ERASMUS IN FRANCE – RENNES GUIDE 🇫🇷53 min read

✅ Attempt to Go Abroad – III. FRANCE (2021 / ERASMUS+ Exchange Program)

• Yes, we are in a story that can finally happen. Unlike other sections, although it will not contain many videos, we can say that the part until you reach Rennes will be a little more vlog flavor because it is based on personal experience and will be transferred step by step.
  
• i More objective information about processes and opportunities can be found in the Accommodation and Crous Dormitories section.
  
• i would still recommend you to read this first section where i tell you about the processes that have happened to me and how i manage them.

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Good reads 🙌🏼

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Uncertainty, Risks and Challenges in Document Processes

After two previous failed attempts, this is; It was my last opportunity to go abroad before I finished school, to witness a different culture, to meet people from many different cultures and to improve my language, and I wanted to get out in some way no matter what. I took the exam and qualified to participate. But unfortunately, we were in such an uncertain and risky situation that I almost gave up with my previous bad experiences . In the end, I was thrown into this by saying that the biggest regrets come from those who have never been experienced .

I was thrown out, but it wasn’t that easy. Turkey’s economy was deteriorating day by day and the exchange rate gap was widening. On the other hand, due to the pandemic , all stores and shops were shuttered all over the world and countries were closing their borders to foreign countries. In such an uncertainty, it was a mystery which country would accept whom and for what, and it could change suddenly. In addition, when I went to France, I was extremely hesitant to worry about whether the school would be open or not, where most shops, restaurants and cafes might be closed, not knowing anyone, stepping into an environment you didn’t know at all, and worst of all, being stuck in the room. While I was quite confused, I was still trying to improve the paperwork process. These processes were a separate problem in itself, the consultants did not know much, and since I did not know anyone who understood and passed through these processes, I had to investigate each issue one by one, communicate and solve it myself. As such, the process became more difficult and proceeded quite painfully.

Solution to the Problem of Visa and Sociality 🎯

As we were nearing the end of the process and went to get a language certificate from the school, we met and met one of the students who went last year. While I was quite confused in the following processes, when I consulted him, he encouraged me to overcome my concerns such as sociability, being stuck in the room, living costs and so on. As a result of learning that I was entitled to a scholarship, I was completely clear about leaving. But there was still a shortage of visas and socialities, and I had to find a solution to them. When I searched for visa shortages, France was keeping its doors open specifically for students, and I had to make a little more assertive effort to socialize.

Normally, I should have been there on January 7, but I applied for a visa like January 6, and on January 7, the first course online started from Microsoft Teams. So I could see the students in the class for each lesson and send messages privately. I immediately created a Whatsapp and Facebook group , sent each student in the digital classes with special messages and invitation links and the text “if you want to meet other international students and socialize, the invitation link is below 🎉”. Before I got there, the group had reached almost 100 people. After 1 week, my visa came out. I was there on January 25. I immediately organized the first date and met many people, as well as being instrumental in meeting and socializing many people. Thus, I solved the problem of sociality.

I’ll talk about groups and events in more detail, let’s start the story if you want. 🤗

Journey ✈

After all these processes, I was finally going to leave. The date was January 25, 2021, the next morning at 10.30 a.m. I had a flight to Paris-Orly Airport. In order to benefit from the Erasmus+ scholarship, I had to open an account with Halk Bank, the state bank in Turkey, and present my information. Although I had opened the account before, I could not log in to my account from the application . When I called and contacted them, they told me that I had to come to the branch , but I had a plane the next morning. On the other hand, if I could not open the account, I would never be able to benefit from the scholarship until I returned, which was a big problem for me. The bank opened at 9:00 a.m. and my flight was exactly at 10:30 a.m., and considering that the admission process ended 45-60 minutes in advance, I had to get my work done and get on the plane in just half an hour. My only solution was to go very early the next morning and complete all the baggage procedures, then turn around and wait for the bank to open, and in half an hour I would finish my work and catch the plane.

