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LIVING IN FRANCE

Medical costs, taxes and name-calling: 6 essential articles for life in France

Our six latest must-reads include information on: why a visit to the doctor is getting more expensive, how to get help with your tax declaration, why the French call us ‘Anglo-Saxons’, visas for second-home owners and the right time to buy property in France.

Published: 7 May 2023 08:17 CEST
Medical costs, taxes and name-calling: 6 essential articles for life in France
A French carte vitale (Photo by Philippe HUGUEN / AFP)

We start with a Public Service Announcement: In the final months of 2023, the price of medical appointments in France will rise. Here’s the new price structure and how reimbursement will work.

Medical appointments in France to increase in price

Doing your taxes can be pretty complicated – throw in another language, a tax system that is probably different to the one you are used to, it’s no wonder that declaration season is often a time for swearing and/or tears.

So, if you’re caught in an admin loop, suffering from IT glitches or just don’t understand what that error message about ‘box 8SG’ means – here’s how to find help with your French taxes.

How to get help with your 2023 French tax declaration

An important question. Have you ever noticed how the French refer to the English-speaking world as ‘les Anglo-Saxons’, even though historically-speaking the Anglo-Saxons haven’t been around since mediaeval times?

French academic Emile Chabal explains why it says more about the French than it does about the Anglos

Why do the French still call us ‘Les Anglo-Saxons’?

The campaign for a special visa for second-home owners has picked up since Brexit, when thousands of British second-home owners suddenly found themselves limited in how long their can visit their properties.

Now, a French Senator has submitted an amendment to the new Immigration Law, bringing in a new visa for non-EU second-home owners, proposing a five-year visa that would allow visits of up to six months at a time. But, how likely is it to become law?

Reader question: Will France bring in a visa for second-home owners?

Speaking of property, a report from Banque de France predicts that the property market in France in summer 2023 will be as flat as it was in 2020 – the pandemic year when for obvious reasons few people were moving house – due to a combination of stagnating property prices and rising interest rates.

That’s obviously not good news for everyone, but certain types of buyers are likely to find this summer a particularly good time to purchase that dream house in France. We dig deeper.

Why summer 2023 could be a good time to buy property in France

Let’s end with a Royal food fight. Britain’s Buckingham Palace unveiled a special vegetarian “quiche” to mark King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday, but France’s historic “brotherhood of the Quiche Lorraine” – who, you’d think, know a thing or two about all things quichesque – say the festive dish has been mislabelled.

‘Coronation Quiche’ is not a quiche, say French purists

We wouldn’t dream of arguing with the quiche brotherhood, but we’re pretty sure we’ve seen dozens of different types of ‘quiche’ on sale in France . . . 

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 tips to have the best possible night at France’s Fête de la musique

It can be the most fun day of the year - when France goes music crazy and bands suddenly appear on every street corner - but there are some tips to make your Fête de la musique experience as good as it can possibly be.

Published: 24 June 2024 11:26 CEST
5 tips to have the best possible night at France's Fête de la musique

First, a caveat – this is an entirely personal manifesto based on the things that I have enjoyed over my Fête de la Musique outings over the years. It’s not intended as any kind of hard-and-fast rule and plenty of people will have different experiences.

Feel free to disagree and/or share your festival tips in the comments section below!

1 Ignore the big-name artists

There are always a few big-name artists or concerts in major venues on the Fête de la musique (which happens every year on June 21st).

Ignore them. Sure, stadiums gigs can be great and huge venues can have a wonderful atmosphere – but you can do that any night of the year. It’s not what Fête de la musique is about.

The true spirit of the Fête is the smaller acts who play on street corners, in bars and community venues. They’re free, you can wander between them and stay as long as you like – and there is always something else around the corner.

2 Ignore the big towns

You might think that the big cities have the best music, but if you have the choice, go for a small town or a suburb.

I’ve enjoyed some good Fêtes in Paris, but the best experiences had have been smaller towns or the Paris’ suburbs (Montreuil is good – a commune that carefully cultivates a small-town / village vibe, albeit a very diverse small town where everyone is a hippy, a leftist, or both).

It’s partly a practicality thing – in big cities the acts are spread out and you have to make plans to see something and meet up with friends. In small towns, you just wander along to the main square, then when you’ve seen the acts there, you can saunter up the side streets, each of which will have dozens of bands playing, pausing only to grab a beer and snacks.

But it’s also the vibe; in big cities you can hear good live music all the time and the population is consequently complacent – small towns truly appreciate the Fête de la musique and properly go wild.

Once, in Paris, I was watching a blues band play in the street when a woman tipped water on their heads from her apartment window because she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Small towns appreciate it when bands play for them.

3 Experiment

There’s a lot of variety on the night, so take advantage – this is your opportunity to hear all kinds of live music from rock to swing, jazz to classical, choirs to DJs.

Didn’t think that a five-piece oud band is your thing? Fête de la musique may change your mind. It’s the night of the year when anything goes, musically, so it’s also the night to try something new.

If you hate it – well it’s free and there’s another band down the street that might be more your thing. But you might discover a lifetime passion for oud music – in fact, by this time next year you might be playing in the oud band. Thanks to the Fête de la musique.

4 Don’t insist on quality

You’ll hear some great bands, but you’ll also hear some that are more about enthusiasm – and that’s all part of the fun.

You’re going to be hearing everything from classic rock to reggae to blues to the above-mentioned five-piece oud band, and as well as the styles the quality may be variable to.

For me, the true spirit of Fête de la musique is the 50-year-old accountant rocking out on his guitar and enjoying the one night of the year when he can dream that if only he hadn’t given up on his high school band, he could now be rich, famous and selling out stadiums, as opposed to filing tax declarations in an office above the florist.

5 Dress comfortably

Some people like to dress up for the Fête and that’s great – it’s a party after all – but the key thing is to wear something that is comfortable and allows you to shake your stuff.

Yes, you will be dancing – you’ll be dancing on street corners, in parks, cafés and perhaps on street furniture if things really get going, and you’ll be dancing with kids, dapper 70-year-old gents and everyone in between.

You need comfortable shoes and clothes that you can really move in.

Dance like no-one is watching. They may be watching, but they won’t be judging. Much. It’s Fête de la musique.

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