ATMs

1. French banks do not add any fee of any kind to withdraw from their ATMs.

2. There will be a currency conversion fee of 1% charged by the network handling the transaction, typically Sirrus or Maestro or some other entity. It should be noted that Visa and MC own Sirrus and Maestro.

3. Your local bank might add additional fees as a percentage of the transaction and/or a fixed fee. Bank of America charges a conversion fee and $5 per transaction which is one of the highest foreign ATM user costs of any bank in the USA. They then throw their customers a bone by not charging the fixed fee on withdrawals from BNP but many, many credit unions and smaller banks only pass along the currency conversion fee with no fixed fee no matter from where withdrawals are made.

Credit Cards

1. Merchants or their banks do not charge the customer for credit card use.

2. Visa or MC charge a 1% currency conversion fee on all charges made outside of the USA (excluding its territories or military installations) regardless of the currency used in the transaction. Accepting a Dynamic Currency Conversion transaction does not avoid the conversion fee.

3. Banks may add an additional 2% if for no other reason than they can. TD Bank, Capital One, Navy FCU, or some credit unions actually absorb the 1% currency conversion fee. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citicorp and other large banks charge 3% (1% currency conversion + 2% in house) on foreign transactions. American Express charges 2.7%. It is a fundamental misstatement to conclude that Almost all US banks now add a 3% “conversion fee”. There are many banks and credit unions which do not add transaction fees and only pass along the currency conversion fee. USAA is a large bank which only passes along the 1% conversion fee but adds no additional costs to foreign transactions. Savvy consumers inquire about these fees before opening a bank account anywhere.

Travelers Cheques

These are almost impossible to cash and may involve degraded exchange rates. Pre loaded ATM cards with a local currency are nothing other than updated TCs and should be avoided due to their unfavorable rates of exchange and high fees charged per transaction.

Cash

For certain travelers needing euros to pay for apartments (and acknowledging associated risks of loss or theft) cash may be converted at reasonable rates at several locations in Paris. Exchanging dollars to euros will cost 2% to 3% which is about what big banks charge to use their credit cards:

http://www.bureaudechange.fr/

http://www.ccopera.com/

http://www.fcochange.com/

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

For individuals who require euros to pay for apartments, schools, or other types of cash obligations, there are several entities which can easily make transfers for you at virtually no cost to the user. It requires your establishing an account (the process is similar to establishing a new bank account), linking this account to your local bank, and using a secure on-line interface. These operate in a very similar fashion to Paypal except that they can make a payment in virtually any currency. Payments may be made with a wire transfer (with modest cost), EFT (at no cost), or drafts may be sent using the mail system (at no cost):

http://www.hifx.com/

http://www.xe.com/

http://www.currencyonline.com/

There are a few additional steps involved such as establishing the payees address or bank information but for many types of transactions this option is fast and very inexpensive.

Conclusion

Make no assumptions about what your bank is charging you for access to your money. Ask about fees and how they are assessed. Many banks, most of them large, national banks, are more concerned about offering meaningless promotions than they are in providing quality, low cost service to their clients. Do not overlook small regional banks or credit unions. These institutions can save you a bundle and offer more personalized service in the process.

1. Bus/Métro/RER combination:

a. Bus into Paris Porte Maillot: 15€/each
Beauvais Airport Bus
b. Purchase tickets and enter Métro at Porte Maillot and board line M1 direction: Château de Vincennes.
c. Disembark at Charles de Gaulle/Etoile, follow the orange signs marked “Correspondence” and board RER A4 direction: Marne la Vallée/Chessy.
d. Disembark at Chessy
Fare: 6.70€/each (reductions for children depending upon age)
En route time estimate: 3 hours.
__________

2. Private shuttle directly to Disney.

Shuttle Transfers a new service with English speaking drivers operated by Helen and Jean-Louis who are based near Disney. Shuttle Transfers offers very competitive rates.

Paris Blue Airport Shuttle From 65€ (shared ride, one person)

Shuttle Inter From 130€

Allonavette From 129€
En route time approx: 2 hours
__________

3. Taxi

Taxi Joann
Beauvais Taxi
Taxi Michel
Fare: 180€+ each way
En route time approx: 2 hours
__________

4. Bus

VEA bus has new service 3 times a day from Beauvais to DLP:

Bus departs Beauvais daily at: 10h00, 13h030, and 19h00

Adults – 30€, children under 12 – 24€, children under 3 are free

En route time can approach 3 hours (bus makes an intermediate stop at CDG)

The tickets bought online minimum 24 hours before the transfer are considered as priority on boarding.

VEA Bus

3 parts olive oil

1 part vinegar

¼ part French mustard

salt to taste

From this basic beginning one may add thyme, parsley, or other herbs as are available.   I shall refer to this basic recipe from time to time as it is a valuable tool in any kitchen.

01 47 07 77 77
For about 70€, you’ll have a physician visiting you in your Parisian hotel room in under an hour.

Here is my list of the best shops in Le Grau du Roi, these shops are open year round:

Le Panier des Fruits – near the Post Office, offers consistently the best produce in town.  Madame will add a few sprigs of parsely to your purchases at no charge if you ask.

Le Friand II – boulangerie with excellent baggettes.  Pasteries are good, perhaps the best in town, but baguette is the draw.

Au Pain Paysan – a newer boulangerie with a wide range of bread choices which are probably just as good as the Friand II.  The merangues are particularly outstanding.

