Travel & Tourism Information This site complements and adds detail to the information you find in many tourist guides for France. This site is not intended to replace tourist guides but to fill the gaps, notably what concerns some of the less rosy aspects of France. Disclaimer: While I try to keep the information on this page accurate and up to date, you use it on your own risk, and I do not accept any liability for loss incurred as a direct or indirect consequence of having used this page. If you spot errors on this page, then please don't hesitate to contact me.

Ventabren, Provence village

Nationals of the EU, EEA, Switzerland and many other countries do not need visa to visit France for up to 3 months. For longer visits, please see our page "Living & Working in France"

www.france.diplomatie.fr, a government site, has the visa information you need. The site is interactive and takes your particular circumstances into account. In case of doubt, please contact the French consulate nearest to you. Note: That site appears to ignore the Schengen Agreement that provides for free movement of residents of the Schengen zone. See below for details about the Schengen zone.

The European Union has 27 Member States: 

Belgium - founding member since 23 July 1952 France - founding member since 23 July 1952 Germany - founding member since 23 July 1952 Italy - founding member since 23 July 1952 Luxembourg - founding member since 23 July 1952 the Netherlands - founding member since 23 July 1952 Denmark since 1 January 1973 Ireland since 1 January 1973 United Kingdom since 1 January 1973 Greece since 1 January 1981 Portugal since 1 January 1986 Spain since 1 January 1986 (Former Eastern Germany after German reunification 3 October 1990) Austria since 1 January 1995 Finland since 1 January 1995 Sweden since 1 January 1995 Czech Republic since 1 May 2004 Cyprus (Greek part) since 1 May 2004 Estonia since 1 May 2004 Hungary since 1 May 2004 Latvia since 1 May 2004 Lithuania since 1 May 2004 Malta since 1 May 2004 Poland since 1 May 2004 Slovakia since 1 May 2004 Slovenia since 1 May 2004 Bulgaria since 1 January 2007 Romania since 1 January 2007

Tour Fenestrelle, Uzès

The European Economic Area was created by a treaty that extended EU Single Market legislation to:

• the EU Member States
• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Norway.

The Schengen Agreement lays down the conditions for free movement of persons. The Schengen zone covers:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland (not EU member)
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• the Netherlands
• Norway (not EU member)
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

The Service Public site has a good explanation of the rules. There is no border control within the zone, but personal identification must be carried. EEA nationals must carry either a national ID card or a passport not expired more than five years ago. As what concerns nationals of other countries, visas issued by Schengen Members are valid for the entire zone. Non-EEA nationals who live regularly in a Schengen Member State may travel for up to three months throughout the zone without visa, but they must carry a current residence permit issued by a Schengen Member and a current travel document (passport or similar). The family of an EEA national has the right to follow the EEA national upon who they depend throughout the EEA, regardless of their nationality. If a visa is required, it must be issued free of charge.

Schengen is the name of a village in the south east corner of Luxembourg, where the Luxembourgish, German and French borders meet. The agreement was signed aboard a boat on the Moselle river that is also the natural border between Luxembourg and Germany.

Familiarise yourself with customs regulations before travelling. It prevents unpleasant surprises. Be particularly aware of the obligation to declare cash, stocks, shares, securities, cheques and more if the total value exceeds 10,000 €. This also applies to travel within the EU. See the links to the French customs guides on the link page.

France is part of the Eurozone which covers:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Cyprus
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• the Netherlands
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Spain

Many websites will require that you fill in a field with the départements or région, for example to search for a hotel. This may be quite confusing if you only know the name of a city. Our page "Living & Working in France" has a complete list and maps where you can find the information you need.

Residents of the EU/EEA and Switzerland can - with very few exceptions - obtain a European Health Insurance Card from their local public health insurance administration. This card provides the same cover as the former E111 form. It confirms the right to the holder to obtain health care at the same cost as the country's own residents pay in their country. In France, this means that you will get a refund of typically 70% of emergency medical expenses, 80% of hospital expenses. The remaining part is at your charge. Note, the refund percentage is based on the rate that the public has agreed with medical professionals working with set fees (conventionné secteur 1). If you visit hospitals or medical professionals that decide their own fees (conventionné secteur 2), then you pay the excess yourself. 

A few countries like Denmark may provide their own travel insurance for all citizens, and in case of the Danish cover, it is better than the EU cover. Other citizens are strongly advised to take out additional travel insurance to avoid unpleasant surprises in the form of medical expenses. If you advance funds to medical professionals, including pharmacies, be sure to ask for receipts for later refunds.

Pedestrian Crossings (Crosswalks) Beware!

