AIRPORT INFORMATION Roissy-Charles de Gaulle (tel 01.48.62.22.80 for recording in English; Orly (tel 01.49.75.15.15).

AMERICAN EXPRESS , 11 rue Scribe, 9e (tel 01.47.77.79.50; MA? OpA©ra). Bureau de change open Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm, public hols 9am-5pm. In a pinch, there is Chequepoint, open 24 hours every day, 150 av des Champs-A?lysA©es, 8e (tel 01.49.53.02.51; MA? Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile).

BIKE RENTAL Charges start from about 12.20 a day with a caution (deposit) of 152.44-381.10. If you want a bike for Sunday, when all of Paris takes to the quais , you'll need to book in advance. Try Paris-VA©lo, 2 rue du Fer-A -Moulin, 5e (tel 01.43.37.59.22; MA? Censier-Daubenton) for 21-speed and mountain bikes; Paris A? VA©lo C'est Sympa/VA©lo Bastille, 37 bd Bourdon, 4e (01.48.87.60.01; MA? Bastille), which also runs good bicycle tours; Bike N'Roller, 6 rue St-Julien-Le-Pauvre, 5e (tel 01.44.07.35.89; MA?/RER St-Michel); or the Maison du VA©lo, 11 rue FA©nA©lon, 10e (tel 01.42.81.24.72; MA? Gare du Nord or PoissonniA?re), with summer outlets at the Gare-de-l'Est and Gare-du-Montparnasse.

BOAT TRIPS Bateaux-Mouches boat trips on the Seine start fromthe EmbarcadA?re du Pont de l'Alma, on the Right Bank in the 8e (reservations tel 01.42.25.96.10, information tel 01.40.76.99.99; MA? Alma-Marceau). The rides, which usually last an hour, depart at 11am, 11.30am, 12.15pm, 1pm and every half hour from 2pm to 10pm most of the year round; departure times are less frequent in winter (7.62, under-14s 3.05). There are also lunch and dinner trips, though these are outrageously priced and you'll need to dress smartly. The main competitors to the Bateaux-Mouches are Bateaux Parisiens (tel 01.44.11.33.44; MA? Trocadero), Bateaux-Vedettes de Paris (tel 01.47.05.71.29; MA? Bir-Hakeim) and Bateaux-Vedettes du Pont Neuf (tel 1.46.33.98.38; MA? Pont-Neuf). They're all much the same, and can be found detailed in Pariscope under "CroisiA?res" in the "Visites-Promenades" section and in L'Officiel des Spectacles under "Promenades" in the "A? Travers Paris" section.

An alternative way of riding on the Seine - one in which you are mercifully spared the commentary - is the Batobus (tel 01.44.11.33.99).

CUSTOMS With the Single European Market you can bring in and take out most things as long as you have paid tax on them in an EU country, and they are for personal consumption. Duty-free was abolished on June 30, 1999, for all trips beginning and ending in the EU. However, there are still personal allowance limits on what were once duty-free goods - alcohol, tobacco and perfume. Each person is allowed up to 800 cigarettes, 400 cigarillos, 200 cigars, 1kg of smoking tobacco, 90 litres of wine (no more than 60 litres of which can be sparkling wine), 10 litres of spirits, 20 litres of fortified wine and 110 litres of beer. Limits for non-EU countries are: 200 cigarettes or 250g tobacco or 50 cigars; 1 litre spirits or 2 litres fortified wine, or 2 litres sparkling wine; 2 litres table wine; 50gm perfume and 250ml toilet water.

DISABILITY For publications detailing wheelchair access in Paris, contact ADF (Association des ParalysA©es de France), 17 bd Auguste-Blanqui, 13e (tel 01.40.78.69.00), which publishes Paris comme sur des Roulettes (Paris on Wheels) in French for 7.47; or CNRH (ComitA© National FranA§ais de Liaison pour la RA©adaptation des HandicapA©s), 236bis rue Tolbiac, 13e (tel 01.53.80.66.66), whose guide, Paris-A?le de France: Guide Touristique pour les Personnes A  MobilitA©e RA©duite is available in English for 9.15. In the UK, RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation), 12 City Forum, 250 City Rd, London EC1 (tel 020/7250 3222, fax 020/7250 0212, minicom tel 020/7250 4119) offers Access in Paris by Gordon Couch and Ben Roberts (A?6.95, Quiller Press), a guide to accommodation, monuments, museums, restaurants and travel to the city.

