France - A handbook for New Residents
This book is a window through which you can view a selection of the enormous amount of information available on France, arranged as a ready reference for new residents or long-term visitors. It is not a narrative, so it is not a book to be read cover-to-cover. It is a collection of the bits and pieces of information needed in everyday life and work, but it is not a tourist guidebook (though tourists may find it useful). It is intended to be read before you depart for France as well as after you arrive and settle there.
The topics are arranged in alphabetical order, grouped by subject into 47 chapters, which also are in alphabetical order. All facts presented are available in France from the organisations and the printed and online sources mentioned. So this book also be a starting point for finding further information.
As its title indicates, the aim is to ease and speed your access to essential information, whether your search is triggered by thinking of a topic in English or by encountering a term in French. Consequently, there are two indexes, one in English and one in French
The approach is bottom-up. This is a book about France and the French as they are, not as they might be seen from somewhere else. So, save for international statistical rankings, there are no comparisons of the country or its inhabitants with other countries or peoples. The entire book was meticulously copy edited by a native French editor, to ensure that the French terms and expressions are correct and current and that the more than a thousand entries are objective and accurate.
CONTENTS:
1. Arriving and settling
2. Banking, insurance and money matters
3. Business and work
4. Cars, roads and traffic
5. Character, customs and country
6. Church, religion and belief
7. Climate, environment and physical geography
8. Clothing, footwear and fashion
9. Concise gazetteer
10. Crimes, wrongs and countermeasures
11. Defence and security
12. Drink, drugs and tobacco
13. Education, science and technology
14. Electrical and electronic goods
15. Emergencies
16. Entertainment and the arts
17. Farms, farming and gardening
18. Family and children
19. Food and eating
20. Foreigners and minorities
21. Government, politics and administration
22. Health care and social security
23. Historical overview
24. Holidays and festivities
25. Housekeeping
26. Housing
27. Human rights and consumer rights
28. Language
29. Law, lawyers and courts
30. Measurements and standards
31. Media, information and documentation
32. Museums, exhibitions and festivals
33. Non-government organisations (NGOs)
34. Orders, societies and association
35. Pets and animals
36. Post and forwarding
37. Prices
38. Registrations and certificates
39. Retirement
40. Shopping
41. Sport and leisure
42. Statistics, analyses and polls
43. Taxes, duty and excise
44. Telecommunications, broadcasting and Information technology
45. Trades
46. Travel and transport
Useful Books
English Index
French Index
There are too many books written by people who have never lived in the country about which they are writing and who are simply attempting to cash in on the relocation bandwagon - this is definitely not a book which falls into this category. If you are moving to France or you are a recent arrival in France buy this book and keep it close to you - you will find it invaluable. It certainly has pride of place on my everyday bookshelf.