we are thinking of first time camping in france this summer.
The only problem is my OH is worried about driving on the right as he has not done it before (i hate driving in this country, so don't even think about me)
has anyone any tips.
We have thought about locatign campsites very near to the port so not much sacry driving to do until OH finds his driving legs.
Jo
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I was apprensive on my first trip to France 4 years ago, and was surprised how easily I adapted to driving on the "wrong" side of the road.
After leaving the ferry port and negotiating the first few roundabouts I never looked back. Joining a mototway can be a little scary as the slip road ends after about 200 m, so you need to be careful when you pull out into the motorway, again after a few times, you are familiar with how its done, french are suprisingly mannerly and usually pull into the centre lane to let you out.
You tend to over compennsate when you are joining main roads, but looking left, right, left, right, but you get over that.
Take you time when you arrive first, and you will have no problems. Enjoy yourselves
Driving in France is generally an absolute joy. The motorways are very quiet compared to the mess that you find on British motorways. The driving standard is also generally much higher in France (better lane discipline, no tailgating, etc). Once your OH has gone round a couple of roundabouts he will be fine.
Many thanks, Seems like roundabouts are the first thing to master. Better go practice going wrong way on our local one at 4am .
OH is just getting used to idea of french camping but there are so many other things to think about, ferries, adders, forrest fires, dipped headlights, E111. (which i had never read this forum now).
jo
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
One tip I have seen is to tie a white ribbon or handkerchief to the top right of the steering wheel as a little reminder to keep to the right. The most dangerous time is just after you have been stopped somewhere. Take extra care on roundabouts too.
Quote: Originally posted by jennifernn on 27/07/2005
One tip I have seen is to tie a white ribbon or handkerchief to the top right of the steering wheel as a little reminder to keep to the right. The most dangerous time is just after you have been stopped somewhere. Take extra care on roundabouts too.
LOL! You've just reminded me that many years ago (OK - 30) when driving back to a campsite we came across a vehicle heading towards us on our side of the road! Immediate reaction was to get out of his way ..... and his was the same. Fortunately we avoided a collision. Naturally, he turned out to be a Brit ..... driving on the wrong side of the road!! And he'd had a few glasses!
I think your tip is a great idea for anyone new to driving abroad - especially to make people concentrate hard after stopping somewhere. After a few years, you will probably find that as soon as the ferry docks, you are in 'continental' mode and driving in France or elsewhere is totally natural.
Donkey's years ago, on my first motoring trip to France, when you hardly ever saw another Brit car on the roads, we stopped for lunch. Coming out of the car park we were immediately confronted by a roundabout ..... and I drove the wrong way round it with my partner noticing nothing wrong at all. Thank goodness nothing came the other way!!!
That's a good tip, Jennifer, for anyone new to France. Some travel co's issue windscreen stickers.
Oozat
BTW, my 'navigator' has never got into driving in France ..... we land, approach a roundabout and I can guarantee that she will say, "Take the third exit" when she means the first! Thank goodness my (replacement for wife!!) sat nav system knows I'm in France!! ;-))
Don't forget that in some quaint places it is still the custom to have priority as you enter the roundabout as opposed to having priority if you are already on the roundabout. If you google something like "driving in france" you will find lots of pages giving excellent hints and tips. This is waht I did and found it very useful, I also printed off a few pages with speed limits etc and took them with us so it was easy to refer to.
Ali
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
My husband's mantra is 'Keep your bum in the gutter' - it works. If the driver always remembers that he/she should be on the nearside of the vehicle, you can't go wrong. We always find it more difficult to adapt back once we drive off the ferry in the UK - somehow we are not making quite the same effort then and it is easy to forget!
Best advice I can give you is to stick to the inside lane and go about 60mph unntil you get your confidence up. Try not to drive at night straight away. I did the A8 in south of France at about 10pm and it was quite scary.
Also dont forget:
a) money for tollroads
b) by law in France you need to have a warning triangle, a fire extinguisher and headlights will need adjusting. I think you can buy a kit from Halfords that covers all of this.
Hi thanks for all the advice.
The ribbon idea is fantastic, am thinking could use idea for myself. Tie ribbon around gear stick when parking on hill to remind "car left in Gear", as you can tell from this it's a good job i'm not gonna drive in france.
I must say I am very lucky the OtherHalf is the driver abroad
although saying that I am surpossed to navigate and the funniest thing I did was we pulled off the boat and needed to turn on to a main road I was ask to see if the road was clear on my side and I never even click as to the fact we were on the wrong side of the road and after 5 mins of say no not yet no not yet he realized I was wacthing the the wrong side of the road and I won`t repeat what I was called
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I must say I am very lucky the OtherHalf is the driver abroad
although saying that I am surpossed to navigate and the funniest thing I did was we pulled off the boat and needed to turn on to a main road I was ask to see if the road was clear on my side and I never even click as to the fact we were on the wrong side of the road and after 5 mins of say no not yet no not yet he realized I was wacthing the the wrong side of the road and I won`t repeat what I was called
Good point! I can remember forcing myself (as driver) to look "Left, Right and Left again" at junctions, instead of R, L & R again as we do over here.
That got me used to realising that the cars closest to me would be coming from the left.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: driving in france
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and I won`t repeat what I was called
