CUSTOMS

Customs Information Tel. : 40 24 65 10
If you live outside the European Community you may claim back the tax paid on goods bought in France. To do so you must :
• Spend at least 2000FF in one shop
• Ask the shop to make out an invoice stating that the goods are for exportation.
• Present this invoice to customs on the day you leave.

HEALTH

Paris is very well provided with hospitals and private clinics. There are also one or two foreign establishments :
HÔPITAL AMERICAIN DE NEUILLLY
Neuilly sur Seine 92202 - 63 Boulevard l/ictor Hugo. Tel.: 46 41 25 25 HÔPITAL FRANCO-BRITANNIQUE
Levallois-Perret 92300 - 3, rue Barbes. Tel. : 46 39 22 22.

VACCINATION CENTER
• Air France - 1 square Max Hymans 75015 PARIS Tel. : 36 68 63 64.
• Pasteur : 211, rue de Vaugirard 75015 Paris. Tél. : 40 61 38 00.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

SAMU (24H/24) 15	ALLO INFIRMIÈRES (24H/24) Tél : 43 43 25 45	AMBULANCES DE PARIS Tel : 40 44 43 45	CENTRE ANTI-POISON Tél : 40 37 04 04
POLICE SECOURS 17	AMBULANCES DE L'ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE Tél : 43 78 26 26	BRÛLURES GRAVES ENFANTS Tél : 44 73 62 54	CENTRE DE SOINS MST Tél : 40 78 26 00
	POMPIERS 18	BRÛLURE GRAVES ADULTES Tél : 42 34 17 58

NURSES

PARA-MÉDICAL, SERVICES Tél : 40 55 07 93	RECHERCHE D'UNE PERSONNE ADMISE DANS LES HÔPITAUX PUBLICS Tél : 40 27 30 00	SOS DENTISTES Tél : 43 37 51 00	SOS VÉTÉRINAIRES Tél : 47 45 18 00
PHARMACIE 24H/24 Tél : 45 62 02 41	SOS MÉDECINS (24H/24) Tél : 47 07 77 77	URGENCE POUR LES YEUX Tél : 40 02 15 20 (Hôpital des Quinze-Vingt)

YOUR MONEY

BUREAU DE CHANGE

In most tourist spots you will find money changes with more favourable rates than the bureau de change within large banks. There are also automatic forei¬gn currency cash points in the Latin quarter and the Champs Elysées. That is :
• Paris 75006 - 2, carrefour de l'Odeon.
• Paris 75008 - 115. Champs Elysées.


BANKS

Most banks are open Monday - Friday, 9am-5pm. They close on Saturday and Sunday and often on the day before a public holiday as well as the day itself. Of course most major international banks have offices in Paris.

CASH POINTS

VISA - CARTE BLEUE - MASTER-CARD
In airports, stations and most streets you will find all sorts of automatic cash distributors. These can be used 24hrs a day if you have a Visa or Mastercard.
In an emergency you cati have money sent immediately from abroad.

THEFT OR Loss OF YouR BANK CARD OR CHEQUE BOOK.
In case of theft or loss you must, straightaway, make a statement at the nearest police station and inform the receptionist at the relevant bank (open 24hrs a day).

TIPS

Service is usually included in the bill at most hotels, restaurants and bars but you should generally leave a few coins if you were satisfied with the quality of service and the friendliness of the staff.
It is also common practise to tip taxi drivers, theatre ushers or guides and inter¬preters on trips and in museums.

DAILY LIFE

POSTES & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

There are post offices in every quarter of Paris. Normally they are open Monday - Friday: 8am- 7pm and on Saturday's Inttil midday.
Equally you will find the bright yellow letter boxes all over the city and you can also bay' stamps anywhere that you am Gay cigarettes : "tabac". In an emergency you can always go straight to the main post office. There you will also find telephone directories covering most of France.
• Main Post Office
Paris 75001 - 52, rue du Louvre - M° : Louvre. Tel. : 40 28 20 00.

TELEX & FAX
Centre Télégraphique Paris-Bourse : Paris 75002 - 7, rue Feydeau - M° Bourse. Tel. : 42 47 12 12. Open every day except Sunday and bank holidays 8am - 7.30pm. By Minitel : 3616 code : SCRIP.

TELEPHONE
Nearly all the Parisian phone boxes use credit card type "Télécom" cards worth either 50 or 120 units. These can be bought in Post Offices, Tabacs, SNCF tic¬ket offices and in the Metro. In the anpo•ts sonie phone boxes will accept stan¬dard credit cards. We will also mention that every phone box has its own num¬ber so you can be called back from abroad.
• Information for France : 12. • Information for abroad : 19 33 12 + coun¬try's code. • Minitel - Directory enquiries : 11. • Operator for non-automatic international connections : 19 33. • To call someone abroad you will need to dial 19, followed by the code for the country and the individual's own number:


USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS

PUBLIC HOLYDAYS
The following are public holidays : 1st January, Easter Monday, 1" May. May, Ascension day, Whit Monday, 14"'July, 15'h August, 1" November; 11''' November and 25rb December:

LOST PROPERTY
If you have lost something in a public place you can get in touch with this ser¬vice from Monday-Friday, 8.30am-5pm :
SERVICE DES OBJETS TROUVES
Paris 75015 - 36. rue des Morillons. Tel. : 45 31 98 11.

NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES
In most hotel news stands and kiosks in the tourist areas you will be able to find the more widely read foreign papers.
For specialist books and English publications :

LOCAL TV & RADIO
In France there are six television channels with a further twelve satellite TV stations. Also most large hotels have a satellite dish such as "Astra" or "Intelstat" and will pick up various foreign networks : "CNN", "Sky News", "NBC", "Cartoon network", "BBC", "MTV", "RAI", "ZDF", "SAT", "ARD", "RTL", "SAT1 ". "Eurosport" "RTP" "RTVE". "M BC" "NHK" etc... It is also possible to find Canadian, Belgian and French-speaking Swiss television news on the TV5 channel.
As far as radio goes. you can get a good reception for the BBC world service on RI14? On Fi\I the following are worth noting :
• Radio France Internationale (RFI) (89.0) which broadcasts news in German and English from 4pm - 5pm.
• Radio Orient (94.3) Arab speaking station.
• Africa N° 1 (107.5) French speaking African station.

WATER & ELECTRICITY
Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Outside water from the Wallace fountains is also drinkable.
The electricity network uses 220 Volts.

WHAT TO PACK
In the winter season (December-February) : overcoat, gloves and warm shoes are vital. in Spring and Autnnn, (March/April and October/November) bring woolen clothing and a raincoat. In Summer (July anal August) bring light clo¬thing. It is often very warm.