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18
- Flights to France and transportation means
Several
airlines propose flights USA - France.
United Airlines via Washington to New York. The
price is 11,500 Frs return in economy class.
On Air France, the price in Economy is 11,500 Frs
and in Business Class
17,200 Frs. Flights are also on offer from
Nouvelles Frontières, United Airlines (tel.
16 1 48 97 82 82, freight for packets weighing less
than 32 kilos : tel. 48 62 96 61 23, fax 48 62 96
64) , T W A (tel. 49 19 20 00).
THE NEW YORK AIRPORT
New York : Kennedy Airport is 45 minutes from NY
and can be joined by bus, underground, taxi,
limousine or helicopter.
NB: limousine = $60, helicopter = $65, taxi = $40,
shuttle bus to the 'Howard Beach' underground
station = $1.25
From Newark : the airport is connected to NY by the
Olympia Airport Express = $7, or taxis = $30
In town use the Yellow Cab taxis rather than
renting a car which is totally impractical
especially between 4 pm and 6 pm.
19
- Time differences
On the east coast (New York) substract 6 hours from
Paris time.
In the centre substract 7 hours.
In the Rockies substract 8 hours.
For Alaska substract 9 to 12
hours.
20 -
Telecommunications
Telephone/Telegraph :
The telephone
system is automatic but you can be helped by an
operator by dialling 0.
To call San
Francisco from France you have to dial 00 1 415 and
the n° of your correspondant.
To call France from San Francisco dial 011 33 and
the n° of your correspondant.
To call Chicago
from France dial 00 1 312 and the n° of your
correspondant.
To call France from Chicago dial 011 33 and the
n° of your correspondant
To call Atlanta
from France dial 00 and the n° of your
correspondant.
To call France from Atlanta dial 33 11 and the
n° of your correspondant.
If you call from a private line you must add 1800.
You can use the ATT calling card (Free line 05 48
51 11).
To call Seattle
from France dial 00 1 206 and the n° of your
correspondant.
To call France from Seattle dial 0 11 33 and the
n° of your correspondant, adding 1800 if you
are using a private telephone.
The calling card
can be used anywhere in the United States, from a
telephone box or from a hotel (the call is charged
to your credit card directly without a commission
to the hotel). To help you there are French
speaking interlocutors available on
demand.
Radio/TV
:
The TV channels
are extremely numerous and you can get several
French channels and radio stations.
21
- Airports
Transataffaires
San
Francisco
Regular
flights are on offer from several airines such as
Air France, United Airlines, TWA, Delta,
Continental, from Paris to San Francisco. You
arrive and return from San Francisco International
Airport which is 25 kms to the south of the
towncentre.
Miami
Air
France has 6 flights a week (except on Mondays)
direct to Miami, the flight lasts 10 hours. The
Miami international airport is at about 10 kms from
the town centre.
Chicago
A seven
and a half hour flight Paris/Chicago, by Air France
and American Airlines. O'Hara international airport
is 33 kilometers from the town centre, which you
can reach by taxi or by mini-bus to the main
hotels.
Atlanta
You can
either depart from Charles de Gaulle to Atlanta
with Air France or TWA or from Orly with Delta
Airlines which has a daily flight Paris/Atlanta.
During the summer Delta runs a flight
Atlanta/Nice
Seattle
There are
no direct flights to Seattle. Departure is from
Charles de Gaulle with Air France and TWA.
You can return to Paris either via the Sea-Tac or
the Boeing airports, both in Seattle.
22
- Car Hire
In the United States everything is for rent. In
fact you can hire the services of a body guard from
$45 an hour from Roy Clark Investigators (tel. 718
424 40 40 ) for example.
You have planned
a cosy dinner, hire the services of the Vintage
Trio musicians (tel; 212 204 48 23).
You don't want to
leave your animal on his own - if you have to go
away 'Dog's Relief' will provide you with a 'doggy
sit' from $30 an hour (tel. 212 375 60 80).
In addition, the Hotel Le Pierre proposes special
menus for animals.
