Forgot to say , it arrived here in New York state, and I had put the "USA" after the state name..

Sorry taconictraveler, I use the site in French. However, you should see the word <i>francais</i> on the upper most part of your browser which, when selected, should display the word English which changes the site to English.

Similarly with the Lebara SIM installed, your phones default voice functions (voice mail etc.) can be changed to English as well.

Congratulations! Glad you got your card. Hope mine comes soon.

Well, so far having the Lebara sim card is not doing me much good. I have registered the new phone number up to a point, but I cannot top it up without the security code, which I can't get from them, because my European Nokia phone is not picking up a network, ergo, I cannot get the SMS text message they have sent to the phone, containing the security code?

HMMM - I wonder if I give them my US cell phone number if they would send it there, hmmmm???

Unless anyone has any ideas, I am on the horns of a dilemma, which of course, can be solved once we reach CDG!!

SARASTRO: any ideas of what I can do? I've tried to go back to the screen where I started the activation process, where I think there was a space for an alternate phone number, but I can't get back there now, it is all automatic.

I've sent them an email, so maybe I'll get a reply.... let's see....

Register it when you get to France. You may receive an SMS as soon as you arrive. So far, the SIM shipments to the USA, Canada, and Australia have been under the radar so I doubt there will be any official support from Lebara until you actually arrive in France.

Complaining about free SIMs or asking for resolution before you are in France may jeopardize future shipments.

OK, good thought. I'll just wait til I get to CDG.

I may have a valid, leftover German SIM card I no longer need taconictraveler. If it's still valid I can just give it to you. Let me check on the card when I get home tomorrow. I may be out your way over the weekend.

Since I never got the Lebara SIM I ordered on line twice, I arrived in Paris four days ago with my little unlocked phone and high hopes for finding one at Relay or some tabac or other phone provider. First stop was the Relay at CDG, then one at Gare de Lyon. They both said that Relay only recharges Lebara and doesn't actually sell the SIM cards. Next up was FNAC where they were very nice but had nothing to offer at a low cost. After that I wandered into a Darty and several other tabacs with no success. The next day we went to Lyon where I also checked with a few tabacs who did not sell the Lebara SIMs.

Then I had the good fortune to go into The Phone House store on Rue Victor Hugo near our hotel. There a charmante mademoiselle fixed me up with a Carte Bouygues Nomad V5 kit for €5 for the SIM card and another €15 for a one-month activation. She also activated the phone and tested it for me. I think she took pity on this "femme d'un certain age" who obviously was not very au courant with phone technology.

So, TaconicTraveler, if you have no luck with Lebara, perhaps this would work out for you. We're in France now and the phone works very well. The Phone House is a chain with over 300 stores in France. http://www.phonehouse.fr/magasins.php

Bon voyage!

Phonehouse at one time carried Lebara SIMs which is where I first became familiar with Lebara. I am surprised that you had such difficulty obtaining a Lebara SIM as they are widely available, the last one I purchased was from a magazine store within the métro. The easiest way to find Lebara is by looking for their blue logo which outlets selling their products usually display on their front windows.

The downside to your solution MaineGG is what you will pay per minute but just finding a solution is all many people will need.

Woops, glad I looked. MaineGG, I laughed at the "femme d'un certain age" cuz I am certainly that.

We are off tomorrow to Paris, and I needed this info. from you and Sarastro. Thanks to you both.
I have the sim card, cuz as you will remember, it actually came in the mail.

I can't set it up, cuz my son tells me, it doesn't recognize the (what) signal? provider? whatever!
I think I'll try the Relay shop to see if they will set it up. Other wise I'll go to the Phone House. I just printed out the nearest location to the Ile Saint-Louis, which is on BoulMich, at Maubert-Mutualite.

Hope your trip is great MaineGG. I love people from Maine. We go a lot cuz our best friends retired there!!

TT - I love people from Maine, too. I married one of them, but even though I have been going there for many years and living there for more than ten years, I'm still "from away." Good luck with the phone. Hope you have a great trip. Look forward to your trip report.

Sarastro - You're absolutely right. I just needed a solution and didn't want to spend much more precious time in France looking for one. The way I figure it, I have paid €20 for 21 days of mobile service in France, or less than €1 per day. I probably won't make enough phone calls to run out of time, and anyone who needs to reach us by phone can do so. Thanks again for your helpful advice.

OK so here is our experience: arrived at CDG, and had a very ggod driver from Shuttle-Inter ( thanks , GraceJoan!)
However he asked if we could please not waste too much time as he was solidly booked for the day, so we went in to Paris.
Later we went to BHV where our hotel thought we could organize the phone. (we had a fee sim card mailed to us in US by LEBARA)
No luck at BHV, who passed us on to a phone shop on Francois Miron in the 4th. (nearby to where we were)
No on seemed interested in LEBARA, but I wanted to use it cuz I gave that phone number to a few people. then we were directed to a tabac, where two guys said "pas de probleme" and the young bar guy simply took my phone, hit a few keys, then asked for my number, called the number, and my phone rang. so, then I bought some time and now have an operative phone!!
so my conclusion is that it is, as we lawyers say: "Sui generis."
JUST keep trying and keep asking which is what I did in my limited French!

Great information. Bookmarking.

Great!! So happy to hear you were successful in getting your phone up and running. Would love to know the name and location of that tabac for future reference. My problem, though, seems to have been that none of the tabacs I asked actually sold or provided Lebara SIM cards - just recharges. Do you know if you could have bought a SIM card there too?

maineGG: somehow I don't think so. the tabac was on rue Francois Miron, a street parallel to rue de Rivoli in the 4 th, east of two restaurants we liked: Bourguignon du Marais, and Fuxia (which was actually Italian-ish, but v.v.good pastas and salads) right next to each other.

whoops, I mean west not east.

There's a store finder link on the Lebara site:

http://store.lebara-mobile.fr/storef...=en-GB&search=

PA - The storefinder does not work for me. When I put in an address on Boul. Diderot 75012 it tells me 'no results' even when I broaden the distance to 10km.

We got home from Paris last night. This morning we picked up our mail and there was my SIM card from Lebara!

On their website, Lebara says that they will block the card after 90 days with no use, and that it will not be able to be reactivated. So I guess I can't keep the card for a future trip. Hoping to have better luck getting one in time for my trip next spring.

TT - How did your Lebara card work out?