DOCTORS see Emergencies, below.

ELECTRICITY 220V out of double, round-pin wall sockets. If you haven't bought the appropriate converter ( adapteur ) or transformer ( transformateur - for US appliances) before leaving home, head for the electrical section of a department store, where someone is also more likely to speak English; cost is around 9.15. If you are using an appliance larger than an electric razor or a radio - a laptop computer for example - you will need an adapter capable of transforming a large electrical load. La Samaritaine carries such converters in its hardware section; cost is around 18.29.

EMBASSIES/CONSULATES Australia: 4 rue Jean-Rey, 15e (tel 01.40.59.33.00; MA? Bir-Hakeim); Britain: 35 rue du Faubourg-St-HonorA©, 8e (tel 01.44.51.31.02; MA? Concorde); Canada: 35 av Montaigne, 8e (tel 01.44.43.29.00; MA? Franklin-D-Roosevelt); Ireland: 4 rue Rude, 16e (tel 01.44.17.67.00; MA? Charles-de-Gaulle-A?toile); New Zealand: 7ter rue LA©onardo-de-Vinci, 16e (tel 01.45.00.24.11; MA? Victor-Hugo); USA: rue St-Florentin, 1er (tel 01.43.12.22.22; MA? Concorde).

EMERGENCIES Fire brigade (Sapeurs-Pompiers) tel 18; Ambulance (Service d'Aide MA©dicale Urgente - SAMU) tel 15; Doctor call-out (SOS MA©decins) tel 01.47.07.77.77 or 01.43.37.77.77; Rape crisis (SOS Viol; Mon-Fri 10am-6pm) tel 08.00.05.95.95; SOS Help (crisis line/any problem: 3-11pm) in English tel 01.47.23.80.80. For a list of English-speaking hospitals, see below.

EURO France is one of twelve European Union countries which have changed over to a single currency, the euro (). Euro notes are issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros, and coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 and 2 euros.

EXCHANGE Some of the more conveniently located bureaux de change are at: Charles-de-Gaulle airport (daily 7am-10pm) and Orly airport (daily 6.30am-11pm); Gare d'Austerlitz (Mon-Fri 7am-9pm), Gare de l'Est (summer 6.45am-10pm; winter 6.45am-7pm), Gare de Lyon (Mon-Sat 8am-8pm), Gare du Nord (8am-8pm), Gare St-Lazare (summer 8am-8pm; winter 8am-6.45pm); Office de Tourisme de Paris (127 av des Champs-A?lysA©es, 8e; 9am-7.30pm; MA? Charles-de-Gaulle-A?toile) .

FILM Camera film is expensive in Paris. Stores like Monoprix will generally be cheaper than shops closer to the tourist sites. Since most museums and monuments will not allow you to use a flash, consider purchasing very high-speed film which is designed to take photos in low light.

HAMMAMS or Turkish baths, are much more luxurious than the standard Swedish sauna. Prices begin at 12.20 and rise steadily. Some worth trying include: Les Bains du Marais, 31-33 rue des Blancs-Manteaux, 4e, tel 01.44.61.02.02 (MA? Rambuteau & MA? St-Paul); women: Mon 10am-8pm & Tues 10am-11pm, men: Thurs 10am-11pm, Fri & Sat 10am-7pm, mixed : Wed & Sat 8pm-midnight, Sun 11am-11pm; Cleopatra Club, 53 bd de Belleville, 11e, tel 01.43.57.34.32 (MA? Belleville), Tues-Sun 10am-6.30pm, closed Aug, women only; Hammam de la MosquA©e, 39 rue Geoffroy-St-Hilaire, 5e, tel 01.43.31.38.20 (MA? Censier-Daubenton), daily 10am-9pm; hours and days for men and women change, so phone first, but generally women on Mon & Wed-Sat and men on Tues & Sun; closed Aug.

