Communications in France
Phone calls in France
A local phone call is charged at a rate of 20 eurocents. Automatic telephone connection from Paris: 19 + country code + city code + number you wish to call. During regular week days, from 10:30PM till 8:00AM, and from 2:00PM on weekends the phone calls in France can be done at half price. Phone calls in France are free inside hotels. All calls outside the hotel are paid. Making phone calls from a hotel will cost you 2-3 times more. Either way, a conversation lasting 1-2 minutes from a hotel can turn out to be cheaper, than buying a phone card, whose minimal nominal price is usually around 4-6 dollars equivalent. Calling cards, with rare exceptions, are only valid inside the country where they were purchased.
Phone calls in France using calling cards (Telecarte) can be made from any phone booth. Calling cards usually come in amounts of 50 and 120 call units. Any phone calling card (for phone booths, prepaid calling cards for cell phones) can be purchased at a post office, tobacco kiosk, or souvenir shop.
Some of the scarce remaining toll booths allow coin based payment for phone calls. For information you need to dial 12. Coin pay phones are slowly disappearing in the majority of European countries.
Emergency Calls:
- When losing money or documents call the police (Police Secours) - 17
- Medical Emergencies (SAMU) - 15
- Fire Department - 18
- Emergency doctor call - 47 07 77 77
- Lost and Found Bureau - 45 31 14 80
- Emergency Dentist Call - 43 37 51 00
- In case of Poisoning - 40 37 04 04
Postal Service in France
Post offices are open Monday through Friday, from 8AM till 7PM, and on Saturdays postal service in France is available from 9AM till Noon. Mail boxes in France are usually yellow, and can be found along the streets and next to post office buildings. The hours of mail retrieval by the postal service in France are indicated on the mailbox.
You can buy stamps at tobacco kiosks. The price of a stamp may vary depending on the weight of the package and the destination. Postal service in France is very developed and efficient: mail delivery inside France takes only 24-48 hours, and delivery to an international location can take 1-5 days.
Internet in France
The usage volume of internet in France, including electronic mail, is growing each day, and in the same time resulting in growth of the number of internet cafes. You can find internet cafes just about anywhere in the city. The cost of using a computer and the internet in France vary by the hour and directly depend on the amount of time you will be using them.
