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LIVING IN FRANCE

CTs to CVs: 6 essential articles for life in France

From car vehicle checks to producing a French CV, via some foodie phrases and a weird weather phenomenon, here are 6 essential articles for life in France.

Published: 20 March 2022 08:25 CET
CTs to CVs: 6 essential articles for life in France
Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

Cross-channel ferry company P&O Ferries shocked many this week when it suddenly cut services and informed 800 British staff that they were out of a job, while their French counterparts were unaffected. 

The news provoked all sorts of reaction on social media, with some blaming Brexit for the apparent ease with which the company was able to jettison so many UK staff. We explain how the French Code du Travail offers extra protection to workers in France.

Why did P&O ferries axe UK jobs but keep its French workers?

Meanwhile, car-owners in France are being advised to book their contrôle technique vehicle checks well in advance this year.

Garages are warning of an appointments bottleneck caused by changes to the rules during lockdown, with some 500,000 or so extra tests due in May.

Drivers in France warned over contrôle technique bottleneck

Speaking of which, last week marked the second anniversary of the start of the first Covid-19 lockdown.

So, editor Emma Pearson cast an eye over the past two years to identify 9 ways that two years of Covid have changed France

Covid rules in France were substantially reduced on March 14th, three days shy of the two-year anniversary. But certain travel restrictions still remain in place, that second home owners hoping to travel to France need to know.

Reader question: Can unvaccinated second-home owners travel to France?

Many people in France this week spotted that the sky was an unusual colour. It may have looked a little like a dystopian nightmare, and prompted numerous dramatic images on social media, but there was an entirely natural explanation. 

Sahara sand storm set to turn French skies orange

Emmanuel Macron revealed plans to raise the retirement age to 65 if he is elected to a second term as President. It’s news that may have some people dusting off their old CVs as they suddenly realise working life is about to carry on a while longer.

But, do you know the tricks to preparing a solid French CV? No? We do. We asked an expert.

Ask the expert: How to write the perfect French CV

Finally, of course a country with a gastronomic culture such as France has numerous phrases linked to food. Here are 21 of them that allow you to describe everything from losing your cool to falling in love…

21 essential French fruit and vegetable expressions

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SCHOOLS

Why do (most) French primary schools have Wednesday off?

It may come as a shock to families arriving in France that most younger children do not go to school five days a week.

Published: 21 June 2024 13:03 CEST
Why do (most) French primary schools have Wednesday off?

But it’s true. In most areas, children up to the age of 10 or 11 – when they switch from école primaire to collège – go to school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and get a mid-week break from the daily grind.

Some areas do have classes on Wednesday mornings for younger children, but give them Wednesday afternoons off.

Once children hit collège, and then lycée, the usual pattern is to have classes on Wednesday morning, but the afternoons off.

READ ALSO What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

It’s one of a number of education-based cultural upheavals that children previously educated in other countries have to get used to — and, from their point of view at least, one of the easiest to get to grips with. But it may cause some concern among parents wondering how to incorporate it into their working week.

It certainly makes it a little easier for children to cope with the long French school day, if they think there’s a day off in the middle of the week. That, and the lovely, long lunch break, and the regular holidays (especially the eight-week summer one) not to mention all those public holidays in May…

So why does France do this?

Well aside from the above-mentioned reasons (which apply to teachers as well), there are historical reasons for the unusual timetable.

In the 19th century French children attended school six days a week. But, in 1882, then-education minister Jules Ferry introduced a law that established the principle of secular, free and compulsory education for all children.

This law cut the school week to five days, with Wednesdays set aside for extra-curricular activities, with Saturday school making up for the midweek absence.

READ ALSO Parents reveal: What to expect when your non-French speaking child starts school in France

In 2008, Saturday schooling was phased out by the Sarkozy government, though some schools in some parts of France still have Saturday-morning classes – and it’s why the official school holiday calendar still lists Saturday dates as the end of a term.

How do parents, children and teachers feel about it?

Pupils tend to like having Wednesday off for obvious reasons, while teachers also tend to be supportive.

But parents seem to like it too – it’s so ingrained in French family life that there were protests when, in 2013, the government tried to introduce a nationwide half-day schooling on Wednesday mornings, coupled with shorter days for the rest of the week.

READ ALSO Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

The backlash from parents and schools to a well-intentioned but chaotically introduced policy was so deafening that the policy was quickly scrapped in mainstream schools, and was widely ignored among the country’s private fee-paying establishments.

Paris is the exception here, and some of the capital’s primary schools do have teaching on a Wednesday morning. Meanwhile across the country private schools set their own rules – some do have Wednesday mornings, some don’t.

But what about working parents?

It’s all very well for the kids, but what about parents who need to be at work on Wednesday?

Well there are options for childcare – Wednesday (or Wednesday afternoon) is traditionally the day for sports club to hold training sessions, plus other extra-curricular activities such as music lessons or swimming classes. 

There’s also the centre de loisirs – publicly-funded activity centres that offer full or half days on Wednesdays so that parents can go to work and children can have fun with activities – these centres offer a five-day-a-week programme during school holidays for the same reason.

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