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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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RF Newsletter Number 24, April 21 Contents.
Wow, I really opened an issue in the last newsletter. My mail box has been full of stories about stolen luggage and theft from cars. This is a very serious issue and one not advertised by travel agents or Government tourist boards. It seems France is no worse than most countries in the world and all travelers should be aware and alert. My thanks to all of you who wrote in, I will put a special page on the site advising about security and safety, in fact I am now planning to add a notice board to many of the pages on the site where you can quickly make a comment or reply, if we all talk to each other and share our experiences it is bound to help. I include here some of the comments .... == Worst spot for thieves is CDG (Paris airport) and Orly rental lots and especially for women. Thieves come and speak to drivers and second crawls to other side and takes luggage and purses == The last time I picked up a car in Avignon, the rental agency had 18 cars either broken in to or stolen completely in 3 days alone. Our hotel also advised us it was an extreme problem. It of course makes sense to leave the car empty of valuables. But what about when traveling from one part of the country another? Is it possible to check one's luggage somewhere while visiting a city? Could this be done perhaps at a train station? (In my experience there are no left luggage lockers available in stations now.Tony) == I was advised to leave a local newspaper on the back deck of the car. == ..I don't have any answers except to be aware of the problem and to keep doors locked at all times, valuables out of reach of the windows and never leave the car unattended with anything in it. One thought I came up with today is possibly to invest in one of those special padlocks you can buy for motorcycles, the big U-bolt things, if you locked several pieces of luggage together by the handles, this would be too cumbersome to quickly lift out of the car and too heavy to carry. Another idea may be for all people in the travel business, like us here in Nizas, to offer to mind luggage for visitors who are passing through and want to do some site-seeing locally but are not planning to stop. Anyone traveling near us is welcome to leave their stuff with us for the day, no charge. If a lot of guest houses, hotels, car rental depots etc were to offer this as a "network" service it could only be a good thing. I am sure the are problems, insurance etc, but I am also sure this can be worked out if we want to. Any more ideas or volunteers for free luggage parking? I will put a list up on the sites of anyone offering to mind bags for a day. We could even make a MYOB (Mind YOur Bags) site and get banners for all travel sites so that you can find the nearest baggage guarding place. (Yet another perfect use for my proposed WAP sites, just key in 6962 (myob) to get the depot nearest you.)
On a happier note, I have finally caught up with
the archives for this newsletter, you can "catch
them all" at ... A Bientôt Tony |