Karen, I fully agree with you that it would be not too much help in Paris, as a matter of fact it may cause confusion, however in the country it is very good. When I go out of town on business, I try allways to get a car with the system (Hertz does have it on many cars.), and most of the time it delivers me to within 10-20 feet from the entrance of where I intend to go.

BP Chuck

Yes, GPS Navigation systems have made it to France. I have every intention of buying one IF I ever buy a new car. Considering the amount of city driving I do, there would be NO reason. However, in Provence, I have to drive everywhere and take a very deep breath when forking over my credit card to pay for gas.

Actually I think there is. I was in a taxi recently and the driver had a nav system that showed him the most efficient route taking in account traffic conditions!

Thanks, thats a good, high-level map of the greater Paris area. Too bad there is no easy way to access it on your car's Nav system ! Now Karen doesn't have an excuse to take the car and waltz through Etoile during a lull in the traffic.

Karen

No, back in the states. I ran out of time sooooooo fast with the bricolage at the apartment. We updated the bathroom and added an Apple iBook to the apartment among a bunch of other things ...

http://www.elzevir.net/desk_2.htm

http://www.elzevir.net/sink_2.htm

Should be back in June. I'm working on some photos for the photo contest. I think I sent you an ofoto link but if not it should be near the top of the photos

http://www.elzevir.net/review.htm

Cheers
Bill

Bill -- Thank you. That site is a real find. Are you in Paris?

I always found them to be pretty accurate including the signs above the autoroutes and the periph. If you live there, you can also access the real time traffic via your cable box (noos) and there are web sites with real time traffic

http://www.sytadin.equipement.gouv.fr/traf/idf.php

Question for you expats living and driving in France. Are the traffic reports you hear on the radio very accurate, timely? If so which are the best ? I assume that Paris is covered, but are any other areas/cities covered? My only case of tuning in the radio was 19 Nov and hearing that the traffic on the peripherique was "fluide" at 6 PM, and entering at Porte d'Orleans it was terrible. The only accurate information was after entering the peripherique were the overhead signs that show estimated time to particular exits (portes).

There are times when I wish the NAV systems for cars could be updated with those traffic maps that show freeway and road speed by red, yellow, and green dots like the internet versions of traffic conditions. At a glaance, you could determine what route was best.

hahaha... yes... that's usually how I get to Paris. But, the last trip I needed to haul some "larger then my suitcase" items to the gal living in our apartment.

Sorry to have grumbled so..... it was a VERY grey (as are many, lately) day in Clermont.

I so enjoy driving, but it's just too darn expensive here.

PitterPat

Christophe:

Thank you for the visual demonstration. I have the booklet but it's a bit late to review it when I'm on the road.

As long as I live here, I will never get use to the placement of the traffic lights! As for priority to the right -- be still my heart!


Pat: Have you considered taking the train when coming to Paris?
My take is that it's never less expensive to drive unless you have two or more passengers!

White circles surrounded with red always mean interdiction. Blue circles always mean a mandatory action. Do you think of that sign ?

It means that you musn't turn right at the NEXT intersection.

This one :
means you can't park AFTER the sign.

My grumps about driving in France:

1. Traffic lights should be timed better! (I spend more time sitting at traffic lights... OY)
2. Directional signs..... not clear AT ALL! One can never tell if the arrow pointing to the left or right means to turn left or right... or to go straight ahead! YOu normally don't figure it out till you're lost in a maze of one way streets trying to find your way back to the sign!
3. White and Red circle with a slash in it..... or turn arrow in it. One would assume this means don't go down this road, or don't turn here.... but, this seems not to be the case. I'm SO confused!
4. PARKING! Nightmare! Nuff said!
5. Within Clermont-Ferrand it's impossible to tell what road you're on till you get out of town.... this applies to those major roads that are not super highways, but not city streets. Within Clermont, they're not marked..... till you get out of Clermont.
6. STREET SIGNS: UGH! My biggest pet peeeeeve! One cannot tell what street you're intersecting with till you're already through the intersection, and that is *IF* you managed to wrench your neck enough to find the sign posted on the corner/side of a building at the intersection! Of course, *IF* you manage to spot the sign (only with 20/20 vision), *AND* it's the road you're looking for, *THEN* 9 times out of 10 you will then be trapped in a maze of those one way streets trying to get back to the intersection!

and don't even think about slowing down to read a sign or you'll have 10 cars honking at you to speed up!

7. TOLLS! UGH.... As if the cost of driving is not enough ($66.00 to fill a Honda tank) Between tolls and gas, it costs almost $150. for me to drive to Paris.... *3* hours away!
8. Motorcycles, Dirt Bikes, Mopeds.... who rule the road and drive like maniacs!
9. All the horn honking

Grumble, grumble, mutter, mutter

What I enjoy about driving in France?

1. Call boxes and many rest stops on the highways
2. Awesome speed limit!
3. Considerate drivers
4. Free air for your tires... when you get on the highway
5. Signs on the highway *telling you* there's a speed/radar check ahead!

I'm sure there's more I'm enjoying that I don't know about, but as I have no clue what anything says on the signs...... I'll continue to happily wing it!

PitterPat

Thanks for the link, st. g! I pretty much gave up driving but have kept my license up to date. I often think I may get back to it one day particularly for traveling. Great article!!!

The article is at

http://www.bonjourparis.com/publications/p...?articleId=1617

I think you can find it by using the search function; enter Underhill: Driving in France and see whether the article comes up. That's how I found it finally; so I hope this method works. If not, let me know.

I was looking for the article. The last Premium newsletter I have is for the week of December 14-20 and I don't see the article there (I delete the previous week when I get the new one). Could you provide a link or tell me where to find it? I think there used to be a link to the newsletter on the home page but I don't see it now.
Thanks

We used our credit card on nearly all the autoroute toll areas and had no problem, thank goodness.

The up arrow does indicate straight ahead. But some drivers don't always stick to the right lane, which can be confusing.

You should be able to use american credit cards in tools. They don't ask for your pin code, they just use the magnetic strip.

I read your husband's article, and my reaction was mostly yup, yup, yup, and I agree. A few comments, though.

The French don't seem to get the hang of using the up arrow to indicate straight ahead. I got lost several times (well, not bad enough lost not to be able to go back to the point of error) due to misinterpretation of the angled sign meaning turn or straight ahead. It is probably worse in the urban areas, or on those heavily overcast days when you can't get directional clues from sunlight or shadows.

On the peage, I never used the CB lanes (carte bleu = credit card). I was told that the American cards don't have the pin codes, so they won't work and have the gate lift up. Did you find that this was different ? Besides my wife had all sorts of fun sorting through the change to get exact fare while the cars behind started honking their horns.

Our honeymoon (XX years ago) had us renting a Deux Cheveaux with the shift lever coming out horizontally from the dashboard. Anyone else have that wonderful experience? And the transmission was definitely not synchromesh.

Those of you who subscribe to the BP Premium newsletter might have seen the article by one Bob Underhill on Driving in France. That witty, erudite, and well informed article was written by none other than my own dear husband, who has driven us all over France, the UK, and Italy. He much prefers France!