Kindle/e-mail

As far as I know, you can't send e-mails on a Kindle. It's a reader with a rudimentary browser. I took my Kindle 3G last year loaded with guidebooks and recreational reading, plus I was able to borrow a novel from my local library with a wifi connection. But for e-mail you'll need a smartphone (stick to wifi to avoid huge roaming charges), tablet, netbook, or laptop. Or internet cafes.

We were in Paris in November and I was able to send/receive gmail on my Kindle Fire as long as I could connect to wifi.

@ Dawn -- Yes, the Kindle Fire is really a tablet computer, you can do e-mail and all kinds of internet stuff on it. But not on the ordinary e-reader.

@ Diane, which of these do you have?

I actually checked my Kindle 3 last night to see if has e-mail capability and it does. You go into Menu, then Experimental, then you can bring up a web browser there. My experience with downloading from a library site using the web browser has been dismal so I think using it for e-mail might be awkward. I would try it at home first to see how handy it is and how easy it is to connect to a wifi network.

I just got a Kindle Fire and it does everything an Ipad does, email, online google searches, etc. If you can send/receive email from you Kindle in the U.S., it will work in France. If you have an older ereader, then it won't work for email.

My Kindle is a 3 not a Fire. It DOES have e-mail and internet capability even though it is fairly awkward to use.

Three years ago we stayed in a small village in the South of France in a house without internet. My wife's kindle was the only way we were able to check email without going to an internet cafe a few miles away. I don't know what model it was.

We've each taken a Kindle Fire to Europe. Rick has some excellent free downloads on many famous places all across Europe. We took a night tour of the Sistine Chapel, had the entire place almost to ourselves, and listened to Ricks' panel by ceiling panel explanations of the breathtaking art work. We are doing the same for our Paris trip next month and have used the Fires and the free downloads in loads of places. I've also downloaded some French or Italian or Turkish language sites on YouTube to brush up while over there.