Without Your Own Computer
To find cybercafes in Paris, check www.cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com. The latter lists 20 such cafes scattered throughout central Paris. The most popular in Paris seems to be Luxembourg Micro, 81 bd. Saint-Michel, 5e (tel. 01-46-33-27-98; Métro: Luxembourg; www.luxembourg-micro.com). For 20 minutes, you pay 1€ ($1.30); for 30 minutes 1.50€ ($1.95), and for an hour 2.50€ ($3.25). It's open daily from 9am to 11pm.
With Your Own Computer
More and more hotels, cafes, and retailers are signing on as Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) "hotspots." Mac owners have their own networking technology: Apple AirPort. T-Mobile Hotspot (www.t-mobile.com/hotspot) serves up wireless connections in the U.S. Boingo (www.boingo.com) and Wayport (www.wayport.com) have set up networks in airports and high-class hotel lobbies. iPass providers also give you access to a few hundred wireless hotel lobby setups. To locate other hotspots that provide free wireless networks in cities around the world, go to www.personaltelco.net.
For dial-up access, most business-class hotels throughout the world offer dataports for laptop modems, and a few thousand hotels in the U.S. and Europe now offer free high-speed Internet access. In addition, major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have local access numbers around the world, allowing you to go online by placing a local call. The iPass network also has dial-up numbers around the world. You'll have to sign up with an iPass provider, who will then tell you how to set up your computer for your destination(s). For a list of iPass providers, go to www.ipass.com and click on "Individuals Buy Now." One solid provider is i2roam (tel. 866/811-6209 or 920/233-5863; www.i2roam.com).
Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power and phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable -- or find out whether your hotel supplies them to guests. See "Electricity" in "Fast Facts: Paris" in chapter 5.
