Dec 27, 2020
In this short episode of the podcast, Annie reviews best practices when preparing a trip to France. There are simple things that many visitors never think to look into but would nevertheless insure that you have a wonderful experience on your vacation.
Because you're always inside your head, it can be hard to see what sort of traveler you are. It is vital to understand that or you may not pick your destination accordingly.
Some of us don’t have a choice when we travel while others can pick whichever date is best. Once you’ve picked an area, lookup events. How do you do that? Use the right search terms in French. You want to use the words agenda and sorties and événement and cette semaine à and then the name of the place you picked. Results will be in French, but if your French isn’t great you can ask your browser to do an automatic translation. Those are not perfect but it’ll help you get the gist. Don’t skip this step, events make a vacation great!
Many tourist offices in France will put handy-dandy city maps on their web site for you to download on PDF. These make it so easy to plan your visit and even decide in what part of the city to stay! But to find them you need to use the right words: plan touristique PDF and the name of the city or brochure touristique PDF.
Some tourist offices have a version of the site in English, but it’s extremely rare that they have every page or every resource translated into English. If the English site doesn’t have what you need, check out the French version. A map is a map is a map, it doesn’t need to be in English to be helpful.
There are a lot of free trip planning templates on-line and you should use them! I use Word and Excel and if I search for word travel template I get to a lot of templates that are beautiful but also a great reminder if things to look into. Same for Google Docs. Remember to look for a template and pick the one that suits your needs best. Some of them will remind you to list your flight and reservation numbers as well as list the medications you take just in case you need medical help on your trip.
Templates are also a great way to see the gaps in your planning.
More episodes about how things work in France
Tip Your
Guide Extras Patreon Audio
Tours Merchandise
Categories: France How To, French Customs & Lifestyle