Internet cafes in Brittany and Normandy - availability?

Poignard

Poignard

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I am doing a correspondence course and, during this summer's planned cruise to Brittany and Normandy I will need internet access a few times (probably not more than 6 times in as many weeks), mainly to send a Word document to the college for marking. Although I will have my laptop on board for word-processing, I don't need internet access for any other reason.

I don't want to go to the trouble of getting a dongle or whatever because it will not be worth the cost, and I don't know how to use them anyway.:o

I had thought of using internet cafes but I have never seen any in France.

Do they still exist and how do you find one?

Do they allow you to plug in your own memory stick and email files from it?

Sorry if these questions have the forum's computer experts raising their hands in horror at my naivety but helpful advice would be appreciated.
 
I don't know about internet cafes in Brittany but several bars had internet access. I used those in Audierne, Les Sables and Camaret. There were others but I can't remember them.
 
Juggler7823 said:
I don't know about internet cafes in Brittany but several bars had internet access. I used those in Audierne, Les Sables and Camaret. There were others but I can't remember them.
Click to expand...

Well those are places I will probably visit so that's useful to know.

Did you have to take your own computer in and use Wifi (?), or do they have a computer you can use?
 
Spent 4 months aboard in France last summer and only saw 1 internet cafe. But lots of bars have wifi as do quite a few ports/marinas. Depending on where you're going Netabord could be worth a look.
 
The answer is WiFi via your own laptop taken to a cafe but be advised the French call it:

"wee-fee".

Internet cafes are nearly history, you will encounter 50 WiFi enabled cafes for every traditional internet cafe.

It is quite acceptable to open up your laptop in a French cafe these days. I reckon in harbour-side areas 20% to 30% of cafes advertise WiFi but obtaining a connection is problematic in half of these.

Before you head off on your travels visit a friend with secured home based WiFi and practice entering the long security code in the Windows network setup screen. A French cafe waiter will typically provide the cafe's WiFi access code on a printed reference sheet or whiteboard slate.

Beware of using GSM dongles abroad, on the return the bill might bankrupt you.
 
Internet

Tourist office in Carentan & Grandcamp have wifi -small charge (I think 2 euros for 30 min). Yacht club in St Malo (Bas Sablons) has free wifi. Free wifi available in St Peter Port and Jersey marinas. Wifi also available on credit card in St Vaast & Cherbourg -not particularly cheap but ok for occasional use. Old fashioned internet cafes are few, but a lot of bars have wifi in exchange for a coffee or beer. Also have a look at BT Fon -either free if you are with BT or buy in UK then use hotspots in France. You can search for hotspots on the FON website. In summary, you might have to look/ask around a bit but you should be able to find a connection somewhere near a marina.

Cheers, Dave.
 
I'm a lot further south than you're visiting, but quite a few of the internet cafes here have closed down. Not many/any left in this area but virtually every reasonable (3*+) hotel have Wifi as does MacDonalds and KFC. And I'm pretty sure Courtepaille, Hippopotamus and Buffalo Grill (all Beefeater type chains) have free Wifi too.
 
Consult Reeds Almanac for WiFi in marinas.
Plus, it's available in the Lezardieux marina, and up river in Pontrieux in the 'pub' by the quay.
 
Our local big Le Clerc has an internet space with 10 or so PCs, so I assume it is normal for them. The local Internet cafe (Saintes) has English keyboards on two of it's terminals.
A
 
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