I left the house around 5:00 a.m. and was there at 7:00 a.m.

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So we started the adventure

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I. Airplane ✈

The journey took around 3-3.5 hours. Finally, we landed at Paris-Orly Airport. Now I had to change from there to Montparnasse Railway Station to travel to Rennes.I bought the time of the train ticket two hours after the landing time of the flight ticketso that I could go comfortably or not. Anyway, we landed, after landing, the passport was presented and then the baggage claim section was started. After landing, I came to the passport submission department, queued up like everyone else and waited. At the time, a few people behind me were talking about the possibility that the buses to Montparnasse might have been cancelled. I said oh is that way I am going to that side and we will arrange a taxi together. Since I didn’t know much about the processes, I started to communicate with one of the people there. How do I go, how do I do it, etc. He was helping me with questions. Ahmet’s name was going to go to my destination, good Ahmet brother then I am waiting to take baggage there, I said you, I passed.

❗ It was my turn to present the passport. Even though I had a visa, I was subjected to many interrogations, questions such as “what did you come for, what are you going to do, do you have documents about it?”, which at first I spoke two words of English and turned completely into French, fortunately I worked from Duolingo and Busuu from A1 level before I went. When I caught the crack of words, I took the paperwork right next to me out of the bag, including the letter of acceptance sent by the school. However, I didn’t even have to bring such a thing with me and present it, but since I didn’t want any setbacks to occur after my previous bad experiences, I tried to act by considering as much as possible any problems I might encounter. In case of any problems, I printed all the relevant documents a week in advance and turned them into files. So when asked, I was able to present it directly, and so I got through this stage without any problems.

Afterwards, I waited for my suitcase in the luggage area. At that time, I think brother Ahmed’s came earlier, and we took mine. We were outside, we were going to go to the side where the buses were.

Ii. Bus 🚍 > Metro🚇

After passing, we learned that the buses mentioned were removed due to the epidemic, but there were still buses going into the city. Thus, we would be able to reach Montparnasse Train Station by making buses and subways. From the airport to the station, brother Ahmet helped with everything, he did not even pay for the tickets. We had a long conversation on the bus. Later, when we came to the middle of Paris, we got off for the metro and transferred to the metro. There was an Iraqi who was transferring to the subway, we asked him how we would go and so on, he said follow me, we hung out, after a certain point he left his own way. So we followed the road and took the train to Montparnasse.

Iii. Train🚆

In Montparnasse, brother Ahmet ordered coffee, I had poppy pies, I shared it, we sat together, we chatted and got energy 😄. We will be so immersed in the conversation that time has passed a long time, we have got up and the train will almost depart. We immediately rushed to look for the platform where the train would depart, we were on the ground floor. Although we checked the platforms on this floor one by one, we could not find my platform. While frantically searching, we finally found out that he was upstairs. A Frenchman was also looking for a platform to the side. Brother Ahmet asked me where he was going, and he said he was going to the same platform as me, explained the situation in French and entrusted me to him. After the man said follow me, he suddenly started running upstairs with his suitcase. So I started running after him in a hurry with suitcases. He was also an old man, but he ran well 😂, I could hardly grow up with suitcases. When we went upstairs, the security said that the train was no longer taking passengers, that the doors were closed, and that it was over, and did not let us in. So we missed the train 😥.

There was nothing to do anymore. We had to buy new tickets. I asked him if he knew English, and luckily he did. I said there is nothing to do, we will buy new tickets. I pointed to the ticket machine and said are we buying from here, and he said yes. The nearest ticket we went to together was an hour later, he bought himself first. I would take it later. A credit or debit card was required to get it. Mine wasn’t working. So I said, would you pay mine in exchange for paying you the cash by hand? He agreed, then the system asked for a French phone number, I didn’t have a phone. Thanks to the man, he entered the phone number for me. That’s how we solved it. Later, within the Rennes School of Business , which was the school I was going to, there was a club called Wellcome Team , which functioned especially to welcome foreign students, to socialize among the students, to organize trips and various activities. I had already signed with that club, the date and time I would arrive in Rennes was more or less certain. They would come to meet me from the subway. I should have let them know that I missed the train, but there was no internet. I explained this situation to the French man, thanks to him, he shared his internet, I contacted them in this way and informed him that I could not arrive, so it was solved.

