driving in France

K

kerinsp

Guest
Hello,
we will be heading over to France for a few days and our plan is to get the ferry to Cherbourg and then drive to Quiberon. Does anyone know where to get beam deflectors for my car or are they sold on the ferry?
Any tips for driving in France in general?

Paul
 
You only need the beam deflectors if you are driving at night!
You can get them in any motor shop very cheaply.
The main thing to remember is which side you are driving on especially when coming out of a petrol station.
 
Beam deflectors (little yellow self-adhesive ones) can be bought in any car accessories shop. But stock up on a couple of other items - in France, you're required by law to carry two spare headlamp bulbs and a little foldaway reflective 'hazard' triangle, in case you get a puncture/breakdown on the side of the road. Most French cars have these built into the lid of the boot, but ideally you should place it on the side of the road 50-60m back from where you're stopped.

One drawback of bringing your own (RHD) car is that you're on the wrong side for overtaking - so you'll need to get the passenger to help out when it comes to peering around that truck you want to overtake. Be careful!

If you think you might be prone to hopping into the car in the morning and driving off down the LH side of the road in auto-pilot mode, tie a hanky or something to the steering wheel, so you'll say 'now, what the hell is that meant to remind me of...?

Generally, driving on French roads is a pleasure, and navigating a doddle, compared to Ireland. But it helps to plan your route in advance - see [broken link removed].

...Bonne route!
 
thanks I found that mappy address this morning and also a michelin one which seems good.
Should be an interesting trip!
 
You can get a paint-on beam deflector liquid in a small bottle, which you just paint onto your lights. This is what we have used for years in France, without any problems. It comes off with soap and water when you get back home. I can't remember the name ... but you should find it in any good hardware store. We tried the adhesives one year but found the paint-on stuff to be much better.
 
2nd hand

I hear they are v.strict with speed limits and on the spot fines. They can calculate your average speed between pay stations on the motorway!

Cheapest petrol is in the big supermarkets (Carrefour etc.) dearest on the motorway.

Bon Voyage!
 
beams

I have been in the South of France a lot recently and on my last few visits I have yet to see a French car with yellow lamps - is it going out of fashion or was it ever a requirement over there?
 
beams

on the subject of driving in France what is the "priority a droite" about in simple terms. Yield to traffic from the right? How does that work and is it a headache?
 
Re: beams

It's not the colour of the lamps that's at issue (although a lot of the older French cars had them, apparently on the basis that the yellowish light apparently 'pierces' thick fog better, rather than just bouncing back off it at the driver..?) The problem has more to do with the side of the road your car is designed to drive on.

On a standard Irish (RHD) car, each of the headlamp lenses has a panel that allows light to escape out and upwards towards the left-hand side of the road, so lighting up the ditch/hard shoulder. When you drive on the right-hand side of the road, of course, that results in you dazzling all the oncoming traffic (to your left) just as it passes you. Those little stick-on filters - if they're properly designed - don't just colour the light yellow, they have little rows of downward deflectors running across them which break up that sidewards beam.

In fact, you could simply stick bits of insulating tape across those clear panels on the lenses (if you can reach them, i.e. if the whole lamp assembly isn't encased in a streamlined clear 'bubble') - this would achieve pretty much the same effect, but I think there may be some other law somewhere about not obscuring your lamps, even partially...

P.S. Yes, I forgot to mention that your essence/gazole can be up to 10/15% cheaper from a supermarket filling station, as compared to on the motorway. Look out for Super-U or Hyper-U, if you're crossing Brittany - there's lots of them. (Incidentally, it goes without saying that a litre of mineral water or a packet of sweets/biscuits will also be marked up by about 200/300% in a motorway filling station!) There's also a massive Leclerc hypermarché just off the main road from Cherbourg to the ferryport - you'll recognise it from all the Irish and UK-reg cars filling up on wine before they take the boat home... :D
 
Re: Priorite a Droit

My understanding of this is that when two(or more) roads of equal status converge, you must give way to the car coming from your right. If in doubt yield!

Slim 8)
 
Re: priorite

One thing you will notice on non moterway roads are the amount of roundabouts that there are. While they may seem to be a pain they are great in that if you miss your turn there is always a roundabout a few miles up the road to bring you back. Noticed the frence are very agressive on the roads and don't stay in the overtaking lane, overtake and move back into your correct lane immidiatly.
don't forget your IRL stickers, make sure they are visable. From my experiance the french like the irish but not the english so if stoping to ask directions make it clear you are irish, it does help IMHO.
 
driving

Oui, I noticed that it helps to say Irlandais before they get too angry!!! They seem to mellow immediately at our charms! Hope it works on the road too - will have my shamrock, etc. clearly visible - cheers thanks for that info.
 
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