A head concierge's handbook for your first trip

42 years at hotel desks across France. Every question your first trip will ask, answered before you land.

Simone Duval at a white marble table in her Paris apartment, a tall window open onto the rooftops and the Eiffel Tower

I spent my working life behind hotel desks in Paris, Nice, Provence, the Loire Valley and the Normandy coast, answering the same questions from Americans a day too late. Before You Land in France answers them while they can still help: which months, how many bases, what to book first, what to do on a strike day, and how to be welcomed everywhere you go.

Cover of Before You Land in France, A head concierge's handbook for your first trip, by Simone Duval

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Where you probably are

France is easy to love, and easy to get wrong the first time.

You've watched the videos about strikes, protests and pickpockets, opened forty tabs and started a list. Half of what you read contradicts the other half, and a good part of it is already out of date: Paris stopped taking paper Metro tickets this year, the airport bus the old guides recommend stopped running in March, and the Eiffel Tower summit can be gone before you've even booked your hotel.

At my desk, the trips that went wrong almost never went wrong in France. They went wrong at home, months before, when nobody told the couple what to decide first. And the guests who arrived braced for rudeness were the ones who found it. A handful of codes changes everything, starting with one word.

Is it safe right now?The news makes France look like a country on fire. You want the honest picture, and a plan for a strike day, without alarm.
Not keeping upThe Metro stairs, the sixth floor with no elevator, the cobblestones, the heat in July. Most guides seem to assume you're twenty-five with a backpack.
Being treated rudelyYou've heard the French don't like Americans. You'd like to know the few codes that make them warm to you, and why they exist.

The honest math

One wrong move costs more than the book.

Nobody adds up what the kitchen-table mistakes cost, because you only find out once you're there. Here are four of the common ones, with the numbers from the book.

Decided from screenshots

The wrong ticket in the Paris Metro, or one you forgot to validate: €70 on the spot (about $78), €100 within 20 days, €120 after that. For each of you.
A canceled flight home that nobody tells you to claim for: Up to €600 per person under EU rules (about $670), left on the table.
Pressing "dollars" on a French card machine: A markup over the European Central Bank's rate, on every payment of the trip.
Normandy as a day trip from Paris: About thirteen hours, six or more of them on the road, and the American Cemetery seen in a hurry.

Decided with the book

Chapter 23, the nine Metro rules: Which ticket works where, on one card. Keep the €70.
Chapter 37, when something goes wrong: What you're owed, and when. You know before the airline tells you.
Chapter 18, the one button never to press: Recognize the screen before you meet it. Always euros.
Chapter 33, two nights, not a day trip: The cemetery at nine in the morning, unhurried. The day you came for.

One Metro fine for two of you costs about five times the price of this book.

Fines from chapter 23 (pages 220 and 221), RATP, in force since June 2, 2025. EU compensation from chapter 37, for a flight over 3,500 km, canceled or 4 or more hours late, per person, unless you were told 14 or more days ahead or the cause was extraordinary. Day trip and two-night plan from chapter 33 (page 307). All checked November 2, 2026. Dollars at the European Central Bank rate of October 30, 2026.

What the book is

A complete handbook, in the order your decisions arrive.

Most guides are organized by city. That's the right shape for a book you carry around, and the wrong shape for the problem you have now, which is not "what's in Paris?" but "when should we go, for how long, what will it cost, what do we book first, and is it safe?"

So this handbook follows your trip: first what to decide, then what to plan, book and prepare, then the day you land, the days you're there, and the day you fly home. Every chapter ends with a tool you fill in, so when you reach the last page you have a real plan with dates and costs. At the back, a finished 14-night plan for a couple from West Virginia shows what yours can look like: Paris, Bayeux, Avignon and Nice, no car, home from Nice.

