France By Telephone

Télécartes (prepaid phone cards) are a common and relatively inexpensive means of calling abroad. Each one comes with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a toll-free access number. You call the access number and then follow the directions for dialing your PIN. To purchase prepaid phone cards, check online for the best rates; www.callingcards.com is a good place to start. Online providers generally send your access number and PIN via email, with no actual “card” involved. You can also call home with prepaid phone cards purchased in France (see Calling Within France, ).

Placing International Calls. To call France from home or to call home from France, dial:
1. The international dialing prefix. To call from Australia, dial 0011; Canada or the US, 011; Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, or France, 00.
2. The country code of the country you want to call. To call Australia, dial 61; Canada or the US, 1; Ireland, 353; New Zealand, 64; the UK, 44; France , 33.
3. The city/area code. Let’s Go lists the city/area codes for cities and towns in France opposite the city or town name, next to a }, as well as in every phone number. If the first digit is a zero (e.g., 01 for Paris), omit the zero when calling from abroad (e.g., dial 1 from Canada to reach Paris).
4. The local number.

Another option is to purchase a calling card, linked to a major national telecommunications service in your home country. Calls are billed collect or to your account. To call home with a calling card, contact the operator for your service provider in France by dialing the appropriate toll-free access number (listed below in the third column).

Company	To Obtain A Card:	To Call Abroad:
AT&T (US)	☎+1-800-364-9292 or www.att.com	☎0800 99 00 11
Canada Direct	☎+1-800-561-8868 or www.infocanadadirect.com	☎0800 99 00 16 or 0800 99 02 16
MCI (US)	☎+1-800-777-5000 or www.minutepass.com	☎0800 99 00 19
Telecom New Zealand Direct	www.telecom.co.nz	☎0800 99 00 64
Telstra Australia	☎+1-800 676 638 or www.telstra.com	☎0800 99 00 61

Placing a collect call through an international operator can be expensive but may be necessary in case of an emergency. You can frequently call collect without even possessing a company’s calling card just by calling its access number and following the instructions.

Calling Within France

A simple way to make domestic or international calls is to use a card-operated pay phone. Télécartes carry a certain amount of phone time depending on the card’s denomination. These cards are usually the only way to pay at public phones, as coin-operated phones have largely been phased out. Télécartes are available in denominations of units; 120-unit cards cost about €24, and one minute of a local call uses about one unit. Emergency numbers, directory information (☎118 218), and numéros verts (toll-free numbers) beginning with ☎0800 can be dialed without a card. A bank card can often be used instead of a calling card at many public phones.

If the phone you use does not provide English commands, proceed with caution; French pay phones are notoriously unforgiving. Décrochez means pick up; patientez means wait. Do not dial until you hear numérotez or composez. Raccrochez means “hang up.” To make another call, press the green button instead of hanging up. Phone rates tend to be highest in the morning, lower in the evening, and lowest on Sunday and late at night.

Cabine Callback. Making international calls from France is easy—but getting the best deal on the dizzying array of phone cards offered at tabacs and post offices is anything but. While the spiffy cabines (public phone booths) that sit on most major streets have slots in which to insert a télécarte with a microchip, this is the most expensive way to call internationally. Savvy travelers ask for a carte téléphonique internationale at a tabac . These cards have a hidden trick that gets you more minutes: cabine callback. When using a non- télécarte phone card, don’t dial the large, obvious four-digit number marked “free” on the instructions. Instead, when using a cabine, dial the smaller, less obvious 0800 number labelled “cabine callback” or just “callback.” An automated voice will tell you, in French, to hang up. Do so, and in a minute or so the phone will ring. Pick up and dial your PIN and the number you’re calling. It’s a bit tedious, but this method will save you precious phone-card minutes otherwise wasted entering your PIN and dialing.

Cellular Phones

If you plan to stay in France for several months, buying a French cell phone is worth the cost. Incoming calls to cell phones are often free (even from abroad), and local calls are usually charged the local rate. The cheapest phones are relatively inexpensive (from €60, but as low as €1 with certain plans), and French phones do not require a long-term plans. Orange and SFR generally provide the best deals and reception. Cell-phone calls can be paid for without signing a contract if you purchase a Mobicarte prepaid card.

The international standard for cell phones is Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). To make and receive calls in France, you will need a GSM-compatible phone and a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, a country-specific, thumbnail-size chip that gives you a local phone number and plugs you into the local network. Many SIM cards are prepaid, and incoming calls are frequently free. You can buy additional cards or vouchers (usually available at convenience stores) to “top up” your phone. For more information on GSM phones, check out www.telestial.com, www.orange.fr, www.roadpost.com, or www.planetomni.com. Companies like Cellular Abroad (www.cellularabroad.com) rent cell phones that work in a variety of destinations around the world.

Gsm Phones. Just having a GSM phone doesn’t mean you’re necessarily good to go when you travel abroad. The majority of GSM phones sold in the US operate on a different frequency (1900) than international phones (900/1800) and will not work abroad. Tri-band phones work on all three frequencies (900/1800/1900) and will operate through most of the world. Additionally, some GSM phones are SIM-locked and will only accept SIM cards from a single carrier. You’ll need a SIM-unlocked phone to use a SIM card from a local carrier when you travel.

Check with your service provider to see if your phone’s band can be switched to 900/1800, which will register your phone with one of the three French servers: Bouyges (www.bouygtel.com), Itineris (www.ifrance.com/binto/itineris.htm), or France Télécom (www.agence.francetelecom.com).

Time Differences

France is usually 1hr. ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and observes Daylight Saving Time (when it is 2hr. ahead) from March to October.

3am	4am	5am	6am	11am	Noon	9pm*
Vancouver Seattle San Francisco Los Angeles	Denver	Chicago	Lima New York Toronto	London	PARIS	Sydney Canberra Melbourne

3am

4am

5am

6am

11am

Noon

9pm*

Vancouver

Seattle

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Denver

Chicago

Lima

New York

Toronto

London

PARIS

Sydney

Canberra

Melbourne

*Note that Australia observes Daylight Saving Time from October to March, the Northern Hemisphere’s opposite. Thus, it is 8hr. ahead of Paris from March to October and 10hr. ahead from october to March, for an average of 9hr.