On 31 Oct 2004 15:45:30 GMT, wrote:

Ralph Jones wrote:
Don't forget what "Service Compris" means...;-)

Please help me! I don't have my French/English dictionary yet!


Couple of other items:

Don't bother with travelers' checks. ATMs are everywhere, they work
exactly like ours, and they give you the best exchange rate. The Euro
is about $1.25 now. Keep your ATM card buried under a couple of layers
of clothing, especially around tourist attractions.

Waiters don't bring your check until you ask for it. Coffee comes
after the meal.

When spending foreign currency, there's a tendency to just hand over a
bill for everything, which results in collecting loads of coins. Be
sure to spend out the small ones before you leave, because most
Stateside currency exchanges won't take anything smaller than the
one-Euro coin.

But keep some change handy all the time, because pay toilets are
everywhere. You get what you pay for: they're sparklng clean. Some of
the railroad stations give you a choice of the free johns, or pay
johns provided by a concessionaire called Relais. Relais is worth it.

If you have any appreciation for the Impressionists, don't miss the
Musee d'Orsay. The Louvre, of course, goes without saying.

Ralph