Mail
French post offices ( bureaux de poste or PTT s) - look for bright yellow La Poste signs - are generally open 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to noon on Saturday. However, don't depend on these hours: in smaller towns and villages offices may close earlier and for lunch, while in Paris the main post office is open 24 hours. You can receive mail at the central post offices of most towns. It should be addressed (preferably with the surname first and in capitals) " Poste Restante , Poste Centrale", followed by the name of the town and its postcode. To collect your mail you need a passport or other convincing ID and there may be a charge of around a couple of francs. You should ask for all your names to be checked, as filing systems are not brilliant. For sending letters, remember that you can buy stamps ( timbres ) with less queuing from tabacs . Standard letters (20g or less) and postcards within France and to European Union countries cost 3F/?0.46, to North America 4.40F/?0.67 and to Australia and New Zealand 5.20F/?0.79. Inside many post offices you will find a row of yellow-coloured guichet automatiques - automatic ticket machines with instructions available in English with which you can weigh packages and buy the appropriate stamps; sticky labels and tape are also dispensed. A machine can change notes into change, so there is no need to queue for counter service. If you're sending parcels abroad, you can try to check prices on the guichet if available or in various leaflets available: small post offices don't often send foreign mail and may need reminding, for example, of the reductions for printed papers and books. You can also use Minitel at post offices, change money, make photocopies, send faxes and make phone calls. To post your letter on the street, look for the bright yellow postboxes .
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