A LENDING library has been opened in the small town of Dun le Palestel, in the north of la Creuse, by the local Entente Cordiale group.
The library will be open on Thursday, and from a little later this year Saturday as well, offering people the chance to pick up a book or two, as well as share language skills with others.
A small annual fee applies which will enable people to borrow up to six books and two videos for a month.
MANY people have had a love affair with France for years, although some struggle to put their finger on exactly what it was that sparked the fire.
Artist Richard Cole can trace his passion for the country back to the 1960s, as it was then in his student days that he joined a friend to spend the summer in a small village in the Rhône-Alpes.
His connection with the people of the region has seen his work on the walls of local bars and cafés, a world away from his professional career as an illustrator for international news organisations covering court cases such as those of the Yorkshire Ripper, Klaus Barbie and the abuses of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
FOR this section of education I am concentrating on the basic set up of the French state education for nursery and primary school pupils. Later I will look at secondary education and further education as well as alternatives to the state education.
As parents we all want is best for our children, whatever country we live in. We all hope they will do well, thrive, gain qualifications and be set up for life.
Moving with children inside ones own country is hard enough but moving to a different country, where they possibly don’t even speak the same language, is another matter all together.
FOR parents moving to France the biggest worry is how their offspring are going to cope. What are French schools like, how does the system operate, will they settle, what options do I have?
The list is endless and the older they get the more complex and difficult the subject becomes.
Last year my daughter and her two children moved to France. We had worries about how the children would settle, although we were told many times that children adapt very easily; more easily than adults!
So for a mini series about education in France and the options available I decided to ask a mini expert, my granddaughter, on how she feels about living in France and about school here.
MAYBE you are looking to start a business in France, or are just keen to find out a little more about your local commune, well drop in on Insee’s Statistiques Locales.
Insee is the official statistics authority and compiles facts and figures on a wide range of subjects, to a quite dizzying degree sometimes, but their stats on local communes can be quite eye opening.
WITH so many people leaving the UK to take up residence in other EU countries, including France, there are always dozens, if not hundreds, of questions to be answered.
A REGULAR feature over the coming months on This French Life will be a simple quiz on all things France written by author Andrew Whittaker.
Some of the questions will be drawn from Andrew’s book Speak the Culture: France, but he is also promising to include brain teasers on current affairs and subjects that didn’t make the book.
So you might cross questions on sporting events, politics and the arts, hopefully though you will gain a little insight into France and the richness of its culture.
WHEN I received a Meilleurs Voeux 2008 card from a friend in Paris it featured a colourful illustration of a Parisian shopping arcade.
People were bumping into each other, with bags packed full of goodies, whilst snowflakes drifted in the night sky and in the corner I could have sworn I saw Nicolas Sarkozy.
The artist behind the illustration is Joanna Walsh, whose website Badaude features both the New Year picture, and many of her distinctive views of Parisian life.
PENNY Zoldan is one of the most recognised names in the world of French property and is a regular contributor to magazine and newspaper articles.
Since starting Latitudes French Property Agents in 1989, Penny has helped thousands of people find a new home in France, and that experience has also been condensed into a book, Buying Property in France (see review).
Here Penny offers her thoughts on what the coming year may hold for people looking to buy in France and why the country has such an appeal to many.
France is incomparable to any other country in terms of diversity of architecture, types of properties and variety of terrain and facilities in the different regions.
MOST builders are happy to put their feet up after a hard day on site carrying bricks and mixing cement, but for Trevor Morris his day job has become his writing muse.
His experience of running a building company in the Tarn region of South West France is the back drop to his book Vive la Rénovation, which features tales from the property restorations he has been involved with.
Since crossing the Channel with his wife, Sue, and their feline friends the couple have settled into village life in a small hamlet just outside Albi.