Category: Current Affairs

If you are going to be spending your first Christmas in France, what can you expect?

(more…)

I AM often asked about safe computing when in France and a recent story on the BBC highlights the dangers out there.

Hackers were able to hijack the computer of a woman in Rochdale and put her personal files behind a password that could only be unlocked if she paid a ransom.

(more…)

A CAMPAIGN has been launched across Europe to raise awareness of the danger to humans of tick borne diseases.

Many people who head to France know that their pets face real danger if bitten by a tick, but few know that the bugs can cause terrible illness to them as well.

(more…)

LAST year Tracey Smith started her National Downshifting Week campaign from her farmhouse in the south west of France.

This week sees the start of her second seven-day drive to get people to think more about their lives, but this time she has swapped the Lot and Garonne for West Dorset, yet the message is still the same.

(more…)

IT was interesting to hear Tony Blair’s plans to build a sense of respect amongst people in the UK and wonder if he had ever cast a jealous eye towards France?

Although the French way of life has been rocked by the violent riots of last year one of the things that appeals to many about France is that manners and good behaviour still count.

(more…)

THE French government has asked oil companies to provide a regular update of average petrol prices, which will be published on the internet.

The site provides details of prices over a certain period of time as well as in the past week.

Interestingly it also compares prices in France to the rest of Europe, with the price per litre in the UK coming in at 9cents more expensive.

Sign up to the free This French Life newsletter… find out more

UPDATE:
Petrol price website for France

IF you want to open a savings account in France many banks will be able to offer you a service.

Most will require the same pieces of paperwork for opening an account and these will include a photocopy of your passport, evidence of your home address and an amount for your initial deposit.

(more…)

THE lost property office for Paris celebrates 200 years in operation this week and claims to be the oldest of its type in Europe.

The office is found at 36 rue des Morillons, in the heart of the capital, and takes in over 150,000 lost items a year.

(more…)

YOU know what it’s like when you buy a new house. You open all the cupboards, look in every nook and cranny hoping to find an old newspaper or perhaps a time capsule, writes Phil Voice.

(more…)