Pensions to Eurovision: 6 essential articles for life in France
Pension reform is back on the political agenda, and why new travel rules are good for American visitors ... Plus, is buying a project property in France worth it?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or in one of those increasingly hard-to-find areas of France without phone signals, you’ll be hard-put not to have heard there’s a Presidential election looming.
All the candidates are busy campaigning, but the biggest political news was, actually, quite unsurprising. If he’s re-elected for a second five-year term, current Elysée tenant Emmanuel Macron wants to raise the retirement age in France, as he resurrects his blockbuster pension reform plans that were put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read all about it here.
Macron plans to raise French retirement age to 65
Speaking of retirement - whatever your age at the time - the hope for many is that their pensions will guarantee a long and happy life in France.
But those planning a golden autumn here having worked elsewhere could find themselves on the wrong end of poor pensions advice - with little legal recourse. Here’s what you need to know to avoid the worst when you’re trying to live your best life.
Ask the expert: How to avoid pension scams when you retire to France
That was the bad news. Here’s something a little more inspiring.
Buying and renovating a doer-upper in France is fraught with administrative and financial problems, but it’s totally worth it, say six people who’ve done it - some of them more than once… So, they should know.
Hard work but totally worth it: 6 successful French property renovations
One of those great French property renovators was an American who - because of travel regulations due to Covid-19 - was unable to visit the place they had bought just before the pandemic hit.
Now, however, the situation is improving. Here’s the latest travel rules news for anyone wanting to head from the US to France - or vice versa.
Why France’s Covid-rule change is good news for Americans
One of the great joys of living in France is the remarkable cafe culture. In fact, it may be apocryphal but it’s fitting as we live through a period of soaring energy prices, it is said that the French flocked to cafes after World War II to save on the cost of heating their homes.
But one question is should you tip your server? And if so, how much? We have the lowdown…
How much should you tip your server in France?
And finally… Eurovision. Europe’s annual festival of song and kitsch is in Turin a couple of weeks after France’s Presidential elections.
There’s something slightly unusual about France’s entry this year. It’s not in French. Or English - that other staple language of Eurovision entries. It’s in Breton. We have the video here, and a few facts you can impress fellow song contest fanatics at your Eurovision party…
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock or in one of those increasingly hard-to-find areas of France without phone signals, you’ll be hard-put not to have heard there’s a Presidential election looming.
All the candidates are busy campaigning, but the biggest political news was, actually, quite unsurprising. If he’s re-elected for a second five-year term, current Elysée tenant Emmanuel Macron wants to raise the retirement age in France, as he resurrects his blockbuster pension reform plans that were put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read all about it here.
Macron plans to raise French retirement age to 65
Speaking of retirement - whatever your age at the time - the hope for many is that their pensions will guarantee a long and happy life in France.
But those planning a golden autumn here having worked elsewhere could find themselves on the wrong end of poor pensions advice - with little legal recourse. Here’s what you need to know to avoid the worst when you’re trying to live your best life.
Ask the expert: How to avoid pension scams when you retire to France
That was the bad news. Here’s something a little more inspiring.
Buying and renovating a doer-upper in France is fraught with administrative and financial problems, but it’s totally worth it, say six people who’ve done it - some of them more than once… So, they should know.
Hard work but totally worth it: 6 successful French property renovations
One of those great French property renovators was an American who - because of travel regulations due to Covid-19 - was unable to visit the place they had bought just before the pandemic hit.
Now, however, the situation is improving. Here’s the latest travel rules news for anyone wanting to head from the US to France - or vice versa.
Why France’s Covid-rule change is good news for Americans
One of the great joys of living in France is the remarkable cafe culture. In fact, it may be apocryphal but it’s fitting as we live through a period of soaring energy prices, it is said that the French flocked to cafes after World War II to save on the cost of heating their homes.
But one question is should you tip your server? And if so, how much? We have the lowdown…
How much should you tip your server in France?
And finally… Eurovision. Europe’s annual festival of song and kitsch is in Turin a couple of weeks after France’s Presidential elections.
There’s something slightly unusual about France’s entry this year. It’s not in French. Or English - that other staple language of Eurovision entries. It’s in Breton. We have the video here, and a few facts you can impress fellow song contest fanatics at your Eurovision party…
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