France

Driving In France

In France you can use your own driving licence, but you must be able to show you have third-party insur­ance. You do not require an International Driver's licence unless you are plan­ning on a long-term stay; whenever required, you are able to get one from the Ameri­can and Canadian automobile associ­ations, and, in the United Kingdom, from the Automobile Association or Royal Automobile Club. You must be 21 years old to rent a vehicle in France, but there is no upper age limitation (as long as you have a valid driving licence).

In Case of Emergency

If your hire car breaks down on an ex­pressway, go to a roadside emergency telephone. If you have a breakdown anywhere else, find the nearest garage or contact the police. There are also 24-hour assistance hot lines valid throughout France (available through our rental agencies and supplied to you when youpick up the rental car), but do not hesitate to call the police force in case of any roadside emergency, because they are fast and dependable, and the telephone call is free. There are particular telephones just for this function on every highway, simply pick up the telephone and dial 17.

Fuel

Petrol and Diesel can be expensive, particularly on ex­pressways and in rural regions. When possible, purchase fuel before you get on the expressway and observe pump prices as you pass. These deviate hugely with anything from €I to €1.40 per litre. The most inexpensive fuel can be found at hypermarchis (giant supermarkets). Credit cards are accepted in all filling stations. It is conceivable to go for miles in the rural areas without coming across a fuel station so do not allow your tank get too low in rural areas.

Parking Your Hire Car

Parking is often described as a nightmare in Paris and often challenging in other cities and large towns. Meters and ticket machines (pay and display) are common so be sure you have a provision of suitable change in euros. If you are planning on spending a lot of time in Paris with your rental car, it may be a sound thought to purchase a parking carte (carte de stationnement) for 15 Euro, available at any café carrying the red TABAC sign. This card acts like a charge card in the parking meters, meaning no scrabbling try to find exact change. If you're paying with coins or with a parking carte, you will pick up a green receipt from the machine. Make sure to make it clearly seeable to the meter patrol by positioning it inside the front window on the passenger side.
Note that in August, parking is free in certain residential districts. Noter though that only parking meters reading a compact yellow circle show a free parking space; whenever you don't see the circle make sure you do pay. Parking tickets are costly, and there's no shortage of the blue clad parking patrols. Parking areas indicated by a blue sign with a white P are commonly found underground and are by and large expensive. In smaller towns, parking may be allowed along one side of the street only and may alternate every two weeks so please pay close attention to signs.

Road Travel

For the quickest routes between two places, look to roads labeled A for autoroute. A toll is collected for travelling upon most expressways. The N (route Nationale) routes (which are mostly dual carriageway) and D (route departementale) roads are generally also wide and quick. Don't be frightened away by humbler (c and v) roads, either.
There are excellent links between Paris and most French urban centres, but second-rate routes between the provinces (the principal exceptions being the A26 from Calais to Reims, A62 between Bordeaux and Toulouse, and A9/A8 the length of the Mediterranean coast).
Though roads are numerated, the French people commonly guide themselves from city to city and town to town by destination name. When interpreting a map, note the next large city toward your destination as well as the next settlement; virtually all snatch decisions will have to be based on town names, not route numbers.
When journeying in and out of Paris, observe that there are two major ring roads that are parallel to one another and encircle the city. The inner ring, also acknowledged as the grands boulevards (not to be confused with the major avenue layout in the center of Paris's Right Bank) The outside ring, which is a major highway has portes (gates) that connect to the leading highways of France. The names of these highways run on the same principal as the Paris metro, with the terminal destination specifying which direction you choose. These directions are signaled by major metropolises, and the senior highways link to Paris at these stages. For example, bearing northbound, look to Porte de la Chapelle (direction Lille and Charles de Gaulle Airport); eastbound, for Porte de Bagnolet (direction Metz and Nancy); southbound, for Porte d'Or­leans (direction Lyon and Bordeaux); and westbound, for Porte d'Auteuil (direc­tion Rouen and Chartres) or Porte de St-Cloud. Other portes include Porte de la Villette; Porte de Pantin; Porte de Bercy (A4 to Reims); Porte d'Italie; and Porte de Maillot (A14 to Rouen). France's southwest and the Pyrenees; and the A4, from Nancy and Strasbourg in eastern France.

Good Maps

Maps come with hire cars but these may be restricted to the region you pick up. If you design to drive extensively throughout France, get a yellow Michelin map for each region you will be traveling to. The maps are obtainable from most bookshops and magazine shops.

General Rules of the Road

Drive your rental car on the right and give way to drivers coming from exits to the right. All the same, this rule doesn't necessar­ily apply at roundabouts, where you had better look out for almost everybody. You must wear your seat belt, and minors under twelve may not journey in the front seat. Speed limits are 130 kph (80 mph) along express­ways (autoroutes), 110 kph (70 mph) on dual carriageways (routes na­tionales), 90 kph (55 mph) on other roads (routes), 50 kph (30 mph) in cities and towns (villes et villages) - but do take notice of the signs! French drivers break these limitations, and police administer heavy on-the-spot fines with no hesitation. Don't expect to find traffic signals in the middle of the road, as French lights are usually on the right and left hand side of the road so keep an eye out for them.
A few crucial traffic terms and signs to take down: SORTIE (exit); SENS UNIQUE (one-way); STATIONNEMENT INTERDITE (no parking); and CUL DE SAC (dead end). Blue rectangular signs show a highway; green rectangular signs signal a major direction; triangles carry examples of a par­ticular traffic hazard; speed limits are signaled in circles with the upper limit limit surrounded in red.