Letters and comment

Letters: French people struggle to say my name - or translate it

Connexion readers share their anecdotes of cross-cultural confusion

Letters: French recycling rules just lead to more waste

Connexion readers say the system pollutes communes and attracts vermin

Letters: A tontine clause may ease inheritance fears in France

Connexion reader suggests a way of avoiding complications over the transfer of an estate

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Letters: We can live comfortably in France on €15,000 a year- in a city with no car

Connexion readers share the annual budget they need to enjoy their retirement

Comment: Spat between France and Algeria opens old wounds

Columnist Nabila Ramdani tells how tempers between the countries flared after the arrest of a TikTok influencer

Letters: France needs more immigration to help its ageing population

Connexion reader disagrees with Simon Heffer calling it a problem

Comment: Jean-Marie Le Pen’s death will further detoxify Marine’s politics – but not completely

Columnist Simon Heffer looks at how the former leader's party has changed since 2007

Letters: France is getting better at providing vegetarian options

Connexion readers say that a cultural shift is underway - but progress takes time

Letters: Delivery fees make it uneconomical to receive packages in France

Connexion reader says that it is not realistic to declare the value of gifts received from the UK

Letters: French healthcare system means people have to stay informed

Connexion reader notes that the lack of structure in France forces people to access care themselves

Letters: Calls for Macron to resign do not help French politics

Connexion reader says that France should learn from its neighbours in forming coalition governments

Letters: French politics needs to veer right to cut costs

Connexion reader says that France can reverse its fortunes by following the example of the United States

Letters: Readers share their French language howlers

Malapropisms, word-for-word translations and false friends are often greeted with a chuckle

Letters: Long-stay visas in France ‘are not as easy as minister claimed’

Senator Berthet is asking for a simplified visa process for British second-home owners in France

Comment: Speaking French makes us do what we are told

Columnist Sarah Henshaw looks at 'the foreign language effect' and how it makes non-native speakers more pliable

Letters: This photo tip makes it easier to renew UK passports in France

A Connexion reader shares how to make renewing a UK passport more straightforward

Letters: Sliced bread is simply too sweet in France

Connexion reader says that UK bread is far ahead of its French equivalent

Letters: Are French disabled badges not valid in UK?

One reader has issues when visiting a UK airport, while another has had no such problems

Letters: French rail fines are so severe even for honest mistakes

Connexion reader says his relatives have been put off visiting France

Letters: How are hybrid cars supposed to carry a spare tyre in France?

Connexion reader says electric vehicles simply do not have enough space

Letters: The rules for organising a garage sale in France are ludicrous

Connexion reader says the system stifles creativity with excessive taxes and charges

Letters: Stop complaining about French bureaucracy after voting for Brexit

Connexion reader says Britons have only themselves to blame

Letters: Vegetarians need to appreciate French food culture

Connexion readers share their experiences of meat-free restaurants in France

Letters: French ski resorts always struggle outside of ski season

Readers spar over the apparent demise of winter resorts in France

Letters: The number of cold calls to French phone is maddening

Connexion readers say that measures to prevent them are not effective

Letters: France must not tolerate political corruption

Connexion reader says it is right that Marine Le Pen should be prevented from holding office if found guilty

Letters: Men’s cancers are too often ignored in France

Connexion reader says more should be done to raise awareness of prostate cancer in particular

Letters: New French visa plan may remove the worry of overstaying

Connexion readers share how their lives have changed since Brexit

Letters: France's private speed camera cars just add to pollution

Connexion reader questions the logic of mobile enforcers

Comment: Notre-Dame reopening shows France’s bizarre religious contradiction

Columnist Nabila Ramdani notes the contradictions of the secular French Republic

Letters: Why do I have to pick up my post from the supermarket in France

Connexion reader tells of his surprise receiving a card from La Poste informing him his mail was elsewhere

Letters: TLS lost my passport after I applied for a six-month visa for France

Reader shares his 'dreadful experience' dealing with the visa application agency

Comment: Trump re-election poses challenge for EU and France

French-American think tank expert says it is likely to bring ‘trade war’ and embolden far-right

Letters: The Entry/Exit System cannot stop us visiting France

Connexion readers give their views on the EU's upcoming EES

Letters: Travelling to France with pets is not that difficult

Another reader says the process is just too expensive

Comment: The decline of French winter ski resorts is no bad thing

Nick Inman says it is high time to let nature reclaim the mountains

Letters: Dismissal of French satirist shows freedom of speech is in danger

Connexion reader says comedians must be permitted to provoke our thoughts and prejudices

