Le Marché de Noël..-

Christmas is just around the corner, and if this is your first holiday season in France here are some tips to enjoy it best!

Starting November 23^rd the cities in France light the Christmas decorations. Depending on where you are It could be a little bit further entered December.

It is accustomed in France to build ‘Le marché de noel’ that are little Christmas ‘towns’ inside the cities where you can find holiday crafts and food, shows, spectacles, and holiday music. Once you enter those little ‘markets’ is like if you’ve been transported straight into the north pole fantasy.  (Marché de noel History here)

The most popular marché de noël are in the Alsace region, Colmar, Eguisheim, Strasbourg, Metz.  They are big and beautiful, there are trips organized to visit the markets and enjoy the city decorations as well.  If you want to explore book your tickets as soon as possible, the prices go up very fast. 

Remember the 12-27 SNCF card in case you haven’t bought it yet, could be a big save on this trips.  Also, if you are short on budget check the ‘co-voiturage’ Is a travel way in France where someone who has a car and is doing a specific route on a certain date proposes online the free seats on the car.  That way you pay your part for the gas and the tolls and you travel on the comfort of a car for less than half the price of the train tickets.

Make sure you get in touch with the driver first and assure yourself is a trusty person who will drive carefully and safety. 

Check on google maps or your favorite GPS system for routes you could propose to the driver and more important, the time it takes to get to your destination by car. Trains ride at an average speed 200 km/h  so you would probably triple the train’s time.   

Back to Christmas… Check your city’sofficial website and cultural agenda for holiday events and market locations. Don’t miss out on the French Christmas spirit.

Pictures from Lack-Camping  Alsace

Get your calendars in hand and start planning your holidays in France!

Grocery Shopping part 2 - Buy and save..-

People say that living in France is expensive, but like any other country you have all kind of shops and apartments to meet all kind of budgets.

If you are short on money, or you are looking to save some cash, here are some tips on where to buy to save on groceries:

Stay away from ‘Petit casino’ and ‘Monoprix’, those are the stores you find around every corner but which are indeed more expensive than the average shop.

If you choose to go to Carrefour, auchan, even franprix, leader price, among others you may come across some very sweet deals and if you buy their own brands you will see the difference on you total price.

However, the cheapest supermarket is called LIDL.  Lidl’s aren’t hard to find but they are not usually located on the centre ville or nowhere near.  Still they choose their location based also in public transportation.  Usually they are right off the bus/metro/tram stop.  You can find pasta packages (500 grs) for 50 cents, a dozen eggs for 1€50 and a wide variety of frozen meats, pizzas, etc.  The food at that store is usually brand less or their brand, but sometimes you find ‘known’ brands such as coca cola and Heinz too. 

You can buy at Lidl all your cleaning products, as well as personal care products.  The food in general is good and the prices are incredible, however, I recommend you buy your fruits and vegetables else were since they are not typically very fresh. 

I’ll tell you about ‘le marché’ in another post.

T-

Grocery shopping in France - Part 1..-

In many countries, it is used at the supermarkets, to have plastic bags to pack your goods as courtesy from the shop, (mainly they are just available and free) and most of the times there's even people helping pack the goods right by the cashier...

Well that’s not exactly the case in France.  When going to the supermarket in France (even the big know ones like auchan or Carrefour you’ll need to either buy the bags or bring them with you if you don’t want to end up wondering around carrying your goods on your hands. 

Also, you will need to develop a certain ability and fastness to take the goods off the basket or shopping cart, at the cashiers, pack them in your own bags, and pay without delayed the queue.  Sounds funny but those of you who have already experience it, know its true.

Tip 1:  Once you finish selecting your goods, arrange your basket in a way that the order in which the elements are passed by you to the cashier is in the same order that you will pack the things.  That way you can pack at the same pace than the cashier registers the items.  At the end while paying you get and extra time –  while your card’s transaction is done or while the cashier calculates your change.  

Tip 2:  “invest” in a really good shopping bag – canvas – that will last and that is comfortable to carry around.  The most practical ones have double handles, to carry on the hand or off the shoulder. There are also special bags for liquid bottles, the bag is like a fabric six pack case so the bottles are carried standing.