If you are
getting married, or just want to be romantic you
can rent the services of the Manhattan Carriage Co
who offer horse-drawn carriages for $80 an hour
(tel. 212 262 92 75)
Seriously, you
can also rent all the equipment you need to work
:
Computer rent
(212 619 63 63) and Quick Rent Computer (212 249 80
80) propose computers and printers at a rate of $50
a day.
Share It
Technology (203 258 25 00) offers the rent of
portable telephones. One minute of international
communication costs $4.95.
Offices, meeting
rooms, fax, photocopiers are available from rental
agencies such as Airline Stationary (212 532 65
25), Desquaway USA (212 332 80 50) or Executive
Systems International (212 758 64 00).
VEHICLE
RENTAL
To cross the
American continent you can rent a car but you have
to fulfill certain conditions :
- your
international driving licence is sufficient. For
the French the driving licence must be at least a
year old
- you must
imperatively have an international credit card as a
guarantee
- the driver must
be at least 25 years old
- it is best to
rent the vehicle in a 'corporate' station which
participates in the same system (rentals calculated
by 24 hr periods) and should be back by the same
time as on the day you rented it
- when the
vehicle is given back it is the renter who has to
give his approval for the payment which should be
checked beforehand
- you can travel
throughout the United States and Canada, but you
must never drive in Mexico with a rented car - the
insurances don't apply there
- lastly, you
must know that the speed limit is 30 miles per hour
(50 kms per hour) in town, 55 miles per hour (90
kms per hour) on the big roads and highways unless
it is indicated otherwise. Breaking the Highway
Code is recorded and punished (radars).
Car rental
agencies : Avis (313 12 12), Budget (527 07 00),
Hertz (654 31 31)
23
- Hotels and
Restaurants
Some price indications for hotels
:
Le Midtown Hotel
: 220 Huntington Ave.BOSTON :
Price Quad Triple
Double Single -18
1/04 au 12/09 220
250 310 610 0
13/09 au 31/10
240 270 360 715 0
Le Hilton towers : 1919 Connecticut Ave
N.W.WASHINGTON
Price Quad Triple Double Single -18
1/04 au 31/10 190 220 295 575 0
Le Ramada Congress : 520 South Michigan
Ave.CHICAGO :
Price Quad Triple Double Single -18
1/04 au 31/10 155 175 215 420 0
Days inn international drive : 7200
International drive.ORLANDO :
Price Quad Triple Double Single -18
1/04 au 31/10 70 90 120 230 0
Le Méridien : 614 Canal street.
NOUVELLE ORLEANS :
NEW ORLEANS
Price Quad Triple Double Single -18
1/04 au 18/5 320 360 715 0 -
19/5 au 14/9 285 315 620 0 -
15/9 au 31/10 320 360 715
Hyatt Regency Alicante : 100 Plaza Alicante
Anaheim.Disneyland :
Price Quad Triple Double Single -18
1/04 au 31/10 125 160 230 460 0
Sofitel : 8555 Beverly Boulevard.BEVERLY
HILLS :
Price Quad Triple Double Single -18
1/04 au 31/10 290 315 360 720 0
Handlery Union Square : 351 Geary street.San
FRANCISCO :
Price Quad Triple
Double Single -18
1/04 au 31/10 180 225 305 610 0
Treasure island : 3300 Las Vegas boulevard
south.LAS VEGAS :
Price Quqd Triple Double Single Children
Sunday to Thursday 255 275 305 615 no
reductions
Friday and Saturday330 375 445 890 no reduction
24
- Information
To have information on the USA concerning all
the aspects of the economic and tourist life, the
following Minitel servers can help you : 3614 ETATS
UNIS;
3615 USA
There are also
serveral free services on Internet.
American
habits :
If you are
invited to dinner it is polite to write a thank-you
note.
At the end of a
business appointment you should leave your visiting
card and resume the meeting and the manner in which
you intend to follow it up, eventually by fax.
Business breakfasts are more common than business
lunches.
