First time driving in France – what do I need to have/know?

Hi-vis accessible when you step out the car, spare bulbs, no sat nav that is capable of showing speed cameras (even if turned off), headlight deflectors and GB sticker/plate.

Don’t need breathalyser currently as it keeps getting deferred but they keep trying to make it law. No reciprocal agreement with UK for speeding fines so no problem with fixed cameras. Hand held though and they’ll catch and stop you.

If you’re likely to break the law, carry plenty of cash or a cash card for when they march you to the nearest cash point 😉

And a toll tag definitely.

wilburt – Member
I wouldnt bother wih a tag unless your going several times a year.

Still worth it unless you’re only driving through one toll. So much easier, no need for toll cash, no queuing and doesn’t cost you much for the tag. If you don’t use it subsequent years, cancel the subscription (couple of quid a year) or loan the tag to someone who is going. I think you can get the money back on the tag itself if you return it (about £20?).

@leffe priorite a droite is everywhere in Paris and the suburbs including on all the roundabouts. Its still very mich alove across the country too

@makkag Toll card (tele-peage): Mrs B (French) refuses to get one and afaik none of her family have them either. They all drive on peage a lot, eg almost every summer weekend to go to the coast. They all pay with bank card. Biggest advantage I can see with the tele-peage is if you are in a right hand drive car on your own it saves getting out. Most peage booths accept cards and there are very few tele-peage only lanes, most tele-peage lanes accept cards too.

@deadkennedy, your advising the fella to register an account, spring e40 upfront for a tag to drive to Normandy?

Was it France or Spain where some of the smaller rest areas on M-ways were dangerous?

It’s not France. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t spend the night in one but that’s more down to me than the danger of the places. They’re no more dangerous than any other random piece of land you may stop on.

Simple checklists
http://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/country/france/
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/touring_tips/compulsory_equipment.pdf

The useful thing to remember is that the high vis should be accessible without getting out of the car – common sense really.
Speed Traps? Don’t speed…. set the cruise and cruise down.

On the currency it is about 20% different from this time last year
http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=EUR&view=1Y

As for right/left for me it was always when leaving small town car parks etc that caught you out.

The middle lane thing was very apparent, if the car behind is flashing it’s lights then you have picked the wrong lane for that speed 🙂

Priority to the right is also extended to car parks and many small lanes in Normandy, so if your cruising down the car park and some one on your right drives into you its your fault 😯

1 hi viz for each passenger to be accessible in the car red triangle also you dont have to carry baulbs but your lights must work so carry em or risk an on the spot fine

forget about flashing your lights its not the same here

stop at stop sign count 3 stop really means stop.

forget about flashing your lights its not the same here

From experience it’s the French way of informing you that you are going too slow I want to drive through you on the motorway – either that or trying to see if your number plate is attatched with phillips or flat heads

Nice one all I have passengers so will just keep debit card front and centre for them then ,

wicki – Member

Priority to the right is also extended to car parks and many small lanes in Normandy, so if your cruising down the car park and some one on your right drives into you its your fault
Could you post a link that states that this law is still active. please? I understand it has been overwritten now. The only problem is that it is difficult to break old habits. I can’t see anything that points at an accident is going to be your fault if driven into.
All I can find is that in certain area there is signage indicating that the law is still active and where it ends.
http://www.vendee-guide.co.uk/priority-a-droite.htm

Lots of horror stories on here making it sounds like it’s hard to travel in France – it really isn’t. You might find it a bit stressful for an hour or two but you’ll soon get into the swing of things. I much prefer travelling in France than in the UK.

Rachel

As well as bulbs you need to have the tools that allow you to change them. For hassle free, the trick seems to be to have your hi viz jackets draped over the seats so they can be seen. Guess the assumption is that if you obey that rule you are probably obeying them all.

For hassle free, the trick seems to be to have your hi viz jackets draped over the seats so they can be seen.

The French police don’t check that you have them at the ferry port/tunnel or anything so why bother. The only people I know who do this do it because they have no room in their glove boxes/side pockets. If you break down and don’t have them AND the police stop AND they give a shit, you may get a fine. In years of driving over here I’ve been stopped more times by customs than by the police and usually it’s a quick chat and on my way.

I agree with allthegear that generally, driving on the continent is easier than the UK. People, on average, are a little more courteous and good with lane discipline (except at the toll booths in France where it’s the law of the jungle).

Whilst overtaking on the motorway you will your arse sat right upon by following traffic – it’s not the angry “get the f*** out of my way” that it is over here so don’t worry about it.

The viz thing was my observation from watching which cars were pulled over for a check. I never was as I was always in a Spanish car.At least that’s my theory.

it’s not the angry “get the f*** out of my way” that it is over here so don’t worry about it.