Whenever is possible, go grocery shopping with a friend, it always come handy while one unpacks the goods at the cashier the other can pack them.

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International Flights..-

Weather you are planning your trip to France or you are already installed in here and are looking forward to go ‘home’ (Mainly if it is in the Americas) I recommend you to travel with American Airlines. 

This information may be a little confusing since there are so many European airlines you could choose from before choosing a ‘foreign’ company.  Below my personal experiences and opinions:

 I flew once with Air France because I had no other option.  During this travels, both flight (return) were delayed, the ground personal wasn’t very nice and the check in lines where simply impossible.  If you fly with them please make sure you arrive at the airport with anticipation.  – This information concerns only international flights-

My experience with Iberia…  I agreed to travel with them only after British airways bought the company, believing that the service would be good and I got highly disappointed!  My connection was delayed, I lost the international flight, Iberia didn’t want to respond.  I had to pay for a new domestic ticket to replace my lost connection and run (literally) to make it on time to the Iberia flight.  (I bought the whole trip with Iberia so they were responsible for my connections as well).  In these cases usually the airline takes responsibility and helps you get thru the immigration lines faster, well not with Iberia.

Also, they lost my luggage and it took them 8 days to find it and deliver it to me.  There were a lot of things missing from my bag and they denied reimbursing me because I didn’t have the bills. Don’t recommend it at all.

I’ve been flying back home (Colombia) with American ever since I moved to France and I have no complaints, they are always in time, unless there is a technical problem or a weather condition in which case they will take responsibility  instead of ditching you at the airport.  They’ve never lost my luggage. I get to choose the seats online for free –unlike Iberia where the service cost is nearly 50€-.  You can cumulate miles easily and their AAdvantage awards are very interesting.  I could say that for every 4 return flights to NY for example you get enough miles to have a free return ticket on this route.

I leave it to you to decide but do keep American as an option (www.aa.com) Plus they have sweet deals all year long.

T-

How badly do you want it?

I've heard other countries have difficult bureaucracy and paperwork to get done in order to become a legal resident, of that I have no clue since the only country I lived in besides my homeland is France. And a satirical part of me want to believe that French government make it so hard to get so that only the strongest and really interested on the matter remain. 

Let me explain: This post more than containing practical information or tips is an "I'm cheering for you" post.  I know dealing with the consulates and later with the prefectures is a real pain, and I know you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, with that endless list of required documents they handed you to apply for your visa,  but be patient! 

Patience is key when moving to France. I don't like to generalize the people or the jobs but it seems to me that at least 90% of the people I had to deal with at consulates and prefectures appear to be programmed to mess with your plan and block all the possible ways for you  to  stay in France.  Don't worry, it is meant to be like that. 

All and all, once you get all your documents and learn to be satirical on your french life, it will go smoothly. Just never ever give up! You will loose on a marvelous experience in a beautiful country! 

The wine, delicious cheese, infinite boulangerie(s), amazing restaurants, gorgeous landscapes, countless stories and I are waiting you on the other side of the bridge. You can do it!

T- 

PS:  When they ask you for the original birth certificate translated in french they really mean it!  Don't bail on that one!

PS2:  As mentioned in previous post, bring all you papers properly translated.  It is much expensive and difficult to translate at the embassy' in France. 

Documents check list..-

When planning your trip to France, please remember this important documents you will be needing all along your sejour (stay) in the country. May it be for the Carte de sejour, to get your carte vitale (health insurance), CAF or even school.

-  Passport valid for 1 year (You will need it for the carte de sejour and in case you will want to travel to other countries where visa is required).

-  Birth certificate (translated in french by the local official translator)

-  Copy of the last diploma(s) that you received – Translated if possible

-  Latest grades transcription (If you are looking to study further on in France)

-  Bank account statement on your local bank (Preferably if you have saving to « show » as a back up)

Tip : This might sound weird but I strongly recommend you bring at least 3 copies of each document, Photocopy places in France are not as common as you'd imagine. This said you might be able to make copies at school but come prepared just in case its difficult.  

