France- The Final Episode

I must admit that when we first started to talk about a trip to France, I wasn’t overjoyed. Our first trip to France was in 1983, New Year’s Eve, on our honeymoon.  We’d toured through most of Europe before landing in Paris and met a lot of nice people, helpful people. Once in Paris, that all changed. From the moment we arrived and asked directions to our hotel until we left 2 days later, people were rude, ignored us and not helpful at all. Sometimes even to the point of giving us wrong directions. Speaking English, which every person had to learn in grammar school, was hit or miss. Most often, miss. After our time there in ‘83, I didn’t see a need to ever go back.

So here we are some 30+ years later and heading back to France and I admit, a great trip. The people were not as I remember but instead very helpful, cheerful and pleasant to be around. Everywhere we went on this trip, it was the same, friendly people, courteous and willing to help us as we stumbled through our Franglish. It was a very good trip and the people were fantastic! Glad we went.

Now, how about a few things we learned during this trip.

Try to learn a little French before your trip. We knew about 4-5 phrases and a few terms and got by. I think my best phrase was, ”Je ne pare pas Francais.” Which roughly translates to, “I don’t speak French.” Another was, “Au revoir, gopher.” (Caddy Shack, 1980) Once I left off the gopher part, it didn’t seem to bother anyone.

Arrival and Departure at Charles De Gaulle airport. Plan on 3+ hours to get to your gate.

Arriving in France was simple and fast. We entered the line for Non-EU Passports and breezed through in less than 20 minutes. Next step was collect our bags and walk through Customs. Again, less than 10 minutes. All-in-all, less than 30 minutes to get into France.

Departing France was a different story. After we checked in at the United counter, we headed to “Passport Control”. OK, sounded reasonable but what transpired was anything but reasonable. Better than 2hrs in line waiting for a Border Patrol officer to look at our passports and stamp them. Next came the usual security checkpoint except there were only 2 lines to process the 2-300 people in line. Another hour to get through security. This left 20 minutes before our flight departed, gates usually close 30 minutes before departure, but because 90% of the passengers were just now getting to the gate, they waited a little longer before closing.

Moral of the story, get there early, remain calm- it’s going to take a lot of time to get through their process. Don’t request a cavity search or you may not make your plane at all!

Rental cars.

We rented a small car, Fiat 500-very small, assuming that it would have good gas mileage and be easy to park. The mileage was terrible, small cars equal small engines so they have a bit of trouble making it up hills, going into the wind, and slowing down if a bug hits the windscreen. Parking was a snap, but that has different issues I’ll cover next. There wasn’t a hard sell for insurance or a different car, just sign the paperwork and get out. The entire rental for our 31 days was $490.00, not bad.

Parking.

Everywhere in France is paid parking! There is no such thing as on-street parking for apartments unless you have a permit. Parking can cost anywhere from 4EU / 24hrs to 20EU / 24hrs, depending on the garage. We had a 15% contingency in our budget for these “unknowns” but that was quickly used up between parking and toll roads.

Toll roads.

France has excellent roads, period! Their roads are well maintained, clearly marked and usually very light traffic, except in town. That’s because all “A” roads are toll roads. “A” roads are primary highways with “N” roads being secondary. Speed limits on “A” roads are 130KPH or 79MPH, while “N” roads the speed limit is 110KPH or 67MPH. Cost can be anywhere from a few Euro for a short span to >30EU for long stretches! Our drive from Caen to Bordeaux took us on 3 toll roads and the total toll was ~59EU! That was another factor we didn’t plan on in our budget so the 15% contingency was now getting close.

Just another fact about French toll roads, their privately owned, and by different companies so while one company may take foreign credit cards, others may not. You’ll find this out when you try to pay your toll but not before half of France lines up behind you.

One other thing, those toll roads with the 130KPH speed limit, always have ongoing construction so the speed limit drops to 90KPH. There was not a single toll road we were on that didn’t have construction!

Fuel.

Getting gas for the car was easy. Most roads had pull-outs where there was a gas station and restaurant. Gas was self-service and you normally paid inside the station after you filled the tank. Our credit card was accepted at almost all stations. Cost was a mere $5.92 / gal!

 Apartments.

Yes, they are small, showers are small and yes that hot plate counts as a stove. There are lots of things to consider when renting an apartment in France. For instance, if it’s street level, be prepared for considerable noise both from vehicles and from late night partiers. Europeans are a happy bunch, especially after an evening of drinking, so they sing all the way back home. Quite loudly! Best to find an apartment a few levels up from the street, with a lift (elevator).

The stove, or hob, can be full size with an oven or as simple as two cooking rings in the counter. Check the pictures out carefully so you know what to expect.

Showers are small, very small, most times just wide enough to fit an adult standing up. Almost all had removable hand-held shower heads with a temperature selector on one side of the faucet and on-off on the other side of the faucet. If you drop your soap, usually you have to step out of the shower to pick it up. Shaving your legs looked to be too difficult so I didn’t even try on this trip.

Shops, museums and stores.

Most of these closed everyday around 11:30 or 12pm for a 2-3hr lunch. Restaurants were open at this time and usually packed with people enjoying their mid-day break. Things reopened between 1:30 and 3pm for the rest of the day.

Restaurants.

This was a disappointment for me. I had this vision of a small French café along the water that served croissants, coffee and pastries. We would sit outside under an umbrella watching as people strolled by with their dogs and children, enjoying our morning. Not here. There were a few small brasseries or boulangeries but nothing waterside and now that France has made it illegal to smoke inside public buildings, nothing but smokers outside. And boy do they smoke!

The good thing about French restaurants is the relaxed atmosphere. If you order a cup of coffee and a croissant and want to talk with a friend for 1-2hrs, not a big deal, the table is yours. Same with a meal, once you’ve sat down, the table is yours for as long as you like. Of course, service is a little slower than here in the States, but if you know that going in, it can be very relaxing.

BTW- dinner doesn’t get going until around 8pm, for the early crowd, so trying to find a restaurant open and serving food around 6pm can be a challenge.

Tourist sites.

Before you go, check it out online.  Most tourist sites have advanced ticket sales online so you can bypass lines. And they always have useful information concerning times of operation, ticket sales process, limits to the number of visitors and other things that can make the visit a good one. Before we went to the Dordogne Caves, we went online and read about the ticket process (only 54 sold each day, in person only) and when they had tours in English (twice per day, 10:30am and 2:00pm). We arrived early, got our tickets and made the English tour, no problem. A few others that arrived late in the morning weren’t so lucky. Long way to drive only to turn around and try again the next day.

Get up and get there early. Just like our time in Greece, we wanted to see some popular tourist sites so we planned to be there early. Normandy is a very popular tourist attraction, as expected. Museums, battle sites, bunkers, etc. can become crowded if you wait. We planned to be at a site as early as possible but still allow time for breakfast and the drive.

In summary, our trip was fantastic. We met a lot of very helpful people who were genuinely pleasant and welcoming. France is a beautiful country with lots to see, even if you’re not a WW1 or WW2 buff.