I'm planning to get my own apartment and work for 3 months in France during this summer. When I ask for advice on message boards people will sometimees give me the name of a living & working in France book. My question is, would it really help me that much to read one of those books? Or, would I be just as good hanging out in the message boards? I think books might be too outdated but then again, what do I know?

Thanks,
- NL

Forgot to mention, if a book is handy, feel free to offer some suggestions.

Thanks.

Are you an EU citizen? If not, then it will be hard to work in France, except for black work, which is very risky.

If you are an EU citizen, then no problem.

What questions or concerns do you have? I help people who want to move to France, so maybe I could help you.

Just let me know what you need help with.

Liesa Blond
www.France-Property-and-Life.com

<<but then again, what do I know>>

If you don't read books, probably not a whole lot. Books are too outdated? What a sad and astonishing comment.

Why not just read the book(s) to find out for yourself whether it's helpful?

What do you mean by this: << Forgot to mention, if a book is handy, feel free to offer some suggestions.>> Does this mean that you would take someone's second-had reporting of the info in a book, but you don't think it's worth reading it yourself?!

If there's some medical reason why you are reluctant to read books, though you don't have a problem with message boards, maybe there's some way around that. For example, get hard-bound books, instead of paperbacks, so you will have bigger print on better, brighter paper.

Perhaps they meant the information in a book pertaining to working in France may be out of date - not books in general being obsolete?

Yes Margie that's what I meant. I read books all the time, but for something like this they may not be as reliable as the internet because the information might be outdated. Online, I can find out if something has changed the very day that it happened (like a hotel that gets shut down).

What I meant in post #2 was that if you do find that a certain book can be useful for the planning of my trip, please offer your suggestion.

-NL

I thought so! Seems like you were jumped on and the post was spriling out of control! I hope someone can be of help, and it sounds like you should contact Liesa Blond (above). Good luck!

go over to the bonjourparis.com web site; there's a forum on living and working in france with lots of useful information.

I think there are several books that can be very useful, and some geared right to that kind of thing. For Paris, there is one by David Applefield I have.

Lots of the stuff is available online if you spend a lot of time searching specific web sites, know France well and where to look, etc. It would not be just as good to hang out in message boards. First, a lot of the people (most) on message boards are here due to more casual travel. It will not hurt to do both. Working for 3 months in France isn't really that big a career thing, though, sounds like you means just a casual summer like a student. You couldn't do a professional career like that very well. For 3 months, you are more a long-term tourist and just need a 90 day visa. The work is another thing. If you just want cheap servile labor you may get it.

In your situation, I don't know if the book is necessary, as this doesn't sound like a serious career move or permanent or anything.