http://www.tresfrench.com Advice and Tips on Living in France Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The big cities in France have a highly developed and competitive internet system. In rural areas it's less developed and much less competitive. What's dégroupage? Dégroupage is the French term for 'degrouped', in this sense it means that companies other than France Télécom (Orange) can connect your telephone line. Most cities and ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/30/french-internet-subscriptions-a-comparison/ In a previous post, I mentioned the Skills and Talents visa (visa compétences et talents) as one way of coming to France without a job lined up. It seems that many of you are interested in it, so I decided to look further into it. What is it? The Skills and Talents ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/29/frances-skills-and-talents-visa/ Here's a round up of this week's major events in France. Tuesday evening the Elysée announced a major shakeup of the cabinet of ministers following the European elections, which saw two ministers, Michel Barnier and Rachida Dati elected to the European parliament.   http://www.france24.com/en/20090624-new-ministers-cabinet-reshuffle-alliot-marie-Hortefeux-mitterand-reactions   French prosecuters have called on the courts to break up ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/26/this-week-in-france/ To celebrate the first month of this blog (see my first post, 5 reasons France is for you), I'm opening myself up to questions from you. As over half of you are coming from outside of France, I want to know what questions you have about coming to France. ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/25/what-do-you-want-to-know/ Stuff Parisians like Based on the popular blog 'Stuff White People Like', Paris wine guide Olivier Magny takes you through Parisian quicks and tics - an absolute must read for anyone trying to understand what makes Parisians Parisians. http://www.o-chateau.com/blog/ The Paris Blog The Paris blog aggregates several blogs written by expats in Paris. It's ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/24/paris-blogs-in-english-i-like/ If you want to rent your living space in France, you will need to put together an application for the landlord or estate agency handling the property. Each landlord is different and some may ask for more documents than others. Here's what you should know from mapiaule.com: Always required: A photocopy of ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/23/do-you-have-the-right-documents-to-rent-your-apartment-or-house/ Like everywhere, French television has really gone for reality shows over the past decade. They don't cost a lot to produce and attract a relatively large audience. The private television channels are the main broadcasters to put on this type of show, as public television has largely considered them to ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/22/french-reality-tv/ This is the fifth and final part in my series this week on Paris.   Moving to a new place where you may not know many people is never easy, even less so when you don't speak the language and the city is a big as Paris. And the truth is, the ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/19/meeting-people-in-paris/ This is the fourth part of my series on moving to Paris. As a major European capital, Paris has a diverse and active employment market. Many companies have their French, European, or even global headquarters here, which makes for great opportunities in the managerial and secretarial sectors. As Paris is a ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/18/finding-work-in-paris/ This is the third article in TresFrench.com's look at Paris. To read the past two articles, see the good side of Paris and brace yourself for the bad. As I talked about at some length in my article yesterday, housing in Paris is expensive due to a long-running housing shortage and ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/17/finding-a-place-to-rent-in-paris/ This is the second part of TresFrench's look at Paris. Read yesterday's article on the good side of Paris. Paris is a great city to live in, there's no doubt about it. However the fact that it draws so many people to it leads to its major drawbacks. Housing in Paris is ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/16/is-paris-for-you-now-the-bad/ For centuries Paris is a city that has attracted people from the world over. From medieval students, Renaissance courtiers, bohemian artists and writers, Paris has always had that special something that keeps people coming to the City of Light. All this week, I'll be exploring life in Paris from a practical ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/15/is-paris-for-you-first-the-good/ What to do on a Sunday night? Particularly if you've just moved, far from home, your family, friends...well, if you're single and on the market, there's a new concept in town! Pastas Party organises Sunday night dinners in major cities across France. The conditions: you must be single, love pasta, and ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/12/free-and-single-on-a-sunday-night-try-a-pastas-party/ If you're taking French lessons outside of France, one of the most difficult things to do is to put it into practice. While absolutely essential to learn the basics, most French courses are focused on learning vocabulary and constructing sentences. You'll be able to get by with this, but like ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/11/5-things-to-practice-french-before-coming-to-france/ When moving internationally, shipping all of the stuff you've accumulated is one of the biggest expenses you can incur. While there is something to be said for having a familiar environment to reduce the shock, selling your stuff before you go is a great opportunity to make money, save money, ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/10/find-furniture-and-other-stuff-in-france-without-breaking-your-budget/ When looking for a job in France, the first thing you employer will see, along with your cover letter, is your CV, or curriculum vitae. In the United States this is known as a resume. It's important to take special care when writing it, and to adapt it so that ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/09/how-to-write-a-french-cv/ For those of you in the UK, you benefit from the National Health Service, a health system that is free at the point of use and paid for through general taxation. In France, the system works on the basis of reimbursement - you pay a set amount when you see ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/08/how-uk-citizens-have-health-coverage-in-france/ As I explained previously, French higher education is split into two groups: public universities and semi-public grandes écoles. Amongst the grandes écoles are the Ecoles Supérieures de Commerce, or in English: business schools. They offer a wide range of management and business programmes for all levels-although each school has its ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/05/how-do-french-business-schools-work/ Before the internet was developed France had the Minitel. This slowed development of the internet in France, but over the last decade French internet has caught up with the rest of the world and is now arguably faster than in some other countries--particularly in Paris where the population density and ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/04/getting-internet-in-france/ France offers many opportunities that it can't all be seen in a one- or two-week tour. However, few people have the money necessary to fund themselves for a longer stay. One option open is coming to work for a short time. While this is easier for citizens of a European ... http://www.tresfrench.com/2009/06/03/finding-holiday-work-in-france/