Part 1DecidingWhen, how long, is it safe, with whom
Part 2PlanningRoute, bases, Paris, budget, train or car
Part 3BookingThe booking order, flights, rooms, what sells out
Part 4PreparingPassport and EES, money, phone, packing, medicines
Part 5Arriving and movingFirst 24 hours, Metro and buses, trains, driving
Part 6Being thereBonjour, cafés, restaurants, Paris, Normandy, the regions
Part 7Problems and homePickpockets, when something goes wrong, the last day

What you'll find inside

Answers, not topics.

Every chapter answers one question you'll actually have. A few of them, with the page they're on:

Is it safe? Strikes, demonstrations and the honest picture, with a plan for a strike dayp. 45
Which month suits you, with temperatures, rain days and the real lavender seasonp. 26
How many bases your nights can hold, and five route shapes from 7 to 21 nightsp. 79
France in hours, not miles: why nearly every train goes through Parisp. 70
Where to stay in Paris, and the sixth-floor question to ask before you bookp. 143
What two weeks really cost for two, at three levels of comfortp. 104
The booking order: what opens four months, 60 days and 7 days aheadp. 124
Passport, the new EES border and ETIAS, explained without alarmp. 165
Your medicines, and what Medicare does and doesn't cover in Francep. 198
Bonjour, and the unspoken rules that make France warm to youp. 247
The café, the menu, the check and the tipp. 256
Normandy and the D-Day beaches, with the time and respect they deservep. 306

And that's a fraction of it.

398pages
38chapters in seven parts
38planning tools, in an 83-page printable toolkit
52diagrams and watercolor illustrations
360dated "Checked" notes on prices and rules

One idea from the book

Bonjour first. Then everything else.

Americans often arrive in France braced, and the bracing is what makes France prickly. In France, Bonjour isn't small talk. It's the door. You say it before your question in every shop, café, taxi and museum, and the person in front of you becomes someone who wants to help.

I learned it behind my father's café counter in Normandy, the morning an American veteran walked in without a Bonjour and learned, in front of three farmers, to say it to each of them by name. By the end of the week they were buying him calvados. He came back every June for twenty years. Chapter 26 gives you the handful of codes France runs on, and chapter 35 the words to go with them.

Simone's verdict
Say Bonjour before anything else, every time, and add madame or monsieur. It costs nothing, and it changes the whole trip.

The French clock: when restaurant kitchens are open, when only the café will feed you, and when Bonjour becomes Bonsoir — The French clock, from chapter 26 (page 250): when the kitchens are open, and when only the café will feed you.

A Paris café cut into three zones: at the counter, cheapest; inside, more; on the terrace, more again — Three prices for one coffee, from chapter 27 (page 257).

Look inside

Real pages from the book.

Tap any page to see it larger.

Contents page listing the seven parts and 38 chapters with page numbers — **Contents**Seven parts, 38 chapters

Watercolor of an open Paris window with peonies and the Eiffel Tower, opening Part One, Deciding — **Part One**Deciding

Chapter 1 page with a grid of 319 dots showing how few Metro stations are step-free — **Chapter 1**The stairs nobody counts

Bar chart of the steps at the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur and the Catacombs — **Chapter 1**The famous climbs

Opening page of chapter 4, Is it safe, with the story of a Charlotte couple on a strike day — **Chapter 4**Is it safe?

Tool 4, a fill-in plan for strikes and cancellations done at home before booking — **Tool 4**The disruption plan

Diagram of France as spokes from six Paris stations, with train times — **Chapter 7**France in hours

Five route shapes from 7 to 21 nights, each drawn as nights per base — **Chapter 8**Five route shapes

Stacked bar chart of what the example trip costs at three levels of comfort — **Chapter 11**What it costs

Timeline counting down to departure, showing when each booking opens — **Chapter 13**The booking order

Cross-section of a Paris building showing French and American floor numbers — **Chapter 15**The sixth floor

Watercolor of a French card machine asking whether to pay in euros or dollars — **Chapter 18**Euros or dollars?

