General Services
Most services, shops, and business are open all day from 8 or 9 am to 6.30 or 7.30 pm.  Sunday & monday are standard closing days for shops but many of them tend to open on monday nowadays. 

Airports

Roissy/Charles de Gaulle
23 kilometres north east of Paris near the village of Roissy-en-France is Charles de Gaulle airport. The largest airport serving Paris, it has two terminals, the second of which is split into terminals 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D.

Air France Bus
(Tel. 41 56 89 00 for recorded message in French and English) Leaves every 15-20 minutes during the hours of 5h40 - 23h and deposits passengers at Porte Maillot, Etoile/Place Charles de Gaulle, or Gare Montparnasse. Travel time of about 25 minutes if traffic is clear; an hour or more during rush hours. Cost around 40F. There is also a direct bus to Orly Airport.

RER
An RER/TGV station now serves the airport directly. Trains leave every 15 minutes during the hours of 5h30 - 23h30 to downtown (see RER map). Travel time is 35 minutes to Gare du Nord. Cost around 35F.

RoissyBus
(Tel. 48 04 18 24 for information). Departs every 15 minutes between Roissy Terminal 2 and Opéra during the hours of 5h45 - 23h. Average travel times is 45 minutes. Cost 30F.

Orly
South of Paris (14 kilometres) near the town of Orly is Orly Airport. It has two terminals refered to as Orly-Sud (Orly South) and Orly-Ouest (Orly West).

Air France Bus
(Tel. 41 56 89 00 for recorded message in French and English) Leaves every 15-20 minutes from during the hours of 5h40 - 23h and deposit passengers at Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare Montparnasse, or Gare St-Michel. Travel times of about 25 minutes. Cost roughly 40F. There is also a direct bus to Roissy Airport.

Orlybus
Service to and from Denfert-Rochereau Métro/RER stop (bus is next to the RER stop). Departs every 15 minutes; expect about 45 minutes travel time. Cost is 30F.

Customs & Visas
The Single European Market allows to bring in and take out most things as long as taxes have been paid on them in an EU country and they are for personal consumption. Limits still apply to drink and tobacco bought in duty free shops: 200 cigarettes, 250g tobacco or 50 cigars; 1 litre spirits or 2 litres sparkling wine and 2 litres table wine; 60ml perfume and 250ml toilet water.  Citizens of EU countries, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Finland Norway and Sweden do not need any sort of visa to enter France , and can stay for up to ninety days. All other passport holders must obtain a visa before arrival in France from French Consulates in their country.

Banking
The standard banking hours are 9 am-4.30pm closed saturday and sunday. 

Lost or stolen credit cards
American Express : Tel : +33 (1) 47 77 72 00
Diner's Club : Tel : +33 (1) 49 06 17 50
JCB : Tel : +33 (1) 42 86 06 01
Master/EuroCard : Tel : +33 (1) 45 67 84 84
Visa : Tel : 08 36 69 08 80 (2,23 FRF per minute) 
Mastercard International (emergency service for international visitors)
33, av Maire, 75015 Paris
Tel : 08 00 90 13 87 (toll free number)

Public Transportation
Paris is well equipped in public transports. Administered by the state owned company RATP. You can get a map in any metro station. With one single metro ticket you can go anywhere within Paris city limits as long as you don't go out of the station where you are connecting from one line to another. That goes for Metro and RER, the ticket policy on the bus working according to sections.  According to the length of your stay you better buy a pass called 'Carte Orange' valid for a week or a month which gives you access to different concentrical sections from Paris city-limits towards the far suburb with intermediate sections according to your needs.
- Métro (underground)
- RER : Rapid transit commuting system within Paris and toward the suburb.
- Bus
Information on the phone
Metro, RER, Bus. RATP Information: 08 36 68 20 20
Web: www.ratp.fr
Train SNCF information 08 36 35 35 35
Web: www.sncf.fr

Motorway Information
Tel : +33 (1) 47 05 90 01
http://www.autoroutes.fr/

Museums & Monuments
Museums basic hours : open between 9 and 10 am and close between 5 and 6 pm, closing day being tuesday or monday.  According to the season the monuments opening hours, usually similar to the museum's ones, can change.

Main Shopping Streets 
 
Bd Haussmann
75009 - Paris
All the main department stores are here.

R. de Rivoli
75004 - Paris
Marks & Spencer, Samaritaine, C & A, Pier Import.

Av. des Champs-Elysées
75008 - Paris
Guerlain, Virgin Megastore, Torrente. 
 
Electricity
220V out of double, round pin wall sockets.

Lost and Found
Bureau des objets trouvés, 36 rue des Morillons, 15e tel: 33 1 55 76 20 00

Phone (Telephone)
To call France from abroad after dialing the international prefix dial 33 then the last nine digits of the requested number (forget about the first zero).
Phone numbers beginning with 0800 are Toll Free and valid only within France.

To call abroad from France dial 00 then the country code
Phone-booth: you can receive calls wherever there is a blue logo with a ringing bell on the phone booth.

Coin boxes being phased out, you better buy phone-cards: 40FF for a 50 units, 96FF for a 120 units one. They are available in tobacco shops,newspaper-shops and post offices.
Cellular phones owners can buy phone-cards in 'France-Telecom' shops and soon in tobacco shops.

Telegrams: from France to any foreign country,including french territory and departments oversea, dial 'green number' (free toll number): 0 800 33 44 11

Interpret on the phone: 72 languages with a maximum delay of 24 hours for rare languages.
Charge:30 FF to 40 FF (according to language required) + taxes/minute + cost of the international communication.
Free Toll from France, Green Number 0 800 25 76 90
From outside of France 33 1 43 90 48 99

Health Care
Visitors from the E.U. and Scandinavian countries can enjoy the same health services than french citizens. To do so they must obtain from their social security at home the form E111. Other visitors are strongly advised to take out a travel insurance. Also provides information about Hospitals in the area. 

Centre Médical Europe 44, rue d'Amsterdam 9e.
tel: 33 1 42 81 93 33 offers a variety of different practitionners charging low consultation fees.

*English-speaking hospitals:
The American Hospital in Paris
63 bd Victor Hugo Neuilly-sur-Seine
tel: 33 1 46 41 25 25 (métro: Anatole France /Pont de Levallois).
The Hertford British Hospital
3, rue Barbès Levallois-Perret tel: 33 1 46 39 22 22 (métro: Anatole France)

*Specific problems
AIDS: Sida Info Service (SIS) Tel: 05 36 66 36 a free 24 hours nationwide telephone hotline.
Free and anonymous test in :
Centre Médico Social 3, rue Ridder,14e. tel: 33 1 45 43 83 78
Centre Médico Social 218, rue de Belleville, 20e
tel: 33 1 47 97 40 49Hospitals
Centre Médical Europe 44, rue d'Amsterdam 9e.
tel: 33 1 42 81 93 33 offers a variety of different practitionners charging low consultation fees.

Holidays
January 1
Easter sunday
Easter monday
Ascension Day (forty days after Easter)
Whitsun (seventh sunday after Easter) plus the monday
May 1
May 8 (Victory Day)
July 14 (Bastille Day)
August 15 (Assumption of the Virgin Mary)
November 1 (All saints'day)
November 11 (1918 Amistice Day)
Christmas Day