Thanks Bev for your information! You're certainly a vast source of knowledge on all things French!

On the topic of language learning, it really is so important. I have only ever been there for a couple of months at a time, but even at the beginning when I was nervous to practise my quasi-fluent French with locals around Toulouse, people were so friendly when they recognised a foreign accent (people always laugh at my mispronunciation of the "ou" and "u" sounds, hehe but would always appreciate the fact that you were attempting to communicate in their language.

What I really was posting for was to recommend a language program for those who do not speak any French, which is the Michel Thomas program. I apologise if this has already been mentioned somewhere in this thread (I didn't read all 11 pages but IMHO his teaching style is easily absorbed and would most definitely be either a good way to start learning the language, or a decent brush-up for people who already have a good knowledge of French.

Thanks again Bev, your posts are always so useful!