Then, we sat in a café inside the station as it was still 40-45 minutes to our ticket time. That man also offered to order coffee, I said I had just drunk it, I thanked him. We sat together and started chatting. But why didn’t I still feel like I was fully in France. There was no strangeness, still. I asked him what he was doing, I think he was a computer engineer, but he had developed algorithms that were mostly related to investments, he was trading on them. He was an interesting man. He then opened his laptop and showed me the subway networks and how I could get there. He was also quite helpful.

When the time came, we got up and went to the train together. I pulled out my phone and asked if she wanted to stay in touch, and she said that’s enough. Well, thank you for everything, good afternoon sir, I said, I went on my train.

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Iv. Metro🚇 > ✅

When I arrived in Rennes from Paris, it was in the evening. After getting off the train, I was right at the metro station called Gares inside the train station, from there I had to buy a ticket and go to Villejean. But the ticket-making machineonly accepted coins or credit cards , and I had neither. Even though I tried to buy tickets, my card with which I loaded my money was not working. I couldn’t get out of the business because I didn’t have the coin on me. There were two students my age from the metro company waiting in front of the subway to help those who were having problems. Luckily they knew English, I explained my problem, and even if they came and tried, it didn’t work. This time I had to somehow break the money so that I could buy a ticket with a coin, but it was past 18.00 and after 18.00 all the shops were almost closed because there was a closure. Even though I asked a few who were open, they said they couldn’t help. I asked the officials again, and although they mobilized to help, we still did not get any results. We were still inside the station, one of the officials pointed to the hotel outside and said ask for a problem. I said I should try my Ziraat Student card before leaving, and luckily it worked and I was able to get the ticket that way.

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❗ If you are going abroad and you are thinking of taking money with you, you should first make sure that you open your account to international shopping. Then (for those living in Turkey, if your main account is TL, which is usually TL if you have not made a special transaction), your account is deducted according to the bank’s instant exchange rate sales price while shopping. For example, if you are going to make a purchase of 10 Euros and the bank Euro Sales Price is 9 TL, 9 * 10 = 90 TL will be deducted from your account. But if you already have a foreign exchange account and you intend to make your expenses through this account while keeping your savings there. Contact your bank and let them know that you want to convert your main account to a Euro account. In this way, you will be making your expenses from your savings.

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In this way, I finally reached the homeland. 🌃

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🏘 Accommodation and CROUS Dormitories

The place where I was going to stay was one of the CROUS dormitories, which are state dormitories in France, and we can say that it is reminiscent of the KYK dormitories in Turkey as the first definition. Compared to other dormitories, this place is much more economical. It also saves you from the obligations such as paying the deposit and rent requested for other apartments and rooms before you arrive in the country. So you make the payment when you get there, which protects you from scammers and allows you to guarantee yourself. Of course, rooms and apartments also have their advantages. We will discuss it later.

When I arrived that night, it was like 7:30 p.m., and since there was a curfew, there was almost no one on the streets, only a few people. I went with suitcases and knocked on the door of the management, they took me in and asked me if I had a reservation , I had brought all the paperwork with me, I took it out and showed it. They made me re-sign one of the agreements I had already signed and sent, and then when I tried to pay, the cards didn’t work, again as usual. After all, my money was not in Ziraat, it was in TEB. As such, I couldn’t pay that night, but luckily they still didn’t leave me out. They didn’t accept cash. After that, whether I went and tried to pay many times, it didn’t happen, even though I knew it wouldn’t work, I was doing it on purpose, to say, “I want to pay, but even if I try, give me some time.” As soon as I left, I had already applied to the bank the next day, and it took about 3 weeks to open the account . They were warning me that you should pay now or we will impose sanctions and so on, when I asked what they were doing as a sanction, they said they reported it to the consulate and various processes suchas emptying the room ormally. The consular warning was 😅 enough for me. In the following days, they left my card in my mailbox . I took my money and paid it as a deposit, two months’ rent (January was over, February was over, the deposit was already the amount that should have been paid at the beginning).

