Driving in France

Driving in France was an adventure. I was to be the driver on this trip. It was decided after considering the budgetary constraints on our transportation cost that we would be renting an automobile with a manual transmission. I would have the driving duties. Our rental car was waiting for us in Rouen. We had found that a considerable savings could be realized by picking up rental cars at a location other than the train station. A five euro taxi ride saved us about €100. This was a rental from Hertz; most of the American rental companies are available in France as well as some European ones. We chose a compact Peugeot 206 with a diesel engine. Diesel fuel is only slightly cheaper, but the fuel mileage is considerably greater. This makes a diesel powered compact a very economical choice. I was a bit hesitant about choosing a diesel, but the little Peugeot had no difficulty keeping up with freeway traffic and was very quiet. Be aware that gas stations are not as common as they are in this country and that some of the pumps that take credit cards may not accept a credit card that doesn’t have a chip in it. Insurance is a must. We found that our Visa credit card on which we charged our rental also provided good insurance coverage. We once had the opportunity to test this insurance coverage when we had an accident in Great Britain, and there were no problems. When you pick up your rental car in France it is much the same as here. With the agent you check for dents or other possible defects in the car. In France be sure to check on the emergency accessories. Each vehicle in France must have an emergency triangle sign and a florescent safety vest for each occupant. If the proper authorities catch you without these you can be fined.

Driving can be interesting, but it is great to drive in the right hand lane. Some of the rules of the road are slightly different. Traffic signs are different but not so different that you can't understand them. Turning right on red is illegal. There are few “stop” signs but there are traffic circles galore. It is good to know that you can ride around the traffic circle until you decide which exit is the right one for you. This may sound ridiculous, but consider that you can enter a traffic circle on a specifically numbered highway, but there is no exit for that highway number. It is always best to follow destination signs rather than road numbers. For example, drivers following the N13 south from Cherbourg lose it at Caen, as it becomes the D 613 thereafter! From Evreux to Mantes the "N 13" signs reappear, but after that it's the D 113. Get a good regional map. We used a road map of the entire country, and it simply did not show enough detail. Services such as AAA can provide the maps you need. On some occasions we were able to download Yahoo maps to our iPod for reference. If you are going through a large city get a city map. It often seems that street signage is for people who know where they are, and there is no consistency in street sign location. Unfortunately, sometimes you get misplaced or disoriented (somehow these words sound better than “lost”) and you just have to trust your judgment and be thankful that you did buy fuel at the last opportunity. We once spent two hours in the Pyrenees Mountains and found ourselves at our original starting point! We also found out that you should blow your horn when entering a blind curve to let people know you are coming. Some of these curves were so sharp that you would run on to the shoulder of the road as you navigated around the curve. My travelmate said that if her side of the car had had brakes we would still be in the mountains!





The quality of French roads is great, better than those of Britain. They range from the four-lane superhighways to the narrow one-lane mountain roads. Almost all the superhighways are toll roads. They are a great timesaver, unless you like a leisurely drive in the French countryside. We like both. Be aware that the toll booths are usually automated and if you have a problem you may be speaking to an attendant remotely who doesn’t understand your language. This happened to us once. Like many toll roads when entering you get a ticket and upon exit you insert it into the machine at the exit and it tells you what you owe. You can pay by coin or credit card. In our case it would not accept our card. Fortunately a young man in an Audi behind us saw our dilemma and came to our rescue. By communicating in French to the off-site attendant he found that the machine was not reading our ticket correctly. Thank heavens for good Samaritans. The speed limit on the toll roads is 130 kph which is about 80 mph. It’s interesting to see a passenger train pass you at this speed when near a railway. Some of the French trains reach speeds nearing 200 mph. The left lane on the four-lane is for passing only. You don’t see people driving mile after mile in the left lane like you do here. We found most French drivers very courteous. They never blew their horn at me unless I deserved it. On two occasions I deserved it. Also be aware that in some areas the roads are frequently used by agricultural equipment. I remember that in the Provence area of France the roads were almost clogged with small tractors pulling wagons full of grapes. There seems to be a great many bicyclists on the rural roads as well. These are the people that are helmeted and in spandex uniforms on expensive racing machines. I saw few bike lanes as these would-be Tour de France participants crowded the roads in some areas.



Parking seems to be a problem everywhere. There is little free parking in France. Only in the smallest villages and Vaison la Romaine did we see free parking. There were no parking meters. There was a machine from which to buy a ticket to display on your dash showing how much parking time you bought. It was a good reason to keep a few €1 coins handy. One interesting thing to note is that we never saw a machine that would allow you to purchase a full day of parking; the most you could get was six hours. This presented a problem for us in Villefranche-sur-mer when we were leaving the car for a day trip by train. However, a helpful desk clerk took care of this for us. We were going to Nice, and the Sunday afternoon before I had all the Nice traffic I could handle. Had I been a good Catholic I would have been in confession bright and early. After checking into our hotel in the Dordogne valley the desk clerk told me I only had to pay for parking ‘til five o’clock. The signs indicated that it should be paid ‘til six, but she said that the policeman went home at five. It pays to be friendly with the “locals”. In some cities parking is free on Sunday. Don’t take chances; the police will tow cars away for parking violations. As anywhere, exercise care when driving.

Although the French have had a notoriously bad accident record (around twice the number of fatal accidents per head of population in 2001 when compared with the UK or Japan) the government is making efforts to reduce the accident levels. This has meant increased use of radar - particularly common during the beginning and end of holiday periods - and stricter laws on alcohol.

Driving in France was an enjoyable experience and I’d do it again. Next time I’d get a car with a GPS navigation system or carry my own.