25
- Your suitcase
We advise
you to take light clothing for summer, with one or
two sweaters and even a jacketbecause of the air
conditionning; and some warmer clothes if you have
chosen Seattle.
The evenings are
also cool when you are at altitude in the national
parks.
Apart from
Florida, where it is recommended to have light
clothes, don't forget to take coats, sweaters,
waterproof shoes and/or boots for winter in nearly
all of the states.
27
- Schools and education
If you want to continue your studies in the United
States, you have to initially obtain the status of
non-immigrant student. The most important thing is
to prove your qualifications under the section 101
(a) (15) (F) (i) of the law to the consular
officer.
Then you
have to fulfill other conditions
:
-Prove that an
educational establishment approved by the Attorney
General has effectively accepted your candidacy by
providing the certificate (the 1-20) given by the
establishment and signed by yourself.
-Prove that you
have enough money to meet your expenses. This is a
way for the American state to see that the
candidate does not take a non-authorized job during
his studies.
-The student has
to prove that he has an excellent level of English
as well as an adequate educational level for the
studies. If the level of English is not high enough
the candidate must take lessons, so long as the
educational establishment that he has chosen
approves of this. The consular officer must be
reassured that the candidate is capable of
following a full-time study programme of English.
- Lastly, the
student must only go to study and under no
circumstances look for a job.
28
- Guides
Guides Berlitz ; Guides Fodor ; Guide vert
Michelin.
"Traveller's Survival Kit - USA and Canada" (Susan
Griffin et Simon Calder, Vacation Work, 9 Park End
Street, Oxford, 1987, env; 60F).
« Oeuvres sur l'Amérique », de
Tocqueville. Editions Crozier et Sorman.
« L'Histoire des Etats Unis »
d'André Maurois.
« L'économie des Etats Unis », la
Découverte, Collection Repères,
Paris, 1989.
United
States : Coll. A Market
PEE States. To have an overall view of the economy,
exchanges, an approach to the market, as well as
practical advice. No. 41073-1994 273 pages 120
F
United
States : a list of French
subsidiaries.
CFCE/PEE United
States
63131-1994-370
pages-1000F.
The address
book of French investment in the United
States.
CFCE/PEE United
States
63500-1995-304
pages-600F.
United States :
the investor's guide to local backing.
CFCE/PEE Etats Unis.CFCE/PEE United States
63128-1994-322 pages-600 F.
Thirty articles published by the Post of Economic
Expansion in Washington can be consulted on demand.
The American market is difficult to penetrate. You
should anticipate 3 to 5 years as an approach
period, heavy investment and the necessity of
adapting the products for the country.
Collection " A Market", Edition CFCE, 238 pages,
120 F.
The Los Angeles PEE proposes a study on setting up
a restaurant in California (31 pages) no.
J02165/96X 300 F
Reference works "Summer Jobs USA 1993", Peterson's
Guides, 42nd Edition,
9 Park End Street, Oxford OX1 1HJ, England
29
- Observations
TAX
CLEARANCE :
Tax clearance can take between 2 and 24 hours;
clearance brokers are connected by computer to the
customs (ABI Automated Broker Interface).
To speed up the tax clearance it is possible to
pre-file before the merchandise arrives.
The merchandise can travel in bond from the entry
point in the USA to the final destination in the
USA. The merchandise is stocked in a bonded
warehouse or in a container on the quay.
The first 3 working days are free for air freight,
the 5 first working days are free for sea freight
on the East coast and 7 days on the West coast. It
is permitted to group merchandise.
The containers must be deposited in bond by the
shipping agency. The custom nomenclature in use is
the Harmonized System. Custom tarifs are available
in each regional office of the American Custom
Service.
The controlling organization is the Service of
Customs in Washington.
If the
merchandise is not claimed within 30 days it is
confiscated by the Customs and put up for sale or
destroyed after one year. The importer has 10 days
after the customs clearance to pay the tax, after
depositing a guarantee (a bond) furnished by the
specialized insurance companies.
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