THE high-speed rail service from Eurostar has revolutionised travel to France, but how can you pick up a cheap ticket?
There are a wide range of fares on offer so you should take your time on the Eurostar website to make sure you get exactly what you are after.
If you can book well in advance, 60 to 90 days is best, then this will help you get a cheap priced ticket.
However, if this is not possible then the early morning trains that leave before 7.00am are a useful place to start.
IT will soon be truffle-hunting season in the woods and forests of France, when people will be searching for the little ‘black diamonds’.
The Périgord region of southwest France is regarded as home to some of the finest specimens, but Provence and northern Italy are also known for the rare delicacy.
CHARLES Baudelaire was one of the leading figures in 19th Century literature and his Fleurs du Mal is regarded as a classic collection of poems.
Born in 1821 in Paris he studied in Lyon and Paris and despite his family’s attempts to keep the young writer on the right tracks he soon gained a ‘bohemian’ reputation.
DESPITE French academics fighting to preserve the value of the language it is impossible to halt changing fashions and the use of words.
There are many French phrases and words that have become popular as ‘slang words’ with their meaning often quite different from the actual meaning.
From the Fables of de la Fontaine
A shepherd, neighbour to the sea,
Lived with his flock contentedly.
His fortune, though but small,
Was safe within his call.
At last some stranded kegs of gold
Him tempted, and his flock he sold,
Turn’d merchant, and the ocean’s waves
Bore all his treasure–to its caves.
AS the cost of oil increases across the world its impact is felt at the petrol pump and in the cost of heating your home.
Being able to plan ahead and forecast the price may help you out and a French government website could offer you some advice.
NOW it would be very embarrassing to mix up brothers with sisters, aunts with uncles if you were at a party or dinner.
So here is the French for family members so that you can work your way around the table whilst sat enjoying a glass of wine.
POET Jean de la Fontaine is best known for his Fables that many French people can still recite to this day.
He was born in 1621 in the town of Château-Thierry in Champagne, and never really left behind his love of the countryside.
FROM April next year people will be able to invest in residential property both in the UK and abroad, through their pension funds.
Under the new rules higher-rate taxpayers will only have to find 60 per cent of the purchase price of a property as the government will meet the remainder through tax relief.
I KNOW a few people who run a blog-style website to promote their holiday home or business in France.
If you want to hear a little from myself, and another writer based in Saigon, about using blogs then check out this interview I featured in on The Angel Blog.
If you have any questions please feel free to drop a note in the comments below.