✅ BNP PARIBAS is one of the most common banks in France. If you want to withdraw money in France without commission. Before you go, you can open an account with TEB, a subsidiary of BNP PARIBAS, and withdraw money from all BNP Paribas ATMs in France without commission.

❗ However, these ATMs only allow withdrawals from the TEB card. You do not have this option if you wish to make a deposit. For this, you needto open an account either from a bank in France or from an international bank.

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✅ These CROUS dormitories, which are state dormitories in France, cannot be applied personally, but can only be applied through institutions and organizations. Generally, rents can be found in various dormitories starting from 160 € to 350 €, at least for Rennes and the surrounding area. If the most important criterion for you when you come to France is the cost, the first place you should investigate for accommodation is CROUS dormitories.

✅ All you need to do is complete your registration process as quickly as possible and if you are coming through the school, contact your school and request to stay in CROUS dormitories. If there is a free space, a reservation will be made for you. Then, after fulfilling various commitments, you have the opportunity to make the payment when you arrive. So much so that if you do not have a card that you can pay and you have to apply to the bank and issue a new card, this process may take two to three weeks, so depending on the initiative of the people in CROUS management, you may be able to make delayed payments up to 1 month, but they are generally tolerant.

❗ Nevertheless, it is worth noting that if you do not pay you within the specified period, they may report your situation to the consulate and cause trouble for your next visa process and you will be in danger of being issued.

What is usually requested is a deposit for one month’s rent and the first month’s payment. In general, it is enough to bring bed linen with you, blankets and pillows are provided to you. You need to buy your kitchen utensils yourself.

❗ And CROUS isn’t just about dormitories. They also have restaurants in various parts of the city and you can get food from these restaurants for as low as 1-2€. Moreover, in these restaurants they provide free supplies to students twice a week . To take advantage of these benefits, simply show your student card.

Let’s go over it this way for now, we’ll cover it in detail later.
Until then, you can find more detailed information below.
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For detailed information about CROUS: 👉🏼 Click 👈🏼 here

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🏙 Rennes as a City

Rennes is a sweet university city with many international and national students. It has almost 67,000 students, almost a quarter of the population. Therefore, students are given importance in the city for this reason, and various activities can be organized for students. For such reasons, we can also say that it has a high potential for the works that can be established on the student.

The city is home to many different universities:

• Université Rennes 2
  
• University de Rennes |
  
• Faculté de Droit et de Science Politique – Université de Rennes 1
  
• Présidence de l’Université de Rennes 1
  
• Rennes School of Business
  
• Sciences Po Rennes
  
• INSA Rennes
  
• École normale supérieure de Rennes (ENS Rennes)
  
• L’Institut Agro – Agrocampus Ouest Rennes
  
• Université Bretagne Loire
  
• École des hautes études en santé publique
  
• École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes
  
• Institut Catholique de Rennes

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While a part of the city is built with ordinary normal buildings, you can see more structural and aesthetic buildings as you move towards the city center. Especially when you arrive at République, you can feel that you are in Europe with its many different public buildings, streets, aesthetic and historical buildings. Rennes is a quiet and pleasant city, away from a busy metropolitan crowd. In many parts of the city, there are parks where people can visit, do sports, spend time with their families. In fact, I can say that we spent the most time in parks because we did not have many places to meet and spend time due to the corona outbreak. So much so that most of the cafes were closed, while the restaurants were only offering takeaway, so we had no choice anyway. Therefore, I will not be able to give much information about the various shops and cafes.

