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Autoroutes, national roads and most departmental roads are almost always in good or excellent conditions. In some rural areas, secondary departmental roads may have worse conditions. In mountainous areas, roads may also have been damaged by frost, landslides and so on, though such dangers are always signposted. |
Main roads are signposted with the names of towns or cities in the direction you're going and only secondarily with the road number. Directions in green are for major destinations through major highways ; in blue, for directions through Autoroutes. Péage means "toll". When driving out of towns, look for toutes directions ("all destinations") or autres directions ("all other destinations", i.e. all places other than the ones on an adjacent sign), which will point you to the main route.
Drive through small towns and villages
If you have time, use the smaller roads. The speed is decent and you don't pay tolls; however you'll have to slow down to 50 kph when driving through villages. But you have the opportunity to drive through small towns and villages, stop and grab a bite in the restaurants or buy local wine. Most towns and cities were built before the general availability of the automobile and thus city centers tend to be unwieldy for cars, especially large ones. The most scenic roads in mountain areas also tend to be winding and narrow.Mountaineous areas
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France has several mountaineous areas: the Vosges, the Jura, the Alps, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees. In the winter, due to the snow, some roads (especially passes) may be closed to traffic, and some may require special equipment (snow chains). Roads leading to passes have signs that say whether the pass (col) is open (ouvert - green sign) or closed (fermé - red sign). |
Autoroute and toll
Most of the autoroute (motorway/freeway) links are toll roads. Some have a toll station giving you access to a section, others have entrance and exit toll stations, and it is not entirely uncommon to encounter both on the same autoroute. Don't lose your entrance ticket or you will be charged for the longest distance plus additional fees. All toll stations accept major credit cards but you can use the automatic booth (Télépéage) only if your card is equipped with an appropriate transponder.Paying tolls is quite easy - just insert a credit card (or give it to the cashier along with your ticket) and go (Note that Maestro and Visa Electron cards are not accepted.) You can pay with coins as well. Sometimes you get a ticket to calculate the toll. You may have to slide the ticket and then the credit card into the same slot or into two different slots. Generally, though, bills greater than € 100 are not accepted at toll booths.
Traffic lights
Traffic lights go directly from red to green, there is NO red-and-amber phase to warn you they are about to change. If you are slow in reacting, you may get a gentle horn reminder from the car behind. The lights are high and cannot be seen if you are the first car in the queue, but there is a small repeater light at head height on the post for this purpose. Lights have a amber phase when switching from green to red. You may pass an amber light only if you aren't able to stop safely. However, take care in big cities in rush hours if the traffic seems nervous, as many driver will attempt to pass amber light and may assume you will do.Renting a car
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Law enforcement forces (depending on the area, Police Nationale or Gendarmerie) may stop you in order to check that you have a valid driving license, valid insurance, and that your vehicle has passed safety tests. If you park illegally, law enforcement forces or traffic wardens will put a ticket under your dashboard. |
You can pay it by personal check drawn from a French bank (not very useful for tourists) or by buying a "timbre fiscal" (tax stamp) from a tobacconist, stick it on the ticket, and mail it to the authorities. If you actually see the law enforcement agent, you can also pay him directly in cash on by check to the Public Treasury, in exchange for a receipt.
The data above is based on information by public sources. No rights can be derived from this publication.
This page on fines for speeding offences in France is about Danish traffic penalties, speeding, offences, built-up area, motorways, foreign enforcement, drivers license, over limit, forint.