Living in France: Daily Life

Special Offers

Day-trips

Festivals

FAQ

Themes

Living in France

Housing

House ownership isn't considered an investment per se (hence the relatively low prices as compared to England). A large number of people own a second house for use during holidays (maison secondaire). The rental market varies around the country with renting being a more popular option in the cities than in the countryside. The mortgage market is relatively primitive with, in general, only repayment mortgages available in variable and long term fixed versions.

If you are intending to get a mortgage on a property, it's best to open a French account beforehand as this seems to smooth the process considerably. See below for the addresses of the various banks.

If you're house hunting, it can be useful to stay with a family who've moved from the UK as they've been through it all before. You could try one of the places listed in www.ourinns.org .

Banking and Finance

For historic reasons, France generally operates a regional banking system. So, for instance, the Credit Agricole that you see in Normandy is a different bank than the Credit Agricole that you see in Montpellier. In practice, the regional banks operate, more or less, as a single entity so that it is possible to have your account in Normandy but use a branch in Montpellier (although you won't have all the facilities available that you do in your "home" region).

There are eight main banks which operate throughout France: Banque Populaire (regional, English speaking branch), BNP (nationwide), Caisse d'Epargne (regional), CCF (regional, part of HSBC), Crédit Agricole (regional, English-speaking branch), Crédit Mutuelle (regional), La Poste (the post office), and Société Générale (nationwide). In addition to these, there are branches of UK owned banks concentrated where the British have taken up residence ie mainly in Paris and the Cote d'Azur where you will find branches of Barclays and LloydsTSB. There are also a number of American banks operating in Paris, notably Citibank (the others are mainly aimed at private banking clients).

Which is best? Well, if you want a branch on your doorstep your choice is limited to Crédit Agricole and La Poste which seem to be in every town in France, although Banque Populaire isn't far behind. If you'd like to avoid the hassle of changing banks when you move around in France, the best bets are BNP and Société Générale which operate nationwide. The cheapest is La Poste although if you can live with telephone and Internet banking, Axa Banque is both cheap and very good (you may not be able to open an account with them until you are an established French resident ie with proof of income).

All the above will offer you:

• a chequebook (unlike in the rest of the world, cheques are commonplace in France); and
• a debit card.

They may also offer you an overdraft (decouverte) on your current account (compte courant). Overdrafts are quite limited in that you are required to be in credit at least once per month (you can get the equivalent of a normal UK overdraft by getting a French credit card from your French bank: once you run over the 15 days per month limit on your decouverte, the required amount of money is transferred from the credit card).

There are some credit cards in France but they are a recent introduction. In general, they are quite limited in comparison to credit cards in other countries such as the United Kingdom and America; almost all have an annual charge (the sole exception seems to be Egg's Max card) and their interest rates are quite high.

To acquire any of the above you need:

• one proof of identify (eg passport);
• one proof of address; and
• proof of income (this may not be strictly necessary)

Just about all shops will accept a cheque with proof of ID.

Shops that accept credit cards will take both Mastercard and Visa (collectively referred to as Carte Bleue). Some take American Express but virtually none take Diners Club.

Visa comes as a credit card, a debit card, Visa Electron card (which can only be used in shops which swipe the card) and Plus (cash card). Mastercard comes as a debit card, Maestro (debit card), Cirrus (cash card) and as a credit card. Apart from the Visa Electron and Maestro cards, debit cards aren't marked as such.

There aren't any exchange controls.

Utilities

• Electric: essentially everyone has electric in their houses. The supplier is EDF (english version available) who also, as GDF, supply gas.

• Phone: around 90% of houses have a phone. France Telecom (english assistance on 01 55 78 60 56) is, in practice, the only supplier though the market is opening up. Public payphones generally take either coins or phone cards (a smaller number also take credit cards); you can use French credit & debit cards in the phones.

• Water: pretty much all the houses have mains water and flush toilets.

Employment

Employing someone is quite expensive in France. Very roughly speaking, to pay someone the minimum wage of around 7€ will cost the employer 10€ and the employee will receive 5€ of this after tax and social security payments are taken out. There is a 35 hour working week and everyone is entitled to a minimum of four weeks paid holiday plus public holidays throughout the year. You get time off for pregnancy. The pension scheme you join depends on the industry you are working in (as far as I know at present all the pension schemes are mutual, pay as you go systems). Due the high taxation and social security payments, there is often a considerable proportion of salary paid in cash.

Transport

There are metro systems in a number of cities and generally speaking the public transport infrastructure is quite good. Your transport choices are:

• buses;
• trains;
• taxis; and
• privately owned cars, bikes, etc.

Communications

You have a choice of:

• fixed telephone though France Telecom;

• mobile telephone though Orange, Vodafone, SFR or Bouygues; When you arrive here at first, it's simplest to get a pre-paid phone or get a SIM card for your existing phone (Bouygues offer Nomad and Orange Mobicarte, both at 30€).

• post via La Poste and the usual selection of courier services;
• terrestrial TV (TF1, TF2, France3, Canal+ (encrypted), 5 and M6);

• satellite TV from a variety of satellites (the terrestrial channels are also available on analogue satellite; to get UK TV you need an 80cm dish; a Sky box is not necessary for the BBC channels).

Shopping

Just about every village in France will have a selection of specialist shops, notably the bakery where they buy their bread every day in quite unbelieveable quantities. Just about all shops close on Sunday (notably, even the "24 hour" petrol stations which only operate with French credit/debit cards out of hours); through the week the larger shops are open from around 08.30 to 20.00, grocery shops without a lunchbreak (sans interruption or nonstop) but the majority closing from 12.00 to 14.00.

Principal Public Holidays

If the holiday falls on a weekend, it's generally "lost". Those that fall on Tuesday or Thursday usually result in a considerable number of people taking the additional day necessary to reach the weekend.

• January 1st, New Year's Day;
• Easter Monday;
• May 1st, Labour Day;
• May 8th, VE Day;
• May 20th, Ascension Day;
• Last Monday in May, Whit Monday;
• July 14th, Bastille Day;
• August 15th, Assumption;
• November 1st, All Saints' Day;
• December 25th, Christmas.

Cultural things

France has oodles of things to do culturally. The majority of events are, of course, held in the cities but you will also get quite small villages staging classical music concerts and the like.

Dangerous Animals, Plants and Diseases and Other Things

To be filled in.

In general terms, there aren't any seriously dangerous insects. The southern half of the country has a higher proportion of the exotic insects, notably termites which can have a big impact on house and because of this a termite survey is required when you are selling a house.

The situation is similar in respect of plants.

There aren't any deadly diseases (or, at least, none of the really exotic ones such as malaria and typhoid). Rabies is an issue but not a major worry. As everywhere, kids get things like mumps and measles if they're not vaccinated.

It's generally safe to walk out during the day and night. Your safety is assured through extensive use of video surveillance in many towns and cities.