Table of Contents for this page

Information about Living and Working in France
   Immigration, Visa, Residence Permit, Carte de Séjour
      Visa to France for Visitors
      The EU and the EEA
      Schengen: Free Movement of Persons
      Residence and Work Permit for Immigrants
   The Euro
   Administrative regions of France
   Renting Flats, Apartments, Houses and Other Property
   Health Care in France
   Tax in France
      French Income Tax Explained
      Other Taxes in France
   Buying a Car or Importing One From Another EU/EEA Member State
   Telephone & Network
   TV
   Commercial Practices in France
   All the French Holidays

Links to Web Sites about France
   Related Sites
   Government & Legal
   Adverts (property, cars, other)
   Banking & Finance
   Insurance
   Business
   Job Servers
   Post & Telephone
      Fixed line telephone operators
      Mobile telephone operators
   Internet Service Providers
   Radio, TV & Newspapers
   Travel
   Office Equipment & Stationery
   Books, Videos, CDs, Computer Equipment, Software, HI-FI, Photo...
   Department Stores
   White Goods, Household Electronics, HI-FI, TV...
   Supermarkets etc.
   Furniture
   DIY - Do-It-Yourself
   Car Parts, Accessories and Maintenance
   Weather
   Culture
   Family and Personal
   Other

Information about Living and Working in France

Immigration, Visa, Residence Permit, Carte de Séjour

Visa to France for Visitors

If you want to visit France (not immigrate), please refer to www.france.diplomatie.fr, a government site. 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 EU and the EEA

Because I use the terms EU and EEA on this page, I shall briefly define them here. The European Union has 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom.

The European Economic Area was created by a treaty that extended EU Single Market legislation to the EU Member States and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Schengen: Free Movement of Persons

The Schengen Agreement lays down the conditions for free movement of persons. The Schengen zone covers the EEA except Ireland, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom. 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.

Residence and Work Permit for Immigrants

EEA nationals and their families do not need work permits to work in the EEA. Non-EEA family members may have to apply for a long-term visa (entry clearance) before moving to France.

Switzerland and the EU have an agreement of free movement of workers of any of their nationalities and their families within their territories.

Other non-EEA nationals who want to take up employment in France must follow this procedure, unless their country has an agreement with France or the EU stipulating otherwise. It is absolutely necessary that you get a long-term visa (entry clearance) BEFORE you move to France, even if you are entitled to visit France as a tourist without a visa. If you have not done so, you will in most cases not be able to regularise your situation from within France, and you may have to travel back to where you came from to apply for a visa.

1. You must find an employer willing to hire you.
2. The employer must request a work permit from the local Direction Départementale du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle.
3. The Direction du Travail ... will evaluate if there is an obvious need for your skills in France. If there is, they will normally issue a work permit. Otherwise, they will ask the employment service ANPE if they have unemployed EEA nationals qualified for the job. If the job can be filled by an EEA national, a work permit will normally not be issued.
4. If a work permit is issued, you must contact the French consulate nearest you to arrange any formalities for entering France, such as entry clearance or visa. Note: A work permit issued under this procedure will normally be valid for a particular job and does not entitle you or your family to change jobs in France.
5. Upon arrival in France, you must apply for a residence permit (see below).

Non-EEA nationals who want to start a business or set up as self-employed in France must contact their local French consulate that will provide an application form. You must provide a business plan that will be evaluated before any permit or visa can be issued.

EEA and non-EEA nationals alike must apply for a residence permit (carte de séjour) within three months of arrival in France. In Paris, this is done at the Préfecture de Police near the Notre Dame cathedral. Elsewhere, it is done either at the town hall or the local préfecture.

EEA nationals must present the following:

• The travel document with which they entered France
• A certificate from their place of work (not the contract)
• A proof that they have a place to live, typically an electricity bill
• Proof that they are covered by health insurance or entitled to cover in France
• Photos. 2-4 are normally requested

Note for EEA nationals and their families: If you are employed, no other documents may be required. Do not accept demands for translations. You are not obliged to provide any tax documents, pay slips, work contracts or birth certificates. French decree no 94/211 of the 11/3/1994 lays down your rights and obligations (find it at Legifrance). There is a certain degree of abuse from local administrations that demand documents and translations to which they are not entitled under French law. If reference to the law does not solve the problem, you can complain to the Ministry of the Interior. The residence permit is free of charge for EEA nationals and their family. It is your fundamental right to live and work where you want in the EEA. A residence permit simply confirms that right. Your right does not depend on the permit being issued.

