Living in Paris: on a budget...
(part 4 of 5) © by Quarkscrew Jones
PHONE CARDS
Pay Phone Cards: Anyone who stays more than a
week in Paris learns the hard way that to use the
public pay phones one must have a Phone Card
printed by France Telecom (no coins, please!)
Purchased for 7.86 Euros each, you supposedly get
50 'units' or minutes of local or international
calling time, but even dialing locally I've yet to
have a card provide more than 38 minutes max. Seems
the only way to avoid the France Telecom phone card
is to buy a France Telecom mobile phone, thus
incurring more fees. And, as if to add insult to
injury, these phone cards can only be purchased in
three places: metro stations, tabacs and any local
newsstands, i.e., the three places where some of
the most hostile individuals on the planet work.
Grrr.
International Phone Booths and Calling Cards:
Yes Julia, there really is a telecommunications God
and he hangs out in the immigrant districts, where
international calling centers can be found on every
other block. You've probably seen them while
ducking out of Tati in dark sunglasses, these
little shops lined with 4-12 wooden phone booths
all ready to call Africa, Asia, the Middle East,
the United States, New Zealand, you name it. Anyone
can go into one of these places, pay a fee and
viola, mom's on the other line.
Of course, some of us have "private" things to
discuss (i.e., "Dear Aunt Ethel, please send
money!"), and for that you might prefer to purchase
a "World Phone Card" for 15 Euros. Unlike the
dreaded Metro card "units", these phone cards
actually give a full 600 minutes of international
calling time (300 minutes if you use the toll-free
option), all billed as local rates. You can
purchase the card either from the phone booths in
the 18th, 19th
arrondissements, or I've heard at the Alliance
Francaise offices (but you may need to be enrolled
for that).
Once you have the card, scratch the number off
the back (yes, you have won the lottery!) and punch
in the first 10-digit access code. Press the number
for your language, then follow the instructions and
for the price of a local call, you are talking to
Aunt Ethel. Great deal, oui? Of course, the catch
is that you cannot use these cards at the public
pay phones. For that it's back to the newsstands.
Oh, those clever folks at France Telecom.
TRAVEL DEALS
Travel Agency: Traveling
intra-continental Europe is much more reasonable
than one would imagine, but finding an
English-speaking travel agent can be quite a task.
I have it on good authority that the travel offices
at Alliance Francaise provides a good service. I
have not had time to investigate if they do
reservations for clients not enrolled with the
school, but it's still worth a phone call.
Club Alliance
Alliance Francaise School
99, bd Raspail, 75014 Paris
Tel: 01-45-48-89-53,
Métro: (Line 12) Rennes or Notre Dame de
Champs
Eurolines: If you're not opposed to
taking the bus eight to ten hours each way, you can
travel Eurolines for dirt cheap. How dirty do I
mean? Well, I recently returned from a weekend in
England where round-trip it cost me 21 Euros each
way. That's 42 Euros, folks, not Pounds,
meaning that for the price of a used book at
Shakespeare and Co., I actually visited the
author's homeland, instead. Nuf said.
Eurolines (has several offices around town)
www.eurolines.com
PET CARE
In the past weeks I've heard of two
English-speaking veterinarians. Both come highly
recommended by expats who, like me, brought their
furry family members to France with them. Thus, I
trust these referrals and knock wood, I hope you
never need them.
Dr. Françoise Fiocre
25, Rue Pascal, 75005 Paris
Tel:01-47-07-38-04,
Metro:(Line 7)Censier-Daubenton
Note: Office stocks the Hill Science Diet
Products
Drs. Anne Caron and Benoit Thomas
(SCP)
57, bd Pasteur, 75015 Paris
Tel: 01-45-67-94-20,
Métro: (Line 6) Sevres-Lecourbe
School: If you are bare bones financially
and can't afford a private vet, try this
inexpensive veterinarian school located in Creteil,
a nearby suburb of Paris. I have no personal
recommendations to offer and little time to
investigate, but I've heard that they accept cash
payments and charge less for medicines. Bonne
chance!
Ecole Vétérinaire de Maison
Alfort
7, ave de Général De Gaulle, 94000
Créteil
Tel: 01-43-96-71-00,
Métro: (Line 8) Ecole Vétérinaire
de Maisons Alfort
go to part 5...
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