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Visitor Information
Your best source of information before you go is the French Government Tourist Office; visit its website at www.franceguide.com. In the United States, call tel. 514/288-1904 to request information. In Canada, tel. 514/288-2026; in the United Kingdom, tel. 09068/244-123 (60p per minute), fax 020/7493-6594; in Ireland, call tel. 015/60-235-235; and in Australia, call tel. 02/9231-5244. There's no representative in New Zealand -- you will have to call the Australian office. Information on travel to Monaco is available from the Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Office at www.visitmonaco.com. Most of its facilities (along with its consulate) are in New York at 565 Fifth Ave., 23rd Floor (tel. 800/753-9696 or 212/286-3330). In London, the office is at The Chambers, Chelsea Harbour, SW10 0XF (tel. 020/7352-9962). Museum Passes -- The French Riviera Museum Pass gives you entry to more than 65 museums and other attractions along the Riviera. A 1-day pass costs 11? ($14), a 3-day pass costs 18? ($23), and a 7-day pass costs 29? ($38). The museum pass is sold at travel agencies and tourist offices. For details, call tel. 04-97-03-82-20 or visit www.museumpass.com. Maps The best and most detailed maps are provided by Michelin, the tire people. You can search their website at www.viamichelin.com. These maps are sold in good bookstores all over the world, and in nearly all bookstores in Languedoc, Provence, and the resorts strung along the Riviera. If you're driving around France, the best road atlas to travel with is Michelin's Atlas Routier France, which can be purchased with a spiral binding for greater convenience. Plans, or street maps, are distributed free by tourist offices, including Nice, Cannes, Monaco, and St-Tropez. Abbreviations in common use on these city maps are R for rue (street); AV for avenue; Q for quay (quai), and Bd. or Boul for boulevard. Telephones To call France: -- 1. Dial the international access code: 011 from the U.S. and Canada; 00 from the U.K., Ireland, or New Zealand; or 0011 from Australia. 2. Dial the country code 33. 3. Dial the city code and then the number. Most of the numbers in this guide are prefaced with the city code of 04 which must be dialed. To make international calls: To make international calls from France, first dial 00 and then the country code (U.S. or Canada 1, U.K. 44, Ireland 353, Australia 61, New Zealand 64). Next you dial the area code and number. For example, if you wanted to call the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., you would dial 00-1-202-588-7800. For directory and operator assistance: Dial 12 for assistance in French; in English, dial 0-800/364-775. For international inquiries, dial 08-36-59-32-12. This will link you with a bilingual (French and English) phone operator. You are allowed to request only two numbers for which you pay a service charge of 3? ($3.90). However, if you wish to use an operator to call your home country, you dial the toll-free number of tel. 08-00-99-00 plus the following 10 digits of your country code: 08-00-99-00-11 for the U.S. and Canada, and 08-00-99-00-44 for the U.K., or 08-00-99-00-61 for Australia. Other access numbers for long-distance operators include AT&T Direct (tel. 08-00-99-00-11 or 800/222-0300 for information) and MCI WorldPhone (tel. 08-00-99-00-19 or 800/444-4444 for information). Toll-free numbers: For France, numbers beginning with 08 and followed by 00 are toll-free. But be careful. Numbers that begin with 08 followed by 36 carry a .35? (45?) surcharge per minute. Cellphones The three letters that define much of the world's wireless capabilities are GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), a big, seamless network that makes for easy cross-border cellphone use throughout Europe and dozens of other countries worldwide. In the U.S., T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular use this quasi-universal system; in Canada, Microcell and some Rogers customers are GSM, and all Europeans and most Australians use GSM. GSM phones function with a removable plastic SIM card, encoded with your phone number and account information. If your cellphone is on a GSM system, and you have a world-capable multiband phone such as many Sony Ericsson, Motorola, or Samsung models, you can make and receive calls across much of the globe. Just call your wireless operator and ask for "international roaming" to be activated on your account. Unfortunately, per-minute charges can be high -- usually $1 to $1.50 in western Europe and up to $5 in places like Russia and Indonesia. Online Traveler's Toolbox Veteran travelers usually carry some essential items to make their trips easier. Following is a selection of handy online tools to bookmark and use.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
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