6 useful articles for new arrivals in France

New in France? Still trying to get your head around everything from banks and visas to furniture and food? Here are six articles that may help.

Moving countries is always challenging, but France has its own particular way of doing things and isn’t always keen to explain its systems clearly to newbies.

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by all the challenges, don’t worry – almost everyone who has ever moved to France has felt the same at some point (and at least you’re not as clueless as this person who was apparently amazed that her US dollars were not accepted here).

From furnishing your new place to dealing with the paperwork, here are some articles that might help;

Furnishings

Let’s start with something nice – you have a new home and you probably want to furnish it to your taste.

France of course has furniture stories – quick rundown on the main brands here – but there are also a myriad of other options for getting bargains, antiques or even bargain antiques (including places where those beautiful French armoires go for a song).

Healthcare and pharmacies

Once you have been resident in France for three months, you are entitled to register in the French health system and have some or all of your health costs covered by the French state.

The registration itself, however, usually takes several months – full details HERE.

In the meantime, let us introduce you to the wonderful world of French pharmacies which do much more than simply dispensing medicine. From offering medical advice and on-the-spot diagnosis to treating minor injuries and even checking mushrooms, they provide a huge range of services and are present in almost every town in France.

Websites and apps

You will probably have heard about the reputation of French bureaucracy, and unfortunately some of it is true – especially immigration-related paperwork which can take a long time to sort out.

On the plus side, however, many more services are moving online in France, so tasks that would once have involved a visit to a government office and a lengthy wait can now be done online at your convenience.

There’s also a growing number of apps and websites that can help with any aspect of daily life, from finding your way around to booking a doctor’s appointment.

Banks

When it comes to banking, a lot depends on where you come from, with Americans finding it especially difficult to open a French bank account due to the US FATCA legislation.

There are options, however, including international banks and a growing number of internet banks.

It’s worth noting that American Express is not routinely accepted in France, while whether you need to carry cash at all depends on where in France you are.

Immigration stuff

If you are a citizen of a non-EU country then you will have already arranged your visa to allow you to move to France. However, the immigration fun does not stop there – there is a whole host of in-country admin to do.

In fact, it basically never stops as you have to regularly renew your residency card and complete other immigration paperwork, so it’s better to simply accept this fact now.

The only way to ever be free of it is to gain French citizenship, but that is also a massive administrative task.

Food (and wine)

But it’s not all tooth-gnashing over French admin – there are also some much more fun things to learn, like exploring France’s food and drink scene.

They take this pretty seriously (French gastronomic culture is on the UNESCO world heritage list), so there are all sorts of unwritten French dining rules that cover everything from where to put your bread to what to do with your foie gras.

There are whole books written on French cheese etiquette and entire libraries of wine ‘rules’ (plus a bunch of wine myths that you should just ignore).

If nothing else, you’ll have a lot of fun researching this particular area.

Reader questions

Do you have other questions about life in France? Head to our Reader Questions section where we answer questions on all sorts of topics in daily French life. You can also leave your question in the comments section below.

6 useful articles for new arrivals in France

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