The first horse-drawn Mail was the invention of King Louis XI in 1470. Later, King Henri IV made this service available to the public. Things have improved greatly since then! France's phone system used to lag behind but today it is one of the best-equipped countries in Europe, to say nothing of its télématique service (the Minitel you hear so much about), which is the envy of many!

TELEPHONE

You will probably come up against this problem soon after your arrival, maybe right at the airport, when you want to call your “welcome committee” and say that you're waiting!

Public Phone Booths

You will find telephone booths in airports, railway stations and on the street.

There are two different types: payphones that require coins, which accept 1 Franc, 5 Franc and 10 Franc coins. These are often vandalized and are now becoming more and more uncommon and being replaced by phones which you operate by inserting a phone card (called a télécarte) in the slot.

These cards are sold at the Post Office, at tabacs (described in the section on “Cafés”), at some French Railways and Paris Metro stations (wherever you see a sign saying “télécartes en vente ici” telling you that phonecards are on sale there. The cards come in two types: the 40-unit card which costs 40,60 Francs and the 120-unit one which costs 97,50 Francs.

Now you can use as well your credit card (visa ...).

NEW PHONE NUMBER !!!

Since 18 october 1996, all the phone numbers in France have 10 digits.

To obtain the ten digits number simply add two digits at the beginning of the previous eight digits number : 01 for Paris area, 02 for Northern and Western areas, 03 for Northern and Eastern areas, 04 for Southern and Eastern areas, 05 for Southern and Western areas.

Example :

old phone number in Paris area : (1) 53 56 96 00
new phone number : 01 53 56 96 00
The " 16 " (calls from Paris/Province/Paris) disappears.

International :

To call to the outside of France : " 19 " remplaces by " 00 ".

To call from outside of France : " 33 " followed by the new ten digits number without zero (so you will dial nine digits, example : 33 1 53 56 96 00).

Post Offices (LA POSTE)

They all have at least one payphone using coins or phonecards.

Cafés

Some cafes act as bureaux de tabac, which means that they sell cigarettes and tobacco (look out for the red diamond sign outside). These have phone booths that you can use even if you don't order anything. Make sure you have some change, because the payphones usually require coins.

Telephone booths and payphones on the counters in cafes and restaurants which are not tabacs are generally reserved for paying customers.

Rates

Within France

The price per unit (unité de télécommunication, or taux de base) was 0.74 F on June 1st 1993. The cost varies according to distance (in phone booths, a sign indicates how many seconds you get per unit). For local calls, you pay for one unit every 6 minutes. The cost also depends on the time of day (for long-distance calls, it is preferable to phone at weekends, late at night or early in the morning).

Calls to other countries

When calling EEC countries, the rate is a standard 3.08 Francs per minute (a reduced rate of 2.46 Francs per minute applies to calls made at night between 9.30pm and 8am, Saturdays after 2pm and anytime on Sundays and statutory holidays). For other countries, look in the phone directory or ask at a post office counter or a telephone information centre.

How to Find a Telephone Number

Telephone directories for each administrative district are available at every post office. Private citizens are listed in alphabetical order by town or city in the white pages, and companies are listed in the yellow pages. You can also consult the electronic telephone directory (many post offices have a Minitel terminal for this purpose).

Note: it may be that the person at the number you want has asked, for personal reasons, to go ex-directory (“liste rouge”). If this is the case, you won't find that number in the phone book or on Minitel listings.

You can also go through the operator to obtain a number (dial 12). This costs 3.65 Francs. Dial 19 33 12 + the code for the country you want if you are phoning to countries other than France.

MAIL SERVICE

Poste Restante

If you do not have a fixed address in France and wish to receive mail, you can have letters sent to a specific post office chosen in advance. This, like the British one, is known as the “Poste Restante” service. Get the post office identification number and send it to all your correspondents.

Exemple :
Jennifer Smith
Poste restante de Paris Olympiades
19, rue Simone Weil
75013 Paris.

Home Deliveries

Post is delivered each morning from Monday to Saturday by postmen called “préposés” but more usually known as “facteurs”. If you live in a large town, get anyone writing to you to state the street number clearly and, if appropriate, the building name or number if it forms part of blocks of flats and, above all, the name of the person with whom you are staying if the letterbox is in his or her name.

The Post Code

Each letter you receive while in France or send to French localities must have the proper 5-digit post code (the first two numbers indicate the administrative district and the last three the number of the locality). In general, cities which are the prefecture of the administrative district have a code ending in 000. In Paris, Lyons and Marseilles, the last two numbers correspond to the district of the city.

Exemple :
Jennifer Smith
c/o M et Mme Jacques Dupont
Résidence Poincaré, bâtiment C
21, boulevard des Amandiers
92310 SEVRES.

When you write to an administrative office or large company, the postcode is generally followed by the word CEDEX (which is a French acronym for special delivery company mail). Don't forget to include this: your letter will get there faster.

Exemple :
Centre Information Jeunesse
Parvis de la préfecture
95027 CERGY-PONTOISE CEDEX.

If you aren't sure what the right code is, go to the post office and consult the postcode book (annuaire des codes postaux). Localities are listed in alphabetical order.

Postage Rates

There are two categories of postage rates: one for France (“régime intérieur”) and another for international mail (régime international”).

- France

There are two rates for sending letters, depending on how fast you want your letter to arrive. The first class rate for letters weighing under 20 grams (“tarif lettre”) costs 3 Francs. This is for delivery next day. The second class rate (“tarif non urgent”) is 2.70 Francs.

- International

Rates vary according to weight and destination. The cost of sending a letter weighing under 20 grams to some EEC countries (Germany, Luxembourg, Holland, Ireland and Italy) is the same as for France (3 Francs).

MISCELLANEOUS

Telegrams

You can send a telegram either from a post office or direct by phone. If you wish to send a telegram within France by phone, dial 36-55. To send a telegram abroad, you dial 05.33.44.11.

Sending Parcels

To send a parcel to a place in France, you can use the ordinary parcel post (paquet-poste ordinaire) or the urgent one (paquet-poste urgent), depending on how fast you want it to arrive. You can also send parcels by registered post (en recommandé) if the contents are important (you choose one of 3 rates, R1 to R3, and if the parcel goes astray the French Post Office will pay compensation of 100 Francs to 2,000 Francs, depending on the rate you selected).

There is also a registered post system for sending parcels abroad, but it pays less compensation than the one for France (the ceiling on compensation in the event of loss is 300 Francs). Ask at the counter for information.

Minimum parcel size: at least one side must be 10 x 7 cm or more.

Maximum parcel size: length + width + height = 100 cm.

You can obtain packaging boxes (emballage préformé) at post offices, in 4 sizes.

Design by : Marc ELOY - Em@ze InfoSystems

Last update : 01/12/96