Telephones Rrrrring.…Rrrring.….We all know that healthy communication leads to healthy lifestyles. Although there exist several methods to communicate with friends and family at home, in an around Paris and abroad, we have found for you the cheapest and most efficient of these. You’re welcome. Which café are we meeting at again?!: (using mobile phones in Paris) Most students find that cellphones are necessary for living in Paris. Although you won’t necessarily have trouble without one, they do come strongly recommended. The general working of the French mobile phone itself is very simple. There are five parts to it: The body, the shell. Many colors, many shapes. La puce - this is a small chip that is your telephone number. They are interchangeable between phones. And THIS is why cell phones are stolen. La mobicarte - the rechargeable money card. They come in various denominations. If you purchase a mobicarte for over 70 Euros you get insurance on it, so that if your phone is stolen, the money can be put onto the account of your new telephone. The battery pack - to be recharged by the... Recharger. Put her into the wall and voila. Special cases: -If you have a telephone and puce left to you: buy the mobicarte to activate the account. -If your host family has a telephone for you: Buy the mobicarte to activate the account. It most likely will not have the “puce”. (Retail value 30 Euros at Darty).
I promised Grammy I’d call on her birthday (calling the U.S.): You will need to buy an international telephone card or Carte Téléphonique (one specifically for the U.S. is the cheapest). In Paris there are small grocery stores with fruit outside them in crates. The general rule of thumb is the sketchier this ghetto-mart looks from the outside, the cheaper the phone cards are inside. The Kodak store right outside of the Metro exit for Cluny La Sorbonne sells one card for 7,50 Euros (about 450 minutes on a Landline) and one card for 15,00 Euros (more than 450 minutes....I think about 650). A very sketchy “Cocci Market” sells the cheapest card- 598 minutes for 10 Euros. (Note: part of the sketchy nature of these places is that they aren’t very reliable i.e., closed at strange hours, no more cards, or they give you a card for Africa. That may have more minutes than to America.) The number of minutes vary depending on which number you use to dial out. FROM YOUR HOST PARENT’S LANDLINE use the 01. number or the numero vert/gratuit. If you use the 0800 number, your host family WILL BE CHARGED - a.k.a. you are the one charged (things change when they knock on the door and hand you the bill). The 0800 number is for calls from the cabines and beware, because your number of minutes will be reduced. In regular grocery stores international cards are also sold for 7.50 and 15.00 Euros, but they last about one hour. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE YOUR MOBILE PHONE WITH A PHONE CARD. You are charged for the mobile call (0,45 a min.) AND money is taken off the card. Oh no, you are sick! You need to call your internship supervisor (calling a landline in Paris): see the little lady with blond hair at the desk? Her name is Nicole, she’d be glad to do it. Billy just got his phone stolen, can I call him at home? (calling a landline in Paris when Nicole is on lunch break) As long as you aren’t tying up the phone lines for very long, host families will usually let students call other landlines in Paris. I’m on the beach in Italy drinking wine, call my cell: (receiving calls while outside of the country) When you are traveling (outside the country) be sure you have enough money on your telephone if you are planning on calling or receiving calls. It costs as much to receive calls when you are out of France as to make them. Instead, try to send text messages. Also, call your provider and tell them you are travelling outside the country, so they can activate your phone in that country. I don’t have the number of owner of the villa!! (calling other Parisian cellphones from another country): Very low success rate. Sometimes you are put through to the voice mail, but more times than not the recipient doesn’t receive notification that there is a message (until back in Paris... and even then ...) If you need to communicate with travel partners...make back up plans. Are you ALIVE over there in Paris, Frank? Your father and I haven’t spoken to you in ages! (how to receive calls from the United States or other beautiful countries) Don’t forget the time difference of six hours back in the States (EST). The best option is to have your parents arrange a time to call you on your cell phone. It doesn’t cost them anymore than calling your landline. If you do not have a cell phone, arrange a time that wouldn’t bother your host parents. Teach your parents a couple of key phrases like “May I speak with (insert your name) s’il vous plaît" in case your French family doesn’t speak or understand English. Tell your parents not to leave important messages with whoever answers the phone. Because you will never get them. But you knew that. Happy dialing!
- Abigail See
Skidmore College · 815 North Broadway · Saratoga Springs, NY · 12866
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