Butcher – alas, I have found the butchers in Le Grau average at best.   For meats I recommend a trip into Aigues Mortes where there is an excellent butcher (no shop name of which I am aware) but he is found about 30 meters straight in from the main gate, just on the left.  His meats (both beef and pork) are excellent and the butcher himself is a jolly gentlemen but beware, his accent can be a bit difficult to understand.  Otherwise one might wait for the thrice weekly markets on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings .   There are several butchers whose products are probably better than what is typically available in town.

Other unique items at market:

1. Do not miss the opportunity  to enjoy either the local lucque olives or the olives à l’ail (garlic olives) which are both quite heavenly.
2. Look for Fougasse d’ Aigues Mortes - a sugar coated,  lightly perfumed with fleur d’oranger flavoring bread that may be enjoyed with one’s morning coffee or served as an excellent dessert
3. Tellines – small, sweet bi-valves similar to tiny mussels, steamed and served with either a vinaigrette or bourride sauce.   They may be purchased at the market, uncooked for approximately 12€/kilo.

Consider either of these two options:

1. If you have an unlocked, GSM tri or quad band phone, purchase a Breizh SIM from PhoneHouse. Cost is 6.90€. Minutes are sold prepaid in increments of 5€. 52 minutes for 10€ or .19€/min.  This rate applies to calls made to either other mobile phones or fixed line phones.  There is never a charge for inbound minutes.

Phonehouse

Note:  Recent reports have indicated Phonehouse no longer sells this SIM, at least not from its Paris stores.  It is still available via internet sales from Breizh.

2. If you do not have an available GSM phone, purchase one for 29€ ($41) from Virgin (stores all over France). There is no setup fee and it comes with a SIM and 12 free call-out minutes. Additional minutes available in increments of 5€ and charged at .27€/minute.  There is no charge for inbound calls.

Virgin Mobile

Updated 7 Nov 09

La Gourmande is not easy to find at 3, rue Etienne Bonneze (on the left bank).  In fact rue Etienne Bonneze is not a street at all; it’s an alley and not a very long one.  But within a few steps of the rotating bridge in the heart of Le Grau du Roi is one of this areas greatest restaurant surprises.  Madame Cotton, an import from Brittany herself, uses only the freshest of ingredients, her batters made from scratch from long tested, family recipes.   Her galettes are cooked to a dark brown perfection, her crêpes are so tasty that even with nothing on them but butter they could be individually boxed and sold as large, flat cookies.  Of course you may order yours with Nutella or various other sweet fillings but I prefer just plain with a bit of sugar.  With but a minimum amount of filling the rich taste of the crêpes itself really stands out.

La Gourmande is a culinary delight, difficult to duplicate at any price.  But here, a galette (ham with egg), salad, and your choice among a list of dessert crêpes is only – 9.90€.  Of course you’ll want to order a pitcher of cider with your diner, a 50 cl of cider is under 7€.

We’ve been regulars here for several years but recently, we dined with a family friend who is French with deep roots in Brittany.   Our friend too was impressed with the quality of Madame Cotton’s galettes and crêpes.

Le Grau du Roi has an abundance of good restaurants serving fresh seafood and oysters but even a seafood devotee such as me enjoys an occasional taste change.  La Gourmande has become one of our favorite restaurants.

Marche au poissons, le port du Grau du Roi

If the fish is to be cooked in the oven (au four) it will be scaled.  If you plan on grilling your purchase (grille) it will not be scaled.  There is generally an excellent selection of fish:  dorade, loup, pageot as well as bulots (sea snails),  and ray (raie).

One of the easiest ways to prepare fish is in the oven.   Cover the fish  in olive oil and place then in an oven dish.  Add onions (or shallots), olives, tomatoes or what ever is on hand.  Salt and pepper, adding just a bit of butter for the final touch of subtle flavor (une noisette de beurre).  Before placing the dish in the oven, add one half a glass of white wine.  Here, Picpout de Pinet is the local favorite, a dry white wine perfect for fish and oysters or mussels.  Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes and dinner is served.  Shown below are two pageots, purchased just minutes before preparing and cooking.

Pageot ready to serve

It’s the end of the first week in Jun, today we depart for Paris and connect through to le Grau du Roi in the south of France along the Mediterranean coast.  Le Grau du Roi has been a six year pilgrimage for us, its beaches and activities are a perfect detraction for our daughter and the seafood and inexpensive restaurants are a perfect attraction for me.

We first depart IAH on Continental.  This is our first trip on a Boeing 767 as Continental recently downgraded to this aircraft from the B777 it had been using since retiring their DC-10s.  In a word, the flight was disappointing.  An earlier departure time, just after 3 pm, means one is less likely to obtain the required sleep and the aircraft itself does not compare in comfort with the previous model.  Cramped seats and older audio-visual systems lead the list of disappointments, food and service were OK but for a Business Class fare, we were underwhelmed.

We easily connected to AF for our flight to Montpellier where we were met by our landlord.  M. Coviesec always finds time to pick us up at the airport and drive us the 20 minutes to our apartment .  Wow, what a view! The 4th floor of an apartment building at the end of the canal’s entrance into the sea with a view not only of the port entry but of the beach as well.

It’s been a long trip but we cannot wait for dinner.  Tonight it’s le Rose des Sables, a very popular restaurant for us as well as with the locals.  Le Grau du Roi is a working fishing town which unlike many of its neighbors is open and thriving every month of the year.  Le Rose des Sables remains open even when the summer tourist return home, a testament to its reputation, excellent service, and always fresh seafood.

As we settle in for our first night, I can hear the waves slap against the sand on the beach below me.  Vacation is underway.