Cross-border workers working in France and living in another EEA Member State are no longer required to demand a residence permit if they return home regularly.

The Euro

France is part of the Eurozone which covers the 15 EU Member States except Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Administrative regions of France

France is divided in régions, which again are subdivided in 96 départements (counties). The département number is the first two digits in a post code and the last two digits of a car registration number.

The Paris département is divided in 20 arrondissements (districts). Each arrondissement has its own city hall.

Most other départements are divided in cantons, which are finally divided in communes.

There are four Overseas Départements (DOM - Départements d'Outre-Mer): Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Réunion.

The Overseas Territories (TOM - Territoires d'Outre Mer) St-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Mayotte, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and the Southern and Antarctic Territories are French dependencies.

Renting Flats, Apartments, Houses and Other Property

Different laws apply to furnished and unfurnished lettings.

The law stipulates that you can terminate an unfurnished tenancy (bail) at any time with three months notice (one month in case of loss or change of job). Don't worry if the initial tenancy is three years or more - you can always terminate it. The landlord (bailleur) cannot terminate the tenancy during the contract period. The tenancy is automatically renewed, unless one of the parties terminate it with appropriate notice. The landlord can only refuse the automatic renewal under very specific conditions. Be sure that the standard contract being used is for an unfurnished letting, because a furnished tenancy can only be terminated as stipulated in the tenancy agreement. For an unfurnished letting for primary residence, you should find the following title on the tenancy agreement: Contrat de location, locaux non meublés - loi no 89-462 du 6.7.89 modifiée par la loi no 94-624 du 21.7.94, habitation principale. If you sign a furnished tenancy agreement for three years and it does not have a termination clause, then you are liable for three years' rent!

In general, the law protects the tenants to a great extent. Clauses added by the landlord cannot put the tenant in a position that is less favourable than that of the law. Such clauses can quite easily be challenged in court.

When you take over the property, it is very important to be there and check everything for damages. A document called état des lieux must be prepared and signed on that day, stating the condition of the property and listing all items left in the property. You can be liable for paying for any existing damage not mentioned in that document when you move out. Check everything: Hot and cold water, heating, electric outlets, lights, oven, cooker, fridge, dish washer, washing machine, doors, windows, scratches, cracked tiles, broken glass, miscolourings... It is a detailed exercise that easily takes between one and two hours. It may sound ridiculous to a Briton, but this is how it's done in France. It is a common pastime for French landlords to claim damages for something that was broken before the property was rented.

French landlords sometimes hesitate to maintain their property. The law obliges them to do so, except for certain minor maintenance. Sometimes landlords try to fool tenants by adding for example a clause saying that the landlord will not maintain white goods. Such clauses are null and void. It's not difficult to take a landlord to court to get repairs done, and you don't need a solicitor for simple cases.

It is common to let property without a fitted kitchen. If you don't want to provide your own kitchen, then check the ads for cuisine aménagée, which means that there is a fitted kitchen, but no white goods, and cuisine équipée, which means that there is a fitted kitchen with white goods.

The tax on lettings known as droit de bail has been abolished from January 2001 and should no longer be collected by the landlord.

Demand a receipt for the rent every month, no matter how you pay. You may need it later. The landlord is obliged by law to provide receipts free of charge.

Taxe d'habitation is a tax on the dwellings you occupy on the 1 January. The tax does not depend on how long time you live in the property. If you move out on the 2 January, you must still pay the full tax. The tax is payable in the November or December that follows the 1 January. The tax depends on the value of the property and your personal situation. A typical tax would be between € 300 and 800 a year.

The tenant and the landlord are free to negotiate the rent. There are no limits imposed by the law, except that the annual increase cannot exceed the published index for of construction costs.

Some properties are let out directly by a private person. Other landlords may ask an agency to find a tenant. In the latter case, the landlord and the tenant must each pay half of the agent's fees. This will typically amount to a bit less than one month's rent. The fee is only due once a tenancy agreement has been signed.

Some businesses that may call themselves agencies charge you a fee up front of for example 150 euros. They show you that they have long lists of properties ready to let out. What you pay for is to get access to that list. There is no guarantee of anything. You have to contact the private landlords yourself and arrange everything. My advice is to walk away immediately. It is a well known scam in France. These businesses are often dishonest. They have been known to scan the press for private people's letting ads and to copy these ads into their own lists. The lists will frequently not be kept up to date. The properties may be of a quality that no one wants. The result is more often than not that once you start calling the numbers on the list, you will find that the properties have been let out long time ago and are no longer available. If you are still tempted, then ask yourself how - in a tight letting market where good properties are snapped up in a few days - these businesses could possibly be able to offer such a large choice that you will find nowhere else.

