First time ever holidaying in France and driving what do I need to know or do, buy???

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

So far I’ve brought speedoes for ds and dh. Do I have to notify my car insurance?? I am currently with Tesco Bank and have AA breakdown but not sure if this covers me abroad. I feel totally unprepared for this trip help!!

Roundabout sticker
www.halfords.com/motoring/travel-accessories/travel-equipment/driveright-lane-safety-device

Headlight Converters
www.halfords.com/motoring/travel-accessories/car-headlamp-converters/halfords-headlamp-converters?request_type=bestseller

Also, stop signs are way more common than in England and you are actually supposed to stop at them.

The speed limit drops to 50 kph when you enter a town/ village and rises again when you leave. This mostly won't be indicated by a speed sign but by the name of the village in a rectangular white panel surrounded by a black border. As you leave it's the same but with a red line diagonally over it.

The vast majority of French restaurants, even in touristy areas, won't do a continuous service, so don't assume you can get a late lunch. They'll stop serving lunch by 3pm and not start serving the evening meal till later. A lot of shops will close over lunchtime (12-2), be particularly careful with small food shops (bakeries, butchers etc.). Supermarkets will almost always be open continuously without a lunch break.

If you go into a [small] shop, always say hello to the workers. They consider it to be like walking into your house without saying hello if you just walk in and start browsing. You're on their property, so greet them.

You don't always get notice of a priorité à droite. I suppose it depends on local policy.

You have to keep an eye on roads joining from the right. If there are no signs for you then you need to look for road markings or signs for users coming from the right that are suggestive of a Stop or Give Way. If there's nothing, then it's best to slow down.

You can find them in those out of town shopping areas, too, as well as residential areas.

I sound like a saddo with all my posts but I've just obtained my French driving licence and it's all still a bit of an obsession

We bought a "driving in europe" kit from a local motoring shop but i imagine halfords would have similar. You need hi viz jackets for all passengers in case of breakdown and i think you need to carry passport and driving licence with you. I would also have toilet roll and a small bottle of liquid soap in the car as one holiday in france we went , literally no toilets had loo roll or soap (it didnt appear that it had just run out, it looked like it had never been provided in the first place!)

The things you need for the car are sold in places like Halfords as a kit, so you don't need a list of everything needed you just buy the kit. Same for the shops at the eurotunnel terminal, but probably more expensive there.

If you haven't taken your phone abroad before, make sure it's set up for international data usage before you travel as you can't usually change it once abroad.

Hard to find a shop open on Sunday so factor that in when you’re packing food.

The French are very particular about mealtimes. You really can’t rock up for breakfast at 9.40 when that meal is over at 9.30. Lunch is between 1and 2. In smaller towns you can starve if you miss these windows. Learned this the hard way trying to juggle babies’ naps and sight seeing on our first trip!

Headlight stickers are very important! It is really awful driving at night when the headlights shine straight onto your side of the road.

You can’t have a hands free mobile mounted in the car.

The French are meticulously polite in their speech and it comes across as very rude to omit good morning/ please/ thank you/ madame/ monsieur. It is normal to greet the shop owner and say goodbye when leaving, rather than slinking in and out.

I think you have to display your country code beside your reg plate.

If you’re traveling long distances the viamichellin website will help cost various routes for fuel consumption and tolls (which are eye watering)

I love France. Hope you have a great time.

I think a lot of things are covered.

One thing which is important is to ensure that all your navigation devices have mobile speed detection switched OFF. www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/radar-detectors-in-france.html

Definitely check on your breakdown cover for Europe. It is definitely worth it.

Where are you driving to? If a long way on the toll roads then the toll 'tag' is a good idea. I have had mine about 7 years now and it's still working hopefully, will find out in a few weeks. I get billed the month afterwards and the money comes from my credit card. It's much easier than faffing around for change and queuing.

Have fun!!

The thing about set meal times is something I wish I had known when we first took the DC to France.

I can remember having three tired, hungry boys in Rouen mid afternoon with nothing much available to eat. We didn't see anywhere 'snacky' and had been up since the early hours travelling from the north of England.

The restaurants in the city centre all seemed to stick to the set hours of lunch 12-2, and then closed until 7.00pm. However near the hotel on the outskirts was a retail park with chain restaurants like Buffalo Grill which were open throughout.

This is where I got my Toll Tag from www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers

it's mostly in French though. The SANEF is in English - similar thing.

I liked mine as it seemed cheap t set up and use. I only pay for the month in which it's used (plus the tolls of course).

What is bip and go @Mistigri ?

Yes, we encountered the set meal times too(!) The we’re caught out one Sunday as where we were all food shops were shut and so were the restaurants 😏.

In the end we found it easier to eat like the French do..... i.e having our main meal at lunchtime (between 12-14.00), it would often be three courses. Then we’d eat again around 7pm when the restaurants opened again. You just need to plan your day accordingly.

If you are there this week, Thursday 15th is a public holiday and supermarkets might not be open.

@AnneKipanki Bip and Go is the motorway toll tag mentioned in the post above yours. Saves loads of time at the péage (toll booth) when the motorways are busy.

Thanks @missclimpson

The priorité à droite rule depend on where you are. We are in Normandy and priorité à droite is everywhere

I was going to say that the only place I had ever encountered it before I moved to the town where I live now was in Normandy!

There are a lot more chain restaurants open all day than there used to be, but these tend to be in towns not villages.

Can I transfer that to OH as he is going back 1 week later ? 2 different hire cars .

@Mistigri we even have a roundabout in one local town with PaD on it. It is terrifying. 😀

Watch out for the 'Peyage' on the motorways. Some of the card readers need the 'card' to be put in upside down.
We got stuck for ages as there were no instructions and of course the Q of cars was beeping and blue French words were flying around.
Be sure you're not dawdling anywhere or you'll get beeped at!
Also watch out for the 'Gendarmes', they seem to frequent roundabouts and pull people over for fun.
Or, at least they did when we went.

On a similar vain to the restaurants shutting. Went to a fairly large supermarket once and didn’t realise they closed for 2 hours from midday. Had to literally leave the trolley in the middle of the shop and go back to t later. It was 11:55 and they wouldn’t let us checkout let alone let us out everything back

One thing we found (used to go to France every summer when the DC were younger/still at home) was that there are surprisingly few petrol stations - certainly compared with the UK. So don't leave it too long before you aim to fill up. Not sure if it's still the same now, as I haven't driven in France for 3 or 4 years, but some of the petrol stations we came across were autopay - no staff on site - and didn't accept anything other than French credit cards.

Perhaps some of our French MNetters might confirm if that's still the case!

Petrol stations accept UK bank cards. Almost always the petrol stations at supermarkets / hypermarkets are cheaper than the ones on main roads and they are cheaper than the autoroutes. The supermarket ones have 24 hour card payments - Leclerc / Intermarché / Auchun / Carrefour etc.

Please check your car insurance - we have always had to pay an extra fee, driving in Mainland Europe has never been included as standard (that’s a number of different insurers over 13 years)

Silly question but we have a diesel car does that affect what roads we can use?? Some mentioned it does. We are going to carnac so 1.5hrs from ferry port next friday xx

Maybe the person mentioned your diesel car in relation to this www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/

If you plan to drive through certain large towns/cities you must have this sticker on your car. It's to do with the emissions.

I know that you need it to drive through Paris and Lyon but can't think it will affect your journey. dickory.

Better read up on it to check.

I got ours this week. It's just a few euros but took almost two weeks to arrive. I'm not totally sure of our route so thought would get one just in case.

We have a diesel car and there is no problem driving it in Brittany. In fact, diesel is cheaper than other fuel in France.