• Ryanair is a low cost airline that can get you from other European destinations to France for REALLY low fares. This may allow you to visit other countries at the same time as netting some of the great promotional fares offered by the major airlines to other cities that you didn't plan to go to! http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/  
  
  This is one way you can do antiquing in England AND France, for the professional only markets in Tours and Le Mans. 

• Here is an adventure in travel for those who are willing to travel on standby at the very last minute (by waiting at the airport with one carry-on bag) and on other than major airlines. Airhitch can get you to Europe for less that $300 each way, provided you leave from New York, Montreal, Los Angeles or Miami. Here is the link to their website: http://www.airhitch.org/    

Navigating by road signs is really different in France, as you must know what towns and villages are on the route; most signs indicate the next town, if you don't know it, then you may not get where you are going!) Also, be prepared to ready 5 to 10 signs at one time, and often not placed for good visibility. Luckily, rotaries are the most used form of crossroads, and you get to go around as many times as you like in order to read the signs and choose your exit!

Very important: On many streets, the cars entering the main road on your right have the right of way! There are exceptions, but be prepared to stop to let them enter, and be equally prepared for the car in front of you to stop suddenly, for no reason apparent to you!

The auto-routes work very similar to US interstates, except that they are toll roads and the exits can be really far apart. Pay attention to your gas gauge and don't run short. The toll booths do accept American Express, MasterCard and Visa cards. This is the fastest way to pay.

24 hour gas stations are in most communities, but they are not staffed and many only take European bank cards, NOT US credit cards and certainly not cash. 24 hour convenience stores are RARE or non-existant, except on the autoroutes. 

US bank ATM cards work great at most cash machines in France, and they are everywhere! The exchange rate is MUCH better than  you will receive at ANY currency exchange point.  (I have never understood why ANYONE uses the currency exchange in an airport!) Some banks will also exchange US dollars, at rates a little better than given by currency exchange offices; and La Poste (post office) in larger towns usually have a very good exchange rate.  Talk to your bank before leaving the US and make sure that they will increase your daily limit of funds withdrawal to a level that will allow you to pull out the cash you will need in France.

Some antique dealers will be able to accept Mastercard and Visa, but not all, and certainly not at antique fairs. Your best option for handling the purchases may be to use the services of an antiques expediter who will hold funds you have deposited with them, then they will pay the merchants when the merchandise is picked up to be readied for shipment.

Some antique dealers will accept payment in US dollars, but IF they will, it is strictly as a service to you. They won't usually let you know it, but it will drive them crazy and cost them extra to have the currency exchanged at their bank. In addition to this, most will not know the current rate of exchange and the price will be a 'guess-timate'. It is really much better to pay in euros, if at all possible.

• http://www.123france.com/
  
• http://www.lodgingfrance.com/

One can also do a search by city or community name on the internet to find information on their web pages.

So you found a parking space? (There are some 'gotchas', be careful!)

• Many parking meters in the larger cities no longer accept money, you must have a card! These can be purchased at tabacs  which are found by watching for the elongated diamond insignia (often a lighted sign) or the word 'Tabac' on the exterior of the building. 
  
  Parking tickets are at least 35 euro and are placed on the windshield of the car. If you do get one, it can be paid via the internet by following the instructions (in French, of course) on the back of the ticket.
  
• Watch the signposts all the way to the corners, as parking rules can change depending on what day it is and what time of the day it is! Overnight parking requires extra vigilance.
  
   A really disagreeable surprise is to find a great parking place and then when you return to find that it was market day and now you are blocked in by merchants AND have a parking ticket. It is a challenge to move a vehicle that is blocked in, but if you don't find a way, the French have lovely crane that will gently lift your car out of a space and place it on a tow truck. Of course then you must recover the car at a city impound facility AND pay for the crane! It happened to me once when I was blocked in next to a fish merchant, who also eloquently expressed his disapproval of my car denying access to unload his product by tossing the rejected produce onto my car. He had a good point, as I had inadvertently made his day very difficult. I learned from that mistake!
  
  Many streets also have parking on one side only, but which side can alternate depending on which day of the month it is!
  
• The color of the lines on the curbs or roads also mean something important. The blue areas mean that you must have a disk displayed in your window, as the parking usually has a one or two hour limit. Tourists don't usually have a parking disk, but I think they can be obtained from the local tourist office or perhaps the Mairie (City Hall). A disk from any city or community will work in any other place.
  
• Try to leave space in front between you and the next vehicle, as often the car that parks behind you will be touching your bumper! This only helps if the person in front of you doesn't move to be replaced by someone who then backs up against your front bumper!
  
• Pulling the car halfway up onto the curb is pretty common practice; just try to imitate what the other cars around have done. If you are lucky, they aren't doing anything illegal!

• Cellular phones can be rented in most large cities, but the rates for per minute charges can be quite expensive. If you already have a GSM or tri-band phone, the chances are that it will work in France, but check the per minute rates with your carrier before using it!
  
• Phone cards bought in France are a good alternative and some are quite inexpensive - Tabacs sell phone cards for the payphones which can be found on many streets. The post office (La Poste) also sells phone cards of various sorts that can be used to call either from payphones or from almost any telephone. Both of these types of cards can be used to call in France or internationally. Pay phones require a card, they don't take cash.
  
• When dialing TO France from the US, you don't dial the first '0' of the first two numbers (French phone numbers have 10 digits). The international prefix and country code (33 for France) are dialed before the telephone number. 
• When dialing back to the US from France, you dial 00 (international dialing prefix) and then '1' plus the area code and phone number.
• 800 (and toll free ) numbers don't work toll free....... you will be charged at the full international rate if you try to use them. If you think you will need to call companies with those numbers, contact them before arriving in France and get a normal telephone number to dial, it will be cheaper and easier!
• The phone system in France is different than the US. The biggest difference is that when you are one the phone, you will be paying by the minute whether you are making or receiving the call. (Unless you use a telephone of someone who has subscribed to an internet service provider who is offering free calling.... as a tourist this will most likely NOT be the case!)

If you will be going to many cities or will have an extended stay which will include a lot of travel by train, you should purchase a Eurail Pass BEFORE leaving the US, as it is less expensive than purchasing after you arrive.

• France Rail System Website in English