IF you are up for working outdoors, beneath the summer sun, why not try your hand at volunteering for an archaeological dig?
The French government has put together a list of projects that are taking place over the coming months the length and breadth of the country.
There are many projects which could see you involved in the cleaning of items, producing drawings or taking photographs covering dates from the Middle Ages, right back to pre-historic times.
FROM her home in Deux-Sèvres, Beryl Brennan has been writing about, rescuing and homing galgo dogs often abandoned on the streets of Spanish towns.
Beryl has put together an ebook covering the history of the galgo, as well as the difficulties the animals face today, which is titled From Heaven to Hell – The Story of the Galgo Espanol.
A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Beryl’s galgo fund for donations to appeals for help posted on Galgo News.
THE end of May sees the deadline for the submission of details about your income to the French tax authorities.
If you make your declaration online then you have a little longer, and if you are already registered in the system and employed, then it could be just a case of checking the figures.
Your first port of call with any questions should be your Trésor Public as they will be able to supply you with the latest advice, you can search for Trésor Public offices here.
WHEN looking for a property in France (like any property search elsewhere in the world), the estate agent is often the first person to be contacted, writes Guillaume Barlet.
Whether you have seen an advertisement in an estate agency window or browsing the web, l’agent immobilier will be, most of the time, your first contact in the purchasing process.
All estate agencies in France must be registered with the French trade authorities. The activity of estate agent is regulated by French law (Loi Hoguet) which applies as soon as an individual or any corporate entity carry out or assist in an operation, on a regular basis, relating to someone else’s property.
A COLLECTION of photographs from when I take the dog for a walk every morning around Loubejac, in the south of the Dordogne (map).
IF you suffer from hay fever then you can get a little bit of advance notice of pollen levels from the Le Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique (RNSA) website.
There are historical records for towns and cities across France enabling you to spot when pollen levels are at their highest.
And the pollen levels of individual towns and cities can also be checked, they can be found to the right hand side of the page, with an estimate of forthcoming pollen levels plotted on time graphs.
One feature of the RNSA website that could prove particularly useful is a weekly email service that allows you to choose up to three départements and get updates to your inbox about pollen level risks.
IF one thing was learnt from the chaos caused by the volcano in Iceland, it’s that our travel plans are balanced on a delicate knife edge.
As the skies above Europe closed down and flights were grounded, millions of people saw their trip overseas crumble, with most people having to find their own way home.
Whilst I tried to offer some advice and travel news updates through This French Life, I thought it might be worthwhile bringing together some of the websites and Twitter accounts I constantly refreshed, as well as a few of the observations I made.
AS the airspace above the UK and much of Europe opens many people may soon be back in the comfort of their homes.
Those who have made the journey back from far-flung places are most probably resting, but all those affected are likely to be out of pocket after paying for extras such as hotels, taxis and train fares.
Consumer watchdog Which? Holiday has provided advice to people whose travel plans were affected by the volcanic ash plume, and how to make a claim for the costs incurred, Rochelle Turner, head of research for Which? Holiday, writes:
Who do I submit my claim to?
If your flight, with an EU-based airline, was cancelled and the airline made alternative plans for your travel they must, by law, refund you for reasonable costs incurred during the delay to your journey.
FLIGHTS in UK airspace are set to be cancelled from noon (BST) until at least 1800 (BST) as ash from a volcano in Iceland drifts over the UK.
Air traffic regulator NATS has said that no flights will be permitted in UK controlled airspace other than emergency situations.
They intend to monitor the situation with the Met Office, passengers are being asked to visit their airline’s website for further information.
WITH the price of petrol for your car only seeming to be heading upwards, check over the official petrol prices website for the best deals near you.
The Prix des Carburants en France site is run by the French government and collects data from thousands of filling stations across the country.
You can start your search via département, commune or postcode, with the results displaying the name of the supermarkets closest to your chosen location and the individual prices per litre.
If you register an account with the site you can track prices over time.