See below for a list of web sites with property ads.

Health Care in France

Be sure to register with the local Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie (CPAM), so you are covered by the French medical system. You must provide documentation to prove your entitlement and a bank account number to receive the refunds. The registration process easily takes a couple of months. The CPAM refunds around two thirds of medical expenses and most medicine. If you do not want to pay the remaining part yourself, you can sign up with a medical insurance company (mutuelle). They do not require a health declaration, and existing conditions are covered. Often, a French employer will suggest a scheme, but you are free to choose. It typically costs between € 30 and 50 a month per person.

When using medical services, be sure to ask if they are conventionné before booking. That means that they adhere to the fees recognised by the CPAM. You pay for medical services and then claim a refund from the CPAM and your mutuelle. Be sure to be registered before you send any claims for refunds. Keep copies of all the claims, and verify that all are refunded in 1-2 months time. Whenever you pay for a medical service or medicine, they must give you a receipt known as feuille de soins for services and volet de facturation for medicine. On the latter, the pharmacist or you must stick the small labels with barcodes that you find on all refundable medicine. At the pharmacy, also ask for a facture subrogatoire. You may need that to claim a refund from your mutuelle. When you claim a refund for medicine from the CPAM, you must include a copy of the prescription (for renewable prescriptions, send it only once). In pharmacies, you can register your entitlements to refunds, so that you don't have to pay anything. In that case, you have no formalities yourself, and the comments above do not apply. If the pharmacy does not want to register you, find another pharmacy.

Pensioners with entitlement to health care from another EEA Member State should request the appropriate Exxx from their local health authorities. This form must then be provided to the CPAM in France.

Pensioners and other immigrants who are not planning to work and who don't have entitlement from an EEA Member State have the option of buying into the French health care system through the CMU (Caisse de Maladie Universelle).

Tax in France

French Income Tax Explained

There is no PAYE system in France to collect income tax at source. While social security contributions are deducted from your gross salary at source (unless you pay such contributions in another country), no tax is deducted. You are personally responsible for saving enough money to pay your tax. Tax is paid in arrears the year after the income was earned.

Tax calculation - the brief version

The income tax depends on your personal situation. A number of parts is determined for the family. A single person gets one part. A married couple 2 parts. Add 0.5 part for each of the first two children; 1 part for each additional child. For example: Married couple with 2 children gets 3 parts. Single person with 3 children gets 3 parts. The resulting number of parts is known as the quotient familial.

All income of the persons concerned - the married couple and the children - is added together in one amount. If you pay your social security contributions in France, your employer should tell you which of them are deductable and what amount to declare. If you pay them abroad, you should deduct them from your gross income before applying the tax calculations below. Only declare the appropriate amount net of deductable contributions.

I will illustrate the following calculations with an example of a married couple with one child, having a joint income of 50,000 € after social security contributions.

Two standard allowances of 28% combined are deducted, leaving 72% of your income as taxable. This is done automatically. You do not need to do anything to claim these allowances. Do not deduct them from the amount you declare yourself. In the example, this leaves 36,000 € as taxable.

Divide the resulting amount by the quotient familial calculated above. In the example, this results in 36,000 € / 2.5 = 14,400 €.

The personal allowance and progressive tax scale (barème) is then applied to the resulting amount. This results in the income tax per part. For income earned in 2002 (payable in 2003), the following barème is applied:

Personal allowance: 4,191 €.

In the example, the tax per part is

This amount is then multiplied by the quotient familial to get the total tax. In the example, this yields 1,500€ x 2.5 = 3,750€, which is the total income tax payable.

There is a limit to the tax advantage one can get for each half-part for children (2,017€). In the example, this limit is not exceeded. To know if the limit has been exceeded, one makes two tax calculations: One that includes the parts and half-parts for the children and one that does not include these parts (that is, in our example one calculation using 2.5 parts and one calculation using 2 parts). If the difference between the two results exceeds 2,017€ multiplied by the number of children's half-parts (one half-part in our example), then the tax is increased with the amount that exceeds the limit. In other words, the maximum tax advantage for each of the first two children is 2,017€ and for each following child 4,034€.

This is a very generalised information. Refer to the French Inland Revenue for more information. You can calculate your tax at that site. At newsagents, you can buy an annual tax guide. In case of any doubt, do not hesitate to take professional advice or ask your local tax office (centre d'impôt).

Other Taxes in France

Annual road fund tax for privately owned cars was abolished from 1 December 2000.

