What is the best sim card to get to cover all of france.

Don't know where an English speaking outlet might be but I was very satisfied with a SIM from Lebara. English instructions, on line assistance and English option when calling their customer service line. It worked all over France with no reception problems. Here's a link to their website. If you go on chat and provide your address in Paris, they should be able to tell you of location near you.

I used Boutique Orange and was not 100% happy. The automated messages that come on your phone from them are definitely in French. On the plus side, they're apparently a fairly large chain throughout France so you can find a store in many locations if you need help in person. Some of the employees I dealt with were fluent in English, others not.

I've had better luck dealing with Bougyes than Orange. If I remember correctly, there was always a choice for English. I think the FNAC sells all of them.
Edit: I meant SFR, not Bougyes. They are all similar, Bouyges,SFR, Orange--.

We are currently in Paris and made the mistake of getting a Lebara SIM card in the airport. It was awful - you can't get on the network most of the evening and during the day it is unbearably slow. Lebara operates only on the 3G network and clearly at night, they have a very small part of the spectrum. During the were unable to load Google Maps or the RATP app to determine how to get around and it was very frustrating. We decided to cut our losses and bought new SIM cards from Orange from the store on the Champs Elysees close to the Arc d'Triomphe. You can top up the data with additional 1GB increments. While it isn't necessarily close to you, they speak English and got us set up in no time. Since the switch, we are on the 4G network almost always and the speed is lightning fast. We used Google Maps and the metro app all day yesterday and it was great.

We never figured this out so I'll be watching the other replies. Tried Lebara, never worked. Got really used to finding wifi wherever we could.

We had no problems with an Orange SIM purchased on arrival at CDG. The instruction pamphlet included English. We noted Orange storefronts in several locations in Paris, including one on St. Michel Blvd a few blocks up from the Seine. I (vaguely) recall the initial term was 30 days, but that an additional 30 days could be added at no charge.

Thanks for all the input but . . . the point is moot right now since my phone was stolen on the Metro a couple of days ago. Never carry a phone in your shirt pocket. May get an Orange trac phone since Orange seems to be the French AT&T and would probably have the best coverage throughout France.

Jerry & Stelly,

So sorry to hear that your phone was stolen...

Look on the bright side...
If you end up buying a cheap phone there, you can save it for all your future travels! ;-)

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

If you just want to make some calls at the local rate, picking up a very basic phone with car charger, SIM and minutes is cheap. Last trip I found multiple choices (including, but not limited to, Orange and Vodaphone) the downside is you have to visit a store to add value to your pay-as-you-go SIM but if you pick a major brand, they're all over.

I used Vodaphone and had them set it up at the store.

This time I'm taking my phone and will want a SIM, so I'm interested in seeing what people have to say.

So sorry about your phone being stolen.

For anyone looking, yes Orange is the French AT&T (the former state telephone service that remains dominant after the breakup of the monopoly). And they have boutiques all over the city, not just on the Champs-Elysées.

p.s. Vodaphone isn't present on the French market.

Brad,

When we were in France in late May/ mid June, I tried to find a SIM card for my unlocked iphone 5s, but was unable to find a prepaid SIM card that would enable me to make calls to the US at a reasonable cost. We went to a couple of phone stores including, Orange & SFR.
I gave up & just used my phone whenever I had Wi-Fi ( kept it on airplane mode) & called home via Facetime.

Towards the end of our trip I went to the post office (La Poste) to send a package home, & I noticed that they sell prepaid SIM cards there. When I asked for information, the SIM card was only to make calls within France, so I didn't end up buying it, it was pretty inexpensive though, but I dont recall how many minutes or how much data it included.

I just found this prepaid Orange SIM card offer, but it's definitely not cheap & only valid for 14 days.

Perhaps Kim (from Paris) knows more about La Poste SIM cards.

I just found this information about La Poste Mobile.... I guess its worth a try.

Enjoy your trip!

Unfortunately I've never used La Poste, I'm an Orange customer.

To me, SFR, Orange, and Bouygues probably all offer the same decent coverage. La Poste and Free may be up there too. I would be way of Lebara and some of the other "cheaper" options for the reasons an earlier poster mentioned. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

When you think in the context of what it USED to cost to call home, it's really peanuts.

But of course it all depends on how you're budgeting your money-- i.e. what expenses are important enough to you to bear, and which you want to completely minimize. And that equation is different for different people.