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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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FRANCEVOILA Number 75 - March 4 2003
March Already - first a big apology to over 20,000 of you who received an empty email yesterday from one of my addresses at 23333.com. I was checking subscribers and accidentally hit the "send" button instead of the "verify" button - over 20,000 empty emails went out before I realised what I had done - I loathe spam and do everything I can to avoid it - sorry about that. This newsletter is very late as we have all been rushed with the start of the booking season - the threat of war is unsettling and France is a safe place to come this year. We have added over 1000 private properties in France you can rent from us http://rentalsfrance.com/ The BIG news is we are now working very closely with the best real estate agency in France - so if you are thinking about investing in some property here, contact us, or look at their site at http://www.coast-country.com/ I will be working on the French Riviera, from Nice, for a while to set up some new servers and work on a new top secret project. We have a great newsletter this month, contributions from Rachal Kaplan and Sam Okoshken, news, help and comments from all over France. See you in the sunny south of France Best wishes Tony mailto:tony@nizas.com ===== 1) CHANGES IN AIR TRAVEL WITH YOUR PET AND TIPS FOR SURVIVAL 2) PAY AS YOU GO CELL PHONES 3) MUSEE COGNAC-JAY A GLIMPSE OF THE 18th-CENTURY GOOD LIFE 4) CREDIT CARDS AND AUTOROUTES 5) INTERNET ACCESS IN FRANCE 6) SHOPPING LIKE THE FRENCH HOW TO GET THE BEST DEALS IN PARIS By Rachel Kaplan 7) YOUR QUESTIONS AND LETTERS === 1) CHANGES IN AIR TRAVEL WITH YOUR PET AND TIPS FOR SURVIVAL It can't be said often enough: traveling by cargo poses dangers for dogs. So use common sense: be especially cautious if your dog is old, unhealthy, or is a pug-nosed breed. If you have a choice, travel by car or by train. If for any reason you cannot travel on the same flight with your pet use the services of a licensed Pet Transporter. Visit the Pet Passport section of www.pettravel.com for more information on pet transporters. To read more advice on traveling with your animal companion go to: http://francevoila.com/features/airpets.html/ ==== 2) PAY AS YOU GO CELL PHONES Dear Tony, I read your newsletter with great interest. You have offered some very good suggestions and directions. I so hope sometime to make it to the Nizas area or somewhere in the south of France for a longer stay. In the meantime I seem to wander here and there. In my wanderings I long greatly for the ease of use that my US cell phone offers me. I know what I would like. I would like to purchase a cell phone that would work in most, if not all, of the countries of the EU. I would like to buy some sort of card inserts that would give me a defined number of minutes or units of time to use. I would like to be able to take out my French card and replace it with my German card or my UK card, etc. depending on where I am at the time. Is there any such beast? If so, where would one buy it and the cards to put into it? Yours truly, Jane == Hi Jane- You can accomplish this. You will need to buy a phone then take it to a phone shop in each country and buy a new insert and credits. This is relatively inexpensive if you use your phone a lot, however, I've been warned that if you don't use the insert over a period of time (6 months to 1 year depending on the company) it will no longer be valid. You would then need to purchase a new insert- you will not be able to simply add credits in most cases. I know this works with phones purchased at SFR in France, one of my friends does this, however, I'm sure other companies offer the same. The best prices I have found in the large Centre Commerciales like Auchan, E. LeClerc, Carrefour, etc. If you explain what you want they will get you set up. I hope that helped. Dawn Eleanor Ramsay ===== 3) MUSEE COGNAC-JAY A GLIMPSE OF THE 18th-CENTURY GOOD LIFE Musée Cognacq-Jay A Glimpse of the 18th-Century Good Life Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jay made their fortune in a decidedly 20th-century way by selling mass-produced goods in the very modern La Samaritaine department store. When it came to their own shopping tastes, however, the couple preferred the one-of-a-kind and the custom-made, and their taste in art and furniture was far more old-fashioned. Between 1900 and 1925, they amassed one of the finest private collections of 18th-century painting and objets d'art, which the couple then donated to the city of Paris. The Cognacq-Jay's collection is now beautifully installed in four floors of the restored Hôtel Donon. It doesn't take a big leap of the imagination