Driving in France

Having survived being on the road in France and Belgium I have a few comments.


The Good-----

They REALLY adhere to the concept of slower traffic keeping to the right. On the highways everyone stays in the right hand lane, unless they are passing. As soon as they pass they pull back over to the right.....usually even if they can see that they will soon need to pass another vehicle. I love that. People pretty much keep to the speed limit too. Not sure if they have cracked down with radar or not. But people seem much more likely to follow the rules in general here anyway. In France if the weather is clear the limit on the highway is 130 Kilometers per hour (roughly 78 mph), in rain it is 110 (66 mph).

In French cities the lights don't hang in the middle of the intersection, but are at each corner. This way you have to stop behind the pedestrian crosswalk to see the light. There are two sets of lights, one high and another low so you can easily see.


Even with the crazy traffic in Paris they do (usually) stop for pedestrians.



On French highways there are rest stops very frequently. I think the longest distance I saw between stops was 33 kilometers (about 20 miles). At the least they have a place to pull over, but usually have more--such as a toilet, gas station or playground area.



These people are whizes at whipping their little cars around each other and into tiny parking spaces. I have seen people fit into spaces where I didn't think it was possible to fit. I have a feeling that gently bumping bumpers while parking is standard practice here.

Driving through the countryside was great. It was beautiful, just like something in a movie. Sometimes I expected to see Hobbits! Through most of France there were gentle hills. The landscape was flatter in Belgium and in the NE part of France. But everywhere were fields of well tended crops and fat cows, sheep and horses. There is one crop of bright, bright yellow called rape---rapeseed oil is made from it. Sometimes, depending on the landscape, all I could see was bright yellow. I went through a lot of heavily wooded areas too--a treat for someone from mostly flat Texas. Then when I saw a sign warning of deer crossing for the next 12 kilometers, I knew it was not an idle warning.

Belgian highways are more like American higways, which was welcomed after the French tollroads. I think the standard speed limit there is 120 kph (72 mph). Again everyone pretty well minded the speed limits.

The major thing I didn't like was that in French cities the street signs are not on a pole at the corner, but on a blue plaque on the side of a building. That is OK if you know where you are going, but if you are trying to find your way as a lost tourist it's not so good. Just about the time I could read the sign I would realize that was where I needed to turn, but by then it was usually too late.

Also as an American used to nice wide streets (and cities arranged for the benefit of cars) the streets took some getting used to. They are narrower than I am used to and sometimes they wind around, are one way or end abruptly.