🙄
Whatever the intention sitting that close is something to be very worried about. Sensible option is just pull in and let them go. Just something to be aware of.

From experience it’s the French way of informing you that you are going too slow I want to drive through you on the motorway – either that or trying to see if your number plate is attatched with phillips or flat heads

You sound like you’ve been on the road with Mrs B 🙂 Also we forgot to mention that you must beep the horn at every opportunity.

OP lots of good advice here just take it sensibly. IME French are pretty respectful of Brit drivers, they are afraid we are clueless and about to crash into them.

Highviz – ours are in the underseat storage bin. We have them in both cars (Brit and French). I have been checked twice – once a general check when in a rented car swith swiss plates and once when I was stopped for speeding 😳

Documents – forgot to say you shoukd take your insurance and registration (or decent copies) and your driving licence. In France its compulsory to have these with you.

As well as bulbs you need to have the tools that allow you to change them.

I don’t know why this keeps coming up, but you do not need to carry spare bulbs (or tools for that matter) in France.

You don’t need a GB sticker if it says (GB) on your number plate either, which most if not all modern cars do.

Oh yeah, as for ‘need to know’,

The town name signs are implicit speed limits. Entering a town the limit becomes 50kph even though there’s rarely a speed limit sign; ditto leaving, the town name crossed out means the NSL applies again.

Many speed limit signs are conditional. On motorway equivalents you’ll see limits which apply to trucks or to traffic leaving the motorway, look for the little white signs underneath the main circle.

The “priorité a droite” sign is like a diagonal crossroads sign. They’re rare IME. You’ll see a yellow diamond a lot, this means that ‘normal’ rules apply, give way to the left.

Carry different cards with you. Service stations are buggers, I went through four cards before I hit one they’d accept (two debit cards, my FairFX card and Shell fuel card were all rejected, the only thing that worked was a credit card).

Was it France or Spain where some of the smaller rest areas on M-ways were dangerous?

Ahh gassing incidents – er yep it has happened in both countries.

dunno if its still the case though but i’d stick to proper campsite
(or behind a garage for a snooze).

Whatever the intention sitting that close is something to be very worried about. Sensible option is just pull in and let them go. Just something to be aware of.

Not saying they don’t want you out of the way (and I agree, I get out of the way too), but they’re not going to come blasting past you afterwards blowing the horn and giving you **** signs.

Some of them still have yellow headlights

Even though we stopped bombing them years ago…

In the evenings keep an eye out for the loud little cars that they let the drunks drive, they can be erratic to say the least 😯

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35210572

If you are going on the tunnel, the tag is free and 6 euro a yr (20 euro refundable deposit) At that price it is worth it IF you are doing any considerable distance via the motorways.
https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/Eurotunnel-Le-Shuttle-Offer-Landing-Page

Lots of bollocks being churned out on here again. Listen to MikeSmith and Allthegear as it sounds like they have actual experience of travelling through France.
I’ve driven around and through France many times and never had anything other than an enjoyable experience. The driving standards are much better than the aggressive style we have over here, so sit back and enjoy the journey. I would recommend taking frequent stops and take a picnic in a cool box so when you do arrive at your destination you’re not drained and can get on with enjoying yourself.
As you’ll have a car full no doubt you will be needing toilet breaks. There are plenty of “Aires de service” to stop at but most of these are nothing more than a hole in the floor and an abundance of flies. Take advantage of the service stations. Some of the Aires are very nice places with proper toilets, picnic grounds, parks etc.

The toll tag is well worthwhile IMO. Usually means shorter queues, your passenger can sleep and the 30km/h lanes are relatively unused and really quick.

Don’t bother with http://www.saneftolling.co.uk though, it’s a rip-off. Buy one from one of the other French operators direct and set up direct debit with a credit card that doesn’t charge currency conversion fees. We got ours from http://www.aprr.fr. No annual fee, we just pay for those months in which we actually use it.

Driving in France is so easy. The worst bit, by far, is the drive from home to Folkestone.

There are plenty of “Aires de service” to stop at but most of these are nothing more than a hole in the floor and an abundance of flies. Take advantage of the service stations. Some of the Aires are very nice places with proper toilets, picnic grounds, parks etc.

I’d actually recommend it the other way. I tend to only stop at the service stations when I need a drink or food. If I need a wee I stop at an aire de repos (rest area) as, for the most part, they’re not too bad. There’s a few on popular routes like the run down to Metz where they’re like biological warfare facilities but for the most part they’re nice enough places to stop, eat a sandwich and stretch your legs. You can’t tell from the road though, so unless you know the route, it’s trial and error.

Ahh gassing incidents – er yep it has happened in both countries.

Is it actually true? Afair it was debunked by anaesthetists saying it would be great to have such an easily administered knockout gas.

