The Télécarte

Available at tobacco shops, post offices, and France Télécom stores, the télécarte is now necessary for nearly all public telephones. Each card has either 50 or 120 ``units'', and cost roughly 40F and 96F respectively. It is also possible to find cards of 25 units (20F) but these are very rare.

You'll notice that on the front/left side, they have a microchip; a ``puce''. This chip keeps track of the number of units left after each telephone call.

Besides being used for the telephone, the télécarte is also used to advertise. The card shown here depicts a hero of the resistence - Robert Keller - and is part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris.