Erica

We are going to Provence this March and are concerned having our luggage stolen from the trunk of the car having heard so many warnings.. Since we don't have reservations at a hotel on some days (prefer to just find a hotel spontaneously etc.), where can we safely store our stuff? What about train stations? Or is that suspect too? Please tell!

greg

I doubt that Provence is any worse than many other places for theft but there are the usual rules to follow ie never leave anything visible in your car, always try and park somewhere in the open with good visibity, etc On foot, be careful anywhere there are crowds and bustle with a hign proportion of travellers, for example railway stations. Most theft in these types of areas relies on you being distracted so trying to be alert is good protection. We were robbed a couple of years ago on the platform at Avignon - the TGV pulled in, we needed to get to the right carriage with our luggage, lots of people were getting off and rushing for the exit . . . my wife felt a tug on her handbag but just thought it was being bumped by passers by but when we got to Paris her purse was missing. <BR>can I say though that these are common sense precautions - I don't think that you need to get too paranoid about theft. We have made several trips now and that is our only bad experience - and we have encoutered just the same sort of thing here in Australia

PB

Sadly, theft is on the rise here in Provence, particularly the larger cities and towns like Nice, Avignon, Arles and Aix. If you have a closed trunk, where nothing is visible, you shouldn't have a problem. Here is the list of precautions I send to friends and guests coming to Provence: <BR> <BR>1) Before you leave the rental car agency, make sure that you know how to operate the car door locks, window controls and hazard lights. Insist on being shown if they conveniently forget to tell you. (Oh, yes - and also ask where 'reverse' is.... since it is often different in each car) <BR> <BR>2) Drive with your car doors locked at all times (they don't automatically lock as they do in many American cars) and your windows open no more than a few inches while driving in large towns and cities. Frequently when stopped at traffic lights or on the side of the road to check maps, people have their car doors opened and their purses or bags stolen from within the car. The thieves escape on motor bikes. This is called "theft a l'italien" and happens more and more often on the Côte d'Azur, in Avignon, Arles and Aix-en-Provence. <BR>Don't leave cameras or bags on the back seat, and keep purses as far away from the doors as possible while driving. <BR> <BR>3) Never leave anything visible in your parked car, as they often smash windows and take whatever is available. This is particularly prevelant in St. Remy, by the way. <BR>A French newspaper lying on the seat does not make you look like a local when the plates are not from the area, which is often the case with a rental car. <BR> <BR>4) Do not leave your passport or other vital documents in your car trunk or glove compartment - ever. The best place to leave your passport is in the hotel safe deposit box. Carry a photocopy with you. <BR> <BR>5) Keep a photocopy of your passport, tickets and a list of your credit card numbers, including the numbers to call in case of theft, separate from your passport and tickets. <BR>You might also leave a copy of all of this information with a friend or relative back home - it can always be faxed to you in the event you need it. <BR> <BR>6) Should your ATM card not be returned by one of the bank machines, immediately have the bank retrieve it for you. If they cannot, or the bank is closed - immediately notify your bank in the US, by fax if possible. <BR>Try to have a four digit pin number - made up of numbers and not letters, as the machines here only have numbers marked on the key pads. You might think about bringing along at least two debit cards, since the strips on American cards sometimes get demagnetized, or for some reason they don't work in some of the machines here. <BR> <BR> <BR>A copy of your passport is very important because you need to prove that you are an American citizen in order to get a replacement (and a drivers license is of no use in this instance). <BR> <BR>I don't mean to cause alarm, but being aware of these things might just possibly save you some misery while on vacation. <BR> <BR>PB

Hans H

I don't know about their security but guarded parking parking places exist. I would pay the additional price to park there. Unfortunately they don't exist at all places you might want to stop (the beach for example). <BR> <BR>And one should keep in mind that a busy place at eight o'clock might get deserted around midnight. If you consider this a rather obvious idea, you are correct but fools like me tend to forget it.

Florence

Very good advice, PB, and not only for American tourists. Some of my Swiss friends were fools enough to leave their car unlocked in the street in Marseilles while having a drink at a terrasse. All their valuables were stolen just before their eyes by a couple of youngsters on a motorbike. By the time they were back home in Bern, one of them had his appartment burglarised with the stolen keys ...

Sue

One more caviat about ATMs. Use your card only during banking hours so that if the machine does eat it, you can immediately get it back from the bank. We used ours in Cannes the Saturday of a 3-day weekend, on our way to the Esterel. Even though we returned to Cannes on Tuesday, we were unable to get our card back because we had cancelled it immediately. Fortunately, we had an extra ATM card (one of those last-minute packing decisions), so the incident was simply a minor, not too costly, learning experience.

Capo

Back in 1994, while driving through a group of small towns in the Vaucluse area of Provence, my girlfriend & I parked our car in a carpark in a small town. We returned an hour later to find that it had been broken into but, fortunately, our luggage was in our hotel and we had taken EVERYTHING that was visible in the car with us (why they broke in I'm not sure, unless they thought something valuable might have been in the glove compartment.) <BR> <BR>Anyway, if you have any luggage with you, definitely put it in the trunk and, if you park in a carpark, try to take care of everything before you get there (in otherwords, don't be moving stuff from the inside of the car to the trunk once you park, in case someone's watching.)

Joel

Lived there and saw LOTS of thefts from cars. In our expat communities there were lots of stories and bad experiences. My wife and I never had anything stolen even though we toured frequently on vacation and weekends. We followed these practices. First, we stayed away from buying a BMW or Mercedes or any expensive car that looked like the trunk would be full of goodies. EVERY SINGLE ONE of our friends that drove deluxe vehicles was robbed, sometimes three time as in the case of a guy that had a nice radio (and a nice radio and a nice radio). Nobody robs a Peugeot 205, so don't get the expensive rental, stay with a vehicle made in France and bottom of the line. A plus is that every mechanic in France will be able to fix your car if needed, although we found our Peugeot to be outstanding. <BR>Second, limit what you bring. Stay with wash and wear and Woolite. I travel to France on business now and never need more than my roll-aboard. That means that when you get to your hotel you can take it all inside with you when you first leave your car. The thieves often grab stuff out of cars while you are signing the register and before you come out to get the rest of your baggage. Most hotels do not have bellboys or security. <BR>Third, if I am driving somewhere for the day, let's say to tour a chateau, I ensure that everything goes inside with me, even though that means I must commit the outrage that so many posters here fear--to look to be a tourist---I wear a small backpack. I'd like to hang onto my Nikon, thank you! <BR>So, 2 years in France, no thefts.

PB

"" Use your card only during banking hours so that if the machine does eat it, you can immediately get it back from the bank."" <BR> <BR>Unfortunately, not all banks have access to the machines, for security reasons - even if the machine is just outside the bank. They will have small notices near the machine saying <BR>"la banque n'a pas d'acces a ce distributeur" <BR> <BR>PB

Sue

Thanks, PB. Just one more thing to keep in mind. Fortunately, the bank in Cannes did have access, so at least we knew it hadn't been spit out to someone else.