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📸 So let’s take a look at the images I took at various points in the city, which remain in the memory of my phone:

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For detailed information please visit this address : 👉🏼https://www.tourisme-rennes.com/en/ 👈🏼

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🛒 Shopping – Kitchen & Hygiene Supplies, Food Supply

As I mentioned before, you need to buy the kitchen utensils yourself. Personally, I did not do much research on this subject, I bought all my needs directly from Carrefour, which is closest to me. When I examined the surrounding markets, the prices were more or less the same. In case you are curious about the market prices in Rennes, France and want to take a look, I leave the link to the market where I often shop here. Thus, you can download catalogs, see the current average prices in the Rayons section and make a cost analysis according to yourself:

>> https://www.carrefour.fr/magasin/market-rennes-villejean

(You also have the opportunity to make price analysis from the same site for the whole of France.)

When you go to the site you will see an image like the one below. 👇🏼

Each of the images in the area I marked in red is a discount catalog.

You can review the prices by clicking on them.

In addition, if you click on the three lines that say Rayons in the upper left, you can see the products in each product category from there and examine the prices one by one.

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I’ve also compiled the receipts for my purchases so you can see the average prices. You can review the plugs immediately below to get more insight into prices. 👇🏼

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❗ To zoom in on the plugs, you can right-click on the image and say “open image in new tab” after clicking on it.

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✔ Now let’s make a list of basic receivables here for you.

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It should be noted that all of the following materials are for reminder purposes and are arranged for a single person, you can shape it according to yourself and your needs.

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🧻 Hygiene Materials

– Hand washing soap – 300G / 1.89€
– Dishwashing detergent – 750ML / 1.17€
– Dish sponge – 2 PACKAGES / 1.59€
– Dishwashing wire – 2 GRAINS / 0.99€
– Wiping Cloth (I took it with me when I left, yellow cloth.) – 2.65€
– Napkin – 110 Pieces / 0.92€
– Toilet napkin – 12 Rolls / 2.09€
– Shampoo – 1.65€
– Strap (You will need to hang your clothes in the closet.) – €1.90
– and others.

+ First Time Total Average Hygiene Supplies Cost : 14.85 €

👨🏼‍🍳 Kitchen Supplies

– One small pot – 11.55€
– One ladle – 1.99€
– One colander – 1.99€
– One knife – 1.35€
– A set of spoons (Usually it is not sold as a single but you can find it in 3 or 6 pieces.) – 6 pieces / €1.35
– A set of forks (Usually not sold as a single, but you can find it in 3 or 6 pieces.) – 6 pieces / 2.10€
– One peel – 5.40 €
– Two bowls – 1.60€ *2 = 3.20€
– Two plates – 2.99€ *2= 5.98€
– Two cups / cups with handles – 1.50€ *2 = 3€
– Two cups – 1.40€ *2 = 2.80€
– One large strainer – 2.10€
– You can also use a cutting board or other material- 2.50€

– Optional kettle – 24.90€

(Although it is forbidden to house electrical goods in the CROUS dormitory due to the possibility of a fire, I did not have friends who set up a kitchen inside.)

+ Total First Time Average Kitchen Supplies Cost : 45,31 € (+ KETTLE 24.90 = 75.21€)

🍲 Foods

After the corona period, my sense of smell and taste deteriorated. At that time, the smells and tastes of meat, chicken, eggs and all kinds of meat derivatives seemed disgusting to me. So I was more of a vegetarian for that period, but towards the end of the semester I dared to eat and started to eat, and luckily it improved. I was eating more legumes and various carbohydrates for meals. Since legumes were not often available at Carrefour, I was buying mostly from the local market SUPERASYA, which is located directly opposite Carrefour. I must also say that for those who are going to Rennes, you can find most Turkish and Arabic products here. For example, when I looked at Carrefour, I had difficulty finding tomato paste and yogurt, but I could procure it from here.