The current VAT rate is 19.6%. 5.5% for some items.

Buying a Car or Importing One From Another EU/EEA Member State

Cars registered in France must first be inspected (contrôle technique) when they are 4 years old. After that, the car must be inspected every 2 years. You may choose any authorised control station. It costs around € 40. They must provide a report and place a sticker in the windscreen when the car has passed. The authorities cannot demand that a car imported from another EU/EEA Member State be inspected unless it is due under the above rules.

If you are planning to buy a second hand car in France, check the price index in the ARGUS paper that you can buy at newagents.

If you import a new car to France, you must pay the French standard VAT rate. If you import a second hand car, you must go to your local tax office and present documentation that VAT has been paid in another EU/EEA country. They will then give you a VAT certificate.

If the car is due for inspection, then the inspection must be done before the registration.

You must insure the car. Car insurance costs more or less the same as in the UK. Shop around and compare not only the prices but also the cover, which can vary significantly. Be sure to provide them with documentation of your current bonus and claims history. Note that any licence issued by an EU/EEA country is mutually recognised within the Member States. Thus, there is no need to change such a licence to a French one.

You must register the car at the local préfecture. Ask them for an exact list of documents required. This may be personal identification, an electricity bill, the previous car registration document, certificate of insurance, a form you must fill in to request registration, another form you must fill in to request identification of the car, an EU certificate of conformity (provided with all new car models introduced after 1/1/1996), a cheque of around € 65 to pay for the identification of the car, the VAT certificate from the tax office, and the technical control document if applicable. You pay a small tax for the first registration in France. For example € 260 for a large family saloon with a 1.99 litre engine. You must re-register the car if you move to another address is France. This is free of charge. You may be asked how many chevaux your car has. That is, how many horses. Even though chevaux also means horsepower, they want to know the tax class, which in French is called chevaux fiscaux. If you don't know, they'll look it up.

Telephone & Network

For the physical connection, you must order a line from France Télécom, as there is still no competition. However, for the calls, you are free to choose one or more operators. The best minute rates for the time being are around 0.06 € incl. VAT to North America and Europe and 0.01 € to France. See below for information about providers. If you want to pass all your calls through a single operator, you can ask for preselection, so all calls are automatically routed. Otherwise, you will have to dial a prefix number to select your operator for each call. Beware that many operators, including France Télécom, do not hesitate to misinform you about their competitors' rates. Check all the rates carefully yourself. It is common practise to apply an initial charge for the first seconds of each call (crédit temps). This makes comparing the minute rates difficult. Try to find an operator that does not make any initial charge. Also watch the billing interval that can fluctuate between 1 and 60 seconds. With a billing interval of 30 seconds, you pay on average for 15 seconds more than you actually consume for each call. France Télécom offers Primaliste pays and Option Plus for a regular fee to reduce their minute rates. Competitors offer lower rates on most destinations without charging a regular fee; you only pay for the calls you make.

There is no good provider of mobile phone connections in France. Illegal overcharging and bad customer service is on the menu. Whatever supplier you choose, you're going to be a loser. You have the right to keep your mobile phone number when changing from one bad operator to another, but you may be charged you for the service. There is hope that Swedish Tele2 may establish itself as the fourth player, even though the existing operators are understandably fighting to avoid such illoyal competition.

February 2003, an ADSL high-speed Internet connection at 512 kbps costs 30 euros a month. Towns and cities are now covered, and availability is creeping out into villages and suburbs.

ISDN lines (RNIS in French) are competitively priced and may be worth considering for Internet connection if ADSL is not yet available. France Télécom call this service Numeris. It is available throughout the territory.

If you need a high-speed Internet connection and no other services are available, consider getting a satellite connection. See below for contact to SES-ASTRA.

Be sure that your Internet provider includes the call charge in the monthly subscription rate (forfait).

You can buy adapters for foreign telephones, faxes and modems from Teleadapt. A foreign modem may or may not support the French telephone system. If it does not, you need a converter from Teleadapt or similar. If it does, you just need an adaptor plug that you can buy in a shop.

MINITEL is the French predecessor for the Internet. You can access servers, such as for example the white and yellow pages through your telephone line. But beware that many services are charged at considerable minute rates. In its traditional form, it is a low speed, low-tech, text only system, but it works. If you don't want a special minitel device, you can install software on your PC to make it act as a minitel. All you need is the PC, a modem or ISDN connection, and the software. If you use the new Iminitel software, which is free of charge, you can access all the Minitel services through a single access number, 3622, and through normal modem or ISDN speed.