to see and feel what daily home life for members of the ancien régime must have been like before the Revolution luxuriating in a Louis XVI chair covered with Beauvais tapestry made after designs by Oudry and Boucher, checking the time on a stunning mantle clock by Sèvres, penning a brief note on a Boulle bureau inlaid with ivory, and settling in, after a long hard day, on a royal bed à la Polonaise. (There is a magnificent one on the Cognacq-Jay's third floor which once belonged to the Madame Adelaïde, aunt to the king). Thanks to a stunning collection of portraits by Fragonard, Nattier, Gérard, Labille-Guiard, and Van Loo, we also get a vivid sense of what these people looked like. Artists paid meticulous attention to sumptuous details in the clothes and jewelry of their sitters, so the paintings will also interest budding fashion historians. Our favorites were the personalities captured in still fresh-looking pastels by Quentin de la Tour (room 12), and the wacky genre scenes by Hubert Robert, including one of an archaeologist falling from the temple frieze he is studying (room 9). Works by Greuze and Watteau round out these highlights. Like the rococo style itself, there are many hidden surprises here, so take your time when exploring each of the intimate rooms.! Don't miss the series of vitrines showcasing precious snuff boxes, pocket watches, and tiny enamel portraits, tucked away in a hall space on the third floor (room 16). Each salle has an informational card in French, which antique and flea-market aficionados in particular will find enormously helpful. There is a complete objet d'art vocabulary lesson in each one. What crusty French dealer won't take you more seriously after confidently asking the price for that "paire de sellettes" in the corner? If you can read a bit of French, we also recommend visiting the site before you go (click on link below). About a dozen works from the collection are reproduced and described in some detail. If you are interested in reserving a private visit of the Cognacq-Jay with an 18th-century specialist, please email us at mailto:museinfo@parismuse.com Musée Cognacq-Jay 8 Rue Elzévir, 3eme Tues.-Sun. 10am-5:40pm. Closed Mon. M: Saint-Paul, Chemin Vert. Information: 01 40 27 07 21 http://www.paris.fr/musees/Cognacq_jay/default.htm ===== PARIS MUSE The feature above is only one of the excellent tours arranged by Paris Muse - we are working with them to offer their services http://www.parismuse.com/ ===== 4) CREDIT CARDS AND AUTOROUTES French autoroutes are perhaps the best in Europe. There are eight motorway networks run by separate companies under government concession. Each network is entitled to collect tolls for the upkeep and development of their section of motorway. More ... More information about autoroutes ... There are emergency telephones (the are bright orange) every 2 km, parking or resting areas every 10 or 20 km, and 24 hour petrol stations are approximately every 40 km. There are WC's and card phones after the toll booths. Air for your car tyres is free at the petrol stations. You can get a reduction if your vehicle fitted to accommodate the transport of disabled people - you must produce vehicle registration documents showing VP or disabled. Mini-buses adapted for the disabled pay the same toll as private cars. Roadside assistance tariffs are the same throughout France (except around Nice) and regulated. For a vehicle less than 1.8 tonnes, roadside repairs of up to 30 minutes cost 397F between 8.00am and 6.00pm and 607.81F between 6.00pm and 8.00am. The cost of parts and extra time are additional. The mechanic should arrive within 30 minutes. The charges are same if you are taken by trailer to a garage or place of your choice. There is an extra charge if you get taken to a place of your choice (effective from the motorway exit). These rates depend on the company you are using. The "aires" or roadside rest areas, are specially designed for motorists to stop at and usually have a wide range of facilities, with WC's, picnic and exercise areas. They are usually every 10 - 15 kms. The brown panels on the side of the motorway (Les panneaux marrons) give you information about the area you're driving through. Most European countries have tolls on their motorways. Keep some change as not all countries take credit cards on their motorways (Italy in particular). For Switzerland and Austria you need to buy a sticker that allows you to use their motorways (do this at the border). Free autoroutes http://www.day-tripper.net/driveautoroutes.html#anchorautofree Motorway Information - Tel.; 0033 147 05 90 01. http://www.franceautoroutes.com Summer Holidays. Bison Fute http://www.day-tripper.net/driveautoroutes.html - a government service for summer travellers. We strongly advise you to visit