 Before You Leave & Arriving
Before you leave. Our favorite guidebook is Eyewitness-Paris published by Dorling Kindersley. Of course, there always is the old faithful Guide Michelin. If you can read French, buy the Wednesday edition of «Le Figaro». It has a magazine, called «Figaroscope», that lists all the weekly happenings in and around Paris.
Another good site is ViaMichelin an interactive map and travel site with links to restaurants and hotels in each Paris «arrondisement».
Arriving. One of your first stops upon arriving in Paris should be at any news kiosk to purchase the most recent edition of PariScope. This weekly magazine has all the current happenings in Paris. A new edition comes out each Wednesday.
Other than at airports and some train stations where you sometimes can use a VISA or MasterCard to pay for a phone, call most public telephones in France require a «telecarte» to make calls. Except in bars and restaurants where you see a sign "Pointe Téléphone" you can use change. You can buy a telecarte at any «tabac»
(tobacco shop) typically marked with a red sign, «Tabac». Just ask for a «telecarte». They come with either 50 units for about €5, or 100 units for about €10. We suggest buying the
€5 version. You can use the «telecarte» to call to the U.S. from a payphone or at your hotel. Many locations now sell prepaid telephone cards that provide very reasonable calling rate to the U.S. and other countries in Europe.
  
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