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The CAF..-

France, besides having the best medical -social security- and public health insurance in the world, also has a very sweet subsidies system to help all those in need, and lucky for us that include the students!

This subsidies apply for all residents no matter where they're from and for all ages they depend only on your "social/financial" status. (i.e. student, unemployed, underpaid, etc)

The CAF (Caise d'Allocation Familial) it's a governmental institute that supports economically families in France, specially those who earn less than the minimum wedge and those with many kids. On the early stages of life, the CAF also help students, whom parents don't benefit already from it, - which I'm sure is not your case -.

This was a big surprise for me when I moved to France. I was living at a residence and even there, were the monthly rent wasn't elevated at all I got "money back" from the CAF. They ended up paying for almost 30% of my rent.

To know if you "apply" for this kind of benefit go to their website "www.caf.fr" and fill in the -dossier- on line, once you've finished, print it and collect the necessary documents (usually photocopy of your carte de Séjour or visa de long Séjour, photocopy of your passport, attestation de scolarite -I will dedicate a post for this important certificate soon-,  the attestation de logement or quittance de loyer and a RIB*). Send it out to your nearest CAF or simply go and drop it personally.

• For all of you out there who are not familiar with the term RIB - relevé d'identité bancaire. It is your bank account's ID for all transactions. You will be asked for the RIB when you buy a cell phone with a monthly plan, or when you open your account for the utilities once you move out of the residence, in order to be able to charge you the bills  monthly. 
  
  
  In this case the CAF asks for your RIB so they can deposit money in your account every month.

Note: Once you drop your dossier at the CAF it will take them aprox. 3 weeks to process. After those 3 weeks you will receive a letter indicating your "Numero d'allocataire" which will be your number for all inquiries and transactions as well as a code. Now you can log in the site and see your dossier 's status.

I'd say maybe 2 weeks after you receive your card you will be receiving a letter indicating the amount of your monthly subsidy and since the CAF works retrospectively they will « return » you the money since your second month in France, so this amount will also be indicated on that letter. 

Ex.:  Let's say you arrive in France in September, you start paying your rent normally, and you receive your carte de sejour in February. Submit your CAF papers right away and around April or May you will be payed for:  October to April subsidy at once, and after that you will get your monthly payment. (Please note that no matter when you submit the dossier the CAF only pays the first week of every month)

Re-check your budget !

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Travels: Getting there..-

It is very common when living in Europe to travel around as much as possible. Regardless of your budget here are some useful tips when booking your trip.

As just about any trip, the earlier you book your tickets and hotel, the better deals you get, but don't worry, there are also very good deals all year long.

If you are planning to travel by train, the « eurail pass » could be your best option. This passes are sold by the amount of travel days and countries, meaning that if for example you buy the European pass for 5 days, you'd be able to travel for 5 days within a month, no need to used them all at once.

Tip : Once you buy the eurail pass you have two options, either you go to the train office (SNCF boutique or train station) to make reservations on your trains (This may cost you 10 – 20 euros per train) but will entitle you to high speed trains and even trains with beds. Or if you are on a budget or just want to be spontaneous and jump in the first train you can do so without any fees.

Note:  Even if it takes you 10 extra minutes check how much would the tickets will cost you separately, sometimes the eurail pass is more expensive than the tickets you need. 

If you are planning to travel by air, the most popular -low cost- airlines are Easyjet and Ryanair. However do not dismiss looking at the regular airlines, Airfrance sometimes has good deals that might surprise you, as well as Alitalia and Lufthansa. Make sure you compare all the options, trains and airlines before taking a decision.

Note:  Make sure your read the terms and conditions on luggage and check in at the low cost airline's site.  The luggage is not included in the ticket price.

If you are going from Paris to London for example, most people chose to jump blindlessly in the Eurostar, which can cost around 150+ euros return (even with the 12-27 card) while you can find 100 euros return tickets with Airfrance ! Take the extra 5 minutes and compare the fares.