HOSPITALS English-speaking hospitals include the American Hospital, 63 bd Victor-Hugo, Neuilly-sur-Seine (tel 01.46.41.25.25; MA? Porte Maillot then bus #82 to terminus); and the Hertford British Hospital, 3 rue BarbA?s, Levallois-Perret (tel 01.46.39.22.22; MA? Anatole-France).

INTERNET ACCESS You can stay online while travelling at the following cybercafA©s. Expect to pay approximately 0.15 per minute. CybercafA© Latino , 13 rue de l'Ecole-Polytechnique, 5e; Cyber Cube , 5 rue Mignon, 6e, MA? Grands-Boulevards (Mon-Sat 10am-10pm); Phonebook of the World , 11-15 rue des Halles, 1er, MA? ChA?telet ( ); Web 46 , 46 rue de Roi-de-Sicile, 4e, MA? St-Paul (Mon-Fri 11am-midnight, Sat noon-9pm, Sun 1pm-midnight); Web Bar , 32 rue de Picardie, 3e. In addition, most post offices now have a computer geared up for public internet access. You need to buy a card first (7.62, including 1hr connection) which can be recharged at 4.57 for an hour's connection.

LAUNDRY Self-service laundries have multiplied in Paris over the last few years, and you'll probably find one near where you're staying. If you can't immediately spot one, look in the phone book under "Laveries Automatiques". They're often unattended, so come pre-armed with small change. The smallest machines cost around 3.35 for a load, though some laundries only have bigger machines and charge around 6.86. Dryers run about 0.46 for 5min. Generally, self-service laundry facilities open at 7am and close between 7pm and 9pm. The alternative blanchisserie , or pressing services, are likely to be expensive, and hotels in particular charge very high rates. If you're doing your own washing in hotels, keep quantities small as most forbid doing any laundry in your room.

LEFT LUGGAGE Located at all the main train stations. You cannot leave luggage at the airports.

LOST BAGGAGE Airports: Orly (tel 01.49.75.04.53); Charles de Gaulle (tel 01.48.62.10.86).

LOST PROPERTY Bureau des Objets TrouvA©s, PrA©fecture de Police, 36 rue des Morillons, 15e; tel 01.55.76.20.00 (MA? Convention). Mon, Wed & Fri 8.30am-5pm, Tues & Thurs till 8pm. For property lost on public transport, phone the RATP at 01.40.06.75.27.

PHARMACIES All pharmacies, signalled by an illuminated green cross, are equipped to give first aid on request (for a fee). When closed, as many are on Sundays, they all display the address of the nearest open pharmacy. Pharmacies open at night include DA©rhy/Pharmacie des Champs-A?lysA©es, 84 av des Champs-A?lysA©es, 8e tel 01.45.62.02.41; 24hr; MA? George-V); Pharmacie EuropA©enne, 6 place de Clichy, 9e (tel 01.48.74.65.18; 24hr; MA? Place-de-Clichy); Pharmacie des Halles, 10 bd SA©bastopol, 4e (tel 01.42.72.03.23; Mon-Sat 9am-midnight, Sun noon-midnight; MA? ChA?telet); Pharmacie Matignon, 2 rue Jean-Mermoz, 8e (tel 01.43.59.86.55; daily 8.30am-2am; MA? Franklin-D-Roosevelt); Pharmacie Internationale de Paris, 5 pl Pigalle, 9e (tel 01.48.78.38.12; daily to 1am; MA? Pigalle); Grand Pharmacie de la Nation, 13 place de la Nation, 11e (tel 01.43.73.24.03; Mon noon-midnight, Tues-Sat 8am-midnight, Sun 8pm-midnight; MA? Nation).

