Job Discussion Forums

[mooseontheloose]

Hi all,

I'll be moving to France in September to begin teaching and I've found a lot of useful information about living and working in France from these boards already. However, I'm as much a traveller as a teacher and of course I plan on travelling around the country as much as I can (afford to). Obviously I'll need (and want) some books to get me started when I'm there and I'd really appreciate any thoughts people have on the following:

1) General guidebooks to France (Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Cadogan, Footprint,etc).
2) Specific guidebooks to regions or cities (Paris, Cote d'Azur, etc)
3) Books about culture, history, activities, food, or wine
4) Fiction or personal accounts in France

With numbers 1 and 2 I'm not only interested in what people have found the most useful but also what they thought was a waste of time and money; with 3 and 4 I'd like to have a deeper background and understanding of where I'll be living and want to read as much as I can before going in addition to bringing a few books with me when I go.

Also, if people have other recommendations concerning neighboring countries, that would really useful as well. I'd also like to know about some websites that cater to people living and working in France, and not just travelling through it.

Cheers.

[Do the moo shoo]

Hiya, can't really help with the books etc, but can with the personal opinion and travel experience. I love France and have visited a lot of cities, my favourites being Nantes, Marseille and Rouen.

I think the answers depend on whether you prefer being in a rural quiet area, or if you prefer a night life!

Obviously if you tend to like staying in the middle of nowhere, I suggest villages in the countryside (There are absolutely millions) but these tend to be more expensive for accommodation and will probably not give any work.

Cities on the other hand will obviously be rich with work, but accommodation will often not be as nice, and the streets etc noisy.

I suggest browsing the internet before you go and making a travel plan of the areas that you would like to see, then have a look at how much money you have to spend and think of the owrst case scenario-that you can't find work in the majority of places that you visit-and then budget for the short comings.

Personally, I dont mind sleeping in the odd train station or bus shelter (Obviously as long as its fairly safe) to be able to save up a bit of extra dosh for site seeing, but it's all personal I guess!

[Perpetual Traveller]