French post offices (bureaux de poste or PTTs) – look for bright yellow-and-blue La Poste signs – are generally open 8.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, and 8.30am to noon on Saturday. However, don't depend on these hours: in smaller towns and villages offices may close for lunch and earlier in the evening, while in Paris the main post office is open 24 hours.You can receive mail at the central post offices of all 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'll be a charge of €0.46 per item. You should ask for all your names to be checked, as filing systems are not brilliant, and note that they usually only hold letters for fifteen days. For sending letters, remember that you can buy stamps (timbres) with less queuing from tabacs and newsagents. Standard letters (20g or less) and postcards within France and to European Union countries cost €0.46, to North America €0.67 and to Australia and New Zealand €0.79. Inside larger post offices is 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. For further information on postal rates, among other things, log on to the post office web site www.laposte.fr. You can also change money at post offices, make photocopies, send faxes and access Minitel, while most larger offices also offer Internet access. To post your letter on the street, look for the bright yellow postboxes.
| 