Off you go on your Great Road Trip in France!

Off you go on your Great Road Trip in France!

So now you’ve rented your car and are ready for The Great French Road Trip.

Some tips to help you:

– Cell phone use in hand while driving is prohibited in France, although speaker phone, Bluetooth are permited.

– Speed is strictly limited in France and controlled by cameras, some hidden, some obvious. Even with a rental car you can be charged with a ticket and sometimes fined on the spot.

– Alcohol levels in the blood are illegal above 0.5% (one drink).

– Rond-points (roundabouts) give priority to cars that are already in the rond-point; you will be notified of this as you approach with signs that say either “Céder le passage” or “Vous n’avez pas la priorité.” However, there are a few rond-points that are actually the opposite, such as the Etoile in Paris, in which case the priorité goes to cars that are entering the rond-point and those that are already in the rond-point need to stop and let them through (priorité à droite).

– Priorité à droite takes a while to get used to. Even if you are driving on the main road, you may need to slow down and stop at every little side road on your right to let that traffic through. These intersections are generally marked with signs with an X and priorité à droite painted on the road. If you are at an intersection where the lights don’t work because of a power failure, then the rule becomespriorité à droite.

– Autoroute: Drive in the right or middle lane, as the left lanes are only for passing. If you have an accident or break down, dial 18 (the firemen, les sapeurs-pompiers) and/or the 15 (le SAMU: Service d’Aide Medicale Urgence; the paramedics, ambulance). If you don’t have a cell phone, there is an orange SOS phone about every 2 kilometers where you can call for help. Rest stops, called aires de repos, usually have at least one store and some (free) bathrooms. Some have restaurants and gas stations; gas is more expensive there than at a local supermarket..

– Toll Booths: Expect to make frequent stops to take a ticket and pay the tolls. Avoid toll booths marked with a yellow T (this is for those with prepaid passes). Pull into the lanes with a green arrow if you want to pay in cash or by debit card, or you can pull into lanes marked with CB or a tiny hand holding a card if you want to pay with your debit card in the machine. Note that only European credit cards with the little chip work; you cannot use an American credit card in these machines.

– Blue signs vs Green signs: the integrated European highway system is indicated by blue autoroute signs; the green sign indicate a national route, which often wind through towns and have traffic lights.