dig deep to give their Bordelais supporters something to cheer about. Toulon being another heavy weight of the TOP 14 will be wanting to get things right where the Bayonnaise did not. A saving grace for the UBB is that star players such as Jonny Wilkinson & Bakkies Botha will be out as they are representing their countries in the World Cup, but rest assured it will be a tough match as RC Toulon has the depth to cover their stand out players.

There are still some tickets left but get in quick as most of the good seats will go!

Get tickets here!

Facebook event

When: 16th September, 2011 @ 8pm

Where: Stade Chaban Delmas, 74 Boulevard du Maréchal Leclerc, Bordeaux

Cost: Starting from – €12 – €45

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Yoga in the City

Mike Foster — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:27:00 +0000

Roll out your yoga mats this Saturday for a chance to practice with a couple of real nice ladies…

Sophie & Tracey have united their yoga forces and will be offering the chance to come together to share, explore and learn the benefits of yoga.

The session will take place outside next to Hangar 14 near the river. There will be English and French explations available…

So if you’re looking for a way to relax, exercise or practise your English or French drop by for this free event.

For more information contact the girls directly:
Sophie: www.yoga-vibes.blogspot.com
Tracey: www.yogavita.fr

When: 1st October, 2011 @ 5pm
Where: Outside Hangar 14, Chartrons, 33000 Bordeaux
Cost: Free!

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TEDx, spreading worthwhile ideas in Bordeaux

Mike Foster — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 19:45:00 +0000

Bordeaux Expats was among the select bunch of discerning blogs given premium access to the 2012 TEDx conference in Bordeaux on December 1st at TnBA (Théâtre national de Bordeaux en Aquitaine). It proved to be a rollercoaster ride of thought-provoking topics for the several-hundred people present, as well as for those watching via live video feeds in libraries, cultural centres and bookshops throughout the region and beyond.

Eight months in the making and lovingly handcrafted by a core team of digital multimedia movers and shakers from in and around Bordeaux (the Aquinum network), this year’s TEDx event was the second to be held in the city. The format is a local take on the TED (for Technology – Entertainment – Design) concept initiated in the 1980s in the US: a series of short, dynamic keynote talks about “ideas worth spreading”. TED-branded events combine live speakers and video presentations to “spark deep discussion and connection” according to the official literature. The locally-organised “TEDx” events are independently-run while adhering to worldwide TED guidelines.

Territory and history

This year’s theme in Bordeaux was “Terr(hist)oires”, a pun on the notion of territory and history, forming the backdrop for a wide spectrum of subjects ranging from the weird (anyone for biohacking, biomimetics or geobiology?) to the wonderful (are there many events where beatboxing and oceanography are on the same bill?).

This comfy red armchair on stage
was used precisely once.

It feels almost unfair to single out specific highlights, but in order to keep this article to a manageable length, we’re going to have to do just that! Opening speaker Irina Dobre, a Romanian expert in intercultural issues, presented excerpts from her film “Acasă” (“at home” in Romanian). The film has been inspired by her own quest for identity resulting from her move to France in 1999 and her realisation that she soon considered herself as a foreigner in both her home and host countries… until she realised that, in actual fact, she was now at home everywhere. Her keynote finished with an open question for the audience, the very question she had put to a number of interviewees for her film: where is your home?

Dominique Careil has spent a decade working in close conjunction with traveller communities in Gironde. On the basis of what he has learned over the years, he shared observations about the community’s attitudes to work, money, possessions, healthcare and death, singling out how theirs differed from the approach of sedentary populations in the area. His aim was to provide a valuable glimpse into their culture with a view to better understanding them, in the hope that this improved understanding would instil more respect and a greater ability to live together.

Halim Mahdi shared the experience he has gained over the years in the field of biohacking, using non-institutional scientific practices and techniques to remould the performance of his body and mind. When tweaking the dials on his nutritional makeup he has dabbled in excessive consumption of eggs, great blocks of butter in his morning coffee and full weeks spent fasting. The diet he has settled on over the past two years has seen him cancel out seed-based food, vegetables and dairy produce! He looks good and comes across as healthy – and certainly light-years from the obese child in the old family photos he showed – but the audience was in equal parts inspired and mystified by his talk promoting his quest for an “augmented life”!

Above left: a deserved standing ovation for the organisers. Top right, lead organiser François-Xavier Bodin opens proceedings. Bottom right: a shower of red X’s rain down on keynote speaker Sandrine Pacitto Mathou.

