Phone

International Calls To France:

"33" is the international code for "France".
Drop the "0" from the beginning of the 10-digit phone number. In these examples the same number is shown three different ways:

	example: 04 94 77 88 99	dial 33 494 77 88 99
	example: (33) 04 94 77 88 99	dial 33 494 77 88 99
	example: (33) 494 77 88 99	dial 33 494 77 88 99

International Calls From Within France

Dial "00" for international, followed by the country code and then the number.

Telephoning Monaco (Monte-Carlo)

Monaco is considered a foreign country for telephoning. From within France, dial "00" for international, followed by "377" for Monaco.

0800 Free Numbers and Expensive Numbers

0800 numbers are free ("numéro vert" - green number), but not all 08xx numbers are free. There's somewhat of a scandal in France about the use of the more expensive of these numbers for support/call-center calls, including France Telecom, where users are charged while waiting for a response, waiting on hold, and waiting indefinitely until you have to call again and start the expensive procedure all over again. It's bandied about that some of the abusers make more profit on the telephone charges for their call centers than they do on their main products. French laws should be coming along soon (2005) to correct this very public problem. Here's a review of these special numbers.

0800 xxx xxx 0805 xxx xxx 0809 xxx xxx 0819 xxx xxx	free	Numéro Vert	Free from a land line; normal rates apply from a mobile phone.
0810 xxx xxx 0811 xxx xxx	local-call price	Numéro Azur	Local call price from a land line; mobile calls vary by operator (up to 0.46 euro/min by Orange
0820 20x xxx 0820 22x xxx	0.09 euro/min	Numéro Indigo	indigo number
0820 others 0821 xxx xxx	0.12 euro/min	Numéro Indigo	Applies to calls from mobile phone. Minimum charge is 60 seconds.
0825 xxx xxx	0.15 euro/min	Numéro Indigo	Applies to calls from mobile phone. Minimum charge is 45 seconds.
089x xxx xxx	0.15 - 1.20 euro/min	Audiotel number	For internet online services, payments; vary according to the service.

The Phone-Number Change

In October 1996, all French phone numbers changed to a 10-digit (internal) system. (Externally, the "33" country-code plus 9 digits.) The old division between Paris and the "rest of France", where you dialed 16 to get a second dial tone, was eliminated.

The first digits of the phone number indicate a section of France:: 01 - for Paris numbers; 02 - for the northwest of France; 03 - for the northeast of France; 04 - for the southeast and Corsica; 05 - for the southwest of France