The thought of being deprived of google maps while in Paris absolutely terrifies me. I can’t imagine being able to navigate this city with, to put it mildly, rather confusing metro system without my phone and the app. First of all, Uber is the best possible mean of transport that one could use to get from the airport to the city, that’s why I decided to pay for the international plan offered by my home cell service provider and use it during my first 48 hours in France. I must say that it was a very wise decision which saved me from being even more stressed out on my first day in the city, and as I moved in just a day before my orientation began, I didn’t have to worry about losing my group or making a rushed decision when it came to choosing a phone plan provider.
After consulting with several people who live or frequently travel to Paris, I decided to use a monthly plan offered by Free. I was able to purchase it very easily and quickly in a sim-card machine located in one of the Free centers in Paris, the monthly plan amounts to only 20 Euros and includes unlimited call, text and 5GB of 3G data, plus coverage extends to other countries in the EU which is a huge advantage of that particular plan. Now I am able to stay connected 24/7.
My experience with electronic devices in France, however, is not all around positive. While my home university does have hundreds of Macs available for students in its libraries, the printing system is rather inconvenient. At Northeastern every student has access to printing facilities 24/7, situation at Sciences Po is rather different. Printing is possible only from the library computers and there are only about 6 printers for the entire campus which are located in the library as well. The library is not open on Sundays and weekday opening times are usually from 9 am to 10 pm… Yes, you have to prepare your hard copies well in advance and last minute printing before the start of the class certainly is not the safest option. While this difficulties are minor, they certainly made me appreciate Northeastern library and printing services.