You can also travel by bus, if you have a long holiday and don't mind spending time in the buses, this may come across as the cheaper option because there are bus passes too and some of the trips are overnight so if you are backpacking you can sleep in the bus and save the night at the hotel but watch out for the traffic and your comfort.

In case you come from a country where the best option is to get your car and drive, here's a heads up, car rentals in France are very pricey, the daily fee is very high and there are expensive tolls on every mayor highway. Unless you want to see the small towns and get lost in the tiny roads of the the beautiful french « campagne » I strongly recommend the public transportation.

Advice : The top destination of most of the students are always the famous places, London, Barcelona, Madrid, Milano, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam... But I invite you to get tempted and take the risk to head over less known countries – You won't regret it.

Eastern Europe is my very favorite. Take a plane down to Prague enjoy the beautiful Blatavla river crossing by the Charles bridge at sunset, go up to the castle and see the beautiful red roofs over the city, continue your trip to Vienna, go to the Opera (there are cheap opera tickets for students right before the show starts) explore the marvels of the Belvedere Palace.  Jump in a bus (or train) to Bratislava and be delighted by the contrast of the new luxurious town and the old town where you can almost feel the communist air. This cities have nothing to envy to the known cities in Europe. And neither the Czech Republic or Slovakia are ruled by the euro yet so you will truly make the best of your money down there.

Tip : Before planning any trip please check at your country's embassy site or the one of the country you are planning to visit to see you need a visa. Just because you have a Schengen visa on your passport or a French carte de sejour doesn't mean you can go anywhere !

T- 

Transportation: Part 1..-

French metropolitan transportation is very good and functional. It would get you not only around the cities but also to the « banlieus » and cities surroundings. While being a student you benefit of preferential monthly/yearly fees.

Here are some examples :

       DIJON: 

Dijon is a small city with nearly 250.000 people. The public transportation system consists mainly in buses and recently added tramways (1 is already running and the second line will start working on Dec. 8 2012). The buses and tramways run every 3 to 15 minutes between 5h30 am and 1 am. After 1 am there is a night bus service with limited schedules and routes. The service provider is called « Divia » and the monthly unlimited pass for someone between the ages of 18 to 25 costs 25 euros.

Tip : On a saturday morning jump in one bus randomly and go all the way to the end of the line, you will be surprised with the landscape changes and the amazingly beautiful towns you will see. I strongly recommend the end of Bus line 14 Direction Marsannay, if you get off at the last stop you will come across the «Château de Marsannay» beautiful winery with warm touch. Go and talk to the hostess tell them your story and you may be lucky enough to have full access to « la cave » and wine tasting.

       LYON: 

Lyon is considered (one of) France's second largest city, but when you see a map, Lyon itself is very small, in fact you can ride the metro from one end to the other in less than 20 minutes ! But what makes Lyon big is its region. Many near by towns are now considered part of the city since its population and industry keeps on growing. Getting around Lyon is pretty easy you have metro, tramway, trolley buses and buses. All included in the unlimited monthly pass, the students pass is about 27 euros per month. The transportation system is called TCL and runs from 4:30 am  until 1 am, after 1 am you can also find the night buses. Please refer to the site for schedules.

Tip : If you need to go to a place you've never been before and need some help on getting there go to the "Itineraire" link on the TCL page and find out what your best options and schedules are !

Don't miss on the « Funiculaire » is a fun ride from Vieux Lyon to the Fourviere church (The church located in the hills over viewing the city) and the view from up high is breathtaking.

       PARIS : 

My favorite « transportation » in Paris is walking around ! You never ever finish to get to know the city, every day no matter where you are walking and how many times you've passed by that same street you will find yet new things ! Look up to the buildings and enjoy their exquisite architecture, look down to find new graffiti or just check out the building plaques with street history on why is it called like that, who lived there, etc.

Eventually the magic is over and you need to face the metro. As you can imagine the transportation system is very good with trains, metros, buses, etc. Make sure you have your metro map handy at all times and ALWAYS double check the metro/trains direction before jumping on it ! It can be confusing down there with all the little « passages » from one metro to another, specially in the big stations (i.e Chatelet). If you are taking the RER make sure you are on the right one, each line has at least 3 different endings on each end making it a little bit tricky. Once you are on track it goes smoothly and very fast. Be careful with your personal objects, metros and trains tend to be very packed in Paris and it is indeed a temptation for pickpocket.

