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Europe and France

Although France is the largest country in Europe in terms of surface, it does no longer enjoys the supremacy it enjoyed once. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, France was going through a period of important social changes, resulting also as a model in the cultural sphere for all other countries. Under Louis XIV, or the "Sun King", France reached the pinnacle of absolutism that was also the source of the French Revolution, which served as an example for subsequent national movements throughout the world. Of course, France still has an important role in Europe, especially at the political and economic level. At least, the French economy was in continuous growth until 2008, a period known to be a major crisis in Europe.

The French address

Also at the postal system level, France has found several changes. A small revolution represented the introduction of postal codes in 1965. The latter enriched the format of the address of an important component. After the re-introduction of the five-post ZIP codes in 1972, the structure of the French address has never been changed again. An address issued correctly is still composed of five lines:

Name of the recipient Name of the apartment / building House number + name of the street ZIP code + location FRANCE

In France it is customary to add the name of the apartment or building, even if, in the absence of such information, the second line becomes superfluous. Therefore, the structure of a private French address would be as follows:

Mario Rossi
RESIDANCE DES FLEURS
1 RUE DE LA LÈGION D'HONNEUR
75007 PARIS
FRANCE

The structure of a French company address is very similar to the address of a private person, with the only difference that the name of the company must be in the first line and the addressee will follow in the second line of the address:

Nestlé France Usine Menier
a / s M. Moreau
7 BOULEVARD PIERRE CARLE
77186 NOISIEL
FRANCE

French peculiarities:

1. In France the last four lines are usually written in capital letters.
2. Accents such as grave (`), acute (') or circumflex (^) must be placed correctly. Using capital letters, misunderstandings can be avoided.
3. "a / s" is the French variant of the "c / o" (care of) international.
4. Titles such as "M." (Monsieur), "Mme" (Madame) or "Mlle" (Mademoiselle) are often used in France, even if they are not obligatory.
5. Certainly, in the professional field there are abbreviations or terms, which are also used in other languages: "Firme" stands for example for company or agency, the abbreviation "SAS" stands for "Société par Actions Simplifiée au capital", respectively "Simplified anonymous company". The abbreviation "SARL", very usual in the format of the French address, means "Société A Responsabilités Limitées", hence "SRL".