Brits in France…

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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al_yrpal
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Brits in France…

Post by al_yrpal »

… please help!

Its usually France I do a summer tour in. Can any of you guys who are living in France advise the best French mobile simm to get, particularly with a large data allowance for surfing the web and navigating a bit when camping? Also a simm that you can cross European borders with and still get good value?

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
TonyR
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by TonyR »

If you get a Three UK SIM, your package also covers you in France, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Norway and Finland as well as the USA and Australia. So if you have the unlimited data and calls package you'll have unlimited data and calls in France at no additional cost.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by al_yrpal »

Ah! But I have just decided to dispense with expensive contracts and gone Three PAYG 321,thats 3p a minute for calls, 2p for a text and 1p a megabyte for data and it never expires like most PAYG deals do after 3 months. I shall either keep my HTC One which is now end of contract and free, or go for the new 4G Motorola G. Contracts - never again, thus I need a French/European simm solution.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
TonyR
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by TonyR »

The Three arrangement works with their PAYG SIMs too. You pay the same rate as you would in the UK for calls or data.

With Feel At Home you can use your allowances to call and text the UK and use your data and it won't cost you a penny more. You can enjoy Feel At Home whether you're on Pay Monthly or Pay As You Go, using a tablet, phone, mobile Wi-Fi or dongle.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by al_yrpal »

The 321 tariff and unlimited data packages are not available on a data SIM, so obviously they can't be used in a Feel At Home country either. Might temporarily get one of their other simms for temporary use…

But, I am sure there are good French based solutions too

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Ayesha
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by Ayesha »

"We few. We happy few. We band of brothers."
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simonineaston
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by simonineaston »

Al_yrpal, if you want more info. on this topic, you can try the AngloInfo forums - they've been helpful in the past back when I was a more frequent visitor to Brittany.
http://brittany.angloinfo.com/forum
I've had simple talk-only PAYG SIMs I've bought over there too, but can't recall enough detail to be any help to you... :shock:
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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al_yrpal
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by al_yrpal »

Thanks Simon, most helpful as per usual..

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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simonineaston
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by simonineaston »

No Prob.s - I used to read their forum threads for fun at lunchtimes - lots for interesting insights into Brittany - fete dates and wotnot; the occasional amusing tirade from English ex-pats complaining about the French food... "and guess what, you can't get a decent sausage, and you won't believe the trouble I have buying Marmite!" and so on... :lol:
Also lots of heads-ups on the subject of ferry crossings too.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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al_yrpal
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by al_yrpal »

Simon, when I was cycling around in May I came across a 'Marmite' store in Quintin packed with everything English. The window displays were amazing! Here it is...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.40329 ... !2e0?hl=en

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
pete75
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by pete75 »

simonineaston wrote:No Prob.s - I used to read their forum threads for fun at lunchtimes - lots for interesting insights into Brittany - fete dates and wotnot; the occasional amusing tirade from English ex-pats complaining about the French food... "and guess what, you can't get a decent sausage, and you won't believe the trouble I have buying Marmite!" and so on... :lol:
Also lots of heads-ups on the subject of ferry crossings too.


Just had a look and seems a little strange - thread headed "Why are there no Iceland stores in France" - because the French have some regard for food quality perhaps...
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
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simonineaston
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by simonineaston »

pete75 wrote:Just had a look and seems a little strange - thread headed "Why are there no Iceland stores in France" - because the French have some regard for food quality perhaps...

I know! I've always been slightly puzzled by that kind of discussion - I'd have thought one goes to live in France because one likes the French and most of the things that go with being French, for example, a regard for traditonal local food. If on the other hand one likes, say, steamed white bread, Walls sausages, baked beans and Marmite etc.etc. (amongst other things!) then where better to live than somewhere they're easily available. Why bother to uproot yourself and family only to discover you've left all things precious behind in Blighty? Nothing against Iceland, I'm sure, but I might say that moving to a country where the brand is unheard of was a positive advantage!! N'owt so strange as (English ex-pat) folk, as they say!
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
francovendee
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by francovendee »

You could take a look at 'Free.fr' . We're on their minimum tariff at €2 per month. We get free unlimited texts and calls to mobile or land lines in France but limited to 2 hours to a UK land line. We also get a very small amount of data, 50 megabyte. Normally this is enough for us and if you go over it's not terribly expensive. Snag is it has to be paid by direct debit from a French account. They have other deals but I don't think they do PAYG.
It may still be possible to get a PAYG sim from 'Leclerc'. It used to cost €1.50 per month, taken out of your credit. The sim cost €10 but you had €5 credit on the phone. I'm not sure what Data allowance you get if any.
The system here is 'use it or lose it', credit on a PAYG phone, unlike the UK, doesn't last indefinitely and would run out each month.
Until this year I never bothered and carried on with T mobile UK sim, I Now have a dual sim phone so can have both.
andy_l
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by andy_l »

I've used a Bouygues Telecom prepaid SIM: http://www.laboutique.bouyguestelecom.fr/offres-mobiles/carte-prepayee.html on 'Formule 24/24'. I bought it one of their (many) shops. I could never get the online top-up website to work though (neither could the shop staff), and it wouldn't accept either of my credit cards when topping-up over the phone. So I ended up buying a top-up 'voucher' for 20 euros and just about managed to cope with the top-up process on the phone, in French (and my French is not bad). Much easier to get the nice young person in the shop to do it for you....
Internet is 300MB over 7/10 days or 1 month, or more, depending on how much you pay.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Brits in France…

Post by al_yrpal »

Having investigated TonyR's advice further. It seems that as a 321 payg customer, I can get an add on fo various trips we are planning to France US and Oz.

"The Feel At Home offer can be used on PAYG but you'll need to have an All in One bundle. Adding this bundle won't tie you into any form of contract: you're still on the 321 tariff (only with a 30 day bundle extra on the account). If you don't renew the bundle or if you use up the allowances included in the bundle, you'll pay the normal rates of 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB when inside the UK. You can get a SIM card from Three via this link."

So, a tenner for any visit abroad really. Sounds like a bargain!

Thanks Tony..
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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