Tip: Take advantage on the itinerary option at the Paris metro website.  It will make you save time by giving you the faster option to get where you are going. 

I'll come up with transportation information on other cities soon !

Hope this is helpful and you won't end up like me, jumping on the wrong direction over and over.

T-  

Housing part 1: Getting ready to hunt..-

Once you arrive, it is common to stay at a public school residence or a private residence, where you don't have to worry about paying utilities or taxes or any other bills that come with the housing.

After you've finished the first year of studies (i.e. Learning french) or your time at the residence, you may need to move out the residence for several reasons (privacy, space and even costs) believe it or not, residence out of the « CROUS » system (you need to be enrolled at a public school to be able to apply to CROUS) are very pricey.

Here are some key points you need to take in count before start researching for a flat :

     1. It is better to look in « landlord to renter » pages than thru agencies. The real estate agencies will demand you a very complete « dossier » including a French guarantor that you may not have handy (The french guarantor should earn at least 3 times the amount of your rent) besides this inconvenient, or in case you have a french guarantor you may still want to avoid agencies, because of the price. They charge you more than one month of rent for their services (Money that you'll never get back) plus the safety deposit and the first month of rent. All together it might come across as the equivalent of 4 to 5 months of rent due before you can get the keys.


     2. Weather you decide to go thru with an agency of directly with a landlord, you may still need to provide, copy of your passport and « carte de sejour » if you have it. A « quittance de loyer » meaning a certificate from the residence or your prior housing saying that you left the place (or the date you' ll leave). Also you may need bank statements showing that you have enough monthly income (from your international bank account/your parents/ or whatever money source you have) to pay the rent and last but not least a guarantor. In this case you can negotiate with the landlord and see if they may accept your parents (from abroad) as guarantors. You will need to show your parents bank statements and have them sign the « lettre de porte garant ».






    3. If you want to look up for apartments rented by landlords you may want to visit : www.pap.fr, www.vivastreet.fr, www.paruvendu.fr, www.leboncoin.fr, among other sites. 






     4. In case you cannot afford or don't want an apartment for your own, you can find yourself a « collocation » which is very common in France. You can visit www.collocation.fr. Create your profile and start browsing.






TIP: For all apartments may they be thru an agency or direct you will need to give a « caution » or deposit of one or two months depending if the flat is furnished or not. This come as a bad news for people on a budget since is not easy to give all that amount of money at the beginning (Even knowing that you will get it back once you leave) There are two things that you can do if you do not have that money. You can go to www.locapass.fr and click on the « caution et garant » link or you can go to your bank, explain to your counselor your situation and as a student you can get affordable loans up to 3000 euros with 0% interest.

TIP 2: Usually the landlords schedule one appointment only to show the property to all the people so you better go prepared with your "dossier" complete to have a chance.  It is common here that if you like the place, you stay until other visitors start leaving and you can approach the landlord.  Introduce yourself and hand in your file.  Be insistent on how badly you want the place without over doing it or looking needy. Frenchies are picky. Play it safe and cool. 

T- 

French in a nutshell..-

The old belief that Frenchies won’t speak in english or any other language is no longer truth (I don’t know if it ever was). Most of the people in France who interact on their daily basis with foreign are more than used to force themselves into other languages.

It is no secret that french’s generally don’t have big language skills but they do try their best. Maybe back in the days they were rude to tourists but the France that I’ve known for 5 years already had grown far from that image. Waiters, teachers, information personal and even civilians will speak to you on whatever level of english they dominate in order to help you.

In case you bump into one that has no english skills, here are some words-phrases that can help you out.

