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| Hints & Tips |
| Some driving/riding hints and tips for France...from personal experience! |
| If any oncoming traffic flashes you (during day light hours) you can assume two things, firstly there is police activity up ahead somewhere or you are approaching a hazard ie a crash, blocked road or something...so slow down and be prepared to stop PDQ! I have known drivers flash me anything up to 10kms before I come across anything so be patient...and if they flash you at night?....dip your main beam!...or have you forgot to put your beam direction masks onto your head light(s)? |
| The police activity could be a radar speed check or maybe a document check or even a breathalyser check. If it’s a speed trap, irrespective of nationality you are pulled in and done...same with a breathalyser...but if it is a document check and they see British or other nationality plates they 9 times out of 10, will wave you on and not pull you in. |
| The gendarmes like to set up check points at roundabouts and junctions and they seem particularly active on Fridays afternoons/evenings and Saturday mornings...but that does not mean all other times are safe. |
| You may be flagged down by people wearing civilian clothes but wearing some official looking identity badge...this can occur in towns or out in the country. They will then attempt to sell you some really cheap and nasty items in the name of some charity or other...base ball caps seem to be a popular item...DO NOT BUY ANYTHING...these people are con artists who set up for a brief period, make a fast buck...particularly from foreign tourists but many locals still get taken for a ride...and then scoot off before any local police turn up and set up again somewhere else...one of our guests got caught just like this and ended up paying the equivalent of £40 for 2 base ball caps that would cost less than 50p for the two in any street market. |
| Road rage over here is a rare occurrence...I have never had or heard of it out in the countryside but it has been known in towns and cities. |
| French drivers drive fast...they will come up behind you and sit what feels like in your back seat and then take improbable gaps and risks to overtake...let them go...you are on holiday with nothing to prove...just think...they are still at work and are probably late for something! |
| You will come across what the French call ‘voiturettes’....these are micro cars that flat out will do either 50kph for the low powered models or 80kph for the top of the range ‘souped up’ ones...they have diesel engines...sound like cement mixers and do a million miles per gallon...normally these will be being driven by older or retired people and a French friend who works in a local insurance office has told us be very careful around them...these voiturettes are involved in the highest percentage of accidents with unpredictable maneuvering on the road...tail backs can occur behind them…be patient...a gap will come...don’t take risks. |
| French ‘yoof's’ are allowed onto the roads from 14 years old on 50cc mopeds and scooters. They have no number plates...often have VERY loud aftermarket exhausts fitted and only have two speeds...stop and flat out. They can be encountered individually but are often in packs...sometimes 2-up and apparently in a race to get nowhere...as long as it as fast as they can possibly go...although only 50cc’s, with the aftermarket tuning accessories available over here, they can have a startling turn of speed...the engine only has a fortnights life expectancy but hey!...who cares about that?...just look how quick I am going! |
| In the Spring, in rural France you will come across lots of farmers out on the roads going to or from their fields with ploughs on the back and liberally coating the roads with mud...French for mud is boue...some farmers will put up a warning sign...many do not...it is very slippery. |
| During the same time of year the farmers also like to do their muck spreading...again if you are lucky there will be a sign warning you......Pat and me call this ‘special’ type of mud ’Pooey Bouey’...once you have experienced it for your self you will know why....it certainly clears any blocked sinuses!!! |
| ‘Convoi Exceptionnel’ are a common sight on the roads...these are exceptionally big loads being transported around the country...it could be a massive combine harvester...a huge section of bridge...a boat...jet engines indeed anything very very big and often slow. Normally they are preceeded by a vehicle or two with a flashing orange lamp on top with a warning sign. If the load is particularly big and it impinges onto both sides of the road there may be police motorcyclist out riders who may flag you down and stop you and make you pull right over until the load has past. |
| Most French petrol stations are shut and unmanned after hours and on Sundays...also like most of commercial France, 12 noon to 2pm is siesta time so they will be shut!.....however motorway stations are usually open all hours and days of the week. Most stations have automatic pumps for these unmanned times BUT they normally will only function if you have a French bank card...international credit cards will not work...plan your fuel requirements and stops ahead. |
| If you want a really excellent value and quality mid day meal stop at the La Routier cafes and bars where all the truck drivers stop...they are easy to spot along the road since they have huge car parks the size of football pitch’s for the trucks to stop in...Pat and I have used them for years...they are not like your cliché image of a greasy truckers stop...they are highly recommended...many English restaurants would struggle to match the quality and none of them could match them for value for money. |
| Turning left across traffic feels very unusual at first...take your time and make certain you go the correct side of any traffic bollards in the centre of the road/junction etc. |
| If you are motorcyclists...the ‘hello’ wave for any oncoming biker is to drop your left hand off to just below the bars and to give a very casual wave...none of this hand in the air stuff...bikers over here do not wave at anything below 50cc’s...if you do the oncoming moped/scooter rider will give you a puzzled look as they are not used to it! |
| If you come up behind a car it is normal for it to actually pull over towards the verge to give you more room to pass...this also happens at traffic lights or if there is a traffic jam (very rare in the countryside!)...to say ‘thank you’ to the driver you lift your right foot off the peg and extend it out a little as you pass. |
| Headlights on are compulsory in daylight. |
| Believe me, it gets very VERY hot over here in France in the summer and it is not a pleasure riding the bike in leathers or heavy weight fabric garments that do not allow a high degree of ventilation and airflow. We have had many guests stopping here at La Janais who after arriving here ‘cooked’ and dehydrated do not go out on their bikes because it is ‘just too hot’...others who have arrived here on bikes have ended up hiring cars with airco!!!...during the summer of 2003 it was 45C in the shade which was exceptional but it regularly is up in the mid to high 30’s here and riding the bike was like sitting in front of the open door of a turbo fan assisted oven on max heat!...therefore to ensure you do enjoy and not endure your riding time over here......the roads and lanes around us are just too good to miss... I would strongly recommend that you consider purchasing some light weight, very highly airflowing riding clothes....but pack that rain oversuit just in case!!! |
| My final tip is REMEMBER TO DRIVE ON THE RIGHT...it sounds obvious but it is easily forgotten and it can be very frightening at best to come face to face with a big lorry bearing down on you ‘apparently’ on your side of the road...and embarrassing when you realise you are on his side of the road. It is easy to forget which side you have to be on after stopping for fuel, a meal or a comfort break...as the driver in a RHD car I always told myself that if I was not alongside the curb I had it wrong!....on a bike maybe think about tying a piece of rag or a ribbon on your right hand mirror stem to remind you...please get it right...as we look forward to meeting you and seeing you arrive safely here at La Janais. |
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