Revitalising an economy

Arguably the best-received talk was that of the youthful engineer and modern-day adventurer Corentin de Chatelperron. The Frenchman relocated to Bangladesh a few years ago to work on shipbuilding projects but was struck by the country’s ailing jute fibre industry, which in the past had been the primary material used the world over for postal and potato sacks. Corentin believed a jute fibre-based eco-material, known as pàt, could be adapted to local shipbuilding practices, to replace the use of imported fibre glass. To put his theory to the test, he built a boat out of a combination of fibre glass and jute fibre, the Tara Tari, which he set about sailing from Bangladesh to France during a six-month, 14,000km voyage that took the inexperienced sailor through choppy seas, pirate-infested waters, the administrative nightmare of the Suez Canal and much, much more. The boat made it, proving the durable qualities of jute fibre, and is now set to cross the Atlantic with a fellow sailor at the helm. Meanwhile, Corentin has obtained funding and set up an R&D centre in Bangladesh where a team of engineers are pursuing the innovative Gold of Bengal project to further develop the revitalised use of jute fibre/pàt, which looks set to have a substantial social and economic impact on the country.

Beatboxer Beasty raising the roof.

Finally, the most electrifying contribution was that of local luminary Beasty, regarded as one of the most talented human beatboxes in the world. During his slot, which used live samples of his eclectic palette of vocal sounds to illustrate the history of hip-hop and beatboxing, the audience was on its feet and for a few minutes the lecture theatre became an urban concert venue. Take time out to check out videos of Beasty’s beatboxing skills on the internet. If you can hook up the sound to industrial-sized speakers and invite a few hundred friends along to holler and clap along, then you’ll have an idea of the incredible atmosphere that took hold of the TEDx crowd.

A unique experience

The twelve live talks and three video features that made up the five-hour event formed a varied beast that oscillated constantly between earnest and humorous, cerebral and moving, and the audience went home feeling they had experienced something unique. In Irina Dobre’s film, one of the interviewees observed that “Home is where the key fits the lock”. On December 1st, the TEDx organisers most definitely had the right key for the lock and those present felt very much at home.

Full information about the event at www.tedxbordeaux.com, where videos of the talks will be posted in the coming days.

About the author: Tim Pike, whose day job is corporate journalism in the aerospace sector, is an Englishman who runs Invisible Bordeaux, a website which lifts the lid on many of the lesser-known sights and stories in and around the city, touching on local history, architecture, infrastructure and customs. He can also be found on Twitter.

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BILINGUAL SCHOOL CHARTRONS BORDEAUX

Chris Tighe — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 08:38:00 +0000

Located right in the middle of Chartrons, The Bilingual School of Bordeaux is opening soon and they are hiring!

They will provide an educational program entirely in English with native English-speaking teachers. The school will open its doors in September and will welcome children aged three to six.

Extra-curricular activities in English will also be on offer every Wednesday and during school holidays. These activities are open to all children, whether they are enrolled in the school or not.

The BSB is part of the Stewart International School network and will employ a methodology that has been in place for over 40 years in London and Paris. The Bordeaux school will be the fourth in the network to open (after two in London and one in Paris) and will be followed by a second school for primary age children later on.

The Petite Ecole Bilingue welcomes children from age three upwards for all day sessions, which will take place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Native speakers will carry out activities in both English and French. In order to provide a truly foreign-language education, the Petite Ecole Bilingue is a private, ‘off contract’ establishment. The program conforms to the official instructions of the National Education Board. All teachers will be qualified and hold degrees.

The focus of the school will be on small class sizes with qualified, attentive and devoted staff members. The material will be personalised, based on the learning rhythm of each child and will provide a certain amount of autonomy. Language learning will be at the heart of the teaching and children will be able to get involved in a large range of cultural and sporting activities from visiting staff members.

Early childhood is the best time to learn a new language. It is the age when a child’s aptitude to acquire the foundations of language is at its highest, when the formation of the child’s phonetic language base is in full swing. The school’s methodology is founded on children learning a second language by using it to express themselves during the various activities that are on offer.

The school aims to provide the best possible foundation for a child to pursue their educational future.

