Annecy city-center, long-and-short term parking, 24-hour access.
Feb 19th, 2015, 06:10 PM
#22
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I've decided I don't want to rely on street meter parking, unless it's a last resort. I want to park my car at the P6 garage, Parking Chateau, just around the corner from my apartment.
I called the Annecy tourist office and spoke to two women. Their English is limited. They both did not know the answer to my questions and suggested I call the Annecy Parkings (04.50.33.87.99) Office. I called them, but no English.
It looks to me like a "Forfaits de stationnement" will work for my needs, but I could use some help figuring out how this process will work. The P6 garage is closed between 1AM-7AM, but if I understood the guy at Annecy Parking Office correctly, a Forfait allows me to exit the garage during closing hours, but it does not allow me to re-enter until the garage re-opens at 7 AM. I would like to confirm this here on Fodor's. I believe there is no package available to a tourist that permits 24/7 come-and-go access at this garage.
The Forfaits come in 3 packages: 1 week-end package (starts at 10 PM on Friday and goes to Monday morning at 7), 3-days package, and a 5-days package. The brochure says, "Forfaits are determined from date-to-date, except for the week-end." So I assume that means a 3-day or a 5-day package does not include a week-end package. Am I correct?
I will arrive at the P6 garage on a Thursday morning around 11 AM. The week-end package starts at 10 PM on Friday. I will be leaving Annecy on the following Thursday before 11 AM. Does this mean I need to purchase a 3-day package for my arrival day, a week-end package for the week-end, and then another 3-day package to cover the last 3 days of my visit?
Also, how does the Forfait work? Do I receive a card that inserts in some machine? What do I do when I want to leave the garage at 4:30 AM? Do I pay any additional money for parking beyond the package fee?
Thanks to everyone who is trying to help me sort this out.
I called the Annecy tourist office and spoke to two women. Their English is limited. They both did not know the answer to my questions and suggested I call the Annecy Parkings (04.50.33.87.99) Office. I called them, but no English.
It looks to me like a "Forfaits de stationnement" will work for my needs, but I could use some help figuring out how this process will work. The P6 garage is closed between 1AM-7AM, but if I understood the guy at Annecy Parking Office correctly, a Forfait allows me to exit the garage during closing hours, but it does not allow me to re-enter until the garage re-opens at 7 AM. I would like to confirm this here on Fodor's. I believe there is no package available to a tourist that permits 24/7 come-and-go access at this garage.
The Forfaits come in 3 packages: 1 week-end package (starts at 10 PM on Friday and goes to Monday morning at 7), 3-days package, and a 5-days package. The brochure says, "Forfaits are determined from date-to-date, except for the week-end." So I assume that means a 3-day or a 5-day package does not include a week-end package. Am I correct?
I will arrive at the P6 garage on a Thursday morning around 11 AM. The week-end package starts at 10 PM on Friday. I will be leaving Annecy on the following Thursday before 11 AM. Does this mean I need to purchase a 3-day package for my arrival day, a week-end package for the week-end, and then another 3-day package to cover the last 3 days of my visit?
Also, how does the Forfait work? Do I receive a card that inserts in some machine? What do I do when I want to leave the garage at 4:30 AM? Do I pay any additional money for parking beyond the package fee?
Thanks to everyone who is trying to help me sort this out.
Feb 20th, 2015, 03:51 AM
#23
All of the car parks work with credit card sized paper tickets with a magnetic strip. As long as they are valid you keep using them -- if additional payment is required, it will be indicated on the parking machine.
May 31st, 2015, 05:54 AM
#24
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A special thank you to jpie, who was extremely helpful to me on this thread. The Forfaits saved my trip, for sure. The owner of my apartment did not know about them, but she went to the garage to inquire, and she scanned the garage application and sent me a PDF. I had a friend who speaks French do the translation, and I went on my trip armed with the necessary paperwork almost completed.
The garage parking/paying process in Annecy is nothing like an American garage. I had to stop strangers and ask if they spoke English to figure the system out.
Parking on the metered street near my apartment was impossible, due to construction. Half of the available spaces were being used as a traffic lane, so the demand for the remaining spaces was felt by everyone trying to park on the street. The Forfait made it possible to park my car safely for 3 days and come and go as I please.
If you're parking a car without a Forfait, and you're just using an ordinary ticket, you get that ticket after you press the ticket-release button, which comes from the machine at the driver's window at the car's driveway entrance to the garage. The gate opens, and you drive in to find a space. When you want to exit the garage, you must find the "pay" machine, which looks like a vending machine. In my case, the pay machine was about 50 feet from the car entrance, and it was positioned near a pedestrian walkway entrance.
