This French Life

Minimum wage in France increases, and other changes

THE beginning of the year sees many changes brought in by the French government to prices and benefit levels.

Businesses also use the period to often increase costs to customers, and so the consumer watchdog, 60 millions de Consommateurs, has drawn together a page highlighting some of the changes.

For example, the minimum wage will increase on January 1 to €9 an hour, but some medical items will now be costlier, motoring insurance premiums are expected to rise and electricity prices are heading up.

Public holidays in France for 2011

IF you have received a calendar or diary over Christmas then you might want to make a note of the French public holidays coming up in 2011.

I have also included the days they fall upon, as you can be pretty sure that if one lands on a Thursday, then it might be a struggle to get anything done on the Friday.

French Public Holidays 2011

France ends publication of New Year car burning figures - RFI

France will no longer announce how many cars are set alight in New Year's Eve vandalism, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux announced

via www.english.rfi.fr

Journalists' parents break silence on sons' captivity - RFI

One year ago on Wednesday, journalists Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, from French television channel France 3 were taken hostage by the Taliban while reporting in Afghanistan. Their faces are being projected onto the Arc de Triomphe, as media rights campaigners mark the first anniversary of their abduction.

via www.english.rfi.fr

Handy compact calendar for France

IF you have need of an ultra lightweight calendar that is displayed on one sheet of A4 paper with plenty of room for notes, then head over to designer David Seah's website and read up on his compact calendar for 2011.

For the past couple of years I've had a French version of the calendars up on the kitchen wall and it can prove very useful for noting official holidays and more importantly when it is likely businesses will faire le pont.

There are now calendars from many different countries, just slide down the page on David's site and you will see the French version.

It is produced as a .pdf document you can print off as well as a spreadsheet in Excel, but also features official holidays and the school holiday periods for the different zones in France.

Nicolas Sarkozy's internet police warn 100,000 illegal downloaders - The Guardian

Surveillance body dubbed Big Brother aims to stop France's huge culture of illegally accessing films and music online

via www.guardian.co.uk

BBC News - Crackdown on UK benefit cheats who live abroad

A crackdown has been launched by the government on UK benefit cheats who live abroad.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has joined forces with overseas counterparts to target the countries where the most cases take place.

via www.bbc.co.uk

National Front's Marine Le Pen to prove formidable rival to Nicolas Sarkozy - Telegraph

Marine Le Pen has promised to defend France from creeping "Islamisation" days before she is expected to take over from her father as head of the National Front party.

via www.telegraph.co.uk

Political essay by 93-year-old tops Christmas bestseller list in France - The Guardian

Proving that age is no boundary to publishing success, the French book world has been taken by storm by a surprise Christmas bestseller: a political call to arms by Stéphane Hessel, 93.

The unlikely publishing sensation is a former resistance hero whose 30-page essay, Indignez-vous!, calls on readers to get angry about the state of modern society.

Launched in October by Indigène, a small publisher working out of an attic in Montpellier, southern France, the book had a tiny first print-run, 6,000, and sold for €3, unprecedentedly cheap in a country where book prices are regulated and kept high by the law.

via www.guardian.co.uk

Flybe to offer flights between Jersey and Nice

REGIONAL airline Flybe has announced the return of its Jersey to Nice route, which will operate every Saturday between June 18 and September 17, 2011.

Tickets are now on sale and are priced from £44.99 one way including taxes and charges.

Flights times:
Departs Jersey 1315, arrives Nice 1625
Departs Nice 1650, arrives Jersey 1800

Flybe’s summer schedule from Jersey starts on March 27 and offers 22 routes from the Island with a choice of up to 314 flights a week.

Related article: Three new routes to France from Flybe