this informative site before you go. Skiers - Regional Road Information Centres. Rhone-Alps / Auvergne Tel.; 0033 472 81 57 33. from: http://www.day-tripper.net/driveautoroutes.html#anchorautofree ===== Hi Tony, As a point of interest to your readers, you may want to warn them about my recent experience. My wife and I rented a place in Péret just before the Christmas holidays. As usual, we had a terrific time and were able to share our love of France with another couple; however, the experience was not all positive. Before our departure I had made sure that I had sufficient funds in my ATM debit account to see me through the trip. After one withdrawal of $200 and a couple of small restaurant charges, my efforts to use my card were denied. This was my third trip abroad within the past nine months. One of these trips included a three-week bicycle tour with nine university students, so my pattern of travel is reasonably consistent. My most immediate concern had to do with my recent trip. While I was there, the fraud division of my bank suspected misuse of my ATM card; hence, they decided to suspend access to my account. This left me in southern France without access to MY money and with limited opportunity to find a solution to the problem that was created by the bank. Luckily, my friends were able to access their bank accounts and support my spouse and me for the duration of the trip. This was a major inconvenience, even if it had not been a repeated embarrassment when I tried to use my card. When I returned home I found telephone messages indicating that I should make contact with a representative of the fraud division as soon as possible in order to reinstate my ATM card. Since I was still in southern France trying to use the card you must see the problem with this type of communication. However, I made the obligatory telephone calls to the fraud division. After expressing my concerns to several individuals I was told that you were notified to contact us to reinstate your card and another time I was told to contact your local branch before you travel abroad. After a half a dozen calls to various people (mostly messages), I have succumbed to including a message on my account information indicating that I frequently travel abroad, but I was left with no assurances that this will not happen again. It seems that the only choice is for change, either the bank to change its policies and/or maintain closer contact with the local branch or I need to change where I bank in order to get the services that I feel are appropriate to the activities of my account. The current policy (and the party line from bank employees) suggests that the bank is protecting me from fraud, but this is not in my best interest. I would also conclude that it limits their liability, which may be more to the point. Although "stealing someone's identity" is becoming more of an issue throughout the world, this type of policy would have a dramatic impact on how most of us plan our holidays. So you might want to notify your readers to contact their banks before they travel. Safe travels, Mick Stewart ===== 5) INTERNET ACCESS IN FRANCE Tony - we exchanged a few emails a few months back regarding renting for circa 12 months - and Dawn helped as well. My family & I landed mid December and have secured a villa until early July in Puisserguier. Very much enjoying things and begining to settle in - however - can you recommend an ISP - basically I pay the call charges on the line in the house but it is in the owners name - best I have found is France Telecom pay as you go for 2cents / minute - Any suggestions welcome Cheers Paul == Hello Paul Welcome to France Unless you are the subscriber about the only option is to have a "free" connection where you pay by the minute - the rate you are paying is about normal. If you get your own line you can get a deal for 100 hours a month for about 30 euro Best wishes Tony == Paul- I have Wanadoo which is a free local call. The phone line is not in my name and I get about 100 hrs a month for 35-40 euro. The other option is Aols' "tout compris" service, but I have used it and the connections were much slower despite their claims, plus you have to put up with AOL's other drawbacks- I am not a fan of theirs. To set up wanadoo, go to a France telecom office or call them- I tried to subscribe via the web and could never complete the transaction. The only other stumbling block I foresee is that you must pay from a French bank account by RIB or with a French credit card they auto-debit monthly. They have a manual payment type system, but the sales guy tried to set it up for me and couldn't by his best efforts. There is no way to pre-pay for 6 months or a year, I tried and was told they aren't allowed to charge for a service until it is rendered. Good