TV

TV standards differ from country to country.

• The UK broadcasts in PAL-I. Video tapes are recorded in PAL.
• France broadcasts in SECAM. Video tapes may be recorded in SECAM or PAL.
• Most other European countries broadcast in PAL-B/G. Video tapes are recorded in PAL.
• America broadcasts in NTSC. Video tapes are recorded in NTSC.

If you bring equipment to France that does not support SECAM, then you may consider buying a transcoder from Goyona France. It cannot receive TV channels itself, but if you use a French video recorder as a tuner, an appropriate transcoder will make it possible to watch French channels on a PAL or NTSC TV. The colour balance may not be perfect for the cheapest models. Note that a transcoder may not work with the output from cable operators' decoders, as I have experienced with Numericable.

All equipment sold in France is multi standard and can be used without problems in countries broadcasting in PAL-B/G. NTSC and PAL-I may also be supported by some models.

Films broadcast on the French channels are systematically dubbed in French, leaving little pleasure for English speakers. The exception is the Arte channel, which uses subtitles instead.

In the cities and large towns, many properties are connected to cable TV. This may be less interesting for foreigners, because the vast majority of the channels are in French.

The two French satellite packages are TPS and Canal Satellite. Again, this may be of little interest to foreigners, because nearly all the channels are French. If you still want to subscribe to one of them, note that TPS carries the terrestrial channels in digital format, while Canal Satellite doesn't. I have heard that Canal Satellite has a tendency to broadcast the same programs over and over again, and that their customer help desk is very difficult to get through to.

The BBC channels, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are broadcast from the Astra satellites at 28.2 degrees east, which can easily be received throughout France with as little as a 65 cm satellite dish. The BBC channels are free to air and can be tuned in with any digital satellite receiver. The exact frequencies are listed at the satellite listing site Lyngsat. Depending on your receiver, the frequencies may not be pre-coded, in which case you'll have to add them manually. For the other channels, you need a SKY card and a Digibox to decode the signals. SKY will only sell the card and the decoder to someone who can provide a UK address. A few shops abroad sell the decoders and the subscriptions.

Commercial Practices in France

Overcharged telephone numbers are more and more common in France. A large number of businesses use such telephone numbers to boost their revenues by making people pay for calling them. Watch out for numbers beginning with "08". Some may be free, some cheap, others expensive.

Selling you something in such a way that you don't notice that you've bought anything is not uncommon. Particular problems sectors are telecommunications, especially mobile, and cable and satellite TV. Something that is presented as a free welcome gift may turn out to be an additional subscription that you have to cancel if you don't want to be charged extra. But you may also find that what you thought was a signature to approve etching the vehicle identification number on your car windows made you sign up for an insurance as well.

Internet service providers may provide hotline support through an overcharged number and at the same time by e-mail. By either waiting a month before replying to the e-mail or by not dealing properly with the problem when contacted by e-mail, they force you to use the overcharged phone number.

The quality of customer service varies enormously from one shop or provider to another. It is not uncommon that an employee who receives your written request for something, such as for example a medical reimbursement, will simply ignore it if he believes it can't be done, if he believes - whether correctly or not - that your request is in error, or if you made a mistake. In such a case, he will not notify you, and it is up to you to follow up on your requests and contact them again. It may also happen that they don't confirm that your request was fulfilled, such as for example the cancellation of a standing order, in which case you'll have to phone them to find out whether or not it has been done. In general, I recommend keeping one file where you note all outstanding requests and their dates.

All the French Holidays

Links to Web Sites about France

RELATED SITES

My Mentor page about France at the Weekly Telegraph's Global Network site.

