Car seat laws in France

[tigermeow]

DD (age 3) and I are off to France next month. We have a whole car load of stuff to take with us (including flat pack IKEA stuff). Can I put DD's car seat (5 point harness one) in the front (airbags off)? Is it OK to have a child sitting in an appropriate car seat in the front seat in France?
All the info I have found so far seem to contradict each other!
Many thanks.

According to the road safety site:
(www.preventionroutiere.asso.fr)

Until the age of 10, a child can't sit in the front (unless the back seats are occupied by other children, if there is no back seat (eg van), if the back seats do not have seat belts or if the child is in a seat with the back to the road)

Jusqu'à 10 ans, un enfant ne peut pas monter à l?avant (sauf si la banquette arrière est occupée par d?autres enfants, si le véhicule ne dispose pas de banquette arrière, si la banquette ne dispose pas de ceinture de sécurité ou si l?enfant voyage dans un siège dos-à-la-route).

HTH

Thank you!
I guess it looks like she has to stay in the back and the flatpack stuff has to go on the roof (was hoping not to have a roof rack)....joy!
Thanks again

They have IKEA over here you know!

I know! It is my mum's house and she has a ton of stuff for us to take out...she has just moved house, so what could be better...palm off her old stuff to the French house via me! Lucky me! Looking forward to the break, once I've got there and unloaded the car!

OK, makes sense if it was old stuff.
Whereabouts is she?

She is in the Vendee, I have the 'bus' car so am obviously the number one choice for bring crap stuff out! She has been there for 20+ years now...we love the place.
Whereabouts are you? DD (age 3) is so keen to learn French (she has been badgering me since last year to learn) so we have bought her a few books to help her learn!

I've never been to that part of France but I hear it is lovely. 20 yrs! Does that mean you lived there for a bit?

I'm in Northern France, only about half an hour from the tunnel terminal. It's pretty round here but the weather is the same as the UK.