Reycling of goods has become increasingly important around the world and in France it is taken very seriously. Recycling policies vary from region to region but generally refuse collection services in France require you to recycle glass, paper, cardboard, plastic bottles etc. and will often reject a rubbish bin if inappropriate material is spotted in [...]
French postal service: La Poste is the national postal service of France. You’ll see their distinctive yellow post boxes (there are 125,000 in France) and delivery vans everywhere you go, in fact the sheer size of their presence may account for why La Poste is one of the most subsidised postal services in the world! La [...]
Water is supplied in France by private companies and which company that will be depends on the area in which you live. In most towns and villages the Mairie (Town Hall) oversees the commune’s water supply and you can’t choose your supplier. A high number of local councils organise the water distribution service on an [...]
There are two types of gas supply available in France, mains gas (gaz de ville) supplied by GDF (Gaz de France – part of EDF), and bottled gas (propane or butane). If you live in an area with mains gas but don’t currently have a supply to your house, you can apply for a new [...]
Electricity in France uses approximately 220 volts/50hz like most of the world outside of North America. If you come from a country where appliances are designed for 110 volts/60hz, you will need a voltage converter or a transformer depending on the type of appliances or equipment you plan to use in France. As the wall [...]
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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 [...]
It’s good to know some things stay the same When my mother bought her holiday house in northern France 35 years ago, I had no idea how large a part this lovely country was going to play in my life. I was eleven at the time, and simply enjoyed the trips across the Channel [...]
