I read somewhere that Post Offices in France have internet facilities that can be used for an hourly fee. Does anyone tried this?

I have not tried the Post Offices in France for internet access. Where in France will you travel? In the larger cities like Paris internet cafes are everywhere. In Caen I found one also. In Bayeux I think I was limited to a kiosk machine at the tourist office (did not try it).<BR><BR>If you are American, watch out for the key placement on French computer keyboards: numerous keys are in different places than on US keyboards. Touch typists can get particularly frustrated. Note that some of the internet cafes have US keyboards but may charge higher fees than other cafes.<BR> <BR>Andrew<BR>

Never was in a French PO. However, France is lousy with internet access. It is everywhere, in hotel lobbies, in Virgin Record Stores. Places you might not think to look - so check those out also.<BR><BR>Buzzee

<BR><BR>You might be thinking of the proprietary &quot;Minitel&quot; system the French have. There is usually a Minitel terminal a in post office, but I am not sure if they connect to the internet. <BR><BR>It may also be the case that French post offices now do have specific internet facilities.

<BR><BR>Apparently the Minitel system does connect to the internet.<BR><BR>&quot;Minitel to lose dominance in France&quot; (August 14, 2001) <BR><BR>http://www.e-gateway.net/infoarea/news/news.cfm?nid=1793<BR><BR>&quot;Forrester Research predicts that the predominance of Minitel in France will fade away over the next five years.<BR>A third of French consumers, or 15 million people, still use Minitel to go online, but PC-based Internet access is growing. Twenty-two percent of French consumers had PC Internet access at the end of 2000, up from 13 percent in 1999.<BR><BR>Many French consumers are wary of the PC Internet because of security issues, and because the PC Internet is seen as not being ‘French’ enough.&quot;<BR> <BR>

There are approximately 1,000 post offices in France with internet access for the public. They are mainly in large metropolitan areas. The plan is to gradually equip all Frenc POs with internet service. I haven't used one yet, but have seen a couple in Paris and Bordeaux. Anyway, as others have mentioned, internet caf&eacute;s are everywhere in France and can be used for very little money in most places. Last time I used one was before the introduction of the euro, and I paid about 30 francs for an hour's use - in a small town in the Dordogne.

If anyone is interested. I found an Internet access in Paris this fall that also had the english keyboards. Neat, clean and newer machines.<BR><BR>Located a couple of blocks behind the Patheon.<BR><BR>@edimicro.net<BR>29, rue Descartes<BR>75005 Paris<BR>Metro: Cardinal Lemoine

What about internet access in London? Do they have cyber cafes and what do they cost?

London: I'm sure they still have plenty of internet cafes though I haven't visited in two years now. I used the huge EasyEverything (orange, same as EasyJet) Cafes there in 2000. I also used them in Amsterdam and Paris in 2002 but in Paris the keyboards are French. EasyEverything is probably your cheapest bet but don't expect much service. Their cafe prices vary depending on how busy the cafe is. If you go at a slow time, you can get a lot of time for a pound.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

Phyllis ,<BR>When I am in London I use the EasyEverything cafe next door to the Sainsbury's near the Tottenham Court Road Tube station.( Row upon row of computers.) But there are others that I have not been inside. <BR>As someone has already mentioned ,the cost per hour varies with the time of day. I tend to use the cafes between 9 AM and Noon.<BR>The least amount I paid this past October was 25p per hour on a Sunday morning.<BR>The term 'cafe' is misleading these days. A couple of years ago 'my' EasyEverything served coffee and snacks( one had to order it from a counter), but that service is no longer there. There may be a soft drink machine but I didn't notice one. <BR>People do bring their own refreshments .<BR>But be warned, there are NO restrooms on site.<BR>

Cybe Cube in Paris is great, right off of Blvd St Germain near the Latin Quarter. Cheap and easy to use. <BR>If you just put cyber cafes into your Google search you will find them all.

<BR>I had a MUCH easier time finding cyercafes in London than Paris. Never even thought to check in post offices in Paris.

We could only find internet access in Honfleur in Normandy at the post office. We, however, had great difficulty in getting it to work and finally gave up so our experience was not the best. Everywhere else we had no trouble finding an internet cafe and even had access in the lobby of our own hotel in Paris.

France Telecom issues a &quot;Telecarte&quot;, which can be purchased in Metro and train stations and sometimes at hotels. It's the size of a credit card and has an embedded chip - they come come pre-loaded with a certain number of units and can be used in the Tourist Bureau computers and in most hotel computers - possibly also the Post Office ones, although I have never used those myself.

Hi<BR><BR>The French PO system works well.<BR>I used it (with cybercafes) for 6 months whilst searching for property.<BR>That was end 1999 and it is now much more widespread.<BR>You can read more about it here : http://tlp.netfirms.com/tour7.htm<BR><BR>Peter<BR><BR><BR>

Last time I was in Paris 18 months ago, I used an Easy Internet Cafe on Rue de la Harpe which was next door to my hotel. I thought they had other locations in Paris as well at that time. I have been trying to find out if they have one near where I am staying on my trip (Hotel Muget near Rue Cler) next week and Paris is not listed on the Easy Internet site. Have they closed in Paris? Any one know?

Internet access is EVERYWHERE! At least that is my humble opinion. I've found it everywhere we've been since '98. My son has been emailing us from Iraq since Feb, but then he is a Field Network Adminstrator with the USMC. I've sort of entered the &quot;twilight zone&quot; and assume that you can get a hold of anyone via email if you really need to.

Cyber Cafe search engine:
http://cybercaptive.com/

Also of interest:
http://www.easyeverything.com/news/s...ostOffice.html

carrolldf - The web site referenced by Brimham Rocks lists Cyber Cube on rue de l'Exposition. That is where I went a few times when I stayed very close to Rue Cler about a year ago.
Mara

Mara, thanks. That's what I needed to know. I haven't stayed in this area before so wasn't familiar with what would be near.

I finally decided to google on the EasyInternet site (why didn't I think of that sooner). Although Paris isn't shown in the drop down list of cities, google found the Paris locations and it looks like a new 500 seat EasyInternet was supposed to open on Champs Elysee in 2002.