The Survival Guide to France. Part Four: Final Checklist

3-4 months before you go - Start Checking Airfares
You can start checking sooner--although we've found searching 3-4 months before your flight is a pretty good bet; the airlines are starting to discount in order to reward early bookers and yet there's still time to wait if prices aren't to your liking. The airline computers are constantly revising the pricing based on the latest demand, so the cheapest prices might turn up anytime--but you might not want to wait that long. France Direct Travel have some super deals on flights etc with Expedia.com and an on-line booking engine for Car Hire. For those travelling from the U.K., Ryanair and Easyjet have some very good deals on flights to most parts of France.

6 weeks to 2 months before you go - Reserve Lodging - Hotel
If you haven't already reserved the hotels and vacation rentals you've seen on the web and fallen in love with, now is the time to do so. But do you need to reserve in every city you're planning to visit? Here's what I do: I reserve a hotel for my arrival and departure days as well as any long-term apartment rentals I've selected It's important to book your self catering vacation rentals in advance as properties get booked up very quickly and you may lose that dream cottage you set your heart on. Click HERE or on the Property Search link to your left to browse through our portfolio of self catering vacation rentals throughout France. When traveling by train, I prefer to arrive at my destination early, take a hotel by the train station and just drop my bags there and explore the city on foot.

Car or Train?
If you haven't already chosen, now would be a good time to select your primary mode of transportation. EuroRail passes offer great savings if you plan right. For a saver pass you'll need to plan to take several long trips so that you can spend the travel days mostly on the train. Save money by going overnight; you'll save on hotel costs and make maximum use of your pass. Check the types of passes available carefully, to use them to an advantage, you may have to juggle some travel plans. Otherwise just go into the railway station and buy your ticket. "Aller Sample" a one-way ticket or "Aller Retour" is a return.

Car Rental or Leasing and an International Driver's License
Leasing a car is sometimes better than renting, especially if you're staying in Europe for more than 17 days. Leasing gets you a brand new car without rental company stickers on it and the pricing includes everything you need. When you turn it in at the end of your trip a lucky European will get to purchase that almost-new car for much less than a completely new one (This comes about because taxes on a new car are much higher than the taxes on even a slightly used one, so both parties benefit from this arrangement). France Direct Travel have an excellent on-line booking engine where you can get an immediate price and book your car on-line. If you've chosen driving as your primary mode of transport in Europe, you should get an International Driver's License. Available at Auto Clubs, they're just a translation of your License into European languages. Sometimes police won't demand them, accepting your original license instead. But still, it doesn't hurt to get one, and they're pretty cheap. A couple of passport-sized pictures are required. Even though you can usually just walk into your auto club and come out with an International Driver's License, I recommend not putting this off: the paperwork needed is often "out of stock."

1 Month before you go - Travel Insurance
Now is the time to think about insurance. If your health insurance doesn't cover you overseas, or your homeowners insurance doesn't cover loss of material goods, then there are some temporary plans that might set your mind at ease.Speak to your broker for more information and costs.

Cameras
If you've bought one for this trip, learn how to use it. If you need one, now is the time to purchase--don't put it off until the last minute and then end up standing in front of the Louvre all befuddled because you can't figure the danged thing out!

Film
If you're going to use film you might consider purchasing one of those lead-lined bags to take it in. These reduce (but don't eliminate) the radiation from airport x-ray machines and thus the chance of film fogging. What I do to bypass this possibility is to buy and process my film in Europe. Sure, guidebooks say film and processing is more expensive overseas (but not much these days), but I look at it this way: are you gonna worry about fogging or are you willing to spend a buck and a half more per roll for peace of mind out of the thousands you're gonna spend on your vacation in total. Seems like false economy to me. Plus I get to show my pictures around to other travelers while I'm in Europe. The easiest way nowadays is to buy a digital camera with lots of memory.

Cell Phones
If you need to be in constant touch with the office or someone special, you can rent cell phones that work throughout Europe. Often your car rental company can handle this. It is also possible to buy a French sim card that works with your cellphone.

Email
It's time to think about how you're going to handle your email in Europe, if that's important to you. If you have several accounts you want to check, you'll need to set up an online system for getting all your email. A quick and easy way is to open a free on-line email account with Hotmail or Yahoo at home before you leave.

Money
Yeah, it's time to get the long green together. I take some traveler's checks as a back-up, but mostly use the plentiful ATM machines in Europe to get cash. You need to have a 4-digit pin number to use many European ATMs. Watch one thing though: plan to have enough money to last through weekends--some people are reporting that certain banks in Europe don't update the customer's daily limit on Saturdays and Sundays and so if you've maxed out your daily allowance on Friday, you might find that you can't get more until Monday. You might also think about getting some Euros for the first day or two, if only to get used to them and assure yourself that you'll be able to afford a coffee in the airport.

How much Money?
Well, that varies, of course. Some people can get by on on $150 a day in most Mediterranean countries, although it's becoming a stretch these days. That'll get you a two or three star hotel with breakfast and two other meals taken in a restaurant with wine, plus entrance fees to museums and such. It's an average over the whole period of vacation--some days you'll get soaked, some days you'll find bargains. Students and the young-at-heart set willing to stay in hostels and eat street food or make their own grub in the Hostel kitchen will be able to do it for much less, of course.

Keeping your money and documents secure
You'll need a way to keep your passport and important items away from thieves. While France is still safer from violent crimes than the US, high tourist volumes in major cities tend to attract the slash and run crowd. Use a money belt or pouch that goes inside your clothing like seasoned travelers do. Keep your passport and important documents together in it. Don't wear a fanny pack with the pack turned around to actually ride on your fanny. It looks stupid and is a magnet for thieves. Women should avoid big purses with shoulder straps as those straps can be cut easily and the purse removed by a well-trained thief in seconds. Whatever can be said about European petty thieves and pickpockets one thing stands out when you talk to people who've been hit: they're good at what they do.

Voltage and Plugs
European voltage is twice that of the wimpy American 110. The wall plugs are different as well. If you plan on using electrical appliances you may need to purchase adapters and power converters now. Me? I don't carry much more than the battery charger I bought in Italy to recharge my digital camera's batteries.

Maps
You should be far enough along in your travel planning to think about what maps you'll need. If you're in a car and like to get off the main highways, you'll need to purchase good maps. We use Michelin country and regional maps when we drive, purchasing the regional maps for areas we're staying in for a week or longer. You can get European driving maps from your auto club, but they're often not detailed enough to get you to the back roads.

Keeping in Touch
If you're the postcard-writing type, you'll need to have a means of keeping all those addresses where you can find them. Before the era of PDAs and email, I made sheets of labels for everyone who'd want a postcard so I could just slap one on and be done with it. Now I email friends and keep all their addresses on my Palm Pilot.

Check for Travel Dangers
The US government doesn't just meddle in overseas affairs, it also alerts travelers to dangers and uprisings in other countries. You might want to check conditions now and right before you leave.

Hopefully the above hasn't put you off your French vacation, but it's best to know what to look out for before you leave. Bon Voyage!
Article courtesy of Constance Montague