BEACHES Beaches are
public property within 5m
of the high-tide mark, so
you can kick sand past
private villas. Under a
different law, however,
you can't camp.
CAMERAS AND FILM
Film is considerably
cheaper in North America
than France or Britain, so
stock up before travelling.
If you're bringing a video
camcorder, make sure any
tapes you purchase in
France will be compatible.
Again, American videotape
prices are way below
French prices.
CHILDREN AND BABIES
Kids are generally welcome
everywhere, and in most
bars and restaurants,
though French children
seem to be much more well
trained at a younger age
in restaurant etiquette.
Hotels charge by the room,
with a small supplement
for an additional bed or
cot, and family-run places
will usually babysit or
offer a listening service
while you eat or go out.
Especially in the seaside
towns, most restaurants
have children's menus or
will cook simpler food on
request. You'll have no
difficulty finding
disposable nappies ( couches
เ jeter ), but nearly
all baby foods have added
sugar and salt, and French
milk powders are very rich
indeed. SNCF charge
nothing on trains and
buses for under-4s, and
half-fare for 4-11s
. In most museums children
under 4 are free and it's
usually half price for
under-18s, while entry to
many monuments is free for
under-12s. Most local
tourist offices have
details of specific
activities for children -
in particular, many
resorts supervise
"clubs" for
children on the beach. And
almost every town down to
small ones has a
children's playground with
a good selection of
activities. Most parks,
even in Paris, have a
children's play area;
unfortunately the majority
of parks are gravelled
rather than grassed and
when there are lawns they
are often out of bounds ( pelouse
interdite ), so
sprawling horizontally
with toddlers and napping
babies is usually not an
option. Something to
beware of - not that you
can do much about it - is
the difficulty of
negotiating a child's
buggy over the large
cobbles that cover many of
the older streets in town
centres.
CONTRACEPTIVES
Condoms ( pr้servatifs
or capotes ) are
available at all
pharmacies, as well as
from many clubs and street
dispensers (10F/?1.50 for
3-4 condoms) in larger
cities. You can also get
spermicidal cream and
jelly ( dose
contraceptive ), plus
the suppositories ( ovules,
suppositoires ) and
(with a prescription) the
Pill ( la pillule
), a diaphragm ( le
diaphragme ) or IUD ( le
sterilet ). Test
sticks ( tests r้actifs
) for the Persona monitor
(only available in Europe)
are readily available in
pharmacies for 95F/?14.49
per packet.
ELECTRICITY This
is almost always 220V,
using plugs with two round
pins. If you haven't
bought the appropriate
transformer before leaving
home, the best place in
France to find the right
one is the electrical
section of a department
store, where someone is
also more likely to speak
English; cost is around
60F/?9.15.
FISHING You get
fishing rights by becoming
a member of an authorized
fishing club - tourist
offices have details.
LAUNDRY
Laundries are common in
French towns - look in the
phone book under "Laveries
Automatiques". They
are often unattended, so
come pre-armed with small
change. Machines are
normally graded into 5kg,
8kg or 10kg wash sizes,
and the smallest costs
around 12F/?1.80 for a
load, though some
laundries only have bigger
machines and charge around
20F/?3. If you're doing
your own washing in
hotels, keep quantities
small as most forbid doing
any laundry in your room.
PEDESTRIANS
French drivers pay no heed
to pedestrian/zebra
crossings marked with
horizontal white stripes
on roads. It is very
dangerous to step out onto
one and assume drivers
will stop as in Australia
and Britain. Take just as
great care as you would
crossing at any other
point. Also be careful at
traffic lights: check cars
are not still speeding
towards you even when the
green man is showing.
PETROL The
cheapest gas ( essence
) or diesel fuel ( gasoil
) can be bought at
out-of-town superstores.
Four-star is super
; unleaded is sans
plomb .
SAFE SEX Paris
has the highest number of
people suffering from AIDS
of any city in Europe, and
studies show that there
are almost equal numbers
of heterosexual and
homosexual people who are
HIV-positive. Among
heterosexuals (excluding
drug users) the number of
women who are HIV-positive
has overtaken men.
SWIMMING POOLS
Swimming pools ( piscines
) are well signposted in
most French towns and
reasonably priced, usually
around 16F/?2.44 for a
swim. Tourist offices have
their addresses. You may
be requested to wear a
bathing cap, whether you
are male or female, so
come prepared.
TIME France is
one hour ahead of GMT
(Greenwich Mean Time)
throughout the year. It is
six hours ahead of Eastern
Standard Time, and nine
hours ahead of Pacific
Standard Time. This also
applies during daylight
savings seasons, which are
observed in France (as in
most of Europe) from the
end of March through to
the end of September.
TOILETS Ask for les
toilettes or look for
signs for the WC
(pronounced "vay
say"); when reading
the details of facilities
outside hotels, don't
confuse lavabo ,
which means washbasin,
with lavatory. Usually
found downstairs along
with the phone, French
toilets in bars are still
often of the
hole-in-the-ground
squatting variety, and
tend to lack toilet paper.
Standards of cleanliness
are often not high, and
men shouldn't expect much
privacy in the urinal,
which often won't have a
door. Both bar and
restaurant toilets are
usually free, as are
toilets in museums, though
toilets in railway
stations and department
stores are commonly
staffed by attendants who
will expect a bit of spare
change. Some have
coin-operated locks, so
always keep 50 centimes
and one and two franc
pieces handy for these and
for the frequent Tardis-like
public toilets found on
the streets. These beige-coloured
boxes have automatic doors
which open when you insert
coins to the value of two
francs, and are cleaned
automatically once you
exit. Children under 10
aren't allowed in on their
own.
