urbanhiker
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances (2012)
Le Puy to Moissac (2013)
Camino Portugues (Sept 2014)
Camino del Norte/Irun to Luarca (April 2015)
Camino Inglés/Camino Finisterra/Muxia (Oct 2015)
Moissac to St. Jean (2016)
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Hi, I've just finished the le Puy route. I bought a €34 Samsung phone in Lyon and had to go to the train station to buy orange credit. I had coverage everyday. The only problem was getting more credit. None of my 3 Australian credit cards were accepted. At one point a kind French walker used his credit card for me ( in exchange for cash ) however, when I tried again later in the walk with another French walkers card, it wouldn't accept it as the card was different! Most newsagent ( tabac/ presse) sell credit and I always had the staff call to add it. Very impressed with the coverage of Orange.My SFR phone cost me 20 Euros and included 20Euros of phone time which was enough to get me almost all the way across Spain and I spent a few calls just chatting with my son in France.
With just under 7 weeks to my Le Puy adventure I am reading this thread with interest. I like the idea of just using phone cards but was wondering are there enough public phone boxes along the way?
(!)
I don't recall many public telephones.
We needed our mobile phone to call ahead to book into gites and chambre d'hôtes, especially during the weekends. Our hosts were often happy to phone ahead for us but sometimes it just didn't happen for various reasons, we also needed to change bookings or notify that we had to cancel - very important to do this as soon as it becomes obvious, so the establishment does not lose out and also so other walkers can get a bed. We've needed to call our hosts to be collected because one of our party got suddenly sick. We've also had to change return flights due to a strike on the railways (disconcertingly common and unexpected) and that required having a number for return calls.
Last time we used an unlocked iPhone and "Le French Mobile", purchased before leaving, mainly because the year before I found it difficult to set up a local SIM card (although it was good, and cheap, once it was set up). That was in 2011, I suspect it would be easier now.
That was my first experience, but for the last three trips, they took the information from my passport, set up the phone in English, and I was on my way. It took about fifteen minutes (after an hour wait for the store to open after midday).with a pay-as-you-go SIM card, ie we had to give a local address
I'll just report my experience. I brought my iPhone. I called my provider (Verizon) before I left and they -- not I -- did what was required to allow me to call the US from France and to make calls to French phone numbers. The rate was expensive at US 1.29/minute, but I only used it to make reservations and never spoke for more than a minute.
I also had Miam Miam Dodo on the phone, so I never had to enter telephone numbers. I just clicked on the phone number in the guide. Worth every penny.
Bill
Why not just dial them when you need them?how do I go about loading the Miam Dodo phone numbers into my phone?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?