POST OFFICE Main office at 52 rue du Louvre, Paris 75001 (MA? ChA?telet-Les Halles) open daily 24hr for letters, poste restante, faxes, telegrams and phone calls; currency exchange Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 8am-noon. Branch offices are located in every neighbourhood - look for the bright-yellow signs and the words "la Poste" or "le PTT"- and are generally open Mon-Fri 9am-7pm & Sat 9am-noon.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS January 1, New Year's Day; Easter Sunday; Easter Monday; Ascension Day (40 days after Easter); Pentecost or Whitsun (seventh Sunday after Easter, plus the Monday); May 1, May Day/Labour Day; May 8, Victory in Europe Day; July 14, Bastille Day; August 15, Assumption of the Virgin Mary; November 1, All Saints' Day; November 11, 1918 Armistice Day; December 25, Christmas Day.

PUBLIC TOILETS Ask for les toilettes or look for signs for the WC (pronounced "vay say"); when reading the details of facilities outside hotels, don't confuse lavabo , which means washbasin, with lavatory. French toilets in bars are still often of the hole-in-the-ground squatting variety, and tend to lack toilet paper. Standards of cleanliness aren't always high. Toilets in railway stations and department stores are commonly staffed by attendants who will expect a bit of spare change. Some have coin-operated locks, so always keep 50 centimes and 1F and 2F pieces handy for these and for the frequent tardis-like public toilets found on the streets. These beige- or brown-coloured boxes have automatic doors which open when you insert coins, and are cleaned automatically once you exit. Children under ten aren't allowed in on their own.

RADIO The main French news broadcasts are at 7.45pm on Arte and at 8pm on F2 and at TF1. English-language news on the BBC World Service can be found on 648kHz or 198kHz long wave from midnight to 5am (and Radio 4 during the day). The Voice of America transmits on 90.5, 98.8 and 102.4FM. Radio France International (RFI) broadcasts the news in English between 3 and 4pm on 738kHz AM. For radio news in French, there's the state-run France Inter (87.8FM), Europe 1 (104.7FM), or round-the-clock news on France Info (105.5FM).

SAFER SEX A warning: Paris has the highest incidence of AIDS of any city in Europe; people who are HIV positive are just as likely to be heterosexual as homosexual. Condoms ( prA©servatifs ) are readily available at supermarkets, clubs, from dispensers on the street - often outside pharmacies - and in the mA©tro. From pharmacies you can also get spermicidal cream and jelly ( dose contraceptive ), suppositories ( ovules , suppositoires ), and (with a prescription) the pill ( la pillule ), a diaphragm or IUD ( le stA©rilet ). Pregnancy test kits ( tests de grossesse ) are sold at pharmacies; if you need the morning-after pill (the RU624), you will have to go to a hospital.

SALES TAX What is called VAT (Value Added Tax) in Britain is referred to as TVA in France ( taxe sur la valeur ajoutA©e ). The standard rate in France is 20.6 percent; it's higher for luxury items and lower for essentials, but there are no exemptions (books and children's clothes are therefore more expensive than in the UK). However, non-EU residents who have been in the country for less than six months are entitled to a refund ( dA©taxe ) of some or all of this amount (but usually around 14 percent) if you spend at least 182.93 in a single trip to one shop. The procedure is rather complicated: present your passport to the shop while paying and ask for the three-paged bordereau de vente a l'exportation form. They should help you fill it in and provide you with a self-addressed envelope. When you leave the EU, get customs to stamp the filled-in form; you will then need to send two of the pages back to the shop in the envelope within three months; the shop will then transfer the refund through your credit card or bank. The Centre de Renseignements des Douanes (tel 01.53.24.68.24) can answer any customs-related questions.

SMOKING Laws requiring restaurants to have separate smokers' ( fumeurs ) and non-smokers' ( non-fumeurs ) areas are widely ignored. Non-smokers may well find themselves eating elbow-to-elbow alongside smokers, and waiters are not that likely to be sympathetic. Smoking is not allowed on public transport, including surburban trains, or in cinemas. Most office reception areas are non-smoking. But smoking is still a socially acceptable habit in France, and cigarettes are cheap in comparison with Britain, for example. Note that you can only buy tobacco in tabacs.

STUDENT INFORMATION CROUS , 39 av Georges-Bernanos, 5e (tel 01.40.51.36.00; MA? Port-Royal).