In certain countries, notably Germany, pedestrians enjoy a privileged status when aiming to cross a road at a pedestrian crossing (crosswalk for the Americans). As soon as a driver spots a pedestrian near a pedestrian crossing, even while still on the pavement (sidewalk), the driver will slow down or stop to allow the pedestrian to cross safely. Not so in France! The French Code de la Route says (Article R415-11): "Tout conducteur est tenu de céder le passage aux piétons régulièrement engagés dans la traversée d'une chaussée" (any driver has to give right of way to pedestrians regularly engaged in the crossing of a road). This means that once you have started crossing, cars have to slow down or stop, but it does not mean that cars have to slow down or stop if you are still on the pavement waiting to pass. Quite obviously, a pedestrian has to take the cars' speed and distance into account before crossing the road, whether at a pedestrian crossing or not (Article R412-37). Don't expect French drivers to act like German drivers. Not only is it a different culture, French drivers are not obliged to do anything for pedestrians waiting on the pavement at a pedestrian crossing, and they mostly won't. Be happy if they let you pass but don't get angry if they don't. As a visitor, you have to adapt to the local laws and customs.

For your own safety, don't trust that just because one driver stops, then drivers in the other lanes will stop too, whether driving in the same or the opposite direction. Even though it was not in France, I remember an incident from Luxembourg city that could have had deadly outcome. A one-way street had two lanes. I had stopped in the first lane to let pedestrians pass on a crossing. While pedestrians were crossing on front of my car, approaching the second lane, another car overtook me in the second lane without making any attempt to slow down. Two yards more and the pedestrians could have been mowed down.

Also for your own safety, don't trust that drivers will let you pass if they are turning while you are crossing at a green pedestrian light, even if they are obliged to let you pass. If you insist on your right of way, you may well end up in hospital or worse. This is particularly a problem in Paris.

If you are a foreign driver in France and from a country where you are used to stopping for anybody approaching a pedestrian crossing, there is nothing wrong with slowing down or stopping to let pedestrians cross, as you would have done at home, but do beware that the drivers behind you may not expect you to stop. Before slowing down or stopping, be sure you can do so safely, without having the car behind you ending up in your back seat.

Driving

The French have a reputation for driving badly. That is not without reason. It goes without saying that you need to be particularly vigilant if you're new to French driving. Many drivers do not respect red lights, so you cannot trust that a green light means that passage will be free. Look right and left yourself. Better safe than sorry.

After the introduction of speed cameras on more and more roads, the number of accidents has fallen, and speed limits are more and more observed. There are fixed cameras on known locations and mobile cameras. The fixed cameras are programmed to apply a tolerance margin of 5 km/hour for speeds up to 100 km/h and 5% for speeds over 100 km/hour. For mobile cameras, the tolerance limit is double, 10 km/hour and 10% respectively. In any case, the tolerance margin is only applied to readings up to 20 km/h above the speed limit. For higher speeds, the reading is applied with no tolerance margin. 

Most cars show a slightly higher speed than what they are actually driving, often between 5% and 10%. A GPS will tell you the exact speed with a precision of 1%-2%, or much more precise than the speedometer. Driving a foreign registered car used to protect against automatic fines, but European countries are putting in place systems for recovering fines in other countries little by little, so don't count on that. It is a punishable offence to own or use a radar detection device. However, GPS maps usually know where the fixed cameras are and show them on the map. Because it is not a detection but a fixed coding based on public data, it is not illegal.

Beware that the French rules for priority at junctions may come as a surprise to you. They practise a system called priorité à droite, meaning yield for traffic coming from your right, on all other roads and streets than motorways and national roads. It means that unless priority signs or markings have been put up to determine who should yield for whom, it is the yield to the right rule that counts.

When parking, you will find that some parking spaces are marked by blue paint instead of white. That means that you are supposed to place a disque in your windscreen and indicate the time of arrival. If you exceed the allowed time or omit to show a disque that is correctly set, you are eligible for a parking ticket. The requirement for a disque may also be shown by a sign instead.

Most French motorways/freeways are toll roads (péage). To know the toll of a given route, let www.viamichelin.com calculate it for you. They accept Mastercard and Visa, no matter the amount. In most cases, you take a ticket when you enter a toll section and pay when you leave it. When approaching the toll booths, choose the right lane in good time:
From left to right (with some exceptions):
t - Télépéage. For subscription customers only, having a transponder in the windscreen.
CB - Carte Bancaire. Unmanned booths. Cards only (Mastercard, Visa, French CB). No PIN code is required. International cards accepted. Not Diners Club.
↓ - Manned booth. Cards or cash.
Orange hexagon: Trucks.
Some lanes accept a combination of the above payment methods, in which case more than one symbol is shown.
× - Lane closed.

