Survival Guide - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 758

Practicalities
• » Newspapers & Magazines Locals read their news in centre-left, highly intellectual Le
Monde ( www.lemonde.fr ) , right-leaning Le Figaro ( www.lefigaro.fr ) or left-leaning Libéra-
tion ( www.liberation.fr ).
• » Radio For news, tune in to the French-language France Info (105.5MHz), the multil-
anguage RFI (738kHz or 89MHz in Paris) or, in northern France, the BBC World Service
(648kHz) and BBC Radio 4 (198kHz).
• » Smoking Smoking is illegal in all indoor public spaces, including restaurants and
pubs - and, to the surprise of some, the law is actually obeyed!
• » TV & Video TV is Secam; videos work on the PAL system.
• » Weights & Measures France uses the metric system.
HOTELS
Hotels in France are rated with one to five stars, although the ratings are based on
highly objective criteria (eg the size of the entry hall), not the quality of the service,
the decor or cleanliness.
• » French hotels almost never include breakfast in their rates. Unless specified
otherwise, prices quoted in this guide don't include breakfast, which costs around
€7/10/20 in a budget/midrange/top-end hotel.
• » A double room generally has one double bed (often two pushed-together
singles!); a room with twin beds (deux lits) is usually more expensive, as is a room
with a bathtub instead of a shower.
• » Feather pillows are practically nonexistent in France, even in top-end hotels.
The Art of Sleeping
A château, a country manor, five-star opulence at the foot of the Eiffel Tower - whether
you want to live like a lord, sleep like a log or blow the budget, there's a room with your
name on it.