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Rail strikes, summer drinks and avoiding ticks: Six essential articles for life in France

From how to avoid that pesky, disease-carrying insect to the tastiest, most refreshing beverages in France and whether you can plan on a summer of delays and cancellations on train lines, here are the six essential articles for life in France.

Rail strikes, summer drinks and avoiding ticks: Six essential articles for life in France
Travelers walk with their bags on the day of a national strike of France's national railway company SNCF to raise wages (Photo by Geoffroy Van der Hasselt / AFP)

Many of us are feeling the call to evacuate the cities and head for the great outdoors as the warmer weather and sunshine take hold across France. If you’re off on a hiking trip or simply taking your pet for a walk in an area with high grass, you might be wondering about the chances of being bitten by a tick. Unfortunately, these pesky insects can be found across France, though they are more common in certain areas.

If you do find yourself in a particularly tick-friendly environment and you’re wondering how to protect yourself, or you’re simply wondering which parts of France are tick hotspots, we’ve put together a guide for avoiding these tiny insects while in France.

What you should know about ticks in France and how to avoid them

While France is known for being a global gastronomy capital, sometimes a delicious beverage is just as important as a hearty meal.

Thankfully, France has a wide range of refreshing drinks to try, and these warm weather specific beverages are sure to quench your thirst whether you’re sitting on a terrace or along the beach.  

If you find yourself hosting pre-dinner drinks in the coming weeks, you’ll want to consult our list of the best things to drink in France this summer. There are options for everyone, for those looking for alcoholic beverages and non-drinkers alike.

Rosé, spritz and pressé: 5 things to drink in France this summer

Strikes are an undeniable part of French cultural identity. But will this summer be worse than average when it comes to industrial action? After over two years of pandemic shutdowns and layoffs, and amid rising inflation, workers are demanding higher wages. SNCF (France’s national rail service) saw its workers stage a one-day walk out in early July, causing widespread delays and cancellations.

So how much of a headache will travel during the first summer without strict Covid-19 related restrictions be? We’ve tried to look ahead to try to give you an idea of what to expect from rail strikes this summer in France, and whether they’re likely to rumble on.

Will rail strikes in France rumble on throughout the summer? 

Regardless of whether you’re looking to stun with your next Bugatti or simply seeking out a trustworthy Peugeot, buying a car in France as a foreigner might feel confusing, particularly if you do not hold a French driver’s licence.

Living in France involves a lot of paperwork, and so do procedures for buying and selling cars here. However, you might be pleasantly surprised that the process is more straightforward than you might have thought.  

Complete with the list of documents you need to provide, this article will help speed along your process toward your next vehicle.

Reader question: Can I buy or sell a car in France if I have a foreign driving licence?

On the topic of driving, you might be considering heading off to your summer holidays by car this year. With the school year finished, families across France are hitting the roads to make their way to la campagne for some much needed R&R.

Each year, France’s traffic watchdog, Bison Futé, keeps us informed of what to expect in terms of road congestion, offering four different levels of traffic intensity to help you decide whether to pack that extra snack and book for the long ride. 

When – and where – to avoid driving on France’s roads this summer

If you have a television in your living room, you might be able to look forward to saving €138 this upcoming year. The French government recently announced plans to scrap the TV licence, but if you’ve wondered what that money actually goes to and why it might be done away with, you’re not alone.

The TV licence actually raises over €3.7 billion a year for national public broadcasting, so the decision to get rid of it has not been met with applause from everyone. We’ve explained exactly what your €138 had been going towards, and answered your question of how public media in France might end up being funded in the future without the TV licence to help

EXPLAINED: What France’s TV licence pays for and what might replace it?

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BRITS IN FRANCE

Bad food but good culture: What the French really think of the UK

They might not love British cuisine but the UK remains a very popular destination for French people to visit, while thousands of them also want to make the move permanently.

Bad food but good culture: What the French really think of the UK

Almost three million French tourists travel to the UK every year with the country’s vibrant cities, history and culture given as the top reasons for their trip.

And a recent survey has revealed a surprisingly positive view of their neighbour from French people – with one exception.

