Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [308]
American Church in Paris (Map; 01 40 62 05 00; www.acparis.org; 65 quai d’Orsay, 7e; Invalides) Nondenominational Protestant.
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Map; 01 42 45 29 29; 64-66 rue de Romainville, 19e; Porte des Lilas) Mormon.
First Church of Christ Scientist (Map; 01 47 07 26 60; 36 blvd St-Jacques, 14e; St-Jacques) Christian Scientist.
Mosquée de Paris (Map; 01 45 35 97 33; www.mosquee-de-paris.org, in French; 2bis place du Puits de l’Ermite, 5e; Censier Daubenton or Place Monge) Muslim.
St Joseph’s Catholic Church (Map; 01 42 27 28 56; www.stjoeparis.org; 50 av Hoche, 8e; Charles de Gaulle-Étoile) Roman Catholic.
Sri Manikar Vinayakar Temple (Map; 01 40 34 21 89; 72 rue Philippe de Girard, 18e; Marx Dormoy) Hindu.
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POST
Most post offices (bureaux de poste) in Paris are open from 8am to 7pm weekdays and 8am or 9am till noon on Saturday. Tabacs (tobacconists) usually sell postage stamps.
The main post office (Map; www.laposte.fr, in French; 52 rue du Louvre, 1er; 24hr; Sentier or Les Halles), five blocks north of the eastern end of the Musée du Louvre, is open round the clock, but only for basic services such as sending letters and picking up poste restante mail (window 11; €0.54 per letter). Other services, including currency exchange, are available only during regular opening hours. Be prepared for long queues after 7pm and at the weekend. Poste restante mail not specifically addressed to a particular branch post office will be delivered here. There is a one-hour closure from 6.20am to 7.20am Monday to Saturday and from 6am to 7am on Sunday.
Each arrondissement has its own five-digit postcode, formed by prefixing the number of the arrondissement with ‘750’ or ‘7500’ (eg 75001 for the 1er arrondissement, 75019 for the 19e). The only exception is the 16e, which has two postcodes: 75016 and 75116. All mail to addresses in France must include the postcode. Cedex (Courrier d’Entreprise à Distribution Exceptionelle) simply means that mail sent to that address is collected at the post office rather than delivered to the door.
Domestic letters weighing up to 20/50g cost €0.55/0.88. Postcards and letters up to 20/50g sent within the EU cost €0.65/1.25 and €0.85/1.70 to the rest of the world.
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RADIO
You can pick up a mixture of the BBC World Service and BBC for Europe in Paris on 648 kHz AM. The Voice of America (VOA) is on 1197 kHz AM and 96.9 MHz FM. You can pick up an hour of Radio France Internationale (RFI) news in English three times a day (7am, 2.30pm and 4.30pm) on 738 kHz AM.
Pocket-sized short-wave radios and the internet make it easy to keep abreast of world news in English wherever you are. The BBC World Service can be heard on 6195 kHz, 9410 kHz and 12095 kHz (a good daytime frequency), depending on the time of day. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts on 198 kHz LW, and carries BBC World Service programming in the wee hours of the morning. The VOA broadcasts in English at various times of the day on 7170 kHz, 9535 kHz, 9760 kHz, 9770 kHz, 11805 kHz, 15205 kHz and 15255 kHz.
The following are some of the more popular French-language radio stations:
FIP (105.1MHz FM) Eclectic mix of musical genres, with some news and cultural info; a favourite with Parisians and part of France Inter.
France Info (105.5 MHz FM; www.france-info.com) Operates 24-hour, all-news radio.
France Inter (87.8 MHz FM; www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/accueil) Talk-back station specialising in music, news and entertainment.
Paris Jazz (88.2 MHz FM; www.comfm.com/live/radio/parisjazz) Jazz and blues.
Radio FG (98.2 MHz FM; www.radiofg.com) The station for house, techno, garage, trance, club news and gigs.
Radio Nova (101.5 MHz FM; www.novaplanet.com) Latino, clubs, modern beats.
TSF (89.9 MHz FM; www.tsfjazz.com) Popular jazz station.
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RELOCATING
If you’re considering moving to Paris and you are not a citizen of the EU you must have both a carte de séjour (residence permit; Click here) and an autorisation