luck, Dawn ===== 6) SHOPPING LIKE THE FRENCH HOW TO GET THE BEST DEALS IN PARIS By Rachel Kaplan I bet there are a lot of people who still believe that Paris is the most expensive city in the world! Not true-and that there is little or next to nothing that they can afford to bring home, apart from an Eiffel Tower key chain and a bottle of Channel No.5. Yet, I can prove to you that by taking tips from the French themselves, visitors to Paris can come home feeling both chic and happy knowing their checking accounts haven't gone into the red. While it's certainly true that you can limit your shopping to the posh streets of Paris and stick to such global brands as Hermosa, Vitiation and Door, you will only end up buying what you find in other major financial capitals, and you certainly won't have the kind of fun that comes from venturing off the beaten track. TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE http://francevoila.com/features/shopping.html Rachel has her own excellent site at http://www.frenchlinks.com/ ===== 7) YOUR QUESTIONS AND LETTERS Tony: It is odd that you emailed an attachment with no description. With all the viruses going around, I don't want to open it until I KNOW you really did send it?? Thanks for your reply, Lori Bedouin, FRANCE == Hi We NEVER send attachments without full descriptions in the text - this is probably a virus sent back from your own, or from another mailbox using our address - we get over 200 a day like this from many valid addresses which are stolen by these virus criminals. ALWAYS delete mail like this and get you virus software updated at least once a week Tony ===== Q. Dear Tony Love reading your emails and sites and now would like some information please:- What is the best, easiest, most inexpensive way to get to your area, would it be by train? plane or car and can you fly direct to your nearest airport from UK, if so from where and to? Keep it up Tony, look forward to seeing you on TV! Paul == A. Hello Paul From the UK the easiest way to get to Herault in the Languedoc is by Ryanair from Stansted to Montpellier or Nimes http://RyanAir.com/ By rail/Eurostar from London to Montpellier is fast and very comfortable http://SNCF.com/ By car it is about 11 hours - there are good ferry deals from every page on our sites http://francevoila.com/latindex.html Hope to see you down here in the sun - look out for Carole and Me on "A Place In The Sun" on Channel 4 in the next few weeks. Best wishes Tony ===== Q. Hi Tony Well I have finally done it, bought a place in the Ariege and will be in situ at the end of April. I have enjoyed your emails. Just one point you might help me with. I am told that French TV will not work on my existing TV set so should I bring it with me. It's a very expensive singing and dancing set. Would appreciate your advice. Many thanks Larry. == A. Hi Larry - welcome to France The TV standard here is SECAM - the USA is NTSC and the UK, plus many other countries, is PAL. So unless your set is multi standard (probably not) I will not receive French TV channels. Most sets sold in France or dual or tri-standard so they can see French TV - which is terrible - but also plug into Video machines and games which are often PAL or NTSC. Most people sell their sets before coming here and buy a new, multi standard set in France - you will have to buy a licence to watch French TV (insult to injury) which costs about 120 euro a year. Best wishes Tony ===== Hi Tony, As a point of interest to your readers, you may want to warn them about my recent experience. My wife and I rented a place in Péret just before the Christmas holidays. As usual, we had a terrific time and were able to share our love of France with another couple; however, the experience was not all positive. Before our departure I had made sure that I had sufficient funds in my ATM debit account to see me through the trip. After one withdrawal of $200 and a couple of small restaurant charges, my efforts to use my card were denied. This was my third trip abroad within the past nine months. One of these trips included a three-week bicycle tour with nine university students, so my pattern of travel is reasonably consistent. My most immediate concern had to do with my recent trip. While I was there, the fraud division of my bank suspected misuse of my ATM card; hence, they decided to suspend access to my account. This left me in southern France without access to MY money and with limited opportunity to find a solution to the problem that was created by the bank. Luckily, my friends were able to access their bank accounts and support my spouse and me for the duration of the trip. This was a major inconvenience, even if it had not been a repeated embarrassment when I tried to use my card. When I returned home I found telephone messages