Just had a couple of days in Paris and a few motoring things were noted: -
1. Bearing in mind the Pound/Euro exchange rate, so everything in Paris is crazy expensive, the price of petrol is higher than the UK, by several pence per litre. Diesel is a little cheaper.
2. Taxi drivers (we used three or four) were all polite, with clean cars and all generally listening to a nice mixed Jazz/Classical station, apart from the night Paris St Germain were playing Le Mans (PSG won). All drove sensibly.
3. Around Paris I saw very few prestige cars. Sure a few Merc taxis/limos and one 5-series taxi but otherwise the usual Euromix of small/medium hatches with loads of Smarts, Fiat 500s, Merc A-classes and MINIs. No BMW 1-series (is this a UK only model? - joke). Clearly a large car is a liability in Paris, so why are they so popular in the UK's cities.
4. No Subarus (of any description) were seen - they don't know what they're missing.......
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I was amazed by the fact that every car I saw had a bump to the front or the rear, many both !
I watched some one park in a gap by nudging each vehicle either side until they had made a space big enough and realised why.
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Les flics drive Subarus (Legacies no less) in the Alps.
So stylish, Johnny Frenchman...........
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Had two city breaks in Paris last year, and the same thing occurred to me too - got me to thinking, are we Brits too precious about our cars?
Should we really be all that bothered about minor parking dinks and scratches? When my last car reached the end of its life, it was covered in them, almost all inflicted by other drivers in car parks and the like, and I found it curiously liberating to no longer care about picking up a few more!
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Another point that I find interesting about the French and their small cars - France is a big country and they seem perfectly happy travelling long distances in small cars. How often does the backroom say to people that if you regularly travel longer distances you need a bigger car....
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Nobody really worries about their cars, they are just another bit of domestic utility hardware. Combine that with widespead car (not driver based ) insurance and most people will lend you their car if necess. If that is happening in Paris you can't afford to be picky about scrapes and dings!
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I also had a weekend in Paris earlier this year and my findings were slightly different:
1) I saw many big prestige cars, in particular Merc S and ML classes.
2) French cars in a surprising minority. Lots of VAG group stuff. Completely different to rural France where Pugs/Cits/Renaults dominate.
3) Just about everything, including the newest and most expensive cars had scuffs and cracks on the bumpers from the aforementioned Parisian parking. Seeing cars literally shunted out of the way for a car to get out and then another to get in was a true sight to behold. Nobody blinked an eyelid even as £40k+ motors thumped and cracked their way into seemingly too small spaces.
4) No clamping or parking tickets that I could see. When people parked badly (and they did!) there was a very good chance of being towed away in short order.
5) The roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe was magical for a car buff. 8+ unmarked lanes using Priorite a droit was amazing to see. I stood there for a good hour or so and witnessed a few near misses, but on the whole the system worked brilliantly. I could only rue how in Britain we would have countless confusing lane markings coupled with frustratingly timed lights causing huge queues and aggravation all around. The French just negotiated with each other at sensible speeds and tolerated the odd one who took advantage. Everything kept moving and even cyclists were happy enough to join in the game. Impressive stuff.
However, my big cars observation must be tempered by the fact that I went the w/e of the Paris motorshow, which might explain the unusual number of large Mercs as "runabouts" for journos and motoring bigwigs.
I too think we are far too precious in this country and admired the matter of fact attitude to the cosmetics of the cars, however I still couldn't imagine taking my own car there, so my own Britishness is not overcome that easily!
p.s. I also saw a large number of upmarket 4x4s (e.g. Cayenne Turbos etc), again maybe a motorshow thing.
Edited by TheOilBurner on 09/12/2008 at 09:52
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Last week we spent five days in Montreuil (between Boulogne and Le Touquet.) Didn't do a lot of driving but noticed for the first time quite a few Dacia Logan MCVs - bit like a Roomster minus the stylish good looks!
Tried out a tank and a half of Total Excellium diesel in the Legacy (?1.18/litre) but as expected no noticeable difference. I used to fill up before leaving France to save a few bob on a tank fill but no point now with the exchange rate and normal derv at ?1.06/litre.
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