Letters: Vegetarian options are too limited in France

Connexion readers say French cuisine is all the poorer due to its reliance on meat

Letters: Stop moaning about French bureaucracy

Connexion reader says that foreign residents must display more self-awareness

Letters: Readers share the drôleries of getting by in French

From old false friends to the latest translation tech - sometimes everyone gets language wrong

Comment: Trump’s victory paves way for far-right win in France

Columnist Simon Heffer says French voters may look with envy at the decisive mandate of the US president-elect

Letters: French GP is charging more than he should for consultation

Connexion reader says her doctor is already asking for €30 per visit

Letters: French vets cannot check EU database for lost pets

Connexion reader points out that pets in France need to have the national ID chips or risk never being reunited with their owners

Letters: French cycling rules are rarely enforced

Connexion reader says he takes special precautions to stay safe

Letters: French banking practices are commercial nonsense

Connexion reader says that spending limits force him to turn to foreign banks

Letter: It takes too long to get a disabled parking badge in France

Connexion reader says delays due to French bureaucracy meant the card came after his recovery

Letters: Post-Brexit reset means easing UK-France border checks

Connexion reader says a reciprocal deal on the Schengen border would help everyone

Letters: Strength of the dollar is key factor for Americans in France

Reader notes that last time Donald Trump won he said he wanted a weaker dollar to boost exports

Letters: French banks act like our money is theirs to keep

Connexion reader says the monthly spending limits are 'incomprehensible'

Letters: Automatic French translations can be so funny

Connexion readers share their experiences of absurd mistranslations

Letters: Avoid Bordeaux Airport if you can

Readers call it an 'eyesore', with long queues, few seats and lack of air conditioning

Letters: Our French village fête is literally booming

Connexion reader says traditional festivities have been replaced by three consecutive nights of loud music

Letters: French visa proposal for second-home owners sounds like hassle

Connexion reader says he will leave the country if it keeps getting harder to live here

Letters: EU's new entry rules will drive UK tourists away from France

Connexion reader feels that the stringent border checks will force people to seek pastures new

Letters: French kindness saved my POW father

A reader recalls her father's experience of being a German prisoner of war during World War Two

Letters: Patou dogs often run wild in France

Connexion reader says owners are dismissive of the danger

Letters: The cost of living is not always lower in France than in the US

Connexion readers share their views on energy, healthcare, education and daily living expenses

Comment: Why hairdressers rule French villages

Columnist Samantha David notes that the coiffeuse is more valuable than a boucherie and boulangerie

Letters: Brexit benefits for Britons in France

Connexion readers share their experiences

Letters: End of Paris Métro ticket books leaves me nostalgic

Reader reminisces about the original carnets, after their replacement is discontinued

Comment: France needs to protect its satirists

Columnist Nick Inman says we need their regard on society - even if we do not like what they say

Letters: It is shocking that disabled Blue Badges do not work in France

Reader says the lack of consideration sits ill with the triumph of the Paralympic Games

Comment: French PM's talk of taxing rich is just a gimmick

Columnist Nabila Ramdani notes that France's new right-wing government is not the first to make such plans

Letters: Minority of French motorcyclists think they are in a video game

Reader says that UK and German bikers act more responsibly

Comment: Court ban on Marine Le Pen from holding office would anger French voters

Severe punishment for the Rassemblement National's presidential candidate could derail respect for legal and political institutions, says columnist Simon Heffer

Letters: France's hot weather and limited bin pick ups make for bad mix

Reader says that composting is impractical for second home owners who live abroad

Letters: Vegetarians can cook at home and leave French restaurants to the rest of us

Reader says the pressure for more menu options would turn France into a nanny state

Letters: My French admin nightmare due to name error

Reader says the problem arose because officials do not have an ü or umlaut key

Letters: French DPE system for energy efficiency is all about money

Reader says that the diagnostic models were devised to make people purchase on heat pumps, solar panels and insulation

Letters: French lettres recommendées are by no means infallible

Reader points out two failings of France's omnipresent system of registered post

Comment: The French language does not match the country's values

Columnist Peter Wyeth ponders why they say ‘I’ when the English say ‘we’ – is this a historical anomaly?

Letters: French 'réserve de chasse' sign does not mean what I thought it did

Reader had presumed that it meant an area was reserved for hunting

Letters: EU's Schengen 90-day calculator is not reliable for time in France

Reader says the dates it gives do not match reality

Letters: Biodiversity is in decline, but not just in France

Reader says the complex systems of weather, migration and global economics all play a part

Letters: Excellent French healthcare service has never disappointed

Reader is impressed by France's conscientious GPs and access to specialists