Driving in France

We are thinking of taking another trip to France. Do you think it is
easy to just rent a car and drive around?

Cathy L.

Cathy L writes:

We are thinking of taking another trip to France. Do you think it is
easy to just rent a car and drive around?

I rented a car for 4 days in August. From Avis in Nice, returned to
the train station in Orange. I rented in advance, from the US.

It was easy. I did _not_ drive around Paris and environs though.

On 10/31/2011 2:51 PM, Doug Anderson wrote:
Cathy writes:

We are thinking of taking another trip to France. Do you think it is
easy to just rent a car and drive around?

I rented a car for 4 days in August. From Avis in Nice, returned to
the train station in Orange. I rented in advance, from the US.

It was easy. I did _not_ drive around Paris and environs though.

Second that, especially at rush hour. After once renting a car from a
Paris agency and bringing it back during the rush hour, I resolved never
again.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

James Silverton wrote:
On 10/31/2011 2:51 PM, Doug Anderson wrote:
Cathy writes:

We are thinking of taking another trip to France. Do you think it is
easy to just rent a car and drive around?

I rented a car for 4 days in August. From Avis in Nice, returned to
the train station in Orange. I rented in advance, from the US.

It was easy. I did _not_ drive around Paris and environs though.

Second that, especially at rush hour. After once renting a car from a
Paris agency and bringing it back during the rush hour, I resolved never
again.

But couldn't you say the same for rush hour traffic in ANY large city,
ANYWHERE? (Not only Paris, London, Los Angeles or New York, but even
Phoenix AZ.)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" writes:

James Silverton wrote:
On 10/31/2011 2:51 PM, Doug Anderson wrote:
Cathy writes:

We are thinking of taking another trip to France. Do you think it is
easy to just rent a car and drive around?

I rented a car for 4 days in August. From Avis in Nice, returned to
the train station in Orange. I rented in advance, from the US.

It was easy. I did _not_ drive around Paris and environs though.

Second that, especially at rush hour. After once renting a car from
a Paris agency and bringing it back during the rush hour, I resolved
never again.

But couldn't you say the same for rush hour traffic in ANY large city,
ANYWHERE? (Not only Paris, London, Los Angeles or New York, but even
Phoenix AZ.)

Certainly driving around big unfamiliar cities at rush hour is no
picnic.

But not all large cities at rush hour are created equal. To name two
I happen to know: Portland and Seattle.

It is much easier to recover from a mistake in Portland than in
Seattle.

I don't know what Paris is like to drive around in first-hand, but if
I wanted to compare with another large European capital city: I'd
rather be driving around Berlin than Paris or Rome or London at rush
hour.

Also, for me, my French is adequate for touristic purposes, but it is
slow and I'm not especially familiar with traffic patterns and signs.
So I don't like to be in situations where I would have to react
quickly.

On 10/31/2011 5:12 PM, Doug Anderson wrote:
et writes:

James Silverton wrote:
On 10/31/2011 2:51 PM, Doug Anderson wrote:
Cathy writes:

We are thinking of taking another trip to France. Do you think it is
easy to just rent a car and drive around?

I rented a car for 4 days in August. From Avis in Nice, returned to
the train station in Orange. I rented in advance, from the US.

It was easy. I did _not_ drive around Paris and environs though.

Second that, especially at rush hour. After once renting a car from
a Paris agency and bringing it back during the rush hour, I resolved
never again.

But couldn't you say the same for rush hour traffic in ANY large city,
ANYWHERE? (Not only Paris, London, Los Angeles or New York, but even
Phoenix AZ.)

Certainly driving around big unfamiliar cities at rush hour is no
picnic.

But not all large cities at rush hour are created equal. To name two
I happen to know: Portland and Seattle.

It is much easier to recover from a mistake in Portland than in
Seattle.

I don't know what Paris is like to drive around in first-hand, but if
I wanted to compare with another large European capital city: I'd
rather be driving around Berlin than Paris or Rome or London at rush
hour.

Also, for me, my French is adequate for touristic purposes, but it is
slow and I'm not especially familiar with traffic patterns and signs.
So I don't like to be in situations where I would have to react
quickly.

Parisian traffic circles have to be experienced! Other cities like
London and Frankfurt are bad but don't compare with Paris. If you've
ever seen someone step off the kerb near a rental agency and be wiped
out, as I did, you'ld never rent in Paris.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

On 31 Oct 2011 13:12:16 -0800, Doug Anderson wrote in post :
:

I'd rather be driving around Berlin than Paris or Rome or London at rush
hour.

Yep, except I don't think London is that bad.

--
Tim C.

On 31 Oct 2011 13:12:16 -0800, Doug Anderson
wrote:
I don't know what Paris is like to drive around in first-hand, but
if
I wanted to compare with another large European capital city: I'd
rather be driving around Berlin than Paris or Rome or London at rush
hour.

I agree (though London is mainly due to driving on the left). Also
parking is a major issue in Paris.


Also, for me, my French is adequate for touristic purposes, but it
is
slow and I'm not especially familiar with traffic patterns and
signs.

Traffic signs will be using standard international symbols, so don't
worry about that.

Second that, especially at rush hour. After once renting a car from a
Paris agency and bringing it back during the rush hour, I resolved
never again.

But couldn't you say the same for rush hour traffic in ANY large city,
ANYWHERE? (Not only Paris, London, Los Angeles or New York, but even
Phoenix AZ.)

Being stuck in rush hour is one issue. The trouble is if you're stuck
and have no idea where you are. Being stuck, not knowing where, and this
in a city that grew over 2000 years and was made for pedestrians and a
handfull of horse carriages - that's hell

On 01/11/2011 4:33 AM, Johannes Kleese wrote:

But couldn't you say the same for rush hour traffic in ANY large city,
ANYWHERE? (Not only Paris, London, Los Angeles or New York, but even
Phoenix AZ.)

Being stuck in rush hour is one issue. The trouble is if you're stuck
and have no idea where you are. Being stuck, not knowing where, and this
in a city that grew over 2000 years and was made for pedestrians and a
handfull of horse carriages - that's hell



Think of Paris as an old city that started off as a number of small
hamlets that had connecting roads and then merged so that many of the
main streets are the old connections. The streets are laid out like the
strands of a psychotic spider's web. Major streets run on a variety of
angles. Many of the roads go a few blocks, then change names and direction.