Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [315]
Doing Business
If you are going to Paris on business, it’s a good idea to contact one of the main commercial offices or your embassy’s trade office in Paris before you leave home, to establish contacts and make appointments. These include the following:
American Chamber of Commerce (Map; 01 56 43 45 67; www.amchamfrance.org; 1st fl, 156 blvd Haussmann, 75008 Paris)
Australian Trade Commission (Map; 01 40 59 33 85; www.austrade.gov.au; 4 rue Jean Rey, 75015 Paris)
Canadian Government Department of Commercial & Economic Affairs (Map; 01 44 43 29 00; www.amb-canada.fr; 35-37 av Montaigne, 75008 Paris)
Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris (Map; CCIP; 01 55 65 40 03, 0 820 012 112; www.ccip.fr, in French; Bourse de Commerce, 2 rue de Viarmes, 75001 Paris)
France-Canada Chamber of Commerce (Map; 01 43 59 32 38; www.ccfc-france-canada.com, in French; 5 rue Constantine, 75007 Paris)
Franco-British Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Map; 01 53 30 81 30; www.francobritishchamber.com; 3rd fl, 31 rue Boissy d’Anglas, 75008 Paris)
Irish Embassy Trade Office (Map; 01 44 17 67 04; www.embassyofirelandparis.com; 4 rue Rude, 75016 Paris)
New Zealand Embassy Trade Office (Map; 01 45 01 43 10; www.nzembassy.com/france; 7ter rue Léonard de Vinci, 75116 Paris)
UK Embassy Trade Office (Map; 01 44 51 34 56; www.amb-grandebretagne.fr; 35 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, 75008 Paris)
US Embassy Trade Office (Map; 01 43 12 23 83; www.buyusa.gov/france/en; 2 av Gabriel, 75008 Paris)
If you are looking to set up a business in France and need a temporary office or secretarial assistance, contact the following:
Copy-Top (www.copytop.com, in French; 9am-7pm) This chain is useful for photocopying, printing etc and has 28 outlets in central Paris, including a Bastille branch (Map; 01 48 05 80 84; 87 blvd Voltaire, 11e; Voltaire) and a Montparnasse branch (Map; 01 42 22 80 58; 52 blvd du Montparnasse, 15e; Montparnasse Bienvenüe).
NewWorks (www.newworks.net, in French; 9am-7pm) This service bureau chain can supply most of your office and secretarial needs and serve as your temporary office too. There are four outlets, including Champs-Élysées branch (Map; 01 72 74 24 54; 10 rue du Colisée, 8e; Franklin D Roosevelt).
Volunteering
Under what’s called the au pair system, single people aged 18 to 27 can live with a French family and receive lodging, full board and some pocket money in exchange for taking care of the kids, babysitting, doing light housework and perhaps teaching English to the children. Most families prefer young women, but some positions are also available for men. Many families want au pairs who are native English-speakers; knowing at least some French may be a prerequisite. For practical information, pick up the recently updated Au Pair and Nanny’s Guide to Working Abroad by Susan Griffith and Sharon Legg and visit the website of the International Au Pair Association (www.iapa.org).
By law, au pairs must have one full day off a week. Some families may provide metro passes. The family must also pay for French social security, which covers about 70% of medical expenses (get supplementary insurance if you are not an EU citizen).
Residents of the EU can easily arrange for an au pair job and a carte de séjour after arriving in France. Non-EU nationals who decide to look for au pair work after entering the country cannot do so legally and won’t be covered by the protections provided for under French law.
Check the bulletin boards at the American Church and the classifieds in Fusac Click here for job ads. In the latter, you’ll find au pair work listed under ‘Childcare’.
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LANGUAGE
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SOCIAL
PRACTICAL
FOOD
EMERGENCIES
HEALTH
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Whatever you may have heard about the French people and