GOVERNMENT & LEGAL

Visiting France: Immigration information from the government. In English. NOTE: This site appears to ignore the Schengen Agreement that provides for free movement of residents of the Schengen zone (see above), and as such I must conclude that visa information on this site is not entirely reliable.
France Diplomatie: Government site about Foreign Affairs.
Citizens First: Factsheets about each country in the EU with immigration information from the European Commission.
Signpost: Ask questions about EU law to legal advisors. Provided free by the European Commission.
European laws database. Official site.
Legifrance: French laws. Government site.
French official journal. Government site.
Admi.net: French laws and Official Journal.
Jurifrance: French laws.
Service public. A government portal that explains a wealth of procedures for dealing with the public administration. Links to other government sites. Mainly in French.
Cerfa. Contains standard forms for download and print. Many of the forms the public administration may require you to fill in can be found here.
Direction Générale da la Concurrence, Consommation et Répression des Fraudes. Government site for competition, consumption and suppression of fraud. Online form to ask for help with consumer problems.
Sécurité sociale. A government portal that explains procedures for dealing with social security. Links to other government sites. In French.
Assurance Maladie. Official site. The French public medical insurance system.
ASSEDIC. Unemployment support. Official site.
CAF (Caisse d'Allocations Familiales): Social security family benefits. Official site.
URSSAF. URSSAF collects social security contributions from employers, be it individuals, self-employed or companies. Official site.
CNAV. General pension fund.
CNAVPL. Pension fund for liberal professions and freelancers.
CANAM. Pension fund for liberal professions and freelancers.
APCE (Agence Pour la Création d'Entreprises). Help and info for starting a business. Official site.
Ministry of the Interiour.
French tax information. Government site. Calculate your tax. Ask questions.
Conseil Régional d'Ile-de-France. Council of the greater Paris area. Official site.
Mairies de Paris. Paris City Halls. Official site.
Ministry of Justice.
Barreau de Paris. The Paris Bar.
Huissiers. Corresponds partially to bailiffs.

ADVERTS (PROPERTY, CARS, OTHER)

A louer. Property to let.
A vendre. Property to buy.
Appel Immo - le Parténaire Européen. Property to buy.
ARGUS. New and second hand car price index and adverts.
Autoplus. New and second hand car price index and adverts.
La Centrale. Cars and property.
De Particuliers à Particulier. Person to person. Property to buy and let.
E-annonces. Everything.
Entre Particuliers. Person to person. Property to buy and let.
Immobilier. Property to buy and let.
J'Annonce. Everything.
Se loger. Property to buy and let.
Yahoo France. Everything.

BANKING & FINANCE

Daily French exchange rates.
Association française des usagers des banques. French bank customers association. Interest rate overviews and more.
La Poste. The French equivalent of Girobank UK. Low fees.
Axa Banque. Online bank. Formerly Banque Directe. Does not take business clients.
Banque Covefi. High interest on savings accounts.
Banque Populaire. Good for small businesses.
Barclays Bank France. British bank.
BNP Paribas. Bank.
Caixa Bank France. Spanish bank.
CIC. Crédit Industriel et Commercial. Bank.
Citibank France. American bank.
Crédit Agricole. Bank.
Crédit Lyonnais. Bank.
Crédit Mutuel. Bank.
Egg France. British bank. Credit card specialist.
Fortis Banque. Good for small businesses.
ING Direct. Dutch bank. High interest on savings accounts.
Sofinco. Bank. Subsidiary of Crédit Agricole.
Euronext. Stock exchange news. In English and French.

INSURANCE

Direct Assurance. Insurance through phone or Internet. Low cost and low level of cover. Subsidiary of Axa.
AGF. 
Alptis. Health, accident, life etc.
Assurland. Comparison between several companies.
Aviva. 
Axa. One of the large insurance companies.
Azur. 
Eurofil. Insurance through phone or Internet.
Euroleader. 
Generali France. Italian company.
GMF. 
Groupama. 
La Mondiale. Health, accident, life etc.
Maaf. One of the large insurance companies.
Macif. One of the large insurance companies.
Maif. One of the large insurance companies.
Matmut. One of the large insurance companies.
MMA. One of the large insurance companies. Bought Winterthur France.
MFA. 
Web-assurance. Comparison between several companies.
Zurich. Swiss company.

BUSINESS

French American Chamber of Commerce.
APCE (Agence Pour la Création d'Entreprises). Help and info for starting a business. Official site.
L'association des Freelances en Europe. General site for freelancers.
01net. IT magazine.
L'automobile & l'entreprise. Focus on business car use.
Business in Europe. Expanding your European business from France.
CIGREF. Club Informatique des GRandes Entreprises Françaises.
Metro. Cash and Carry France. Large stores. Access for registered businesses only.

JOB SERVERS

01net. IT.
1000emplois.
Adhocinfo.
ANPE. The public job centre. Search facilities are very bad.
APEC.
Cadre emploi. For managerial staff and other qualified personnel.
Cadres online. For managerial staff and other qualified personnel.
Cybersearch.
Dynarel. IT, network and telecommunication.
Emailjob.
Emploi.biz.
Emploi.com.
Emploicenter.
Eurolead. IT freelance only.
Francejob. IT & engineering.
Freewin. IT freelance only.
Hitechpros. IT.
Infosearch.
Jobline.
Jobpilot.
La Guilde des métiers du logiciel . Software jobs.
Les pages emploi.
Michael Page.
Monster.
Rapidjob.
Stepstone.
Webcible.

