If you should need a doctor, hospital or ambulance in France, these useful words and phrases might help you. If you need to call an ambulance try to make sure you can give location details and an update of the situation as best you can. Calling an ambulance in France 15 – The national emergency [...]
You scour the stalls of the street markets, haunt the antique shops and comb the second hand sales stores – you spot it, that special item. You want it but, you need to know how much and, if it is over budget how to get it at the price you want. Here’s a quick [...]
The Good Life France team met a lady who came to France 6 years ago to live – she had been going back to London every few months to get her hair done because she didn’t know how to ask for what she wanted in French. What is the French word for Hairdresser? A hairdressers [...]
The festival of Halloween is celebrated in France but with not quite the same amount of enthusiasm as the US or UK. It has grown in popularity since the mid 1990s but is seen as a little too commercial for French tastes. Nonetheless, the concept of Halloween is becoming more fashionable and so, [...]
French saying and proverbs: There are some expressions that mean the same the whole world over. In the French language and the English language there are times when expressions mean the same but the words can seem to have a completely different meaning. Take for instance the English language expression “No Pain, no gain” – [...]
You might think that the French alphabet for English speakers is not a problem. You might be wrong! We heard from someone that they had an interesting visit to Brico Depot – the huge DIY store chain thanks to not knowing how to pronounce the letter of the alphabet in French. They were trying to [...]
A few commonly used terms that estate agents (immobiliers) in France use: Abri – shed Appartement meublé – furnished apartment Deux-pièces – one bedroomed apartment Cave – usually refers to a cellar rather than a cave though there are cave dwellings in some parts of France such as the [...]
In France, having a debate or an argument is considered healthy and intelligent. The French believe that if you can’t have a good old row with your partner in public then you’ve got something to hide. Certainly in this quiet and tranquil little village where I have a home you can from time to time, [...]
French language exclamations! Our English speaking friends often want to know what to say in French to convey an exclamation such as Gordon Bennet or flipping hell! Many of them think that a good phrase to use is Zut alors but it isn’t – no one really uses that expression any more. If you’re interested [...]
Everyday French words - simple and quick to learn. Even being able to say “please” and “thank you” will make a difference both to your day and the French speakers you communicate with. There are lots of courses you can do to improve your French and we’ve reviewed some for you – click here to go [...]
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The papers are currently full of news about proposals to mount wind turbines on the beaches of Normandy – including at least one of the D-Day landing beaches. Some newspapers are calling it an “invasion” – emotional words, and this is a very provocative subject. The proposal is to erect 75 of the huge [...]
The Good Life France talks to Roger St Pierre – an award-winning writer who has visited every one of France’s 94 metropolitan departments as a cyclist, journalist, author and Francophile… Roger, who The Good Life France is honoured to include amongst its very talented group of writers, tells me he taught himself French by [...]
Well, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that the sheep across the road has gone to the great pasture in the sky. When I bought my house nine years ago it came with a sheep! The lady who owned the house before me had let the man across the road [...]
The allure of the good life in France and the charms of the beautiful town of Beziers ensnared British expat Mark Binmore who runs the highly successful Maison de l’Orb, a beautiful B&B. Mark told us that he lived in London since the early 1990s, worked as a pub landlord for several breweries, is the [...]
Expats in France Donna and Dave Faulkner fell in love with Deux-Sevres in the Poitou-Charentes region when they visited friends who lived there. When Dave was unexpectedly offered a job – they said goodbye to Britain and jumped head first into life in France in their new home which needed a bit of renovation as [...]
British expat Sue Aitken lives in south west France and runs Blackhen Education – a business that she set up after planning to move to Spain to be a teacher. She and her partner travelled through France on their way to jobs and a life in Spain but they fell in love with [...]
How two Brits met and changed their lives with a move to France… Chris was a veteran of 30 years in the Metropolitan police, running his own outdoor activity business specializing in mountain biking, walking and climbing, father to three grown-up children and mentor to many more. Charlotte was a classic single “Social Butterfly”, [...]
I was recently asked to write about expats in France, people who leave their homes in all areas of the world to go to France to live. I thought back over the years about the many expats I’ve met, interviewed (I am a journalist not just a crazy person going round firing questions at [...]