You can pay in cash, with Mastercard, Visa, French carte bleue, or you can get a transponder for your car so you are billed monthly.

The general speed limits below are valid unless signs indicate otherwise. Speed limits indicated by specific signs are valid until cancelled either explicitly by a grey cancellation sign or implicitly by a junction or an intersection. However, if a specific speed limit is indicated on a square sign saying "zone", only a grey end of zone sign cancels the specific speed limit. Many councils have the bad habit of posting a specific speed limit sign of 45 km/h next to the town zone sign that means 50 km/h, intending to limit the speed to 45 km/h within the town zone. However, the specific speed limit sign is only valid until the next intersection, while the 50 km/h town zone limit is valid thereafter. The Ministry of Transport is trying to get rid of this confusing practice. 

During rain, all speed limits, whether general or specific, are reduced as follows:
130 kph (81 mph) → 110 kph (68 mph)
110 kph (68 mph) → 100 kph (62 mph)
90 kph (56 mph) → 80 kph (50 mph)

Miles are not used in France. 1 mile = 1.6 kilometre (km). 1 yard = 0.91 metre (m).

The general speed limits are only valid in normal conditions. You must reduce your speed in many cases, such as for example when passing a group of pedestrians or cyclists, when passing public transport or school transport vehicles during on- or offloading, when visibility is poor, when there is accommodation near the road etc. Use your common sense.

If the speed limit is exceeded by more than 30 km/hour, the driving licence can be withdrawn.

If the speed limit is exceeded by more than 50 km/hour, the car can be confiscated if the speeding driver is the owner, and is likely to be impounded on the spot. The maximum fine is 1500 euros and you may have to pay for getting the car towed away plus a daily storage fee until your trial.

The alcohol limit is 0.5 g per litre of blood, corresponding approximately to two 33 cl bottles of beer, 2 glasses of wine or 6 cl of cognac (2 glasses). Drunk driving is no longer silently accepted as in the past, after a hard line was introduced in 2002 to lower the number of accidents.

Front fog lights may be used in fog, when it's snowing or during heavy rain to supplement or replace dipped headlights (low beams) or to supplement headlamps on full beam.
Rear fog lights may be used in fog or when it's snowing.

Mountain roads in France are less safe and more narrow than in neighbouring Switzerland. Many are without crash barriers, for example on Mont Ventoux. Many places, the locals drive on mountain roads as if they were trying to win a formula one race, cutting into your lane in curves. Watch out! If a faster driver is behind you on a mountain road and impatient to overtake, then pull in somewhere and let him pass when you can do it safely. It lowers stress levels for both you and him. He can continue his race, and you can continue enjoying the mountains instead of looking into your rearview mirror. Where there are steep cliffs near the road, rocks on the road are possible, and in rare cases, the side of the cliff has come down on top of a car. This would typically happen after heavy rain.

Before driving to France, consider buying a European Accident Statement form in English if you don't have one already. It's a standardised form that also exists in French, with coded fields for describing an accident. If you only have the other driver's French form, you may not understand the accident description, and you could end up paying for the accident even if it was not your fault if the other driver fills it in to his advantage.

For a humorous description of French driving habits, check out this page.

Quite a few low-cost airlines fly to France: Ryanair, Easyjet, FlyBe, Thomsonfly, Germanwings, Sterling (Scandinavia), Virgin, ... . To find the companies flying from your closest airport, the simplest is to find the airport's website and check out their list of destinations and companies flying there. British Airways slashed their European rates to discount level in 2006, and Air France/KLM often have competitive promotions.

Before boarding a train, you must composter your ticket. It doesn't mean that you must leave it a couple of years in a heap of leaves in the garden but that you must stamp it in one of the yellow or red machines at the entry to the platform. This does not apply to tickets you've printed yourself, such as the cheap PREM's promotions, where you must present an ID with the ticket. The cheapest tickets are only available on the Internet and go under the names PREM's and iDTGV. You can occasionally find first class PREM's tickets to the same price as second class, or even cheaper. Be sure to understand the restrictions for the cheap tickets.

In-train catering is not good, so bring your own food if you want to eat on board. Don't use the self-service coffee and snacks machines that appear not to be maintained for the time being (June 2006) and that might keep your money without giving you anything. Go to the bar instead if you want hot drinks. Also consider bringing your own toilet paper, just like in the former eastern Europe, as experience shows that there is often none available.