POST & TELEPHONE

La Poste. French post. Order stamps online.
White pages.
Yellow pages.
Teleadapt. Adapters for foreign telephone plugs.
Iminitel. Free software to access Minitel at high speed from a PC.

Fixed line telephone operators
Universal Telecom. Low-cost operator. One of the cheapest. They use the Worldcom network.
Tele2. Low-cost operator.
Budget Telecom. Low-cost operator. Occasional drop-outs experienced.
France Télécom. The State operator.
9 Télécom. Low-cost operator. Consumer organisations receive many complaints about their agents' misselling and forcing.
Cegetel. Low-cost operator. Owner of SFR mobile. Aggressive selling by telephone, during which they postulate what is not true about their competitors.
IC Telecom. Dishonest low-cost operator. They promise free calls for customers who promote others, but they withdraw the free calls at will. After having been a customer for 3 years and promoted another client, they refused me the free calls worth 10 euros because I cancelled my contract 3 months later for other reasons. The offer did not stipulate any conditions.

Mobile telephone operators
Mobile: Bouygues Regularly criticised for bad customer service by a major consumer organisation. Personal experiences of bad customer service at repeated occasions during just a few months with two subscriptions. They may automatically add chargeable options against your wishes and they ignore the options you want. Calls to their customer service line may be charged at a high rate.
Mobile: Orange. France Télécom mobile. Regularly criticised for bad customer service by a major consumer organisation.
Mobile: SFR mobile phone service. Regularly criticised for bad customer service by a major consumer organisation. Calls to their customer service line is charged at the same rate as calls to mobile phones. Personal experiences of bad customer service at repeated occasions during more than 3 years with two subscriptions. Experiences of requests for cancellations of options being ignored whether notified by post or by phone.

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

Hints: If ADSL, then check if the connection speed is 128k, 512k or 1024k. Check if you can give notice at any time. Check cancellation fees. Check connection fees. Check if a modem is sold/rented and the cost. Check the cost of the helpline.

9 Télécom.
Worldonline / Tiscali.
Club Internet.
Tele2.
Aol.
Wanadoo. France Télécom Internet service. Summer 2002: Experiences of bad customer service and technical problems. Calls to help desk charged at 0.15 € per minute. Problems reported online or by e-mail either not answered or badly answered or at earliest answered after a couple of weeks.
Noos (May 2001: Performance problems reported. November 2001: Noos severely criticised for bad customer service, bad performance, bad quality and more by a major consumer organisation).
Free. They top the list of ADSL providers being complained about to the public regulator. Bad customer service. Their helpline is charged at 0.34 euros a minute, and waiting times may be 10-15 minutes. In case of an incident caused by themselves, they will not refund the cost of reporting the error. Neither will they keep you informed about the progress of resolution nor give you an incident number. Experienced a few losses of connection lasting 24 hours without prior warning. They shut down servers for maintenance as they like. Free e-mail support, but it may take them a month to reply.
SES-ASTRA. High-speed satellite Internet connection.

RADIO, TV & NEWSPAPERS

Goyona France. SECAM transcoders for TV and video.
Radio France.
Noos. Cable TV. (November 2001: Noos severely criticised for bad customer service, operational problems and more by a major consumer organisation). Note: The vast majority of the channels they broadcast are French.
TF1. French TV channel 1.
France 2. French TV channel 2.
France 3. French TV channel 3.
Canal +. French TV Canal Plus.
Arte. French TV Arte.
M6. French TV channel 6.
Télésatellite. Satellite TV magazine.
French News France's English language newspaper.
Living France Monthly magazine for lovers of France.
Fusac Parisian magazine for expats.
Paris Voice Parisian magazine for expats.
Riviera Reporter Riviera magazine in English.
Le Figaro newspaper.
Le Monde newspaper.

TRAVEL

Travelocity. Online booking through Sabre travel reservation system. Find the cheapest flights.
Ferry Information Service with driving and road information.
P&O Stena Dover-Calais ferries.
Seafrance Dover-Calais ferries.
Eurotunnel Folkestone-Calais.
RATP. Public transport in the Paris region. Official site.
Citéfutée. Public transport in the Paris region. Official site.
Plan du Déplacements Urbains d'Ile-de-France. Urban travel maps for the Paris region.
SNCF. Trains. Official site.
Rail Europe.
Air France.
Aéroports de Paris. Paris airports. Official site.
Europcar France. Car hire.
Sytadin. Road traffic in the Paris region minute for minute with interactive maps.
Michelin route planner for travel by car.
Mapquest route planner and worldwide maps for travel by car.
Maporama route planner and worldwide maps for travel by car.
Hotels and restaurants.
Bed & Breakfast Paris.
Accor hotels: Atria, Coralia, Etap, Formule 1, Ibis, Mercure, Motel 6, Novotel, Parthenon, Sofitel, Thalassa.
Envergure hotels: Balladins, Bleumarine (3 star), Campanile (economy), Clarine, Climat, Nuit, Première Classe (low cost basic).