Sortie : Exit

Ou est le metro : Where’s the metro

J’ai besoin : I need

                      J’ai besoin d’aide (I need help)

                      J’ai besoin d’aller (I need to go)

                      J’ai besoin d’acheter (I need to buy)

                      J’ai besoin de dire (I need to say)

Je ne sais pas : I don’t know

Est-ce que vous savez.. : Do you know…

J’ai une question : I have a question

Comment on dit en français … : How do you say in french…

Repetez s’il vous plaît : Can you repeat please ?

Parlez doucement s’il vous plaît : Speak slowly please

Pouvez vous l’ecrire ?: Can you write it down please ?

Douleur : Pain 

Je cherche : I’m looking for..

Oui (yes) – non (No) – qui (who) – quoi (what) – quand (when) – ou (where) – pourquoi (why) – comment (how) – combien (How much/how many).

 T-

Settling up Part 1: The bank..-

Having a bank account in France should be one of the first things you do in order to achieve all the paper work to come. Almost all banks have special offers for students and young professionals, check those out before making any choice.

My choice was LCL – and I strongly recommend it.

Some of the most known ones besides the LCL are the BNP and Societe Generale. Generally to open a bank account all you’ll need is:

- Photocopy of your passport

- Certificate from your school or work

- Housing certificate (i.e. Certificate from the residence, letter from landlord, letter from host family, etc).

The student formula will give you access to many advantages, such as economic health insurance, economic house/room insurance, and some other important insurances for no more than 1 euro a year.

Be carefull, most of this options expire after the first year and the cost goes up to 30 euros or more, so follow-up closely your bank account after the first year. 

Once you open your student bank account, you can ask for the ISIC card, which will give you right to interesting discounts on amusement parks, hotels, travels and free entrance to most of the museums in France and possibly in Europe.

PS:  Count a week's time to receive your bank card and check book on the mail.

 T -

Just Landed..-

If you land in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and your final destination is Paris your better options to get into the city are:

- Moto taxi: Run around 70 and 90 euros per ride (small luggage only) – will get you into the city centre in about 30 minutes.

- Taxi: For +/- 50 euros you can get to the city centre in less than 1h. (Depending on traffic and weather conditions)

- The train (metro):  Its the cheaper option and honestly is the one I recommend the most.

Once you collect your luggage follow the signs to the underground transportation. You will come across self-service machines to buy your tickets to Paris. The price (Oct 2012) is 9,50 euros. Jump in the RER B and you will be 45 min to 1 hr ride away from “chatelet-les halles” which is a main metro station in Paris centre from where you can direct yourself to your final destination.

If you need to go to another city by train you can check out at the airport's “SNCF” (French trains) office (Located near the self service machines on underground transportation - Terminal 2B)  if they have trains running straight from the airport to your desired destination.

OR you can simply take the metro to “Chatelet-les halles” and there switch to Metro 1 (yellow line) direction “Chateau de Vincennes” for 4 stops. Off to the biggest train station in the city. “Gare de Lyon”.

In France, there are two different kind of trains, one is the RER which is the regional train (slow train with multiple stops – most of the times is cheaper) or the TGV (High speed train).

Make sure to double-check all the possibilities before making a choice. Maybe a price difference of less than 10 euros can save you couple of hours (depending on destination)

Important Notice: If you are aged between 12 and 27 years old you can get the “12-27 card"

that will entitle you to discounts on train tickets.

Most of the times you get at least 40% off and up yo 60% off. The card cost is 50 Euros and lasts one year from the issue date. This card will pay itself almost from the first trip (depending on where you are going) make sure you have it handy every time you take the train since there will be controls on board and you can face fines. 

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I feel you..-

I’m a Colombian born and raised girl who moved to France 5 years ago.

I love living in France, but it hasn’t always been all “la vie en rose”. France is a very special country filled with culture, arts, history, breath taking landscapes and cities, amazing food, theater, music, even business and technology.

It is an actual melting pot where you can find people from all around the globe. But I think we all know that.

What you don’t know is that French bureaucracy can be tricky and very frustrating for all of us dreamers. This blog is entirely dedicated to make your life easier when coming to France, I’ll be posting on stories and very important information on all the things you must know (that no one will ever tell you).

 I really hope this information come handy to you and I’m open for feedback if you need personal advices or help.

 Bienvenue!