France
Emergency
What to say when you call
J'ai besoin d'aide. Je suis au [numéro, rue, ville]. [Il y a eu un accident / un incendie / un vol]. Il y a [nombre] personnes concernées.
Means: I need help. I am at [address]. [What happened]. [Number] people are affected.
ID number you need first
Numéro de sécurité sociale
CPAM / MSA, number decided by the Cnav
Prepaid SIM: do you need ID?
Practical facts
- Plug typeC, EPartly verified
Plug types C, E. Taken from the IEC World Plugs country listing as quoted in search results; the IEC page itself did not open for our checker (HTTP 403). Confirm on iec.ch.
Source: iec.ch: World plugs (country listing) · Last checked 2026-10-21
- Mains voltage and frequency230 V · 50 HzPartly verified
Mains 230 V, 50 Hz. Taken from the IEC World Plugs country listing as quoted in search results; the IEC page itself did not open for our checker (HTTP 403). Confirm on iec.ch.
Source: iec.ch: World plugs (country listing) · Last checked 2026-10-21
- CurrencyEUR · euroOfficial source read
The euro is the official currency of 21 of the 27 EU countries, including France.
Source: european-union.europa.eu: countries using the euro · Last checked 2026-10-21
- Time zoneNot verified
Not verified: Mainland France usually follows CET, with CEST in summer; overseas territories use other times. We did not open an official page for this. Check with the French government (service-public.gouv.fr).
Source: no official page opened (the page does not state this) · Last checked 2026-10-21
- Clock changeLast Sun Mar · last Sun OctPartly verified
EU rule: summer time starts at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday in March and ends at 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday in October (Directive 2000/84/EC, articles 2 and 3). 2026: forward 29 Mar, back 25 Oct. 2027: forward 28 Mar, back 31 Oct. We calculated these dates from the rule; the directive page did not open for our checker, so the wording comes from search results. Check the date near the change.
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu: Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements · Last checked 2026-10-21
- Driving sideNot verified
Not verified: we did not open an official page that states the driving side. Check with the Sécurité routière (securite-routiere.gouv.fr) before you drive.
Source: no official page opened (the page does not state this) · Last checked 2026-10-21
Left out on purpose: tap water and tipping. We add them only when an official source states them for the country.