A few thoughts from the experience of holidaying in France...

Opening hours in France

France still runs on the traditional French values of an early start, a late finish and a long lunch!

• Most shops, including supermarkets, will close for at least an hour between 12 and 2. Some close for 2 hours, although especially in the summer season more and more places are now staying open through lunchtime.
• Most shops will close all day on Sunday, those which open on Saturday often close on Monday instead! Some supermarkets and grocers do open on Sunday morning.
• Few manned petrol stations are open 24 hours, but the ones that say 24/24 can usually be used with a UK chip-and-PIN credit card
• On French Public holidays, which are different to those in the UK, some businesses do choose to remain open - this is mainly the supermarkets and DIY stores. The French public holidays are given in wikipedia

View of the Mairie in Mirepoix

Car Hire

Although each of the airlines has a 'partner car hire' scheme, it is often better to go with a car hire broker -

• The broker is likely to offer a better price
• The car you have will probably come from one of the major companies
• You will avoid the queue to collect the car at the airport!

The last point sounds obvious, but (for example) when a Ryanair flight of 100 people lands at Carcassonne, most of the hire cars are booked from Hertz. This means a queue of 20 people at the Hertz desk, and very few at Avis. Our guests have had to wait 90 minutes for a hire car - that's longer than the flight itself!

Government advice

The UK government maintains a page for most countries in the world, and the page for France can be found here. There is the obvious advice on travel, safety, local laws and so on, as well as specific advice for health and entry requirements.

Health

Health insurance is critical in case of accident or illness. Fortunately, if you are covered under the NHS in the UK, there is a FREE card (the EHIC card) you can get which will provide equivalent emergency cover in France. Follow our link to the government advice page above, then under 'Health' there will be a link called EHIC that will take you to the NHS who actually administer the scheme. There is an online application form, and the card could save you hundreds or thousands of pounds, but make sure you apply early enough and allow enough time for the process!

Other Insurance

In addition to emergency health cover, general travel insurance will cover other things that do not need medical help and we strongly recommend that you takeout a general travel insurance policy.

If you are bringing your own car, check your current insurance: Most companies include a number of days of European cover in their policies, but you will need to bring the policy document or a "green card" with you and the policy or the company will be able to advise you on what you need to do.