Driving in France!!

glabus

Torque Junkie
Points
57
Location
WAKEFIELD
Car
fiesta zetec s1600
Hi guys,
If you noted we have been on hols!!
We went to France. Starting from Avignon Airport.
It is the only airport we have been to with only one plane on the ground:lol:
We had hired a car from Avis. The online site offered Fiestas but we got a citroen C3.
Not a bad little car, good Aircon and quite nippy.
Have any of you been to France and driven?
Anyone travel there frequently?
I found that nearly all French drivers follow right up your rear before pulling out to overtake:confused: They also seemed to do the same with HGVs, being right behind where vision of the road was eliminated:confused:
Then there were the, what appear to be; zebra crossings:blink:
When using these as a pedestrian you needed to take extreme care:amazed:
I was crossing one in Cavillion to go to the Station for info on buses.
The left lane was for traffic turning off that road.
Cars stopped for me and I started to cross but halfway over a youngish woman came steaming over from the right hand side, nearly knocked me down and then went left:amazed::confused::sad2:
Anyone got experience/s of their HC?
A few years ago in Cannes I spoke to a policewoman about the fact that, although a road had a No Entry sign cars were still going through it.
I stated what the sign meant here!
Her reply?
Hah but you are in France now:blink::amazed::confused:
Anyway we are back now so you can expect more posts soon
 
Haven't been abroad for years. I've always taken my own car across and driven 'wrong way round'.

It's easy enough to do apart from when I initially kept trying to leave r'abouts on the wrong side :-(

In fact I've only ever driven LHD cars in Britain !!

France is a great place to be. Food is stunning (those that know me will acknowledge this passion of mine) and I love the much slower general pace of life even in towns and cities.

Apart from the Paris Peripherique, that is, which seems to move at about 105mph.

Hesitate for a microsecond and you'll be ploughed from behind.

Cheap diesel (and petrol) all adds to the appeal.

France is a well ordered country for the most part. They acknowledge that you cannot build houses on every square millimetre of green land because they still need agriculture and food.
 
Thanks for welcome back:embarrest:
Yes, the hol was very good except for last quote p[robs AND.....
On the Tuesday we decided to go to Pont de Gard.
This meant going through Avignon, possibly via a straight route across?
I missed a turn off and ended up going towards Carpentras. when we arrived in Avignon the traffic was horrendous. Nose to tail three lanes, etc etc etc. The Police seemed top have the idea that they needed to get everyone out of Avignon:blink:
Whatever!
We did finally get onto a ring road and were off to the Pont.
When we arrived there is was ferme (shut):(
The attendant said that it was closed because the Met Office had said it had to be due to rain coming:confused:
We couldn't get the gist of her comments but I was confused as to what the danger was?
The Pont is Roman, been there for centuries. Surely it wasn't expected to fall?:amazed:
Therefore, the danger must have been for us
Forgetting the traffic traumas and my wringing wet shirt and my wifes' agitation/anger and mine, the trip itself had been some considerable distance.
In the long run it did NOT rain until about 23.00 and maybe that wasn't anywhere near the Pont
Obviously, we were not the only disappointed travellers
For the rest?
Really wonderful
(Catch my reply to another reply):)
Welcome back buddy. Was it a good holiday apart from the obvious?
 
I am afraid that your first line says it all:blink1:
Actually driving is NOT a real prob as you say.
As usual, care needs to be taken but.....
I drove in a different area of France a couple of times. Once in our own car (another Fiesta!) and was also fine with it and other drivers. Then, it seemed that the only idiotic behaviour was by British drivers:blink:
Now? Well, Ive commented!
Food IS very good BUT....... The average price of a meal in a Restaurant is now £22 up. That is without wine, beer or coffee/tea
Last year in Paris a coke (standard size) was near £3:amazed:
Small coffees, expressos etc are £3 plus:(
Petrol was seen this time at 1.42.9 with deisel similar.
We managed to fill up at 1.15.9 with deisel which still compares to average prices here:)
A few years ago it would have been 0.70 (Remember all figures in Euros but as that is almost parity:()
I like France. IF I ever (Please, pretty please:lol:) won a substantial Lottery prize I would most certainly look to buy property there.
It seems to me that the poor French people are sufferring the same Con that we did when decimalisation was introduced here.
Living expenses went up overnight!
Now, properties and living expenses have risen.
We went on holiday so we were not investigating costs only saw what we had to pay for whatever we needed and generalised on prices for other items.
It would seem that the only thing that has remained at a reasonably cheap price is Wine:lol:
Anyone else have comments on holidays that now cost you much or some extra than before?
Haven't been abroad for years. I've always taken my own car across and driven 'wrong way round'.

