Useful organisations and contact points
Text taken from the 1993 edition. For updated information on the British organisations see the equivalent file in Access in London.
This section covers:
- Equipment repair and hire
- French organisations for disabled people
- Information services and organisations
Equipment repair and hire
If one of your wheels drops off in the Champs Elysées or if you need to hire special equipment for any reason, the following contact addresses should be useful. It is always a good idea to carry a repair kit, including some simple tools. Taking a few vital spares can pay too, especially if your chair isn't standard, and carrying one of the instant tyre repair kits available from shops like Halfords may well be a sensible precaution.
We have listed shops and showrooms where you may be able to get repairs to equipment such as wheelchairs or where you may be able to hire things, although several are a little way outside the centre:
- AMMA, 170 rue Henri Barbusse, 95100 Argentueil, Tel: 01.39.61.11.35 or 105 bd Ney, 75018, Tel: 01.42.54.02.02, offer a range of equipment and do repairs on the spot.
- Medicom, 35 bd Pasteur, 93120 La Courneuve, Tel: 01.48.34 66.90, are agents for Vessa, Everest & Jennings, Carter, Poirier, Dupont and others. They offer a repair service for any of these makes and have Poirier or Vessa chairs for hire.
- Hygiène-Service, 92 rue du Mont Cenis, 75018, Tel: 01.42.64.23.62, can offer chairs or equipment for sale or hire. Agents for Vessa, Carter and Invacar Poirier. They can also offer the possibility of repairs. The shop is in the Montmartre area and is small.
- Tout le Confort de Malade, 193 rue Lecourbe, 75015, Tel: 01.48.42.54.95 are agents for all types of chair, including Vessa, Carter and Everest & Jennings. They offer facilities for the hire and repair of wheelchairs and other equipment.
- Pharmacie Canonne, 88 boulevard Sébastapol, 75003. Tel: 01.42.72.83.08. Situated just south of the junction with rue Réaumur, opposite Monoprix. Step free to pharmacy which supplies, hires and repairs wheelchairs and other equipment. Open every day 10.00 to 20.00 and longer on weekdays
If the shops can't help then you could try the APF or the CNRH. Other potentially good contacts for running repairs would be specialist schools or institutions where there are disabled residents and someone on the administrative staff who is used to doing running repairs. An example of such a school is the Ecole Nationale pour Handicapés Moteurs, bd Raymond Poincaré, in Garches just outside Paris.
A further suggestion is to try a small garage or motor-bike shop. Alternatively you might even ring the British Hertford Hospital for possible assistance and/or the temporary loan of equipment. France has, of course, branches of the Red Cross (Croix Rouge) and their main Paris address is Le Brasset, 14 rue Louis Braille, 77103 Meaux, Tel: 01.64.34.52.48.
French organisations for disabled people
The two main groups we have come across are the Association des Paralysés de France (APF), 17 bd Auguste Blanqui, 75013, Tel: 01.40.78.69.00 website: www.apf.asso.fr
The APF publish an accommodation list of hotels throughout France which is potentially useful to disabled visitors although only limited information is given. It is called Où Ferons-nous Étape? (Where Shall We Stay?). They also have a network of local associations who can provide help and advice in every Département (county) throughout the country.
It seems that the Comité National Français de Liaison pour la Réadaptation des Handicapés (CNRH) which was started in 1962, and with whom we have had many contacts over the years, has been closed down. Thus one valuable source of information is no longer there.
Centre d'Information et de Documentation Jeunesse (Information Centre for Young People), 101 quai Branly, 75015, Tel: 01.45.66.40.20 publish Vacances pour Personnes Handicapées (Holidays for Disabled People) and leaflets on activity holidays for young disabled people. They also publish a comprehensive list of all the organisations with a brief description of what they do. This is regularly updated. It can be extremely useful and includes organisations for people with learning difficulties, elderly people, those who are deaf or hard of hearing and people who are blind or partially sighted.
Information services and organisations
The main sources of information about France are the French Government Tourist Office (FGTO), your local travel agent and the standard guidebooks. In addition, organisations in Britain like the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR), physically handicapped and able-bodied youth clubs (PHAB), Mobility International and others will have experience of organising groups of visitors or will know of people who have gone there.