OFFICE EQUIPMENT & STATIONERY

Metro. Cash and Carry France. Large stores. Access for registered businesses only.
JPG.
Bruneau. Delivery problem experienced.
Welcome Office.
Office Depot. Experienced problems with non-delivery, double charging, demands for payment of non-delivered article, bad customer service.
Viking Direct. A subsidiary of Office Depot, targeted at small businesses.

BOOKS, VIDEOS, CDs, COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE, HI-FI, PHOTO...

Metro. Cash and Carry France. Large stores. Access for registered businesses only.
Amazon France Computer software, English and French books. CDs, videos etc.
Virgin Megastore France CDs, videos etc.
FNAC Computer software & hardware, hi-fi, TV, photo, books, videos, CDs etc.
Surcouf Computer software & hardware, hi-fi, photo etc.
Rue du Commerce A bit of everything.
Alapage. Books, videos, CDs etc.
Auchan. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.
Carrefour. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.
Cora. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.
E. Leclerc. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.

DEPARTMENT STORES

BHV
Lafayette
Printemps

WHITE GOODS, HOUSEHOLD ELECTRONICS, HI-FI, TV...

Metro. Cash and Carry France. Large stores. Access for registered businesses only.
Boulanger. One of the large chain stores.
BUT. Low-cost.
Darty. One of the large chain stores.
Auchan. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.
Carrefour. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.
Cora. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.
E. Leclerc. One of the large chain stores. Also supermarket.

SUPERMARKETS ETC. (HYPERMARCHÉS, GRANDES SURFACES, SUPERMARCHÉS)

Metro. Cash and Carry France. Large stores. Access for registered businesses only.
Auchan. One of the large chain stores.
Carrefour. One of the large chain stores.
Cora. One of the large chain stores.
E. Leclerc. One of the large chain stores.
Casino. One of the medium-size chain stores.
Intermarché. One of the medium-size chain stores.
Match. One of the medium-size chain stores. Quality products.
Monoprix. One of the medium-size chain stores. Subsidiary of Casino.
Picard. Quality frozen food chain stores.
Nicolas. Wine and alcohol.
Ed. Low-cost low-quality chain stores.
Leader Price. Low-cost low-quality chain stores. Subsidiary of Casino.
Franprix. Low-cost low-quality chain stores. Subsidiary of Casino.
Penny Market. Small low-cost low-quality chain stores.

FURNITURE (MEUBLES)

Ameublement.com. Portal of furniture stores in France.
BUT. Low-cost.
Fly. Low-cost. Good quality.
Atlas. Medium cost. Good quality.
Crozatier. Luxury.
Ikea France. Swedish furniture. Medium cost. Medium quality.

DIY - DO-IT-YOURSELF (BRICOLAGE)

Castorama.
Leroy Merlin.
Bricorama.

CAR PARTS, ACCESSORIES AND MAINTENANCE

Midas.
Norauto.
Speedy.

WEATHER

Meteo.fr.
Meteoconsult.fr.
Yahoo weather France.

CULTURE

Paris-France. Official Paris site.
Citéfutée. Entertainment in the Paris region. Official site.
Magic Paris.
Paris.
Parissi.
Parisavenue.
Contemporary art guide and expositions.
Opéra de Paris. Opéra National de Paris - Opéra Bastille - Palais Garnier.
Cabaret Moulin Rouge. One of the famous Parisian cabarets.
Cabaret Crazy Horse. Another famous Parisian cabaret.
Cabaret Lido de Paris. Famous Parisian cabaret.
Cabaret Folies Bergère. Yet another famous Parisian cabaret.
Cabaret Vieux Berquin. Cabaret in the North, between Lille and Dunkerque. I recommend it.
Cabaret Folies de Paris. Cabaret in Lille in the North.

FAMILY AND PERSONAL

Yoopala Baby-sitter search.
Find-a-counsellor-in-france Find an English-speaking personal counsellor in France.

OTHER

Electricité de France
UFC - Que Choisir consumer association.