It's easy enough to do apart from when I initially kept trying to leave r'abouts on the wrong side :-(

In fact I've only ever driven LHD cars in Britain !!

France is a great place to be. Food is stunning (those that know me will acknowledge this passion of mine) and I love the much slower general pace of life even in towns and cities.

Apart from the Paris Peripherique, that is, which seems to move at about 105mph.

Hesitate for a microsecond and you'll be ploughed from behind.

Cheap diesel (and petrol) all adds to the appeal.

France is a well ordered country for the most part. They acknowledge that you cannot build houses on every square millimetre of green land because they still need agriculture and food.
 
I got on well in France, have hired a car (bit of a dog TBH 206 Diesel) and took my own. I got on much better with my Audi despite the RHD disadvantage, the only real pain was in Toll booths if you were on your own as you'd have to get out to pay but there was always a passenger in my car.

Drivers are a lot more relaxed and less stressed than in the UK. The roads are very well maintained and the only thing that caught me out was how fast their traffic lights changed!

I did an article that covers the basics of driving in france
 
i have just come back from france as well this morning miss me lol

went to connelles witch is down by rouen lovey place down on the river bedroom over looked the river

i took my landrover should of been my dads chevy blazer but was all loaded up went off down the road and forgot to put the bins out so my dad uped out the car put the bins out went to go again and the immobliser kicked in and would not start so tryed to fix it but no luck

quick rush then to clean teh landrover to make it look cleanish have only washed it once since i got it lol and i abuse that car off road

anyway was a very nice place great place to drive agree with waynne about the traffic lights
 
Rouen is a lovely City, glad to have you back.

There is a meet this Saturday at Timmys in Cranbrook Kent this Sat luton, might we see you there? I'll be turning up about lunchtime, see the meets thread for more details.
 
Again, Thanks for welcome back:D
It is nice to be home though I could definitely live in France (best way to learn the language:toung:)
We go to so many places I forget where we have been but I know we haven't been to Rouen:(
A couple of places we have been to where I would NOT try to drive are PARIS & ROME[:amazed::amazed:.
They don' t seem to bother with what we would call a pedestrian crossing in Paris but screech to a stop if you are walking between a set of metal studs:confused:
In Rome the scooters (and some cars!!) do not concern themselves that traffic lights are at red just a quick look and HeyHO:amazed:
Anyone else got tales, tips of cities or towns in ANY country where we should all think of getting the 'bus:blink::blink:QUOTE=waynne;142626]Rouen is a lovely City, glad to have you back.

There is a meet this Saturday at Timmys in Cranbrook Kent this Sat luton, might we see you there? I'll be turning up about lunchtime, see the meets thread for more details.[/QUOTE]
 
Rouen is a lovely City, glad to have you back.

There is a meet this Saturday at Timmys in Cranbrook Kent this Sat luton, might we see you there? I'll be turning up about lunchtime, see the meets thread for more details.

i cant make saturday have to fix the landrover the trip did not end to well for it lol
dont a front u/j on the front prop while i was out there so took the prop off so we could drive about still
and then on the way home the front pass wheel bearing gave in and the wheel is all over the place
lucky i could just keep braking and that would pull the wheel back into place so i could get home

but need to do it saturday after work so i can use it when it rains as i dont like getting wet on the bike lol
 

Similar threads


Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


Back
Top