[ornornor]

> enjoy the "European roaming data envelope"

Which provider would you recommend? I remember taking a look a while back and the most viable option was Free, but 15.99 EUR a month for when I need roaming 3–4 times a year seemed a bit excessive at 180.- per year.

[neitsab]

For your specific use case, I'd say give Lebara mobile a shot.[0]

SIM card is free, you can top it up with a prepaid amount or do a one-month plan without renewing it, and I just checked their T&Cs relating to roaming and they are actually quite generous[1][2].

Besides, their website is (for the most part) translated in English due to their target demographic, so no need for full French fluency here!

Some good info in English on the French telco landscape can be found at [3].

[0] https://mobile.lebara.com/fr/en/

[1] https://mobile.lebara.com/fr/en/international-call-rates

[2] https://mobile.lebara.com/fr/en/terms-and-conditions#section...: See section 2.4.2 (in French unfortunately)

[3] https://en.selectra.info/broadband-phone-france/guides/mobil...

Edit: missing word

[neitsab]

I'll nention it for completeness sake: another possible solution, albeit a bit cumbersome, would be to get a regular contract-free plan but suspend it for the period you don't need it.

A cursory search indicates that both Orange and Bouygues (as well as their contract-free offshoots, Sosh and B&YOU respectively) still offer this as a paid option at 5€ and 7€ per month respectively.

This means you could get the plan appropriate for your needs, then suspend it (for at most 6 month per year it seems) and only reactivate it when you need it.

However since this procedure requires getting in touch with customer service, it should be reserved for people well versed in French :-)

Edit: adding links (all in French)

https://www.echosdunet.net/dossiers/suspendre-ligne#suspensi...

https://assistance.sosh.fr/faq/308268

https://www.assistance.bouyguestelecom.fr/s/article/suspensi...

[ornornor]

Thanks. France really does have insanely good mobile plans!