I’m with Atlaz here, service stations can be hella busy so tend to only use them for food but use the Aires for most stops (and the occasional sleep if we’ve driven through the night). No “2hr max stay” bollocks like you see here either.

Is it actually true? Afair it was debunked by anaesthetists saying it would be great to have such an easily administered knockout gas.

Debunked for sure for household robberies AFAIK but not sure about campers. I can find several articles about robberies where the victim said they’d been gassed but little supporting evidence from the police. I’d be more inclined to believe the ones where people make friends with the victims and slip them something in a drink than the gassing; seems very easy to end up moving from robbery to multiple murder that way.

On motorways lane discipline is an olympic sport, enforced by really quite incredible tailgating.

Everywhere else though I found driving in France – Normandy and Brittany – a pleasure. Roads tend to be quieter and the driving fairly laid back and aggression free. Its a pretty civilized place after all!

On most autoroutes there’re aires every 20km or so, seems to be arranged so that there’s major one with fuel, cafe etc, then a simple one – so you’re never so far away from relief…
Just take your time, and enjoy your holiday. It’s really not that difficult, just take care to make sure you drive on the right!

atlaz – Member
I’d actually recommend it the other way. I tend to only stop at the service stations when I need a drink or food. If I need a wee I stop at an aire de repos (rest area) as, for the most part, they’re not too bad. There’s a few on popular routes like the run down to Metz where they’re like biological warfare facilities but for the most part they’re nice enough places to stop, eat a sandwich and stretch your legs. You can’t tell from the road though, so unless you know the route, it’s trial and error.

Good point. Stopped at a few of these and well maintained places and nice places to stop and have a stretch, not busy and no long walk round service station building to find the toilets.

I’d also echo driving in France is really quite pleasant, especially on the autoroutes. Again well maintained and generally quiet.

Driving is more relaxed. Reminds me of driving in western US. Get back to the UK and I just snap into an aggressive mode again as everyone else seems out to kill me.

Anyway, as for GB plates. What are people going to do post Brexit? Mine has EU flag on it. Never liked that it did.

Anyway, as for GB plates. What are people going to do post Brexit? Mine has EU flag on it. Never liked that it did.

I have just specifically bought one with an EU flag on it for this year 😀

deadkenny – the UK hasn’t left the EU yet. No new number plate

On motorways lane discipline is an olympic sport, enforced by really quite incredible tailgating.

French motorways work the way ours are supposed to. You keep to the right, pull out to overtake, and pull back in again. You do get the odd wing commander who will come steaming up to towing distance with their left indicator going, but it’s a pretty rare occurrence IME. I’d respectfully suggest that if anyone finds its happening often, their lane discipline / forward planning needs work.

We’ve got a house in Normandy and drive there 2 or 3 times a year. My advice would be:
1.Take high vis, bulb kit, warning triangle, basic first aid kit, GB sticker if your number plate doesn’t have a GB badge, mask the lights with a bit of insulation tape, carry your insurance, log book and licence. Have been asked for all of these in the past. No need for Breathalyser or fire extinguisher.
2.Don’t bother with a tag if you’re only planning to go to Normandy. Not many tolls, not worth the hassle.
3.A lot of banks charge for every transaction you make in France, sometimes as much as £2 a time. Have a look for a credit card that doesn’t charge and pay it off when you get home, if you want to use it to pay tolls.
4.Priorty to the right DOES exist in France, regardless of what others have written on here. It applies only to unmarked junctions (those without stop or give way lines). Lots of these in Rural Normandy. However, the French seem to be just as confused about who to give way to as anyone else, so slow down and keep your eyes open and you’ll be fine. Roundabouts are the same as here, priority to traffic already on the roundabout.
5.Motorway services (with fuel/cafes) generally have cleaner facilities but unless you plan on eating off the floor, a bog’s a bog.
6. Lane discipline is incredibly important to the French. Unless you want a Renault VelSatis three inches from your rear bumper, pull out, overtake, pull back in (especially as in Normandy, virtually all the motorways have two lanes).
7. Flashing yellow lights are on road works – you don’t get a green light, it is a ‘proceed with caution’, you do get a red stop light when you can’t go.

Always refer to the Police Municipal as Gendarmes Plastiques.

Biggest advantage I can see with the tele-peage is if you are in a right hand drive car on your own it saves getting out. Most peage booths accept cards and there are very few tele-peage only lanes, most tele-peage lanes accept cards too.

Two nice advantages: 1) You can avoid queuing at Peage which can be a pain in Summer – you don’t normally stop and 2) You pay the following month via DD.

But we go all the way South twice a year so it stacks up.

Do they still do that thing where they use their indicator to tell you they wanna come past?

atlaz – Member
deadkenny – the UK hasn’t left the EU yet. No new number plate

Just thinking in advance 😀 – it still may never happen though.