It is worth knowing that there is a TGV train station at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport's terminal 2 that makes it feasible to change between plane and train. This station is located on the main north-south line between Lille and Lyon. The EuroDisney TGV station in Marne-la-Vallée is on the same line, a few minutes from the airport.

In general, it is wise to take any upcoming strikes into consideration when planning travelling in France, if at all possible. We try to display information about major strikes in the news section at the top of this page, but you might also want to check it with French colleagues or friends. I often wonder why the SNCF don't simply incorporate the strikes in the timetables, as the strikes are almost as regular as the trains.

Also read my June 2008 articles published by Transitions abroad:

Budget Travel in France.

Budget Transportation in France.

Certain sights, typically ruins and nature, have insufficient protection compared with what you may be used to in your part of the world. If there are any railings at all, they may only protect adults, while a child can easily walk underneath upright and fall off a cliff. That is the case for example at the Baux de Provence and the ruin in Hyères. Don't expect to find any warning signs. If you have children, it's your entire responsibility if they walk out from an unprotected cliff somewhere. Certain ruins may be unsafe both for adults and children but without any barrier or warning to prevent you from going in there. Safety is occasionally upgraded here and there, but it often takes a deadly accident first. Caveat emptor.

Evil tongues will say that French hygiene is an oxymoron. That is of course not true, but the French being a Latin people, they have a more laisser-faire style attitude to certain things, hygiene included.

What you see to the right is a classic feature of French cities and towns, although they do try to keep tourist areas clean - the French, not the dogs, of course. But should you stray away from the well-trodden paths of other tourists, you may just as well beware of certain 'features' that you are likely to find on the ground.

Hygiene in restaurants can be a problem, as it can in many other countries. There is no easy way to know how clean a restaurant's kitchen is. Some travellers recommend checking the toilets to get an idea of the establishment's idea of hygiene.

Tap water is generally drinkable if provided by a public network. There is no need to avoid it anywhere in France. The water quality is surveyed and will generally conform to the strictest regulations. However, if you get out in the countryside where no water network is available, tap water would usually be provided from a drilling in the ground. It may or may not be clean. Public supervision with this type of water is in many cases insufficient. In many old farm houses, the water drilling would be placed right next to the septic tank, which is today illegal, as there must be a minimum distance of 35 metres between them.

In extreme cases, it can be as bad as what you see to the right. That is a real-life example from a rented farm house in Provence. Because of a fault the owner doesn't want to repair, toilet sewage is running straight out on the ground behind the house, next to the water drilling. At the time of writing, the hygiene authorities, the prefecture and the mayor are aware of the problem and have been for up to 18 months but have done nothing but writing letters, neglecting their duty to intervene.

Hence, you cannot know how clean tap water is at the countryside, neither in a rented house, a restaurant nor in a hotel. Too many Frenchmen simply don't care about such things. The way such Frenchmen think is that tourists are unlikely to return anyway, so it doesn't matter if things or food are really totally clean or fresh. In general, you can presume that the further south you get, the more dirty it is.

Public toilets is something you would rather avoid.

France has 3 independent mobile networks, all using the digital standard GSM: SFR, Orange, Bouygues. France has a good cover, but if you should find yourself at a spot without cover, then try to roam in on another operator. Cellphones from countries using another system than GSM, such as the USA, may not work in France.

Electric plugs are not harmonised in the EU. Plug adapters for the most commonly occurring foreign plugs (typically the UK and the USA) are available in DIY stores. Travellers would be best advised to buy an adapter in their own country to avoid the trouble of searching once in France, unless local plugs are compatible with French plugs.

230 volts AC 50 Hz (cycles) is the standard in the EU. Electric equipment should normally have a safety margin of +/- 10% to allow for variations in the power supply, so equipment rated between approximately 210 volts and 250 volts should work. Check not only the voltage rating for your equipment before using it, but also the cycles supported (typically 50 Hz or 60 Hz or both). Some equipment may work with either; other may not. Check the rating for your equipment before plugging it in.

It may seem needless to say, but I will do it anyway: Don't assume that people are friendly just because they appear friendly. It's tempting to arrive in the beautiful nature and the warm climate of the south and take a word for a word. Despite the reputation of the French, there are genuinely friendly Frenchmen, and there are Frenchmen who appear friendly so long as everything goes to plan. In the vast majority of cases, you will not encounter any problems in France, but don't be naive. Use your common sense. There are criminals and conmen around who prey on tourists.

