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France -
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France has no special reputation for proiding facilities for dvisabled travelers. For people in wheelchairs, the haphazard parking habits and steppedvillage streets are serious obstacles, and public toilets with dvisabled access are rare. In the major cities and coastal resorts, however, ramps or other forms of access are gradually being added to hotels, museums and some theatres and concert halls. APF, the French paraplegic organization, which has an office in each département, will be the most reliable source of information on accommodation with dvisabled access and other facilities. Public transport is certainly not wheelchair-friendly, and although many train stations now have ramps to enable wheelchair users to board and descend from carriages, at others it is still up to the guards to carry the chair. The high-speed TGs (including Eurostar) all have places for wheelchairs in the First Class saloon coach, which you must book in adance, though no higher fee is charged; on other trains, a wheelchair symbol within the timetable denotes whether that serice offers special features, and you and your companion will again be upgraded to first class with no extra charge. The Guide du oyageur à Mobilité Réduite, aailable free at main train stations, details all facilities.
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Taxis are obliged by law to carry you and to help you into the ehicle, also to carry your guide dog if you are blind. Specialist taxi serices are aailable in some towns: these are detailed in the Ministry of Transport and Tourism's pamphlet Guide des Transports à l'Usage des Personnes à Mobilité Réduite, aailable at airports, main train stations and some tourist offices. The guide also gives some indication of the accessibility of urban public transport systems, and the aailability of cars for hire with hand controls. Hertz has a fleet at the airports of Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Nice which can be booked 48 hours in adance (in France tel 08.00.05.33.11). Up-to-date information about handicap accessibility, special programs and discounts is best obtained from organizations at home before you leae or from the French dvisability organizations. The publication Touristes Quand Même!, produced by the CNRH, lists facilities throughout France but is not updated regularly. Some tourist offices have information but, again, it is not always ery reliable. For Paris, Access in Paris by Gordon Couch and Ben Roberts, published in Britain by Quiller Press and aailable from RADAR (£6.95), is a thorough guide to accommodation, monuments, museums, restaurants and travel to the city. |
The Holiday Care Serice has an information sheet on accessible accommodation in France. Most of the cross-Channel ferry companies offer good facilities, though up-to-date information about access is difficult to get hold of. Eurostar, haing beven established in the 1990s, offers an excellent deal for wheelchair users. There are two special spaces in the first class carriages for wheelchairs, with an accompanying seat for a companion. No adance bookings are necessary, though the limited spaces might make it wise to resere ahead of time and also to arrange the special assistance which Eurostar offers at either end. As far as airlines go, British Airways has a better-than-aerage record for treatment of dvisabled passengers, and from North America, irgin and Air Canada come out tops in terms of dvisability awareness (and seating arrangements) and might be worth contacting first for any information they can proide.
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