WHEN Carole Payne welcomes to Bolton au pairs from several countries to work in England, she always feels pangs of nostalgia. She can easily turn the clock back and recall her own enjoyable experiences in France as a young woman, when she worked for the famous perfumier Nina Ricci and her family. "I learned to speak French fluently, and still keep in touch with the Ricci family," said Carole.

All of which makes her wonder why more local girls are not keen to take the au pair route to travel experiences and learning a foreign language.

"We have so many girls coming over from Spain, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Turkey, Germany and Sweden to work here," she added. "But there are very few going to work abroad, and we have plenty of vacancies for them."

Carole began her business after returning to England with her two young children to live. She needed an au pair herself, but was unhappy with the arrangements made by various agencies.

Feeling she could do better herself, she used the contacts she had made via extensive travel to establish her own Bolton-based agency, The Nanny and Au Pair Connection

Since she started the company in 1990, she has successfully arranged positions for scores of au pairs and nannies, from London to Scotland.

"An au pair is a student who lives within a host country's family, taking care of the children and light household duties," explained Carole.

"She - or he - works on average five hours a day, 25 hours a week, but will work longer hours in the school holidays as there are no language schools open during that time.

"Au pairs must have their own room and receive food and pocket money from £35 to £60 a week."

Many au pairs arrive in September and stay until the end of the college term in June/July. They then take an exam (here, they go to Bolton College) and return to their country with a greater knowledge of the language.

Carole herself bears out this ethos: she is still fluent in French after her stay abroad all those years ago.

"I just don't think girls in this country are as adventurous as their Continental counterparts," added Carole. "But I'd like to be proved wrong!"

For more details about the agency, which has just moved from Heaton to Lostock, ring 01204-694422.

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