Foreign Mastercard and Visa are usually accepted the same places where the French can use their national payment system carte bleue, often abbreviated to CB. All major shops and petrol / gas stations accept cards. Diners Card, American Express and foreign cash are not generally accepted. The French carte bleue is a chip card that needs a pin code instead of a signature as a security measure. The new UK chip cards generally work by entering your UK pin code. Older chip cards or cards without a chip must have their magnetic strip swiped. Most shop assistants outside tourist zones are not aware of this, and if you tell them, they don't even know that their card reader has a magnetic card reader. It's for you to tell them: C'est une carte étrangère sans puce; merci de lire la piste magnétique avec le lecteur que vous voyez à côté de votre lecteur à puce. If they still don't get it, ask for the manager: Je voudrais parler avec le responsable. When they figure out how to read the magnetic strip, the next problem is that the French centralised credit card validation computer network often has problems communicating with foreign clearing systems. When it fails, the shop won't accept your card, even by swiping it manually, and you may have to leave the shop without your goods if you have no other way to pay. They will show no mercy. They like tourists' money, but without the money, they couldn't care less.

When you use any sort of book or commercial source for finding service providers in France, you are probably aware that the providers listed are not necessarily those who are the best matches for your needs but those who have paid for being listed. Thus, you would not expect an objective selection, and you might supplement that selection with other sources. You are probably not surprised if I tell you that French tourist offices require a small contribution for listing providers. The amount can be quite modest. As the offices de tourisme appear as official sources of information, you may tend to give more weight to their selections and advice than what you find in commercial sources.

However, you need to be aware that the purpose of the tourist offices is to serve the very strictly local interests of their town or village and its very strictly local providers with an address in their town. You are mistaken if you think the purpose is to help you, the tourist, find the most suitable offer. If a provider that is available for tourists in a major town but is domiciled just 10 km (6 miles) from the town limit asks to be included in the tourist office listings and pay for it, the request will be turned down, so as to prevent competition with the very local providers domiciled in the town concerned. These local providers can then maintain a higher price level, and guess who pays for that. The town limit is obviously justified for traders with a fixed outlet, but in case of transport and excursion services, you don't really care where the provider is domiciled, as they will be coming to you, and it is not a problem if they have to drive a short distance to get to you.

My very simple advice is to consider the tourist office information about providers as no more than commercial information with all the bias and selection that you would expect from a purely commercial source. In most cases, you will get a more neutral result through Google, and you may obtain considerable savings by not only listening to the tourist offices. Just beware that they use their "official" image to further limited commercial interests, and remember that they are not there for you but for themselves.

Restaurant service charge
In some tourist areas, some restaurants abusively add a 15% "service" charge to the prices on their menus when they present the bill, happily ignoring that the listed prices must by law include 15% service. In other words: What you see is what you pay. Many tourists would be unaware of the law and thus feel obliged to pay up. It's no more than a scam. Most French don't bother tipping for ordinary meals but only do it if they have received a very good service at a high-quality restaurant. The idea that you find in so many tourist guides that leaving a 10%-15% tip is something of a moral obligation or part of the waiter's salary is simple nonsense and out of step with reality. It is a fact that many restaurant owners confiscate the tip you give the waiter, so why bother? Do it if you feel like it, but don't see it as an obligation.

A hint about restaurants: If you just want to drink tap water instead of paying for bottled water, then it is perfectly all right and very common to ask for a carafe d'eau, which is not invoiced at all (even though, legally, they would be entitled to do so). Tap water is rigorously controlled in France by authorities, and there is no need to worry about it. As a matter of fact, bottled water often has a higher count of germs, because it is still.

Restaurant quality
It is a myth that you eat well everywhere in France. Of course, France is the home of a large number of gourmet restaurants that really deserve their Michelin stars, but the overwhelming majority of restaurants do not have stars. In the lower end, it is unfortunately more and more common that they buy pre-cooked meals in large stores for professionals and simply heat them up when you order. That means that your gastronomic adventure may be no better than buying a pre-cooked meal in the supermarket and heating it up yourself. The high cost of employing staff in France may be one of the reasons. They may not feel that they can compete without "cheating".