Now in this section, I’m going to talk about snacks, meal breaks, and supplements that I often buy and consume, rather than meals. You can get 😊 this section as a reminder or a recommendation

Cheeses 🧀

1- BRIE (Between meals, breakfast) – 200G / 1.71€2- LA BRIQUE (Between meals, breakfast) – 200G / 1.49€

3- CAMEMBERT (Between meals, breakfast – A little smelly.) – 250G / 1.22€

4- EMMENTAL RAPÉ  (Good for enriching meals.) – 500G / 3.32€

5- MOZARELLA (Breakfast or meal break) – 125G / 0.99€

Grains 🥣

1- FLOCON D’AVOINE (YULAF EZMESI) – CARREFOUR – 500G / 1.16€

2- 4 NOIX COUNTRY CRISP – JORDANS – 550G / 3€

3- MUESLI FRUITS/NOIX – JORDANS – 750G / 3.29€

4- MUESLI AUX FRUITS ET AUX NOIX – JORDANS – 500G / 2.97€

5- MUESLI MYRTILLE & GOJI – QUAKER – 500G / 3.39€

6- MUESLI NOIX DE PÉCAN & NOIX DU BRÉSIL – QUAKER – 500G / 3.39€

7- FIBRA 5 FRUITS SECS – CARREFOUR – 500G / 2.01€

👆🏽 You can try the cereals I mentioned above. QUAKER (5-6) in particular is pretty good, and whichever one you get, I recommend taking the OATMEAL at No. 1 together. In terms of both nutritional value and saving on others, I recommend mixing other grains with the number 1 one and consuming them with milk. This kind of cereal was usually my breakfast in the morning.

Fruits 🍌

1- BANANA – 1KG / 1.60€

2- STRAWBERRY – 250G / 1.98€

3- BLUEBERRY – 250G / 2.89€

4- RASPBERRY – 250G / 2.89€

5– BLACKBERRY – 125G / 1.59€

💯 If you want to enrich your meal even more, you can add the above fruits to your cereal or you can eliminate your snacks through fruits.

Beverages 🍹

1- JUS D’ORANGE AVEC PULPE SANS SUCRES AJOUTÉS – TROPICANA – 1.5L / 2.82€

2- JUS DE FRUITS ORANGE RAISIN BANANE 100% PUR JUS SANS SUCRES AJOUTÉS TROPICANA – 900ML / 2.60€

3- LAIT DEMI-ECREME – CANDIA – 1L / 0.84€

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Thus, we have completed the shopping part. My next job was to get a phone line…

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📶 Erasmus in France – Telephone Line and Internet Package Supply

There are two operators that are widely used in France that I know of, at least in Rennes: Free Mobile and Orange. I am leaving a link here so that you can 👉🏼see these and other operators and tariffs. (The purpose of sharing this site is only to create a general awareness of operator names and tariffs in France.)

To be honest, I didn’t do much research when I was going to get a phone line. When I asked the people around me which was the most suitable and common, I got the Free Mobile answer, so I marked the closest one on the map and went directly to it. I had to get a line and internet as soon as possible. Because your biggest helper in a foreign country is the internet . The most reliable guide for purposes such as translating a language you do not know, browsing in areas you do not know is the internet and it makes your job much easier.With Google Maps, Google Translate, Google Lens, you can troubleshoot many of your translation and positioning problems. Especially Google Maps is a great blessing in terms of showing you where to get on which bus and where to get off at what time. I strongly recommend using it. Thanks to this, I was able to easily move around everywhere I went without any strangeness.

✅ You can also click here to 👉🏼see the telephone operators in Rennes on the map.

📲 Erasmus in France – Things to Consider When Choosing a Phone Line and Operator

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As I mentioned, I went directly and got my line from Free Mobile. I also bought the 80GB – 11.99€ package as a package. On the first payment, you pay + 10€ to the sim card . Payment methods were in the form of automatic withdrawals. I didn’t pay any attention to commitment. I think their commitment is up to a year but I’m not sure. You must ask ! If you don’t ask and commit, you can read my personal grievances below to enlighten what you might face 😁

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Free Mobile Subscription Cancellation Victimization