The French participants in the study were asked to rank 60 different countries based on several different topics – tourism, culture, people, exports, governance, immigration and investment. 

So what did they say about the UK?

Bad food

French survey respondents placed British food at the very bottom of the list – in 60th place out of all 60 countries. 

This is far lower than the UK’s average, which was 18th amongst the other nationalities interviewed.

In an interview with The Guardian about how the French feel about British food, the British comedian, Tatty Macleod, who was raised in France said “English food to [the French] is essentially fish and chips (…) they think of Brits as beer louts with unhealthy diets”.

This has been a longstanding feeling amongst the French – in 2018, another comedian, Al Murray, went across the Channel with the documentary series ‘Why does everyone hate the English?’

In France, he teamed up with radio host Antoine de Caunes, and when launching the programme, they conducted a small survey of several hundred viewers to find out the top 20 things the French ‘hate’ about the English.

There were a couple of food-related comments: “Their inability to cook” came in fourth place, the “lack of variety in their diet” took 11th place and “the fact that they put ketchup on everything” came in 12th place, according to a round-up by Ouest France.

It’s been suggested that many French people have bad memories of food they were given on school trips to the UK, often decades ago, and certainly bad food is a recurring theme in French films and TV shows about trips to the UK.

Worth visiting

Despite not having a taste for British cuisine, the French did have a positive view of UK tourism, placing the country 5th for both “vibrant city life and urban attractions” and for being “rich in historic buildings and monuments” in the IPSOS study.

According to Visit Britain, the UK welcomed 2.8 million tourists from France in 2022.

In the culture category in general, the French ranked the UK in third place out of all 60 countries. 

One aspect of British culture that French people seem to really enjoy is the royal family.

In 2021, 6 million people in France watched the funeral of Prince Phillip, 4 million watched the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and the royal weddings of princes William and Harry attracted 9 and 8 million French viewers respectively.

Charles de Gaulle once remarked: “The French have a taste for princes, but they will always look abroad'”.

READ MORE: Why British royals are so popular in France

And in terms of visiting the UK, IPSOS’ findings are in line with previous data about where French people choose to go on holiday – the UK was the fourth most popular country among French people, as of 2019, according to Le Monde.

A 2021 study by Visit Britain also found that 10 percent of French people would pick the UK as their top global destination.

Moving to the UK

And there are plenty of French people who decide to make their stay a long-term or even permanent one.

The UK ranked in third place as of 2023 for French students to study abroad.

It also comes in third place – behind Switzerland and the US – for having the most French people living there.

After Brexit, over 240,000 French people applied for the EU settlement scheme in the UK from 2018 to 2021, and once applications were reviewed, approximately 130,000 received settled status and 93,100 received pre-settled status. 

Among the French, London is sometimes nicknamed ‘France’s sixth city’ due to the number of French people living there.

Polite, well-mannered and funny

The French ranked Brits in 21st place for the question “If visited, people would make me feel very welcome”. This is an increase of two spots from the 2022 results.

When scouring the internet, British politeness does come up often in French clichés about the UK.

Ouest France reported that over a third (36 percent) of French people interviewed for Al Murray’s show “appreciated the politeness and good manners of the English.”

Three out of every 10 people also thought Brits had a good sense of humour – and Brits felt this way about themselves too. 

In a 2009 survey exploring British views of the French, 71 percent of participants said that the French are ‘sexier’ than the British, but 80 percent said the British had a better sense of humour. 

READ MORE: Do the French really have no sense of humour?

Driving on the left-side

And finally, to get a better idea of French opinions about Brits, The Local turned to Google.

We searched both anglais (English) and britanniques (British) because the French do have a bit of a tendency to mix them up and refer to all inhabitants of the UK (and sometimes even the Irish) with the sweeping les anglais. 

The first suggested response had to do with driving on the left-side of the road, which also popped up in the survey by ‘Why does everyone hate the English?’ as the number 1 thing the French ‘hate’ about the British.

READ MORE: Tea and Dordogne: How do the French perceive the Brits?

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