A problem that is rather more difficult to excuse is lack of hygiene, which is sometimes no better than what George Orwell described in his book "Down and Out in Paris and London" in 1933. It is a fact that inspectors frequently fine or close restaurants. It is another fact that the need for inspectors vastly exceeds the number of inspectors available. It is a third fact that restaurants have no obligation to display the results of the last inspection. As an example, I have heard a first-hand account from a former waiter that the owner ordered her to serve ham that was visibly over the date and had gone blue to a couple of Swiss guests, because "they are not going to come back anyway". "Just turn the slice, so they don't see it", the owner said. The restaurant was eventually closed after an inspection. She also mentioned serving meat that had fallen on the floor, but that is so common that it's hardly worth mentioning. At least you won't get a food poisoning of that. Also be prepared for minor swindle, such as putting high-quality Charolais beef on the menu but being unable to show anything else than ordinary beef to inspectors who had just ordered the Charolais. This is unfortunately not fiction. One can regularly read about these problems in French press. Unfortunately, the low moral of some restaurant owners means that tourists will get the worst service and the worst quality these places, because they are not going to come back anyway. As I said, don't bother tipping, unless you really feel that you have been given a friendly service and a high-quality meal. Do not hesitate to complain about bad quality. If you speak French enough to explain it, and you are having problems with food over the date, you could even threaten to report them to the DDCCRF, which has the power to close them. I will in fact be happy to forward complaints to them from tourists who send me detailed accounts of hygiene problems or swindle, because the bad reputation is also hurting honest restaurants.

Do not become paranoid, but use your common sense. If the food is cheap, don't expect a gourmet meal. Usually, you get what you pay for. If the toilet is dirty, maybe the kitchen is too. Try to find places where the locals eat. There are many good restaurants, but without recommendations, it may be a lottery.

Making you think you buy a local quality product but selling you a cheap import
There are many lovely open-air markets in Provence, where you will find herbs, lavender, local olive oil at reasonable prices, and many other local products with an inbuilt atmosphere of Provence. Unfortunately, while you may think you are living out your dream of Provence, reality is sometimes slightly different. The French consumer magazine Que Choisir, issue 427, June 2005, revealed that 11 out of 14 olive oils sold on such markets were from Spain. In a single case, an analysis revealed that the declaration on the bottle was false. Of course, there is nothing wrong with Spanish olive oil, but it is not from Provence, and you may not get the quality you thought. Genuine products from Provence simply do not come cheap, one of the reasons being the high cost of labour in France. Read the labels and don't forget that you rarely get more than what you pay for.

US Department of State's travel advice
British Foreign Office travel advice

Press articles about travel scams and crime:
Weekly Telegraph 5 August 2006: Keep your wits - or lose your wallet.
Weekly Telegraph 5 August 2006: Savvy Traveller.

Car Crime: France is no different than other countries: Thieves steal cars. However, modern immobiliser systems have made it impossible for common thieves to steal equipped cars. As a result, they attack the only weak point left: The driver. While the total number of stolen cars is going down, the number of car jackings at red lights and underground car parks is increasing. It is therefore advisable to always lock all doors and never leave anything like bags, suits, coats, papers or anything else that thieves might want to steal at a visible place in the car. There is also an increasing number of smash and grab incidents where thieves run off with your purse after having smashed a window. This is particularly a problem on the Riviera and between the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and Paris centre, since the road passes through a massive crime zone. Thieves often target single women, foreign-registered cars, diplomatic cars and luxury cars.

Taxis, limousines, excursions etc.: Use only licensed transport services. Unlicensed crooks are trying to profit from unsuspecting tourists. You don't know if they are insured and if their vehicles are in good condition, and you risk being robbed or worse.
- All transport services must carry a licence that you can ask to see at any time.
- The yellow pages verify transport licences before listing a transport service, whether it is in the taxi section, one of the transport sections, the autocars (tourists buses) section or the location de voiture avec chauffeur (hire of car with driver) section.
- The Ministry of Transport lists many of the licensed services at http://www.transports.equipement.gouv.fr/registres/#voyageurs.
- Be particularly vigilant in large airports such as Paris Charles de Gaulle in Roissy.
- Below is a short explanation of different types of transport. But don't just rely on dry facts. Use your sixth sense before hiring a taxi. If you don't feel comfortable with the driver or if he appears too eager or insisting, don't use it. You are free to choose another taxi even if it's not the first in the taxi rank.

Taxi: Taxi fees are regulated and vary between regions. Taxilib is a good site that clearly shows you the rates. You can print out the page and use it to check in the taxi that the rate code (A, B, C or D) shown on the meter corresponds to the time of day and the weekday. Some taxi drivers unfortunately try to cheat passengers and apply for example night or Sunday rate for a daytime trip. Taxis must have a taxi sign on top of the car and a meter. Only taxis have the authorisation to take passengers in the street without prior booking. In an airport or train station, unless you have booked a limousine or other licensed transport service in advance, use only officially marked and licensed taxis. You find them at the taxi rank and nowhere else. Licensed taxi drivers do not solicit passengers by standing at the airport exit shouting "taxi taxi" at all the passengers. They wait near their taxi in the taxi rank. The advantage of using a taxi is that you don't need to book. The disadvantage is that you don't know the cost in advance.

