Calling All Frenchophiles

[seatkid]

I'm off to France tomorrow for a well earned break :lol:

 

Many years ago I recalled my French teacher talking about the stupidity of the give way to right rule on the roads. Is that still the case? Do I need to watch all those small junctions on the right for mad tractor drivers?

 

Merci.

 

Sorry that this post is in wrong section. :blink:

[Guest neil_wiles]

I am fairly certain that the rule is give way to vehicles coming from the left as you will be driving on the right.

 

EG in the UK we drive on the left and give way to the right (at least I think we do !)

 

 

:blink: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[davec]

watch out for everyone,nothing is reliable and youll always be in the wrong good luck

[iainkirk]

On French roundabouts, traffic ON the roundabout must give way to traffic ENTERING the roundabout, unless there is a sign which says you don't have to!!!

 

Interestingly, the Germans get around this problem by not having ANY roundabouts...

[CasaPaulo]

Make out your will, leave explicit instructions with legal people

Have additional health Insurance inc air ambulance

Have your blood group tattooed under your left armpit

Have a comprehensive first aid kit, French dictionary or throat spray to shout

Have a emergency mobile phone

Have girders welded to your bumpers

Avoid all the Camion drivers after they've had a 2 bottle of wine lunch

Carry cash

Ignore all the above

Relax, drink beaucoup de vin, eat gourmet food costing a pittance, use cheap diesel, drive along deserted roads & marvel at the old architecture or the flair used in all new designs.

I've never encountered any 'quaint' driving habits, the yellow headlamps have now gone too. I love the place, not big cities so much though.

[Guest SA Intruder]

OK, we live here.

 

There are less than 5% of roundabouts that are NOT "cedez le passage" In other words, they are all the same as those in the UK.

 

You will find most French drivers far more disciplined, particularly on Autoroutes.

 

You will find less traffic everywhere.

 

Enjoy!

[iainkirk]

Ahhhh Monsieur SA L'Intrudeur!

 

So you live there permanently now then???

[Guest SA Intruder]

Yes indeed!

 

I will be selling the Seat in the near future.

 

Just got set up with Wanadoo broadband here - very good too.

 

Rather warm at the moment!

 

Cheers

[Ivor_E_Tower]

...and on main roads, you have right of way at most junctions. Look for the yellow and white diamond on the main road which means you have priority.

[seatkid]

Merci beaucoup mes amis.

 

Au Revoir!

 

[Warning! Limit of french vocabulary reached]

[Richmond]

To add to what SA said, I think that priority to the right is still the rule except where it isn't, which is pretty much everywhere outside towns. In towns, main roads often do not automatically have priority, although they are given it at bigger junctions and roundabouts (of which there are far fewer in France than in the UK, although they're catching up).

 

As SA says, roundabouts are almost never priority to the right (although you need to watch for junctions that look like roundabouts but are actually not, which might be priority to the right; these need careful handling, as they do in UK).

 

Out of town, most roads of any size have signs indicating that they have priority; small roads joining them have 'give way' ('cedez le passage') signs. As you enter a town there is usually a sign indicating that you no longer have priority, and priority to the right then applies. Although local drivers are probably more cautious than they used to be about exercising priority when pulling out from a small side road into a main road, they still do it. As you leave the town, the main road usually regains priority.

 

If you stick to m'ways and N roads, you will see little of priority to the right until you go into a town (and you may hardly notice it then). D roads are often much pleasanter than N roads and no slower, and on these you may see a bit more priority to the right (although many have priority); you need to be aware that the car which is approaching your road on a small road, who in the UK would give way to you, might come charging out expecting you to give way. It's not unknown to find some vieux geezeur in his Renault 5 pulling out right in front of you from a farm track when you're belting down some beautifully straight bit of road at 70 ish, even when you have priority; old habits die hard.

[Tigger]

We found out this year, all Renault 5s come with a catapult that is used to proppell them from any starting point!!!!!!!!

[Guest grello42]

Does anyone understand the French habit of doing 130Kmh in the outside lane, 1 metre from your arse and indicating permanently to overtake you, even when you have a vehicle in front of you whose speed you are matching? :lol: Gets much worse in August <<pendant les vacances>>.

 

Still love it over there, though, which is why I went for a spec with cruise control.

[Guest SA Intruder]

Speaking to some of the locals, the indicator left on while overtaking means "I am presently overtaking" and intend to return to the inside lane as soon as.

 

The 130kmh up the rear tends to be Germans and Belgians round here. I think it is just the odd clown who has lost his or her grip on playing consequences.

 

I reckon!

[MrT]

The 130kmh up the rear tends to be Germans and Belgians round here. I think it is just the odd clown who has lost his or her grip on playing consequences.

It also seem to the same here within 50 miles of the M25 but is the locals that do it, they cannot seem to bear a people carrier in front.

[gazza007]

SA will we be seing a TV Docu on your move to France!!!!

They have them for everybody else!!!

[Richmond]

SA will we be seing a TV Docu on your move to France!!!!

They have them for everybody else!!!

Perhaps we already have.

[italiastar]

Does anyone understand the French habit of doing 130Kmh in the outside lane, 1 metre from your arse

 

1 metre !!! - count yourself lucky - I've just returned from Italy where the normal distance from ones bottom is 1 cm - My children said that this was because Italian drivers are like dogs - they like to sniff your ar**

[Guest SA Intruder]

No TV crews for us. Couldn't take the intrusive style on top of everything else.

 

I believe from others we have met that the budget for these programs is very low, so not much in the freebie department either.

 

C'est la vie.

 

We could have gone to Brittany....would have been rather sad in the light of the hordes of white UK vans there.

[Guest fredt]

 

We could have gone to Brittany....would have been rather sad in the light of the hordes of white UK vans there.

OIH! :o There's nothing wrong with white van's! the one my company gives me is going to get me to Chester some time this week to pick up my latest purchase off Ebay!

 

http://i23.ebayimg.com/03/i/02/68/a9/6d_1.JPG

 

I dont fancy paying the postage on that! :lol: so the company can foot the fuel bill :D oh the joys of having a white van :D

[Guest SA Intruder]

Obviously I refer to our "bodgit and scarper" or "slash and dash" bretheren with Camionettes blancs!

 

Professionals are excluded from the comment!!!