This essential guide to living and working in France is a ready reference for new and established resident and home-owners. You need not read it cover-to-cover to glean information, as it consists of more than 1,000 encyclopaedia-style entries, each containing key facts and many with references to more comprehensive printed and online publications for further information. Moreover, there are two indexes, one in English and one in French, so you can rapidly find facts by starting from either language.

Contents include: 1. Arriving and settling; 2. Banking, insurance and money matters; 3. Business and work; 4. Cars, roads and traffic; 5. Character, customs and country; 6. Church, religion and belief; 7. Climate, environment and physical geography; 8. Clothing, footwear and fashion; 9. Concise gazetteer; 10. Crimes, wrongs and countermeasures; 11. Defence and security; 12. Drink, drugs and tobacco; 13. Education, science and technology; 14. Electrical and electronic goods; 15. Emergencies; 16. Entertainment and the arts; 17. Farms, farming and gardening; 18. Family and children; 19. Food and eating; 20. Foreigners and minorities; 21. Government, politics and administration; 22. Health care and social security; 23. Historical overview; 24. Holidays and festivities; 25. Housekeeping; 26. Housing; 27. Human rights and consumer rights; 28. Language; 29. Law, lawyers and courts; 30. Measurements and standards; 31. Media, information and documentation; 32. Museums, exhibitions and festivals; 33. Non-government organisations (NGOs); 34. Orders, societies and association; 35. Pets and animals; 36. Post and forwarding; 37. Prices; 38. Registrations and certificates; 39. Retirement; 40. Shopping; 41. Sport and leisure; 42. Statistics, analyses and polls; 43. Taxes, duty and excise; 44. Telecommunications, broadcasting and Information technology; 45. Trades; 46. Travel and transport; Useful Books; English Index; French Index.