Getting Connected in Paris
I have to admit that I never intended on trying to bring a US computer over here, nor had I even planned on buying one from a French store, complete with the azerty keyboard. I was content to go ahead and pop in to the neighborhood cybercafés to check my e-mail once a week or surf around on the web. But Mr. Hall and I use the computer to keep intouch with the Anglophone world, so all of the hassle of buying a computer is definitely worth it.
Now a small disclaimer: this article is written from personal experience, and a layperson's at that! I just want to give y'all an idea of what's out there, what the options are, what to do when you think you can do no more (besides calling the computer help desk back in the States). This would definitely be the article that would benefit from a little bit of discussion comments from others of you out there who have also figured out how to get your computer to work in Paris.
Buying a Computer The first local computer superstore, Surcouf, opened a few years back on avenue Daumesnil in the 12th arr. since then, rival shops have flocked to the neighborhood, transforming the avenue Daumesnil into a sort of Computer Boulevard. Most of these stores sell PC hardware, from computers, sound cards and motherboards to printers, modems and DVDs, on average for 10-25% less than Surcouf. It helps to know what you're looking for if you shop on this street, that way you'll know if you've found a real bargain or not. Surcouf is a gigantesque mall of a store, where you can find everything that exists in France for PCs and Macs in its 10,000 sq meter exhibition space sprawled over three floors. Prices are generally a little better than FNAC's, particularly in the way of consumables such as zip cartridges, toner, paper and blank CDs. They do computer repairs on-site or come to you at your home (preferable, for obvious reasons) and also rent computers out if you don't think you'll be around long enough to own a French computer. You can browse the catalog and order on-line at their website, but you'll need to know French (by the way, if you don't know French, make sure you don't buy software in V.F--version français-it's not a fun way to learn!)
The other big giant company is FNAC. They're all over France, with some branches that are quite small, to the big ones that sell everything like the conveniently located and open 'till midnight FNAC on the Champs-Elysées. Though pricierthan the avenue Daumesnil shops, they're conveniently located all over the city, and are well stocked with software, hardware and basic consumables. Although their site is also in French, you can now purchase and download all types of major brand software on-line. Finally, there's the customer service champions at Darty, who are a bit like FNAC, but tend to be a bit less expensive, and may not have as much of a selection. Claire got her pretty iMac from DARTY, and when she was having virus problems, they came over and fixed it up for her. Not bad-for France.
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