Comparison of the official taxi, the RER B and a booked driver from Charles de Gaulle airport — **Chapter 22**Out of the airport

Opening page of chapter 27, Cafés and bakeries — **Chapter 27**Cafés and bakeries

Diagram comparing a thirteen-hour Normandy day tour with a two-night plan — **Chapter 33**Normandy, with respect

I want the whole book

Full contents

Thirty-eight chapters and a toolkit.

Seven parts, in the order your decisions arrive, each chapter ending with its tool.

Show the full contents

Part OneDeciding

What France asks of you
When to go
The 2027 calendar, and the rhythm of the week
Is it safe? Strikes, demonstrations and the honest picture
How long, and how many bases
Who you're going with

Part TwoPlanning

France in hours, not miles
Choosing your route
Where to stay in Paris
Bases beyond Paris
What this trip costs
Train, car, driver or tour

Part ThreeBooking

The booking order
Flights and airports
Where to sleep
The things that sell out

Part FourPreparing

Passport, EES and ETIAS
Money before you go
Your phone
Packing for France
Your body and your medicines

Part FiveArriving and moving

Your first twenty-four hours
Getting around Paris: Metro, buses, taxis and tickets
The trains, and your luggage
Driving in France

Part SixBeing there

Bonjour, and the unspoken rules
Cafés and bakeries
Restaurants
Paying, tipping and shopping
The famous places of Paris, over fifty
Your hotel, and what to ask the desk
Day trips from Paris
Normandy and the D-Day beaches, with respect
Provence, the Riviera and the Loire, in practice
French for the desk

Part SevenProblems and home

Pickpockets and scams
When something goes wrong
The last day

Back of the bookThe plan, and the toolkit

Your countdown to departure
A finished plan: 14 nights, Paris, Bayeux, Avignon and Nice
A last word from the desk
What will change, and where to check it
Sources, by chapter

Plus the Reader Toolkit as its own 83-page PDF: all 38 tools, from the Pace Audit and the Booking Countdown to the Menu Decoder, the Emergency Card and the Departure Checklist, and a glossary of about 100 French words.

Is it for you

Written for one kind of reader.

It's for you if

You're over 50, planning a first real trip to France, and you'd rather plan it yourself than join a tour.
You've seen the news and the videos, and you want the honest picture on safety, strikes and pickpockets, without alarm.
You're traveling as a couple, with friends or grandchildren, and need a pace that suits everyone's knees.
You like to see the real numbers: prices, times, fines and fees, each with its date and source.

It isn't for you if

You've been to France many times and only want restaurant tips for one city.
You want someone to book a guided tour for you.
You're heading mainly to Alsace, Burgundy, the Dordogne, Lyon, the Alps or Corsica. The book covers Paris, Normandy, the Loire, Provence and the Riviera.
You want a phrasebook or a history book. There's French for the desk and a glossary, but this is a planning handbook.

Get your copy

Before You Land in France

A head concierge's handbook for your first trip

The 398-page handbook, 38 chapters, every price checked and dated
The 83-page printable toolkit: 38 planning tools, US Letter
52 diagrams and watercolor illustrations
A finished 14-night plan to copy
Instant PDF for your phone, tablet or computer, no account
14-day money-back guarantee

Launch price · Save 25%

$29~~$39~~Tax included · One payment, no subscription

The price goes to $39 when the launch ends.

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My 14-day promise

Read it. If it doesn't help you plan your trip, write to support@simoneduval.com within 14 days of buying and you get every cent back. No questions, no forms.

Simone Duval at her table in Paris, smiling, in a black sweater

Who wrote it

Bonjour, I'm Simone.

I grew up above my parents' little hotel and café in Normandy, a few minutes from Omaha Beach. Every June the American veterans came back, and I carried their breakfast trays from the age of eleven. One of them, Walter from Pennsylvania, taught me my first American sentences.

