Getting a cell phone in Paris!

This was a struggle. Quite a struggle.

I wanted a cell phone that will be usable throughout my stay here - this way I can text/call people in my program, and in cases of emergency my parents can call (all other 'catching up' can be done in wifi). So I looked into this before I left, and we got some recommendations from our program director, such as Orange, Shosh, SFR, and Free.fr.

Free.fr has a "2€ par mois sans engagement" option, which is pretty similar to Cricket in the US or Virgin Mobile probably - I don't really know the comparable US options... Anyways, 2€ per month, unlimited texting and "Free wi-fi", free incoming calls, and 2 hours of outgoing French-line calls per month. So that is a really good deal. The downside is that the website is all in French, and hasn't taken 3 of our group's US Visa credit cards so far, and there are no physical locations to go to. So this option didn't really work out for me. Just for clarification purposes though: the "Free wi-fi" they boast sounds confusing at first (all free wi-fi is free to access, right? I don't pay for the ability of my laptop to connect at Starbucks?). What this actually means is that all throughout paris there are wi-fi locations CALLED Free wi-fi. So that actually is pretty awesome to be able to access the internet throughout Paris - this also means that if you have a smartphone, you can just use your wi-fi login and password with that! Other locations are few and far between from what I've found, though I haven't exactly gone on the hunt for any wi-fi spots yet.

So what I actually ended up going with is a phone by BIC - the pen and razor and white out pen company - which has a pay-as-you-go contract through Orange. It cost me 30€ initially with 5€ of credit on it already and the sim card loaded, and I picked it up at a random Café/Tabac on Bd. Saint-Michel.

It's not the most economical option available - but it saves a lot of trouble. The people at Orange and SFR generally speak French. The language barrier is tough in regards to cell phones, even if you do know French pretty well... Going this route, you just buy it and sort it all out yourself. It even comes with English instructions. The only semi-down side is that you have to mail in a copy of your passport as a form of identity (licenses are not considered proper identification in France) before you can reload it.

Anyways, it was simple enough and I now can be contacted in France.
À bientôt