Tips for Travellers

PHONING

You won’t find a phone box that takes coins, so buy a phone card (télécarte) at a post office or a tabac (a café or shop with a red carrot sign - looking more like a cigar – displayed outside). To phone Britain from France, dial 0044 followed by the number you want but omitting the 0 before it. To phone a French number from outside France, begin with 0033. For directory inquiries in France or elsewhere, ring 118 218.

POSTAGE

Buy stamps at a post office or a tabac. You need a € 0.58 stamp for a postcard or letter weighing under 20 grammes within France, and a € 0.70 stamp to send to another country within the European Union.

WATCH THE CLOCK
France is an hour in advance of Britain, i.e. when it is midday in Britain, it is 1pm in France. Reset your watch when you arrive in France, or you may miss your return ferry.

CLOSING DAY
Many shops and restaurants, particularly in smaller towns, are closed on one weekday, most often on Monday. Closing day for museums is generally Tuesday.

BANKS

Most are open from about 9am to midday, and then from about 2pm to 5pm, from Tuesday morning to Saturday morning, but they generally don’t change currency now.

BUYING EUROS

Cashpoints take most debit and credit cards, and there is a money-changing machine on the ferry. Changing at a cashpoint generally means paying a standard fee for the transaction, so the smaller the transaction, the bigger (proportionally) the fee. You can get a good rate at a main post office, but you may have to queue.

LUNCHTIME
It is sacred in France. All offices and most shops close so that the people working in them can go to lunch. You might as well go to lunch as well.

ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO

You can take home as much as you wish “within reason and for your personal use”. But have a care for your health and pocket. Transmanche Ferries has drinkable wines on sale on the ferry at around £3 a bottle.

TRAVEL CHEAPER

When buying local bus tickets, or Metro tickets in Paris, you will get a reduction by buying a carnet of 10 tickets. For trains, check whether there is a reduction for two people travelling together, and how (if you are over 60) you can qualify for a pensioners’ reduction.

NO SMOKING

France has since 2008 a no-smoking rule in cafés and restaurants. Lungs benefit, but some addicts find deprivation of the weed hard to accept. Rarely, you will find an establishment that has invested in a sealed-off smoking chamber, but generally if you want to puff, you must do it on the terrace: make sure the wind is not blowing your toxic fumes into the nostrils and eyes of the innocents at the next table.

WATCH YOUR SPEED (AND YOUR INTAKE)

The French government is trying to reduce traffic accidents: until recently, road fatalities were running at about double the rate recorded in Britain. Radars and watchful gendarmes are out to catch those who break the speed limit: a 50 kilometre limit in built-up areas is the equivalent of 32mph. The gendarmes are also on the hunt for drunk drivers, who are still dangerously plentiful.

DEARER ON THE TERRACE

How delightful to sit on a café terrace for your refreshment! But don’t be upset if it costs a little more than if you sit inside (it may be cheapest if you stand or sit at the bar).

“UN CAFÉ S’IL VOUS PLAÎT”

If that’s what you ask for, you can expect to be served a black coffee. To be sure of a white coffee, order “un café crème, s’il vous plaît”. Or simply, “un crème, s’il vous plaît”. If you ask for “un thé”, it won’t be served with milk unless you add “avec du lait”. And the milk will probably be hot, unless you specify “du lait froid”.

“SERRÉ” OR “ALLONGÉ”?

You ask for “un café serré”, or simply “un serré” if you want a concentrated Italian-style black coffee, and “un café allongé” for a bigger quantity of less strength.

TIPPING

France, where usherettes in cinemas and attendants at petrol stations once expected to be tipped, is a less tipping country these days. In a restaurant, check your bill to see if it indicates “service compris”. If you are served by the owner or a family member, a tip is not expected.

MEDICAL CARE

You should obtain an E111 card, available on application at a post office, before you embark on travel in the European Union. It gives you a certificate of entitlement to benefits in kind during a stay in an EU member state. It’s free.

EMERGENCIES

In case of accident or sudden illness, ring 15 or 18. The fire brigade may answer the call and attend to the patient. The pompiers (fire fighters) have paramedical skills. Don’t worry: the pompiers (fire fighters) know their job.