Occasional transport, airport transfers, limousines, minibuses, excursions, etc.: Such services are not taxis but they are still licensed. There must be an identification of the company somewhere on the outside of the vehicle, however small. They are only allowed to operate on prior booking. You sometimes see them at airport exits, holding a sign with a passenger name. They are not allowed to solicit clients, only to identify a client who has booked in advance. Prices are not regulated, so finding out if the price is reasonable is up to you. If the price for an ordinary transfer in a vehicle not larger than 8 seats exceeds 2 euros per passenger km in daytime on a weekday, look around for better prices, although this will prove to be a challenge on the Riviera. If you require luxury cars, expect to pay heavily for the luxury. Many international transfer booking sites verify the licences and insurances of their providers before they are allowed into their booking systems. They are more expensive than booking directly, of course, but you get certain guarantees by using them.
Regular services, shuttles etc. are only allowed to operate under agreements with the local or regional authorities. Look for Conseil Général or Conseil Régional to try to get an idea if they are official. Before booking a car or bus for a train, boat or flight arrival, don't forget to check the company's policy in case of late or cancelled trains/boats/flights, and don't forget to ask for their refund policy in case you cancel.

Public places - railway stations - airports - trains: Such places are prime spots for pickpockets and downright thieves who will not hesitate to grab your money out of your hands and run away. 

Particularly dangerous are the Paris railway stations Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est, and especially outside rush hours. Police and the SNCF are very much aware of the problems but have chosen not to get rid of the criminals sitting around there, just waiting for the next victim. As shameful as it is, it's easier for them just to take crime reports from tourists in their comfortable offices. A common scam at then Gare du Nord is that someone offers to buy a travelcard for you because it's cheaper. Before you can protest, he puts money in the machine and then insists that you pay him 40 € before giving you the ticket. Don't pay him anything but walk away quickly. You can be sure of one thing only: It's a scam of some kind. It's likely that the ticket he will sell you for 40 € is only worth one euro or so. The ticket machines often have buttons for displaying foreign languages, at least in tourist areas. If you cannot figure out how to use the machine, then prefer the queue for the ticket office rather than a criminal 'helping' you.

Police have discovered organised theft at the Paris Charles de Gauelle airport, where baggage handling staff were stealing valuable items from checked luggage, even entire suitcases. Do not put valuable items in checked luggage. Avoid using luxury brands for your suitcases. The more the suitcase looks old, cheap and worn, the less likely you are to become a crime victim.

Watch your stuff all the time and never, ever take your wallet, money or credit cards out in such places if you can avoid it. Keep values in a money belt under your clothes if possible and try to predict what you might need of petty cash and if necessary a single credit card and take out only these things that you need. Avoid travelling with more than a reasonable amount of cash, for example 100-200 €. Avoid displaying jewellery, expensive watches and similar. The more you look like a wealthy foreigner, the more likely you are to be subject to crime. A worn no-name T-shirt attracts fewer thieves than a new fashion-brand T-shirt, but an old T-shirt would not be well seen at certain classy restaurants, so there is a balance to strike. Wearing an old T-shirt doesn't help if you keep a wallet stuffed with cash in a back pocket, on easy display for thieves. Some tourists have carried old wallets stuffed with paper in their back pockets to trick the thieves. The thief grabs it and runs, not getting your valuables. I don't know if it's effective, though.

Avoid night trains, and particularly in the south. Criminal gangs have been operating in these trains. 

If you can, avoid the fast metro (RER) between Gare du Nord and the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport at Roissy. That train passes through some of the most dangerous suburbs north of Paris. Some of the departures have very few stops before the Gare du Nord. If you must traval by train, prefer these direct departures to those stopping at every station. But in general, prefer an airport bus or taxi. In general, avoid public transport in Paris' northern suburbs because of the crime centres there.

Petty Swindle: France is full of people who swindle small amounts out of many people. For example, when I was picking someone up at the Lille Europe railway station, a guy came over to ask for one euro to make a phone call because his car had broken down. I politely declined. When I came to the same station again two weeks later, the same guy came over with the same story. Later, I saw him using a mobile phone. Whatever the excuse, decline all requests for money. It's likely to be bogus.

Watch your Change: People speaking French with a strong accent or maybe not at all are more likely to get too little change back or to "accidentally" find foreign coins amongst the change. You should notably watch the 2 euro coin, as Thailand's 10 baht resemble it in size and colour but is almost worthless. Some waiters may try to keep your change as an acquired tip without asking. Don't accept that. Restaurants are obliged to include a service charge in their published prices, and no tips beyond that are mandatory.

