South of France · 2026 guide
How to choose a nanny agency on the French Riviera (2026)
Seven things a family in Nice, Cap-Ferrat, Cannes, Antibes or Saint-Tropez should check before signing with any nanny agency — and how Lumière, based in Nice, answers each one.
Tell us what you needFor families · a one-minute enquiry
Tell Hanna and the Lumière team what you need
A private search, never a database.
Every enquiry is read by the team. Reply within 48 hours; shortlist within a week.
- Founded 2025 by Hanna, a career nanny · 100+ placements
- 3-month guarantee, then 2 months on each replacement — up to 3 re-matches
- Long-term nannies, newborn care specialists and private teachers · our terms
- Every contract fully declared
Updated 15 October 2026 · by the Lumière team
Quick answer
Choose a nanny agency in the South of France on seven checks: be clear whether you need a career nanny or a babysitting service; insist on a declared URSSAF contract; candidates interviewed in person on the Riviera; references, criminal-record extract and PSC1 first aid verified; the fee in writing before the search; a guarantee that states what it covers; and candidates with real summer, villa or yacht experience. Lumière Placements — founded 2025, based in Nice, specialising in long-term nannies, newborn care specialists and private teachers: guarantee three months, then two on each replacement, up to three times; shortlist within a week; 5.0 on Google. Facts checked October 2026.
What to verify before you sign
Every agency describes its candidates as exceptional. These are the things a family in the South of France can actually verify in one call.
The legal and practical basics
- Career nanny or babysitter?. Hourly evenings and holiday cover are a babysitting service's job; a professional who runs the nursery for a year and travels with you is a career-nanny agency's.
- A declared URSSAF contract. In France your family employs the nanny under the household-employee collective agreement and declares her with URSSAF. Never accept cash-in-hand.
- Interviewed on the Riviera. The agency should meet candidates in person locally, not only by video.
- Checks that can be shown. References verified by a person, a current casier judiciaire (bulletin n°3) and PSC1 paediatric first aid.
What separates a good agency
- The fee in writing first. A percentage of first-year gross salary or a fixed fee, stated before the search.
- The guarantee, precisely. How long the placed candidate is covered, how many replacements are included, and whether each replacement is covered too.
- Season-ready candidates. For a villa summer or a charter, ask for candidates who have done a Riviera season, swim confidently and, for yachts, hold STCW/ENG1.
Our answers, in the same order
Career nannies: Lumière places professionals for long-term, seasonal, rota, maternity and yacht roles — not hourly babysitting. Declared contract: your family employs the nanny on a URSSAF-declared contract and we guide you from the declaration to the first payslip. In person: every candidate is interviewed by the Lumière team in Nice. Checks: references verified in person, casier judiciaire and PSC1 sighted. Fee: set out in writing before any search, with full terms on our fees page. Guarantee: three months on the placed candidate, then two months on each replacement, up to three replacements. Season: candidates with Riviera summer, villa and yacht experience are flagged on the shortlist.
Full terms: fees and guarantee · Nanny cost on the Riviera 2026 · Nanny agency French Riviera
Frequently Asked Questions
Ask us the seven questions
Send us your Riviera brief; we reply within 48 hours with every answer in writing and, within a week, a shortlist.
Tell us what you needVetting & compliance
How Lumière nannies are vetted for Riviera families
Placements on the French Riviera are made under French law: the family employs the nanny on a declared URSSAF contract under the Convention Collective des particuliers employeurs; Monaco placements are declared with the CCSS. Lumière introduces, vets and guides you through the paperwork; the nanny is employed by you.
Casier judiciaire (bulletin n°3)
Current French criminal-record extract for every candidate, plus references verified in person by Hanna.
URSSAF-declared employment
The family employs the nanny on a declared URSSAF contract (or with the CCSS in Monaco); we explain each step from the declaration to the first payslip.
Convention collective
Working hours, overtime, paid leave and notice set out correctly in the contract we help you draft.
PSC1 paediatric first aid
Current PSC1 certification or equivalent.
Multilingual interview
Arabic, English and French candidates interviewed in the language the family will use.
Season-ready
Candidates with prior Riviera summer, villa or yacht experience are flagged on the shortlist.
Declared employment. Every placement is made on a written, declared contract with the family as employer. Lumière does not place undeclared nannies.
The Lumière difference
Founded by a professional nanny, not a recruiter
"I founded Lumière because the families I worked for kept asking the same question: where do we find another nanny like you? I still take private placements. Every nanny I place is one I would work alongside."
Hanna founded Lumière Placements after years inside private households as a career nanny. Lumière is the only French Riviera-based boutique placement agency, placing across Monaco, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Cannes, Saint-Tropez and Nice, and worldwide, founded and led by a professional nanny.
Why families choose Lumière
- Based
- French Riviera
- Founder
- Hanna, professional nanny
- Approach
- Families understood from the inside, the right nanny for the right family
- Qualifications
- Norland, CACHE, NNEB, Montessori
- Vetting
- References verified, DBS where applicable
- Employment
- Declared, full contracts
- Reach
- 20+ cities · 3 continents
- Specialisms
- Live-in, rota, governess, maternity, yacht, travel
