It surely can't have escaped your notice that there are presidential elections here in France this year.



Well that's unless you don't watch French telly, listen to the radio or read the newspapers.



Perhaps one of the decidedly weird, and in the eyes of some, not-so-wonderful quirks of the country's political system is the way potential candidates qualify for the ballot.



In short (and of course as this is France, it's much more complicated than at first…

I had to call our hairdresser this morning to postpone our appointments and was told that we were just the same as everyone else.

Jim says he has hasn't had such a bad cold for years and I am having to take my antibiotics for longer than usual to clear up my chest infection.

We have friends all coughing as well.

Is this widespread in France?

Survive France Network is offering three lucky members the chance to win a stunning book, The Complete Book of Corvette, courtesy of Eventageous PR Ltd.

The book is an exhaustive review of six generations of American high…

The truth about those cuts and scratches.

If you are in the process of;

Selling a property or buying a house

Moving a lump sum

Receiving an overseas pension

Sending money to family

Working abroad

Receiving an inheritance / estate

Making mortgage payments

Paying legal fees / household bills

and would like expert advice, ask…

As a Gooner, I've always had a sneaking regard for Thierry Henry.

But then there was the move to Barcelona, the infamous hand ball in the World Cup qualifier against Ireland and his complete lack of guidance as an older member of the squad during Les Bleus' fiasco in South Africa, followed by a completely "tell all, say nothing" debrief with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy…

American Happy Hour will meet again on Thursday, March 15, 2012 ,thank you SFN. Americans living in France, share your experiences, successes, questions, projects, problems HERE on SFN electronic chat between 8 PM and 11 PM. Everyone is invited, regardless of religious or  national origins. We especially invite Americans living in the US or abroad that are curious as to life in France, it's fascinations and it's pitfalls. Looking forward to another animated event the ides of March…

Hi

I am creating a couple of new advertisements for SFN and need a nice catchy slogan to go with them.

If anyone can help with that I would be most grateful, what we need is this;

A slogan that when seen by someone unfamiliar with SFN will immediately understand what we offer and why we are different to our competitors.

1. Maximum 10 words

2. Encapsulates the spirit of SFN

3. Appeals to broad spectrum

Thanks!

James

At the end of last week, I had a young stagiaire here, observing my every action in the name of work experience. I couldn’t really afford the time, because of the pressing demands of deadlines, but it was a kind of quid pro quo deal. His mother gave our daughter some coaching in French literature for her oral Bac exam, and since the child subsequently obliged with a perfect score, it would have been churlish to turn the boy away.

Besides, once I’d given up trying to…

A French order issued by the government aims to simplify the definition of different surfaces in urban planning, replacing the concepts of “gross floor area” and “net floor area” by a single definition of floor area. 

An order issued on 16^th November 2011 regarding the definition of floor area will come into force on 1^st March 2012. It aims at simplifying the concepts of different surface areas in urban planning, replacing the net floor area and gross…

Friday's French music break this week is sung by a woman who surely needs no introduction as she's one of the biggest international stars around today.



Shakira.



It's her rendition - sung in French - of a song originally written and performed by Francis Cabrel.



Unless you've not flipped on a French music radio station recently or seen a variety programme on television, you cannot help but have heard it.



Not surprisingly given the song's exposure and…

My apologies for not being able to be present at the American "Happy Hour" on February 16th. Due to personal reasons, was not able to attend. This does not by any way lower our enthusiasm to continue to try to crystallize our community in a positive and meaningful direction.

Frank

So Nicolas Sarkozy, has declared himself a candidate in this year's French presidential elections. Let the real campaigning begin.



But before it does and In honour of the most humble and definitely unexpected confirmation of his candidacy and the equally surprising (all right, enough with the irony already)…

The move is finally here - and now of course I'm panicking how to manage by myself with only two arms.

If anyone knows of a taxi / transport / man with a van service who would be able to 'ferry' us (1 woman, 1 kid, 1 dog + 2 cats in dog/cat carriers plus probably 2 suitcases) from either Paris (Orly or CDG) or Lyon one way to Haute Vienne (Dept 87) please could they let me know. Air Malta flies to all 3 airports so I can be flexible if it fits better location-wise with a particular…

Who is the "sexiest" French presidential candidate?



Yes, another one of those ridiculous polls to spice up campaigning and distract from the endless political tit-for-tat point scoring in the run-up to the first round of the presidential elections in April.



It's a survey released this week which reveals who the French think is the sexiest candidate in the race for the Elysée.



It was …

Ahem

 We continued to have extreme weather with hurricane force gales blowing a trail of destruction across Eastern France and South West Germany, depriving us and 400,000 others from the Vosges to the Black Forest temporarily of electricity. Although the Barbara Hepworth installation in the garden, Trampoline after the Hurricane (photo attached), actually survived the latest assault and remained in its deconstructed static state, I was at last successfully persuaded to…

To viewers of TF1's prime time news on Monday evening it must surely have seemed like a (political) declaration of love, as the leader of the Parti chrétien-démocrate (Christian democratic party, PCD), Christine Boutin, withdrew from the presidential race and threw her weight behind Nicolas Sarkozy.



Mind you, it was hardly a surprise after the weekend's glowing tribute - oops sorry - …

I remember someone looking for this the other day. I've just bought one. Very bargainus, just £65. I'll try and post the link below. Sorry, really not very technological. I hope i've posted this where people can actually see it aswell! If i haven't, anyone with an inch of computer know how, feel free to move it somewhere for everyone else.

Cheers. And Happy Valentines everyone. Muchos amor x…

http://14kfever.com/sometimes-you-just-gotta-love-em/

"It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a [pesticide] maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," Francois Lafforgue, Francois's lawyer, told Reuters.

Monsanto said it was disappointed by the ruling and would examine whether to appeal against the judgment.

Monsanto to examine the possibility…