FRANCE: Prime Travel Data.

NEED TO KNOW

So here you are in France and you need to know some elementary stuff — like how to make a phone call, get local money, or contact the American Embassy to report your stolen passport. Here is a convenient source for that information, plus a bit more.

This web page originally appeared in the first editon of my book How To Europe: The Complete Travelers Handbook in a section titled "Country Data Sheets" over thirty years ago. I've updated and improved it for 2016.

Important information about this data sheet.
Native name	France
Capital	Paris
Postal code	F
Telephone code	+33 See chapter 19, Telephoning to, from, and within Europe.
Language	French
Currency	Euro, € See The Euro and Other Currencies.
European Union	Member. See chapter 25, Customs Duty, USA and Europe.
Schengen Agreement	Member. See chapter 3, Passport and Visas.
Time zone	GMT+1. See chapter 28, European Dates and Time Zones.
Electricity	220 volts, 50 Hz. See chapter 11, European Electricity: Travel Voltage Fundamentals..

Date	Holiday	Jour de Fête
Jan 1	New Year's Day	Nouvel An
	Good Friday	Vendredi saint
	Easter Monday	Lundi de pâques
May 1	Labor Day	Fête du travail
	Ascension Day	Ascension
	Whit Monday	Lundi de Pentecôte
Jul 14	Bastile Day	Fête Nationale
Aug 15	Assumption	Assomption
Nov 1	All Saints' Day	Tousaint
Nov 11	Armistice	Armistice
Dec 25	Christmas	Noël

French Offices in the USA
Embassy	French Embassy 4101 Reservoir Road NW Washington, DC 20007 T: 202-944-6090 F: 202-944-6167
Consulates	Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco
Tourist Office	France Tourism and Travel 444 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10020 T: 212-757-1125
	Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles

American Offices in France
Embassy	American Embassy 2 Avenue Gabriël 75008 Paris T: (01) 43.12.22.22 F: (01) 42.66.97.83
Consulates	Marseille: T: (04) 91.54.92.00 Strasbourg: T: (03) 88.35.31.04
American Presence Posts (APP)	Bordeaux: T: (050) 56.48.63.80 Lille: T: (03) 28.04.25.00 Lyon: T: (04) 78.38.36.88 Rennes: T: (02) 23.44.09.60 Toulouse: T: (05) 34.41.36.50

USA is known as:	les États-Unis

Recommended books for further information:

There must be a thousand books on France. Michelin Red and Green guides are my favorites but there are many other good ones. In addition to the travel practicalities of guide books, maps, and dictionaries, I've added a few books to help give you a sense of life in France as experienced by un étranger, and a couple books on wine, of course. France features highly in music and movies so a few of my favorites are listed.

The books that you see listed here are those that I have personally used and am satisfied with, and/or are from publishers whose other travel books are reliable. I am a consumer when it comes to travel guides, and a critical one. Notice that I do not recommend any Frommers, Dummies, Steves, or other inferior guides. For some of the reasons please go to the hoi polloi.

As one example of a substandard guide, I have a 400+ page book titled Rick Steves' France, Belgium, & The Netherlands which has not a single mention of Marseille, Dijon, or Aix-en-Provence. That's like leaving Chicago, New Orleans, and Newport Beach out of a USA travel guide. But this "France" book did include enough pages to promote his whirlwind guided bus tours, videos, backpacks, sink stoppers, and Steves' other branded products. A page of sophomoric French phrases plus sort-of maps cap off the disaster. Steves is strong on self promotion but weak on meaningful content.

For the good stuff, the links below take you directly to a page at Amazon.com. That page details the guide book, map, or dictionary. In many cases the Amazon.com listing includes readers'comments and sample pages from the book. You then have the opportunity to add the book to your shopping cart and buy it. I buy virtually all of my books at Amazon.com and have had excellent service for years.

Also listed is a pair of my favorite authors, a couple of books on my favorite beverage, and a few of my favorite DVD movies set in France. These are American version.

Amazon.com pays a small commission to Enjoy-Europe.com when you click a title here and then order the book, if you buy it within 24 hours. You benefit when buying here because Amazon.com has a 20% to 30% discount on many items plus a free shipping deal. You win we win. Thanks for your support!

Note: emphasis in the titles is mine -- to help you in finding the information you need. Don't worry too much about publication dates. Many books are updated every three to six years. The monuments and cathedrals haven't moved in 500 years! The only thing that changes in most books is the date on the cover, which is the following year.