Some cashiers at large, 'anonymous' stores like supermarkets and their fuel outlets keep some of the change for themselves, typically the cents, if you pay in cash, so as to increase their wages with a few euros each day. Most people don't count their change or notice that a few cents are missing. I have personally seen this happen in even well-reputed stores as Auchan and E. Leclerc. It's not going to ruin your finances, but if you disapprove of the principle of such practices, it's perfectly legitimate to ask for the rest of the change, even if you may get a sulky response. I have never seen a cashier insist that correct change had been given in such a case, because they know very well that it's not the case, and in the vast majority of cases, it's deliberate. The sulky response is simply a reaction to having been found out. If you pay by credit or charge card, this is not an issue. But watch out for other credit card scams. Read on.

Accept only euro notes and coins. The French franc is no longer current and can only be changed in the National Bank and tax offices. As for the euro coins, they are valid even if issued by another EU member. Euro notes carry no national information and are strictly identical in all EU member states - except for the serial number.

Credit card scams: As some French traders simply believe tourists are there to become victims of fraud, their creativity is endless. Here is another scam that a reader sent to me: "Petrol station in France said our credit card didn't work for €100 of fuel so we paid cash and asked for receipt. When we got home, the card had been debited, and the receipt was for the card, not for the cash."

Lesson: never trust anyone with your money. Always check and double check. If a credit card is rejected, the card reader will write a receipt with the text ABANDON. That means the card hasn't been debited. In all cases where a card is read or swiped, insist on getting that receipt, whether the amount was debited or not. If he claims there was a paper jam or no more paper, then ask him to sort out the jam or install new paper, then print a copy. Don't leave before you get it, and tell the trader you are going to call the police if he doesn't give it to you. Then call the police on the European emergency number 112. If he's a swindler, he will give up when you start dialling, at latest. Do not, in any case, ever, pay cash if a card has already been read or swiped and you haven't received the ABANDON ticket. If you pay cash, take the time to assure that the receipt is for cash (espèces), not for credit card (carte bancaire). If you don't ask for a cash receipt, a dishonest shopkeeper could file a complaint with the police, claiming you left without paying, although I haven't heard examples of that in France, only the US.

To sum up: Don't get paranoid, but don't be naive either. Be streetwise like the locals. 

Some tourist guides try to make you believe that you have to tip all the time. All tipping is voluntary, and the French themselves mostly don't tip at all, whether it's at a restaurant, hotel or taxi. If you feel well treated and you had a nice experience, then by all means you can leave a reasonable tip, but there is no need to start calculating percentages of the bill. That is not to say that tips are not appreciated. Of course they are. Personnel in the tourist sector often work inconvenient hours, evenings, nights, weekends, holidays and they are mostly not very well paid. They may well work throughout the summer without vacation and only have time off during the winter season - when many of them would be unemployed, as they would be seasonal workers. Americans travelling in Europe often tip as if they were in the United States, and it is a fact well known amongst tourist personnel that the chance of getting a good tip from an American is many times higher than getting even a small tip from a Dutchman or a Scandinavian, for example. It means that some staff might be a bit more tolerant or willing to provide a little extra if they know you are American, but it is absolutely no guarantee.

If you want good service, try to be aware of the French sensibility to being faced with direct requirements as if you had the 'right' to this or that. That doesn't work in France, it can be seen as downright rude, and it is only likely to produce the opposite result when the French waiter demonstrates that he doesn't take orders. Be more subtle and indirect and if you know enough French ask "would it be possible to ...", "can I ask you to help with ..." etc.

If you tip, think about who you want to tip. In a taxi, it's obvious, but at restaurants, some owners try to confiscate tips from the waiters. If you add the tip to the credit card bill under "extras", you can be sure that only the owner will profit. If you leave the tip on the table when you leave, some owners would confiscate it. If you want to tip the waiter, try to give it to him directly.

August is the French holiday month. All the most important people go on holiday during this month, and only the least qualified personnel would remain working. Try not to get sick in France in August. You may find it difficult to find a qualified doctor. In case of serious illness, consider urgent repatriation very seriously, as even hospitals will not be working well, and all the experienced doctors will be on holiday.

French Ministry of Education: School holidays (vacation). Even if you don't live in France, you may want to plan holidays and breaks outside French school holidays, so as to avoid heavy traffic and higher prices. Most Frenchmen take their summer holidays between mid-July and the end of August. This is the most expensive period, and it culminates in the last week of July / first week of August, where accommodation in the south is hideously expensive.

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