A lot of people's stories seem to be about the French trying to rake in cash for fines

Like Bromptonaut, I've been a few times (10 times in the past 20 years) on both motorcycle & car & never been stopped

I absolutely love it once I get out of port (Calais / Roscoff / St Malo / Le Havre) & I'm on un-pot-holed & smooth roads with as much traffic as you'd find on a minor B road at 6 o'clock on a Sunday morning. If you do encounter a slow moving vehicle they simply move out of your way & wave you past with a smile.

Of course there is a down side ......... you've gotta come back!!!!!!!

Have a great time & try the Buffalo Grills, they're great eating places

Watch out for day three complacency. At the end of day two, you become confidant that you've mastered driving on the wrong side of the road and on the third morning you get in the car and promptly drive off on the left! It's not a problem in town, but it is in rural areas!

Whenever you pass the red bordered town signs the speed limit is 50 kph until the sign with the town name crossed out panel is passed, then it reverts to 90 kph unless otherwise indicated.

If oncoming cars are flashing you then expect a gendarme speed trap in the next 2 kilometers. On the spot fines can be expensive. Realistically, speed traps are all you need to worry about.

Generally the lower traffic volumes and excellent roads make France a good place to drive.

Ah yes, clutch cable failure, I suffered this problem about 25 years ago, at St Quentin, well before the A26 was built. AA 5 Star were wonderful, we were taken to a local hotel and next morning to a garage where they welded the part .. the connector at the end of the cable had snapped so it was not fixing to the pedal.

I was in France last week, I saw breatherlizer kits for sale on the very nice Spirit of France - two per pack. I cannot recall the price.

As for French Police, I was stopped for speeding a couple of years ago, 150kph on the A26 returning home 100 miles from Calais, I feared I would be frog marched (sorry) to the nearest cash machine to empty my bank account, but no, I was fined approx €45 which I paid in cash on the spot (got a receipt of course) ... no points either.

Just remember the rule of the road at junctions is to give way to anything on your right, unless you are on a 'priority road' - a road with a yellow diamond signposted - so watch out in towns with side streets. It used to be the rule that traffic joining at a roundabout had priority too (it comes from the right) but nowadays this is not the case. Roundabouts have signs advising 'you do not have priority' on the roundabout sign post to remind all drivers. And, thankfully, they seem to have eradicated the 3 lane single carriageway roads as well as use white road paint these days (used to be yellow, to match their headlamps!)

Also, if you are driving a diesel, wait until you get the other side before filling up. Last week I got diesel at Euros 1.39 at the Ouistreham Esso Station ...

Prices on 19th April here

Edited by Avant on 17/05/2012 at 01:44