A stranger who spoke English told me how to use the pay machine. You insert your ticket, and the amount you owe appears on the digital readout. You can pay that amount in coins, bills, and credit cards. It helps if you study the face of the machine before you begin the process. I believe you can select English for the digital instructions that appear on the screen, but the instructions on the face of the machine are in French. It takes a minute or two to figure it all out. After you've paid, the machine will release your ticket, and you use that ticket to exit the garage.
I asked the stranger what if it takes you some time to get your car ready to exit, like unloading grocery bags, luggage, etc. She said she thought there was a 20-minute grace period from the time you pay to the time you actually put your paid ticket in the machine at the exit ramp, but she wasn't sure. It's on odd system and certainly not intuitive to an American tourist.
To exit, you simply follow the exit arrows, and when you find yourself just before the exit gate, you stick your paid ticket into the machine, the machine reads it, gives it back to you, and the gate opens. Once you figure it out, it's easy.
Using the Forfait is a little different. You get the Forfait from a garage attendant, and you're required to fill out the application. My garage attendant spoke a little English. I was a little late to arriving at the garage, so he changed my arrival time on the application. He also added my car make and license plate number.
The attendant gives you the Forfait ticket, and it looks exactly like the ticket you get when you enter the garage. If you entered the garage before you purchased your Forfait, the attendant will rip up the that ticket. Your Forfait is your new ticket, and you don't want to lose it.
To exit the garage with a Forfait, simply drive up to the exit ramp machine and insert your Forfait ticket into the machine. The machine reads it and spits it out back at you. You take it and the gate opens. You no longer need to visit the pay machine.
To enter the garage with the Forfait, you simply drive up to the entrance machine box, and instead of pressing the ticket-release button, you insert your Forfait ticket, the machine reads it and releases it back to you, you take it and the gate opens.
The Forfait allowed me to sleep well at night, knowing my car was parked safely and in a private space. I exited the garage at 4:30 AM on several mornings, and never had any problems doing so when there was no attendant on duty. You also have to keep in mind the lunch time. The attendant's office is closed during lunch hours.
The garage parking/paying process in Annecy is nothing like an American garage. I had to stop strangers and ask if they spoke English to figure the system out.
Parking on the metered street near my apartment was impossible, due to construction. Half of the available spaces were being used as a traffic lane, so the demand for the remaining spaces was felt by everyone trying to park on the street. The Forfait made it possible to park my car safely for 3 days and come and go as I please.
If you're parking a car without a Forfait, and you're just using an ordinary ticket, you get that ticket after you press the ticket-release button, which comes from the machine at the driver's window at the car's driveway entrance to the garage. The gate opens, and you drive in to find a space. When you want to exit the garage, you must find the "pay" machine, which looks like a vending machine. In my case, the pay machine was about 50 feet from the car entrance, and it was positioned near a pedestrian walkway entrance.
A stranger who spoke English told me how to use the pay machine. You insert your ticket, and the amount you owe appears on the digital readout. You can pay that amount in coins, bills, and credit cards. It helps if you study the face of the machine before you begin the process. I believe you can select English for the digital instructions that appear on the screen, but the instructions on the face of the machine are in French. It takes a minute or two to figure it all out. After you've paid, the machine will release your ticket, and you use that ticket to exit the garage.
I asked the stranger what if it takes you some time to get your car ready to exit, like unloading grocery bags, luggage, etc. She said she thought there was a 20-minute grace period from the time you pay to the time you actually put your paid ticket in the machine at the exit ramp, but she wasn't sure. It's on odd system and certainly not intuitive to an American tourist.
To exit, you simply follow the exit arrows, and when you find yourself just before the exit gate, you stick your paid ticket into the machine, the machine reads it, gives it back to you, and the gate opens. Once you figure it out, it's easy.
Using the Forfait is a little different. You get the Forfait from a garage attendant, and you're required to fill out the application. My garage attendant spoke a little English. I was a little late to arriving at the garage, so he changed my arrival time on the application. He also added my car make and license plate number.
The attendant gives you the Forfait ticket, and it looks exactly like the ticket you get when you enter the garage. If you entered the garage before you purchased your Forfait, the attendant will rip up the that ticket. Your Forfait is your new ticket, and you don't want to lose it.
To exit the garage with a Forfait, simply drive up to the exit ramp machine and insert your Forfait ticket into the machine. The machine reads it and spits it out back at you. You take it and the gate opens. You no longer need to visit the pay machine.
To enter the garage with the Forfait, you simply drive up to the entrance machine box, and instead of pressing the ticket-release button, you insert your Forfait ticket, the machine reads it and releases it back to you, you take it and the gate opens.
The Forfait allowed me to sleep well at night, knowing my car was parked safely and in a private space. I exited the garage at 4:30 AM on several mornings, and never had any problems doing so when there was no attendant on duty. You also have to keep in mind the lunch time. The attendant's office is closed during lunch hours.
