Sun, 22 November 2009
Some 450 pre-Columbian pieces in Quai Branly museum.
Includes geography, people, government, economy and transnational issues.
Basil Howitt on criminal investigations in the coastal resorts.
Useful information on renting accommodation in Paris.
Relocating can have a big impact on your relationship.
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Roland Lloyd Parry finds that French Academics' and students' unions fear the egalitarian state university system will splinter into two.PARIS - Shahinez Benabed turned up in February to finish a history degree at the renowned Sorbonne university on the Left Bank in Paris, but found the historic lecture halls shut by a teachers' strike.
Four months later, she has not had a single class during a damaging confrontation between teachers opposed to reforms and President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing government.
Studying on her own, Benabed waited for the lessons she felt would set her up for the final exams and, next term, a master's degree. Many of her fellow students, she says, simply dropped out.
"I'm afraid about the exams," said Benabed, 22. After missing half the year, she says, "it's going to be a kind of joke exam." But "if we didn't take it, employers would say your diploma isn't worth as much."
The closure dragged on for 15 weeks as teachers and some students angrily resisted a government attempt to shake up France's public university sector, which trails behind comparable countries in world academic rankings.
Sarkozy wants to boost the autonomy of university bosses and increase their ability to seek private funding, while changing teachers' training procedures. Ministers have accused strikers of harming students' futures.
Academics' and students' unions fear the egalitarian state university system will splinter into two or more tiers of quality and funding, and some teachers fear for their job security in a school "run like a business".
Morally, Benabed supports the strikers, who say they fear that non-academics will gain power over teachers and water down professional training. But as for the strike: "I'm not sure it's achieving much."
In a country with one of the lowest youth employment rates in the OECD grouping of industrialised economies, lessons at most universities are now gradually resuming after one of France's longest strikes.
Our expert Steven Grover delves into the murky waters of French healthcare for expats and asks how recent changes affect them?
Tax and estate planning figure prominently in the list of priorities of many financially secure expatriate residents of France.
From Gaelic clubs to Canadian Alumni organisations, there is bound to be an English-speaking club for you in France.
This is what you need to consider when making an early choice between purchasing or renting accommodation in France.
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