You're standing in front of a boulangerie in Paris, or maybe you're just trying to book a table at a small bistro in Lyon from your couch in Chicago. You see a string of digits. It starts with a zero. Or maybe it starts with +33. Suddenly, you're staring at your screen wondering if you're about to call a random person in Marseille instead of the hotel you actually need.
Getting a france phone number example right isn't just about the digits. It’s about the logic.
French phone numbers are almost always ten digits long. They are traditionally written in pairs, like 01 42 68 53 00. If you see it written any other way, it's probably someone being fancy or a typo. But here is the kicker: that leading "0" is only for when you are physically inside France. If you're calling from abroad, that zero vanishes into thin air. It’s gone. Poof.
The Anatomy of a French Number
Let's look at a concrete france phone number example for a landline in Paris: 01 40 20 50 50.
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That's the number for the Louvre Museum. If you are sitting in a cafe in the Marais, you dial exactly that. But if you're calling from London or New York, you dial your international exit code (like 00 or +), then the country code 33, and then you skip the 0. So it becomes +33 1 40 20 50 50.
France is divided into five geographic zones for landlines. This is actually pretty helpful if you’re trying to figure out where a business is actually located.
- 01: Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region.
- 02: The Northwest (Normandy, Brittany, Pays de la Loire).
- 03: The Northeast.
- 04: The Southeast (think Nice, Marseille, and Lyon).
- 05: The Southwest (Bordeaux and Toulouse).
Basically, if you see a number starting with 04, you know you're dealing with the sunny south. If it starts with 01, you're looking at the capital.
Moving Into the Mobile World
Mobile phones are different. They don't care about geography.
A mobile france phone number example will almost always start with 06 or 07. Back in the day, it was just 06, but France ran out of numbers because everyone and their grandmother got a smartphone, so they opened up the 07 range.
If you're trying to WhatsApp a friend you met in Nice, and they give you a number like 06 12 34 56 78, you must save it in your contacts as +33 6 12 34 56 78. If you keep the 0 in there with the +33, the call will fail. It’s a classic mistake. Honestly, I've done it a dozen times myself.
Non-Geographic and Special Numbers
Then we have the "weird" numbers.
Numbers starting with 09 are non-geographic. These are usually VoIP numbers—the kind you get with an internet box from a provider like Orange, Free, or SFR. They cost the same as a local landline, which is great, but you can't tell where the person is located just by looking at the prefix.
Then there are the 08 numbers. Be careful here.
Some are free (vert), some have shared costs (gris), and some are premium rate (mauve). If you see a number like 08 92..., you’re likely going to get charged a hefty fee per minute. It’s the French equivalent of a 1-900 number in the US. Most customer service lines for big companies have moved away from these "surchargé" numbers because people hated them, but they still pop up for things like booking tickets or specialized tech support.
International Dialing Reality Check
Let's say you're in the US. You want to call a French number.
- Dial 011 (the US exit code).
- Dial 33 (France's country code).
- Drop the 0.
- Dial the remaining 9 digits.
So, a france phone number example that looks like 02 31 06 06 06 (the Mémorial de Caen) becomes 011 33 2 31 06 06 06.
If you are using a mobile phone, just hold down the "0" key until the + symbol appears. It replaces the 011 or 00 exit code automatically. It works everywhere. It’s much easier.
Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions
People often think French numbers have changed recently. They haven't. The 10-digit system has been in place since 1996. Before that, it was a mess of different lengths depending on where you were.
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Another thing? Don't forget the French territories.
If you're calling Guadeloupe, Martinique, or Réunion, they are technically France, but they have their own specific codes. You aren't dialing +33 for them. For example, Réunion is +262. It catches people off guard because they're using the Euro and have French flags everywhere, but the telecom infrastructure is separate.
How to Write It for a French Audience
If you're making a business card or a website for a French market, stick to the pairs.
01.42.68.53.00 or 01 42 68 53 00.
Periods or spaces are the standard. Using dashes like 01-42-68-53-00 looks very "American" and feels slightly out of place to a local.
Actionable Steps for Calling France
When you encounter a French number, follow this quick mental checklist to ensure you actually get through:
- Identify the type: Does it start with 01-05 (Landline), 06-07 (Mobile), or 09 (Internet)?
- Check your location: If you are in France, dial all 10 digits starting with 0.
- Strip the zero for international: If calling from outside, use +33 and remove that first 0.
- WhatsApp trick: Always save numbers in the +33 6 / +33 7 format immediately. This ensures the app recognizes the contact across borders.
- Watch for 08: Avoid calling 089 prefixes unless you are prepared for premium charges on your phone bill.
Verify the number on the official website of the entity you're calling. Many French government sites or major museums now list their numbers in the international format (+33) specifically to help tourists. If you see a short 4-digit number (like 3635 for the train system SNCF), these are usually "short codes" and often only work from within French networks. If you're abroad, look for their "Numéro depuis l'étranger," which will be a standard 10-digit number.