In my 30th year of residence I suppose it is normal that I should rarely find something new about admin life in France. So having just discovered something not only new but good to know I am keen to share it.
La Poste have a system for sending, to most countries in the world, including UK, anything which promotes or enhances French language, tourism, literature, culture, etc etc. It falls under a programme called “Promotion de la Culture Francaise dans le Monde” but it appears to cover any printed matter from tourist maps and guides to school texts and reference books … range seems wide. The main criteria are that is wholly or mainly written in French and that it can be seen as Educational, Scientific, or Cultural.
The tariff is massively preferential - a tourist /historical guide brochure to the UK which was c. 8€ by normal post was assessed at under 1,50€.
it is ESSENTIAL, obviously, to take the envelope unsealed to your local Poste and they will verify the contents. To be honest I think you may have to push a bit - I get the impression the whole thing is little known even to Poste officials. Read more (and quote from) Tarifs livres et brochures 2023 | La Poste.
If the first six comments on this are all “Surely everybody knows that” then I promise to take the post down.