TELEPHONES You can make international phone calls from any telephone box ( cabine ) and can receive calls where there's a blue logo of a ringing bell. A 50-unit (7.41) and 120-unit (14.74) phonecard (called a tA©lA©carte ) is essential, since coin boxes have been almost phased out. Phonecards are available from tabacs and newsagents as well as post offices, tourist offices and some train-station ticket offices; alternatively, you can use a credit or calling card. All calls are timed in France and off-peak charges apply on weekdays between 7pm and 8am, and after noon on Saturday until 8am Monday. For calls within France - local or long-distance - dial all ten digits of the number. For international calls, calling codes are posted in the telephone box; remember to omit the initial 0 of the local area code from the subscriber's number.

TELEVISION French TV has six terrestrial channels: three public (France 2, Arte/La CinquiA?me and France 3); one subscription (Canal Plus, with some unencrypted programmes); and two commercial open broadcasts (TF1 and M6). In addition, there are the cable networks, which include LCI (French news), CNN, the BBC World Service, BBC Prime ( Eastenders , etc), PlanA?te, which specializes in documentaries, Paris PremiA?re (lots of VO - version originale - films), and Canal Jimmy ( Friends and the like in VO). There are several music channels : MTV for rock and pop, Mezzo for classical and Muzzik for classical and jazz.

TIME France is one hour ahead of Britain (Greenwich Mean Time), six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (eg New York), and nine hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time (eg Los Angeles). Australia is eight to ten hours ahead of France, depending on which part of the continent you're in. Remember also that France uses a 24hr clock, with, for example, 2am written as 2h and 2.30pm written as 14h30. The most confusing are noon and midnight - respectively 12h and 00h. Talking clock tel 36.99. Alarm tel 36.88, or with a digital phone dial *55* then the time in four figures (eg 0715 for 7.15am) then #. To annul, dial #55* then the time, then # (costs around 0.56).

TOURS The best walking tours of Paris in English are those offered by Paris Walking Tours (tel 01.48.09.21.40; 1hr 30min; 9.15), with subjects ranging from "Hemingway's Paris" to "Historic Marais". A full list of times, meeting points and prices can be found in Pariscope in the Time Out Paris English-language section. The Paris transport authority, RATP, also runs numerous excursions, some to quite far-flung places, which are far less expensive than those offered by commercial operators. Details are available from RATP's Bureau de Tourisme, place de la Madeleine, 1e (tel 01.40.06.71.45; MA? Madeleine).

TRAFFIC & ROAD CONDITIONS For Paris's traffic jams listen to 105.1 FM (FIP) on the radio; for the boulevard pA©riphA©rique and main routes in and out of the city, ring 01.48.99.33.33.

TRAIN INFORMATION SNCF information in English tel 01.45.82.08.41. Eurostar tel 08.36.35.35.39, ; Hoverspeed SeaTrain Express tel 08.00.90.17.77.

TRAVEL AGENCIES Council Travel, 16 rue de Vaugirard, 6e (tel 08.00.14.81.48; MA? OdA©on), is a dependable student/youth agency as is OTU Voyages, 119 rue St-Martin, 4e, opposite the Pompidou Centre (tel 01.40.29.12.12). Access Voyages, 6 rue Pierre-Lescot, 1er (tel 01.44.76.84.50; MA? ChA?telet-Les Halles), has cheap transatlantic and train fares.

WEATHER Paris and A?le de France tel 08.36.68.02.75; rest of France tel 01.36.68.01.01. On the internet at and

WOMEN'S GROUPS The Maison des Femmes, 163 rue de Charenton, 12e (tel 01.43.43.41.13, fax 01.43.43.42.13; MA? Reuilly-Diderot & MA? Gare-de-Lyon), is the meeting place of a myriad of women's organizations. Open Wed & Fri 4-7pm; cafA© Fri 7-10pm. The BibliothA?que Marguerite Durand, 3rd floor, 79 rue Nationale, 13e (tel 01.45.70.80.30; MA? Tolbiac), is the first official feminist library in France. Open Tues-Sat 2-6pm.