Today, let me present you – So Lyonnais & So Good, So Useful & Helpful for Expats, Tourists & Visitors to France Concept and Company I found here in Lyon. It is called Spiky Community

Have you already heard about Spiky Community? This is a totally free app that helps to get your way around in Lyon and France. This is a brilliant concept which I discovered. Imagine…you need a doctor in Lyon, you want to find out how to organize your visa documents, you want to meet other people speaking the same language as you, coming from the same or other countries that are in Lyon…you can do it on the go with the Spiky Community app. Meet Anne Charlotte and learn more about the app.

1.Who you are? What do you do? And why in France?

Hello, my name is Anne-Charlotte, I’m 25 y/o and I’m from Lyon. I’ve created Spiky Community, the free app you need to easily settle in Lyon! I could launch this App thanks to a prize earned in the competition L’Agitateur organized each year by the Smerra Foundation.

2.Do you help Expats OR Do you get help as an Expat?

I’ve lived in Spain and traveled in South America and I realize two things:

The lack of information when you just laid down your hat in a new country. Do I need a visa? Which accommodation? What are the means of transport used? How to create a bank account ? …
The difficulties that you have to face when you come back home. Where can I find foreign people? How can I make their integration easier ?

That’s why I’ve created Spiky Community, a free mobile application that makes the integration of foreigners easier and that encourages intercultural meetings.

3.How does it work for Expats in Lyon? (More about your business and services/ What is helpful for you as an Expat)

Spiky Community is for international students, Erasmus, expatriates, French people coming back from a stay abroad and all people with an international open-mind.

The App is available for free in French, English and Spanish. It provides access to 4 functionalities:

Spiky formalities: get all the info about visa, housing, bank account, means of transports, etc.
Spiky Community: meet-and-greet chat between French and foreign people nearby
Spiky Chat: chat with French and foreign people
Spiky Blog: find the tips and exciting activities in Lyon

Spiky Community meets a threefold societal need:

Support the integration of foreigners
Help the re-integration of French people who have been abroad once they’re back to France
Offer French people who are open to the world a platform where they can finally be an actor of social cohesion

4.What are your Top 3 Tips For Expats in Lyon?

Dare to meet Lyonnais and speak with them. You can participate to exchange meetings organized each week in Lyon. It’s the good way to meet French and foreign people and not to feel alone.
Learn French with Academies, native teacher or thanks to technology (Duolingo for example). Learning French will be essential to make your integration easier.
Discover the city and the country by your own. Lyon is a city on a human scale. You can discover it easily walking the streets. By discovering the city you will feel like at home. You can also visit the region and France easily. There are a lot of means of transports (bus, blablacar, train, car…) and you have a a lot of different landscapes (Mountains, beach, countryside, etc.) at hand.

5.What are Your Top 3 Useful For Expats Resources (magazines, books, websites, services etc)

This is Lyon: the magazine 100% in English
The App CityMapper help you to move about the City, really useful
And the blog J’adore Lyon of course!

Would you add anything else?

I’ve created Spiky Community to make the integration of foreign people easier. This app is for you, so don’t hesitate to send me your recommendations or suggestions about it at contact.spikycommunity@gmail.com