Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.
My partner and I had great difficulty getting onto the internet during our tour. This was not due to France being out of date but rather to our being out of date -- we had no electronic devices, much less anything that could hook into a wireless network. Heading in we envisioned planning our routes and keeping up with the world would be a simple matter of going to libraries and internet cafes. This proved misguided and, though our "French" was improving quickly, it was difficult to plan our routes well based on conversations. In the final weeks this was no longer true -- we took recommendations freely -- but there were some rough patches in the first several weeks in which we took routes ill-suited to cycle-touring
wireless networks: Southern France has nearly ubiquitous free wireless access, even in countryside villages. If you have facility for taking a wireless device, I advise taking it.
libraries: not as common as one might think in such a bibliophilic nation and often open for less than 3 days/week and less than 10h/week. In many villages there was no library at all. In some villages the libraries were closed for the month of August and, occasionally, for the whole of the summer. When we did find a library, they occasionally did not have computers. Those that did have computers (the vast majoirty) had a range of policies regarding internet access. Twice we were refused access because we were not card-holders. Be prepared to pay 2 Euros/h - 5 Euros/h, to do all of your work in less than 1h, & to surrender your passport.
internet cafes: These are an anachronism. There are occasional "gaming" cafes, but only in the bigger cities. Tourist offices are good about knowing where they are.
campgrounds: campgrounds usually had free wireless access. Some of the larger campgrounds along the Atlantic coast charged for wireless access, but generally campgrounds of all types (municipal and private) provided free wireless access. The occasional campground provided hardware for a fee comparable to that of libraries (2 Euros/h - 5 Euros/h).
hostels: Nearly all FUAJ (Federation Unie des Auberges de Jeunesse) hostels have free wireless access. The Pau-Gelos hostel (http://www.fuaj.org/Pau-Gelos) was the best hostel at which we stayed, in part because it had a computer room that one could access free-of-charge 24/7/52. This allowed us to plan our route for the next several weeks, and to do so at our leisure. Be forewarned that Pau gets a little muggy in the summer and the hostel does not have climate control. The computer room suffers the most in such conditions. Other hostels, such as Grenoble and Toulouse, had one or two computers with a slow connection. These connections made planning very difficult. Other hostels had no computers available, others charged.
In future travels, we will take a wireless device with us that has pre-loaded maps on it. Presumably wireless access will be even more widespread in France in future and devices faster, more durable and lighter with longer battery life. As it is, assuming a built-in camera, a wireless device would have saved us over 200g and 400ml.
