What we've learned about France, so far

What we’ve learned about France, so far

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First and foremost the French people have been wonderful. Everyone we’ve met has been helpful and understanding. Our limited French vocabulary hasn’t been too much of a problem, usually can just point and grunt, that seems to get the message across. Always finish with, “merci”, smile and bolt for the door.

So, lessons learned:

  1. Parking is extra, everywhere. 2/3rds of the French economy is generated by parking fees. I wondered why the rental car guy was laughing when we left. He knew that to store the 1/2 of a car we rented, it would be twice the rental fee. There’s an algorithm there somewhere.  Parking is  ~20EU per day – everywhere. Good thing the wife is with me, needed a co-signer to get out of the first parking garage.
  2. Some garages offer an extended stay pass. Of course, if you don’t speaka-da-lingo you don’t know this. We learned to ask and got a real deal in Metz. We now will park in that town regardless of where we’re traveling. Only a days walk to Bastogne but we saved 20EU in parking fees!
  3. All “A” roads are toll roads. Of course there are other roads you can take, only adds another 2-3hrs to the drive. Tolls aren’t too bad, if you’re Donald Trump! The road out of Paris was a teaser charging a mere 9EU. Once we were tempted and use to driving at 130kph (79mph), the tolls took their toll. Next two roads were 20EU and 32EU, then again to Metz-30EU.  That’s OK. French roads are in great shape and they maintain them very well. As evidenced by the constant road construction and thousands of cones on each road. Oh yeah, speed limit drops to 110kph, same as the non-toll roads!
  4. Toll booths. As long as we’re on the subject of toll….. Toll roads in France are managed by several different companies. Some accept foreign credit cards, some do not. None will tell you until you’re in line to pay with 5 semis lined up behind you. Then you better have cash, and be in a line that accepts cash. Otherwise let me tell you just how rude truckers are here. You’d think they never used reverse.
  5. Its OK to make a small traffic mistake. We’ve only driven down two pedestrian districts and everyone was so nice. Once they see that you’re driving where you shouldn’t be driving, they simply get out of the way and watch as you go by. Faster is not better in this situation, as Collette pointed out, slow is the acceptable speed and just look around, kind of like you’re shopping from your car. An occasional wave is also a nice gesture.
  6. Lunch is from 11:30am to 2:30pm, get a seat early or you may be stuck eating outside. Sounds nice, doesn’t it. Eating outside in a small French court, sun shining, beautiful day! Nope, outside is the smoking section and these people smoke! We thought Malta was bad but here, like the beginning of the industrial revolution! Found it interesting that France has outlawed plastic serving ware by 2020 but cigarettes, light up and live baby!

Just a few things we learned. Probably more as we go along so enough for now.

Au revoir, y’all.