- RADAR, 12 City Forum, 250 City Road, London EC1V 8AF, Tel: (020) 7250 3222, publish Holidays and travel abroad - a guide for disabled people each year. Written by John Stanford it is full of useful information and includes a section on France. There are lists of voluntary organisations involved with making holiday provisions for people with disabilities and of commercial companies offering facilities for disabled travellers. There is also updated information about hotel chains in France which have adapted rooms for disabled people throughout the country, including some in Paris.
- French Government Tourist Office (FGTO) is at 178 Piccadilly, London, W1V 0AL, Tel: (020) 7491 7622. If you write in they will try to be helpful. If you want hotel lists etc the ask that you send 75p in stamps to cover postage. Their telephone line is often extremely busy and you usually have to be patient to get through at all. They publish accommodation lists (hotels, logis and gîtes), a holiday reference guide with useful information and addresses, The Traveller in France, a glossy brochure, and lists of major events in Paris and elsewhere. Their listing of 'Hotels, Paris Ile-de-France' will give you up-to-date prices. The amount of information they have for the disabled traveller/visitor is extremely limited and, like that supplied by most other agencies, it is suspect unless the person supplying it happens to have experience and knows what she or he is talking about.
- Office de Tourisme de Paris, See Updated information page.
If you make your bookings through your local travel agent remember that they will have a lot of trouble getting accurate and reliable information about any access problems you may encounter either en route or at your hotel. It is precisely because of this that these Access Guides are necessary. If certain things are important to you (eg avoiding steps, using a wheelchair, having a large bathroom) then make sure you check with the airline, port or hotel owner yourself to ensure that the facilities are what you need.
Other information sources in Britain are:
- The Directory for Disabled People - a handbook of information and opportunities for disabled and handicapped people by Ann Darnbrough and Derek Kinrade. This is a substantial volume covering a wide range of subjects, and you should find it in your local reference library if you can't afford to buy it.
- The Disabled Living Foundation (DLF), 380 Harrow Rd, London W9 2HU, Tel: (020) 7289 6111 have an Incontinence Advisory Service and maintain a database on the suppliers of all kinds of equipment and adaptations for people with disabilities. They also offer a Clothing Advisory Service and are knowledgeable about a whole range of issues connected with disability.
- Holiday Care, 2nd floor, Imperial Buildings, Victoria Road, Horley, Surrey, Tel: (01293) 774535 is an organisation providing free information and advice on holidays for anyone who finds it difficult for whatever reason. Enquiries from individuals, from carers or from organisations are welcomed by letter or by phone. They do not get involved in making reservations and their main data base is on accommodation and opportunities in Britain. However, they will be able to give practical advice about many aspects of travelling and of finding accommodation.
- John Grooms Hotel and Travel Service, 10 Gloucester Dr, London N4 2LP, Tel: (020) 8802 7272 Fax: (0181) 809 1754. John Grooms Freeway is a travel service which works in conjunction with disabled passengers. They offer holidays at Euro Disney and in Paris. They can give advice about accessible accommodation and about travel bookings and travelling. They have a fully accessible coach enabling them to provide holidays to a range of destinations in addition to Disneyland Paris.
- Mobility International, 228 Borough High St, London SE1 1JX, Tel: (020) 7403 5688 is an independent organisation offering educational experiences to disabled people aged from 18 to 30. They also have extensive experience of travelling and might perhaps be able to put you in touch with someone with the right experience if you have a particular problem.
- Phab UK, Phab Publications, Padholme Rd, East Peterborough PE1 5UL is part of the National Association of Youth Clubs. They can send you a list of the network of local Phab clubs throughout the country and may be able to put you in touch with someone, possibly local, with travelling experience.
In the USA three principal information sources about travel for people with disabilities are:
- Mobility International, PO Box 3551, Eugene, Oregon, 07403, USA, Tel: (503) 343 1284 Fax: (503) 343 6812.
- Society for the Advancement of Travel for the Handicapped (SATH), 347 Fifth Ave, Suite 610, New York, NY 10016, USA, Tel: (212) 447 7284 Fax: (212) 725 8253.