If anyone can help with these questions it will be greatly appreciated.

Les Mis is such a great show!

Well, for political issues- the issue was what to do with the government. A lot of political turmoil occurred in France in the 18th century. Namely, the aristocracy was overthrown (including the monarchy- Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette) and then the government went through a few radical changes. A lot of blood was spilled, quite a few heads were severed, and eventually a Republic was set up. Les Mis, however, takes place during the 19th century (in 1815) during a subsequent French Revolution.

Education in the 18th century was not standardized, was not given to the peasantry, and was not offered to the majority of female children. (though there were some exceptions) The aristocracy and the citizens related to the church were offered an education. There was a large gap between the peasantry and the aristocracy and thus, a merchant class didn’t have much access to education either.

- living conditions were quite bad in France if you were not aristocracy. There were famines throughout the 18th century, which fed the fires of revolution. Peasants worked for very small wages, were not allowed to hunt, and barely grew enough food to pay themselves. They paid very, very high taxes for almost everything. They also paid based on number of people per house which was sometimes very high. (no birth control back then)
Jobs: there were three levels of society: The Church ( priests,etc.), the Aristocracy (noble birth), and the peasants. Later, another class called the bourgeoise would emerge. This would be the middle class that would take control of France (until napoleon)

Male/Female roles: traditional. Women were not educated by and large.

Hope that helps some. Check Wiki!

Cigarettes rather than cigars made their apparition around 1830, people rolling their own from loose tobacco in special paper and this is when their use started spreading. Their industrial fabrication became a state monopoly in 1845 and at the end of the XIXth century machines were constructed to produce cigarettes industrially, which is when they really started to take off widely amongst common people. Grey tobacco was given free to soldiers during WW1 which generalised its use, but it is really after WW2 when "American"cigarettes came on the market and became popular that the smoking fad started big time. It was seen as "cooler" to smoke American or English cigarettes, particularly those with filters, in the 1950s rather than Gauloises or Gitanes, which were the unfiltered French brand and considered coarser.

Nowadays great efforts are being made in France to discourage people from smoking, taxes have been raised. The use of tobacco is now forbidden in public places and one has to be eighteen or over to buy cigarettes and tobacco products.

This is not going to be postcards but actual letters.

I know that you can airmail from England to foreign countries but is there a similar service in France?

If not, is there any other services and how long do these take?

Thanks.

Forgive my english, I am French.

The postal service in France is named La Poste.
You should write the country (destination) in french and ask for a "Prioritaire" etiquette and a stamp.

Stamp cost according to letter weight
less than 20g UK 0.70 euro USA 0.85 euro
less than 50g UK 1.30 euro USA 1.70 euro

Delivery for big towns
around 5 days to UK
around 7 days to USA

Versailles (south of Paris):
The residence of the royal family (king Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and their children).
The place where the Estates General meeting took place in May 1789.

Paris:
The Bastille (Louis XVI’s jail) which was stormed by a mob of revolutionaries on July 14th, 1789.
The Tuileries where the royal family was put under guard watch.
The Temple prison (where the royal family was imprisoned).
Place de la Revolution (called today Place de la Concorde) where the guillotine was installed to cut off the heads of the counter revolutionaries (Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Danton and Robespierre were beheaded there).

Varennes (near the German border):
Where the royal family was arrested and brought back to Paris on June 21st 1791.

Austria (Vienna):
Marie Antoinette home country and the country the royal family tried to reach when they escaped Paris.

Grenoble/Vizilles (southern east of France):
The first revolts against the Monarchy started there, during the day of the tiles in 1788.

Vendee (West):
The Vendeen insurrection of 1793 was the biggest counter revolutionaries revolt and led to the creation of the Comity of Public Safety and the start of the Reign of Terror.

Cheers.

but if you wan’t to take the motorhome, then you will have to go by ferry or train, you don’t get a motorhome into most cargo bays on planes, and they are very strict about hand luggage.

so Dover is the shortest distance, but if you want to get to southern France you might consider going to Plymouth/Portsmouth to Santander in Spain and crossing back up. its nicer to sleep the cruise down, and not drive, and you get back the fuel cost in the ferry cost.

Portsmouth to Cherbourge is better for the west coast, because if you haven’t experianced french drivers yet, then you will not want to meet the belguims, who are a nightmare.

you can book online with Ferries.co.uk – with all major ferry operators.

Whether you’re sailing from Plymouth or Santander they have the best deal available live and online. Finding cheap ferries from say Plymouth to Santander couldn’t be easier; simply select Plymouth to Santander or Santander to Plymouth from the menus, number of passengers travelling in the vehicle (including the driver) and hit search.

To keep costs down and prices low, they do not issue tickets. At the end of the booking process, you get a reference number. Either print the confirmation and take it to the check in desk at Plymouth or Santander or take a note of the reference number to the port with you.

Paris is very expensive.
Around Paris, Neuilly-sur-seine is very nice as well as Levallois-Perret.
Versailles in the department ot Yvelines, (number 78) is also a good choice.

I notice nobody seemed terribly upset when Russian and Ukranian firms were trying to sell tanks to Greece and Turkey or when Russia has sold advanced anti-aircraft weapons to Greece.