❗ I have reported the importance of the commitment issue above and there is a very important point that I should warn you about the line cancellation. Don’t forget to cancel your line before you come along, absolutely. If you don’t speak French, your job is very difficult and the cancellation process is quite painful. I had left the cancellation of my line and package from Free Mobile the day before my flight, and when I went for cancellation, I was faced with the situation that the store was closed because that day was a public holiday. The next morning I had to return without being able to cancel because I had a plane. When I returned to my country, although I tried to cancel from the websites many times, there was no area on the websites where you could create a cancellation request directly, there was online help, I tried to explain the situation with my French (there are absolutely no English assistants!), they understood, but they gave a certain number that they could not solve from there and told me that I should call there and solve it from there. Later, when I called by making an overseas package, I could not reach the calls I had been waiting for minutes and trying to reach again and again. As a last resort, I canceled my current card. After that, they couldn’t withdraw money, but they still kept billing, the last time I got a warning. This time I tried to reach him again on the phone, and I was finally able to reach him. I explained my situation somehow, they told me that I had to pay the bills for all the remaining months. I told him that I would make the payment because I had enough of these issues and wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. But I have repeatedly asked if my line will be cancelled if I pay, and whether I will have to pay from 2022 onwards. Your line and package have been cancelled, you will not receive any more bills, only you have to pay the remaining bills, after receiving the confirmation that I finally paid and got rid of it. As you can understand, I had to pay the phone bill that I did not benefit from for 5-6 months. Pay attention to the commitment and cancellation issue in order not to experience such a victimization!

✅ Other than that, I didn’t have a problem with Free Mobile except for the rare disconnections when using it.

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💳 Erasmus in France – Transportation Costs and Getting a Subscription

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Below are the instant (2022) prices. You can visit the website to 👉🏼see the current prices.

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📄 Erasmus in France – Tariffs

I.  ABONNEMENT 1 OU 12 MOIS : It is a subscription type tariff that provides unlimited access to the metro and buses until the end of the package you will receive on a monthly or annual basis on all networks connected to STAR in Rennes. (Recommended)

Ages	Monthly Packages	Annual Packages
12-17 Age	from 22,30 €	from 200.00 €
18-25 Age	from 25.20 €	from 227.00 €
27-64 Age	from 52.95 €	from 529.50 €
65-74 Age	from 31.55 €	from 315.00 €
Age 75+	from 30.30 €	from 303.00 €

II. 1 VOYAGE: Disposable card.

1 VOYAGE

from 1,50 €

III. PASS JOURNÉE: Available in different packages of 1, 3 or 7 days. It is a tariff that is consumed consecutively after the day it is started to be used and provides unlimited printing in the bus and subway throughout the day.

1 Day	from 4,20 €
3 Days	from 11.70 €
7 Days	from 18.35 €

IV. PASS PLURIEL: A timetable that allows you to travel with several people on Sundays or public holidays, from 2 to 5 people on a single ticket . Suitable for shopping with friends and family outings.

PASS PLURIEL

from 5,00 €

🚴🏼 Erasmus in France – Renting a Bicycle

🏫 Stopping by & Getting a Student Card – ESC Rennes School of Business

After taking care of all this, I would finally be able to stop by the school, see the school and get my student card. When I arrived at the school, I immediately explained the situation to the counselor at the entrance and told him my number. So they allocated me a temporary white card. Then I went in with that card, explored the school, and went home. In the following days, when they take out your original card, you hand over the temporary white card and receive the original.

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✔ There is also a different card connected to the ISIC network that comes with this card. It can also provide you with a number of discounts when shopping in various stores. But if you ask me, I can say that I have not seen much benefit.

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✅ Don’t forget to pick up your Welcome Pack from Wellcome Team. This is a package of various products that the school offers to incoming students. You can see an example above.

