The National Health service in France is based on a pay-as-you-are-treated regime with reimbursement of some or all fees according to various circumstances: For instance a Doctor’s visit will be reimbursed to 70% of the cost (if the cost is what the Government tariff sets) and you can get the other 30% reimbursed if you […]
If you are a foreigner in France and have private health care or home state cover for your emergency health care such as the UK scheme European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) these are the things you need to know about hospitals in France. Hospitals in France are clearly signposted in towns but can be few […]
Doctor’s surgeries/offices in France are privately established and doctors work as individuals or as part of a group. Depending on what healthcare insurance you have in France will affect how much treatment will cost since you pay first and are reimbursed according to your insurance. To ensure that you get the fullest reimbursement for […]
Manoir du Bolgaro at Morbeque, near Hazebrouck is an impressive, luxurious getaway, great for a get together with family or friends. A manor house dating back to 1540, which is set on a huge, beautiful, secluded swathe of land, this amazing, three storey gite, steeped in character, can sleep up to 12 people. Depending on the number […]
France has a habit of inspiring great art – from homegrown talent such as Cezanne and Monet, to visiting legends such as Van Gogh and Picasso. But in the Dordogne, this artistic heritage runs even deeper. Before impressionism, before romanticism, before Renaissance art and predating even the early religious imagery, there was the cave art of […]
The Camino de Santiago (called le Chemin de Compostela in France) has become very famous in recent years helped by the release of an American movie called The Way. With a handful of stars but not much budget to promote, the film was a success largely by word of mouth sharing. It’s the tale of […]
It was the Romans who established vineyards in Paris more than a thousand years ago. Maybe it was the starting point for the vibrant French wine industry and culture that we know and love today. A Vineyard in Paris The earliest vineyards declined gradually as urban development progressed in Paris. The last of these Roman plantations […]
Many years ago I was working as an impoverished flying instructor at a country airfield, it was a job that enabled me to use the club’s Cessna plane and I loved to fly to France as often as I could. On one trip I took my boss with me and we landed our little aircraft […]
Cave Cooperative or Independent? There is a minor revolution taking place in Champvent, situated in a valley where the vines tumble down the hillsides. Champvent is a small hamlet of Chardonnay in Southern Burgundy, the ‘birth place’ of the world’s best known grape variety. Traditionally, village families have produced grape harvests that are delivered to […]
When you think of French writer, Victor Hugo, you probably think of his classic works, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris) or Les Miserable. You probably wouldn’t associate him with the Joker, that mad supervillain with the maniacal laugh who is Batman’s adversary. The Book However, it seems that Victor Hugo might […]
A morning walk in spring in Paris is an inspiring event. I started at a café where I struck up quite a long conversation with a Frenchman I had never met before over a coffee and a croissant near the Place du Bastille. Beside the café stood the great monument to the Bastille, the prison […]