For further information, please don’t hesitate to visit the website: www.ecolebilinguebordeaux.com

You can pre-register here (limited number of places):

Ecolebilinguebordeaux@yahoo.com

Tel – 06 82 65 90 47

Cours de la Martinique

Chartrons

33000 Bordeaux

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STUDENT ACCOMMODATION IN BORDEAUX

Chris Tighe — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 12:02:00 +0000

Finding student accommodation in Bordeaux

Over the last week there have been a huge number of posts on all the Bordeaux Facebook pages and groups about finding accommodation. With the help of Vibhor Jajoo, a student from India in his 3rd year and 5th apartment in Bordeaux, here’s a brief rundown of what’s out there. If you have any more suggestions, we’re all ears!

WARNING – Directe Location near Pey Berland tram stop (also in Bordeaux Bastide and Talence), is an agency that will charge you a colossal amount of cash for a ‘list’ of available properties and NO GUARANTEE of finding anything…

Student residences and services

CIJA at 125 cours Alsace Lorraine (near Pey Berland) has a fairly up-to-date list of rooms and flat-sharing. They tend to get snapped up very quickly!

CROUS is one of the cheapest options for student accommodation. Apartments usually consist of single rooms or studios with shared/en suite bathrooms. They manage a number of residences across the city – applications for the academic year (Sept-Aug) end in April though so if you’re reading this, you’ve probably already missed it. Try applying for the waiting list for next year via the following links –
http://fiche.crous-bordeaux.fr/etudiant/inscription/
http://www.crous-bordeaux.fr/inte…/processing-application/

studyoresidences – these are privately-run student residences located near universities that offer a range of additional services – they sometimes have last-minute availability

Campuséa– another site with student residences to check out

All Suites Pessac– a brand new student residence block next to Châtaigneraie tram stop with 190 apartments to rent or buy – opening soon…

Once you are in Bordeaux, you can look for accommodation at lokaviz.fr – you need student INE (ID) number to create an account (you could try looking without one and see if it works).

Bordeaux university students can also write to international office at mailto:accueil.chercheurs@u-bordeaux.frwho will give you all you necessary details for flat hunting. They generally help you out if you are in dire straights and desperately need a place to stay…

Other accommodation agencies and websites

Adele – a student accommodation site that has been around since 1997

Domofrance – nationwide housing association, which also offers has a range of student residences located near universities

Erasmusu – a site aimed at Erasmus students

Immojeune – apartments, flat-sharing, studios and residences around Bordeaux

Location Etudiante – a site with a range of useful info and links to available residences

Locservice – apartments without agency fees

myroom offer furnished apartments and have an office in Bordeaux (06 72 35 86 87)

Roomster – a useful accommodation search app you can download…

Studéa – student residences run by the Nexity real estate group

Studylease – a list of 22 student residences

Teneo is an agency that provides housing which typically consists of studios, i.e. 20m² with an attached bathroom and kitchenette. They’re almost always available, but are a slightly more expensive option.

Flatsharing

appartager is a house/flat-sharing website where you can get info from the host on the property before you stay

roomlala.com – spare rooms and flatshares (as well as B&Bs) for short, medium and long-term stay

la Carte Des Colocs – is a nationwide site showing many of the available flatshares in Bordeaux…

There’s also a new startup in Bordeaux called meltycasa, and their facebook page

Classified websites

General classified sites such as leboncoin, Se Loger and PAP etc. often have places suitable for students – be careful with the adverts and make sure they are genuine before ever handing over any cash!

AirBnB– if you’re really stuck, you can contact people offering places on AirBnB and see if you can negotiate a longer-term rental

Facebook pages and groups to try…

BORDEAUX: Location appartement, Colocation, Sous-location – A French page for people searching for private rentals

Location Appartement Bordeaux – same as the above but a group page

Plan appart Bordeaux – a flat-hunting group

Colocation Bordeaux – a Bordeaux flat-sharing site

Wanted Community Bordeaux – A Bordeaux community for people that want things…

Etudiants de Bordeaux – A general student’s page in French but also features adverts for flatshares etc. from time to time.

You can also find more recent pages, as well as estate agents by simply typing Bordeaux Apartment into Facebook..!

Jennifer Dombrowski’s article is also well worth a read for getting tips on how to navigate the French admin system when looking for accommodation.

For tips in French – read this one from L’étudiant Bordelais…

If you finally manage to find a place to stay and are looking for a heads-up on meeting other expats and international students as well as various language exchanges and networking groups – check out this article from Bordeaux Expats…

Good luck and please let me know if I’ve missed anything out or made any mistakes…!

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