indicating that I should make contact with a representative of the fraud division as soon as possible in order to reinstate my ATM card. Since I was still in southern France trying to use the card you must see the problem with this type of communication. However, I made the obligatory telephone calls to the fraud division. After expressing my concerns to several individuals I was told that you were notified to contact us to reinstate your card and another time I was told to contact your local branch before you travel abroad. After a half a dozen calls to various people (mostly messages), I have succumbed to including a message on my account information indicating that I frequently travel abroad, but I was left with no assurances that this will not happen again. It seems that the only choice is for change, either the bank to change its policies and/or maintain closer contact with the local branch or I need to change where I bank in order to get the services that I feel are appropriate to the activities of my account. The current policy (and the party line from bank employees) suggests that the bank is protecting me from fraud, but this is not in my best interest. I would also conclude that it limits their liability, which may be more to the point. Although "stealing someone's identity" is becoming more of an issue throughout the world, this type of policy would have a dramatic impact on how most of us plan our holidays. So you might want to notify your readers to contact their banks before they travel. Safe travels, Mick ===== Hello Tony, You were recommended to us by a mutual Australian friend who spoke very highly of your services. We will be visiting Montpelier university for 5 months from March and were hoping to get some information and assistance. In particular we have 4 children and we will need accommodation in Montpelier preferably within walking distance to schools and a lease car for the period(?Renault espace). I eagerly await your suggestions and any information that you may be able to provide us with. Many thanks in anticipation, Tom Hello Tom Accommodation for 5 months in central Montpellier is likely to be very hard to find - we have often been asked for this sort of rental and never been able to find it - usually the University can help and has addresses, but family accommodation may be harder. Term rentals in France are usually unfurnished and for a 3 year lease - most owners prefer to rent furnished for short vacation terms - they get much higher rates but, importantly, have more control. For leasing vehicles if you are coming from outside the EEC, there are very good deals - do look at our site at http://rentalsfrance.com/carhire/ some of the best rates we have found can be arranged through these links. Hope this helps Tony ===== Q. Dear Tony. I have been receiving your newsletter for sometime now as I have a great interest in moving to France. I am currently the co-owner of a small bed a breakfast here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. USA. I thought that I would like to continue with the same occupation provided that I could find a suitable property which I could buy with a down payment. I am also an experienced carpenter so buying a property with a structure that needs some work would be a possibility. My questions that goes with all this information are: Where would I find information on running a small business venture of this sort? (I.E. Rules and regulations). And, In your opinion, would someone be able to get a good start on a venture such as this with only a modest bit of savings. Frank == A. Frank To have a successful band you need to be where the people will come and in a popular area (obvious statement and I am sure you know this) - to find a property in a suitable location and large enough in Languedoc will now cost from 200,000 euro - the most you could finance would be 70% assuming you can prove other income so you need about 70,000 euro capital to cover the deposit and legal charges plus tax to buy a property. A property to the same standard of yours in North Carolina would cost over 500,000 euro here. Running a Band B here is fairly straightforward as long as you don't employ anyone outside of your own family (for tax reasons and it is impossible to fire people here). There is a lot of information in our archives and on our site at http://francevoila.com/rentals/ Hope this helps Best wishes Tony ===== Thanks for reading this newsletter about France - the next newsletter will be from Nice and we have some really exciting things coming on some new websites. Please write to me about anything - We do try to answer everyone mailto:tony@nizas.com ===== To Subscribe - Send a Blank email to mailto:subscribe@nizas.com To Unsubscribe - Send a blank email to mailto:unsubscribe@nizas.com |