By Barrie Smith

The prominence and impact of French history, culture, fashion and cuisine on global history and society has made France one of the most popular destinations for English language teachers from the UK in recent years. With a fantastic climate and some of Europe’s most enticing cities, it’s not hard to see why this country catches the eye of so many.

What surprises most people is just how accessible and open France can be to English teachers. Work is available throughout the year, with most contracts beginning in September and lasting the course of a full academic year. Travelling to France from the UK is as easy as it gets too, with ferries running daily.

If you’re considering vacating the drab English skies for a new life on the continent, here’s all you need to know.

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By Monika Salita
@monikasalita or About Monika

I traveled Europe with a backpack during my eight month teaching séjour in France and I came home from my adventures unscathed.

Here are my top tips for being prepared and traveling intelligently, while making the most of your time in a new location, and doing all this alone.

1. Travel with copies of your important documents such as your passport, residency card, travel tickets and debit or credit card. Keep the copies in a safe location of your bag, separate from the originals. Keep another set of copies at home as well. These copies can be invaluable if you are ever faced with the unfortunate situation of being pick-pocketed.

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By Monika Salita
@monikasalita or  About Monika

Montpellier itself is a beautiful city in the south of France, centrally located between Paris, Nice and Barcelona, Spain – all of which are about four or five hours away by train.

Nestled even closer to Montpellier, only a few hours away, are a handful of outstanding UNESCO world heritage sites. Some of these historical cities and sites include Nîmes, Carcassonne, Avignon, St. Guilhem-le-Desert and Sète.

The aforementioned Paris, Nice and Barcelona are easy to research and learn about, so, let’s dig deeper into some lesser known gems.

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By Monika Salita
@monikasalita or about.me/monikasalita

With late October holidays coming up for many teaching assistants, many of you may be thinking of how to spend this break away from your new city exploring a new one. Here are some of my tools for successfully creating an exciting trip in and around ever-captivating France, via trains and planes.

TRAINS

SNCF (France’s national railway company) runs a program called “Carte 12-25.” This is a card that people between the ages of 12 to 25 can purchase which allows them to then buy train tickets at a reduced cost, ranging anywhere from 25% to 60% savings. The initial fee of approximately 50 Euros pays for itself within your first few voyages if you plan to travel anywhere via train with regular frequency. Proof of age will be required, so bring something with your date of birth on it with you when you plan to purchase your card at your local train station.

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