France Travel Guide

Posts Tagged ‘today’

So you are about to set off on the trip of a lifetime to one of the most-loved countries in the world — France! You have been practicing your ‘bonjours’ and your ‘mercis’, and studying maps of Paris to work out how to get around, but there is one more thing you can do to make sure your trip is extra special. And that is to immerse yourself in French life by reading some books set in France.

Reading novels set in Paris or the French countryside will give you an insight into the country which is impossible to get from the guide books. As the characters walk along the Seine or drink their coffee at a table on the Parisian pavement, it will fill you with anticipation to do the same — making the experience so much sweeter when you finally get to do it yourself. If the novel is set in the past, you will have more appreciation for France’s history, bringing many of the places and old buildings alive when you visit them on your trip. And if the novel is set in the present day, there’s nothing more fun than trying to find the streets, bars and restaurants that might be mentioned in the story.

So what books should you read? Here is a selection of five novels which do a great job in bringing France to life, even before you set foot on that plane.

‘Foreign Tongue’ by Vanina Marsot
Nursing a broken heart, Anna moves to Paris from Los Angeles. She begins working as the translator of a cryptic erotic novel and of course, finds herself some romance. The book is a love-letter to the city, with plenty of wanderings through the streets as well as descriptions of French life, food and cafes.

‘The Coral Thief’ by Rebecca Stott
History, mystery, romance and intrigue intertwine in this novel set in post-Napoleonic Paris. It is 1815 and a young Englishman travels to Paris to take up a position at the renowned Jardin des Plantes. But when the collection of rare coral specimens he is carrying is stolen by a beautiful woman, he is drawn into a plot involving revolutionaries, spies and the intelligentsia. Victorian Paris comes alive in this novel, which will surely enhance any present day visit to the Jardin des Plantes, France’s main botanical garden.

‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ by Susan Vreeland
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ is a famous painting depicting a group of Parisians enjoying lunch on the terrace of a restaurant on the Seine. In this novel Vreeland tells the story of those in the painting and how they came to be there. It is a glorious look at Paris at the time of the Impressionists, and you can still eat at the restaurant itself today.

‘Five Quarters of the Orange’ by Joanne Harris
Now we move out of Paris and into the Loire Valley with this novel by Harris that takes us to a village occupied by the Germans in WWII. The book moves between WWII and the present day, giving us an insight into the long-term effects the Nazi occupation had on the French people. And as it is a book by Joanne Harris, there is a of course lots of time spent exploring French food!

‘The Matchmaker of Perigord’ by Julia Stuart
We finish up with something fun and quirky, in a fictional village in France’s south-west. Amour-Sur-Belle might not be a real place, but it gives a taste of some of the declining villages of rural France. Here, the town barber decides to reinvent himself as a match-maker, quite a task when there are only 33 residents to match up. Filled with delightful characters and semi-ridiculous situations, this novel should just leave you giggling and enjoying the French temperament.

So if you have your tickets booked for Charles de Gaulle airport or you just WISH you had a holiday planned for France, try the books above to immerse yourself in a bit of French life and culture. And if you find yourself enjoying them…well, there’s plenty more to explore…Bon Voyage!

In terms of Canadian Permanent Resident Cards it is a requirement for those who are who are in the planning processes of becoming a Permanent Resident of the country of Canada to pick up their new “PR” cards in order that the official Canadian counsel staff can verify and assure the person’s identity. You can never be too sure today in 2009 / 2010 when it comes to identity theft and identity theft practices .Hence this is more step and procedure to assure the Canadian governmental authorities entrusted with these special and important vital tasks that the individual or groups of applicants that come to pick up their documents are the boni-fide applicant and registrant for actual permanent resident status in the Dominion of Canada.

Canadian residents who have PR cards expiring in the near future and who plan on traveling before they have a chance to renew their Permanent Residence (PR) documentation brochures should contact their local CIC office. Why so? It seems that permanent residents who are returning to Canada by commercial carrier (be it airplane, train, boat or Greyhound bus), will now require this PR card, as an official document, even to board the transit carrier itself. Thus in a flash, you may have your travel and trip plans thoroughly inconvenienced. This can occur either for a family trip, a vacation or even for medical treatment abroad or even across the line in US – say for a simple CAT scan or N.M.R. medical diagnostic scan at Pembina North Dakota.

On the other hand you might find yourself in the quandary of suddenly discovering that you will be traveling abroad or even to the USA shortly and you do not have a sufficient time period or interval to renew your permanent resident status documents, or if you are in the bureaucratic category or categories of already having submitted your application yet not received or taken physical possession of the certificate with its official credential and official stamps and registration , don’t panic , you still have a number of options available to yourself and your traveling companions. Firstly, if you have not yet mailed in your application or applications, the procedure is to submit a copy of your plane ticket or other fare documents along with your application. In addition label your application with the notation “Urgent Proof of Travel Included” clearly both on the outside and along with the documents submitted themselves. Of course it is always wise and prudent procedure to photocopy, or scan into your computer – be it desktop or laptop, for later verification or proof if needed. This labeled and identified you can be assured that the highly efficient staff at the local or main Ottawa Ontario main office will place and examine your submission on a higher praetor basis for the quick turnaround of the necessary package to you by registered mail or courier.

However if you have already submitted your application before the processing time posted on the official website online , then it might be best to follow up with a simple enquiry by email , phone or fax.

Pleasant travels.