I took my first desk job at nineteen, near the Gare Saint-Lazare, and the desks carried me around France for forty-two years: Nice, Provence, four years in New Orleans learning how Americans plan a trip, the Loire Valley, the Normandy coast, a posting in London, and finally head concierge in Paris. Every question my American guests asked twice went on a card in an old butter-biscuit tin. By the time I retired there were nine tins on my kitchen shelf.

This book is those cards, checked, dated and put in order. I live on the Left Bank now, six floors above the rooftops, and I'd still rather you asked me before you land than at my desk afterward.

Simone

You'll also find me on YouTube, at Simone Duval.

Questions

Before you buy.

What exactly do I get?

Two PDF files: the 398-page handbook (7 by 10 inches) and the 83-page Reader Toolkit (US Letter, made to print). Your two download buttons appear right after payment, and the links are emailed to you.

Is France safe right now?

Chapter 4 gives you the honest, long-term picture: what the State Department actually says, how strikes and demonstrations work in France, how to check them the evening before, and how to book so a disrupted day costs you very little. Chapter 36 covers pickpockets and scams as behavior to recognize, not as a reason to stay home.

Is it up to date?

About 360 prices, rules and timetables were checked on November 2 and 3, 2026, and each one carries its date and source. A section at the back lists what is most likely to change and where to check it a week before you fly.

Is it only for people over 50?

It's written with travelers over 50 in mind: pace, stairs, heat, medicines, Medicare abroad. But the planning works for anyone on a first trip.

Does it cover where I'm going?

Paris and its day trips (Versailles, Giverny, Fontainebleau and more), Normandy and the D-Day beaches with Mont-Saint-Michel, the Loire Valley, Provence, and the Riviera with Monaco. Alsace, Burgundy, the Dordogne, Lyon, the Alps and Corsica aren't covered.

Does it recommend hotels and restaurants?

No names. It tells you which neighborhood suits you, what to ask any hotel before you pay, and how to read a French menu and recognize a good bistro, so the advice doesn't go stale when a place changes hands.

Do I need to speak French?

No. Chapter 35 gives you the handful of words that matter most, and a glossary of about 100 French words you'll meet on signs, menus and tickets.

Can I read it on my phone or tablet?

Yes. A PDF opens on any phone, tablet or computer. On an iPhone or iPad, open it in Books to keep it on your shelf. It reads most comfortably on a tablet or computer, and the text is set at a generous size.

Is there a paperback?

Not yet.

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Will the price go up?

Yes. $29 is the launch price. When the launch ends, the book goes to $39. If you buy now, you pay $29 once, and that's it.

Is tax included?

Yes. The price is in US dollars and includes any sales tax or VAT due where you live. Your receipt shows the breakdown.

What if it isn't for me?

Write to us within 14 days of buying, from the help page or by replying to your download email, and we refund you in full. No questions, no forms. Your download links stop working once the refund is made.

I'm not good with computers.

You don't need to be. After you pay, you press one button and the book opens. There's no account and no password. If anything doesn't work, write to us and we'll walk you through it.

I lost my download link.

Look for the email with the subject "Your copy of Before You Land in France". If you can't find it, use the help page with the email address you used at checkout.

Questions before you buy?

Ask us.

Not sure the book fits your trip? Write, and we'll answer by email, usually within a day.

Not ready yet?

Start with two tools, free.

The Disruption Plan, Tool 4 from the book

The Disruption Plan and the Booking Countdown, exactly as they appear in the toolkit. Five pages, made to print.

Before you book anything

Plan it once, properly, and enjoy every day you're there.

Read Parts One and Two before you spend any money. They hold the few decisions everything else depends on, including the one about safety.

Launch price · Save 25%

$29~~$39~~PDF ebook, 398 pages, plus the toolkit

The price goes to $39 when the launch ends.

14-day money-back guarantee · One payment, no subscription

Instant download
Links also sent by email
Tax included