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Images 📸 from the School

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✔ Classes were usually hybrid with half online and half campus. The students in the class were divided into various groups such as A, B, C. A system was established to enable those who took their turn to come to the school and attend formally, while those who did not take their turn could participate online remotely. In general, there were not many students in the classrooms as most of the students preferred to attend from home. Since I always wanted to attend the classes at school, I explained the situation to the teachers and got permission. Thus, I was able to attend the classes mostly on campus. Of course, some courses could only be online, in which case we would be set up somewhere and connected from there. That’s how the lessons went. For exams, midterm grades were usually the result of either a quiz at the end of class or a break assignment. In the finals, there were only exams in one or two courses, and the rest was in the form of extensive group assignments and presentations. 💯

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🇫🇷 Opening a Bank Account in France

As I mentioned, my existing cards could not be charged, so I could not pay the rent of the CROUS dormitory yet. In order to pay, I had to apply to a bank in France, open an account and receive my card so that I could load money and pay. In fact, I was going to open it even if this was not the case. Because having an account across Europe could have facilitated possible transactions with it. It was also important to me to be able to invest in various stocks and investment vehicles in Europe.

📄 Registration Documents and Card Delivery

When I looked at the common banks in France I saw BNP Paribas, you could find ATMs in almost all places. That’s why I decided to open an account with BNP Paribas. I even opened an account with TEB, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, and transferred most of my money there before I came from Turkey. Thus, I was able to make commission-free withdrawals from BNP Paribas ATMs.

When I went to the branch, I was asked for a document proving that I was a student when opening an account, and I had a ” letter of acceptance” with me. I remember just because I gave you this document and a photocopy of the passport , but I’m not sure. The important thing is that you take the acceptance letter and passport with you. I was not charged any fees because I was a student. I received the card after 3 weeks . They left it in my mailbox.

🧗🏼 The Problem Opening a Trading Account

When I went to the bank to open an account, the consultant spoke English, said that I was a student and that I needed to open an account to pay, and I also asked if I could invest by emphasizing and asking several times. At that time, he said that you can open an account and invest, and when I opened the account later, I saw that I could not trade in the trading interface. When I asked, he said things like, I’m sorry I misunderstood. You need to sign a few separate documents to invest, but the documents are in French and you do not speak French, so you cannot understand the risks and when you suffer losses, you can sue and try to make us pay your losses by saying that you do not understand the language, so we cannot open an investment account for you. I mean, I said, don’t you have an English contract, you don’t.

When he insisted too much, he suggested that I go to his international branches in Paris, I said okay, I left. When I went to the branch in Paris, I barely found someone who spoke English even there. They knew, but they said there’s someone who knows, and he said at the break. I waited and explained the situation when it came, they helped me as much as possible and I signed the first agreement. It was French again, I had done it from Google Lens. When it came to the text of the second agreement, unfortunately we cannot do it here, they said you need to sign it again in Rennes, we could not solve it there even if we did it, I said good, at least send a convincing e-mail so that I will not have any problems when I return, they said okay I left. Then, when I returned to Rennes, I stopped directly at the bank’s branch. I explained the situation, the woman was stubborn and still did not give it, so now you see. English is unfortunately sufficient to a certain extent in France, if you want to live, you should definitely learn French.

Things to Consider When Opening an Account

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🔁 Money Transfer with Accounts Abroad (SWIFT)

❗ Sending money to accounts abroad through banks can often be quite painful. Especially finding special SWIFT codes belonging to banks can make this job quite tiring. In addition, it is often not clear how much money your bank and the bank you are sending to will withdraw as a commission. These situations can make it more troublesome to perform this process. I also encountered Wise Transfer when I was suffering from such a problem. Here you can perform your foreign exchange transaction (currency exchange) at an affordable price, continue your transaction tirelessly by writing the IBAN and looking for the SWIFT code , and complete your transaction with low commission feesand various speed shipping options.

💸 Advantages in Summary

1. Exchange at an affordable price (currency exchange)
   
2. Ability to make transactions without the need for SWIFT code
   
3. Low commission Fees
   
4. Various speed shipping options

✅ Also, 👉🏼 if you open an account using this link👈🏼, you can trade commission-free transfers up to 500 Euros!