Travel Tip: 10 holiday spoiler alerts

The season’s in full gear and we’ve been doing a lot of talking with our guests. They’ve told us about their adventures, both good and bad. And this led Virginie and I to compile a quick list of the top trip spoilers and how to avoid them. Trip spoilers are those peeves and annoyances that can ruin your day or even your whole trip.

1. Tipping. Don’t do it. If you eat a restaurant, bar, brasserie, bistro or café in France, service is included. It’s the law. And don’t ask if service is included, because chances are the waiter will say no in a dishonest attempt to gouge you. 

2. Credit cards. If you don’t have a French Visa or MasterCard, it is likely your credit card won’t work in 24/7 gas pumps or self-service toll booths. 

3. Petrol/gas stations. While on the subject, there are fewer and fewer of them. The big chains (Shell, Total) are losing the war with supermarket stations. This means that for tourists with non-French credit cards it can be hard to find gas on a Sunday or out of business hours. Plan accordingly.

4. Diesel. It’s cheaper than gasoline. So if you’re renting a car, be sure to ask for a diesel. The cheapest gas is to be found at supermarket stations.

5. Road numbers. The French don’t use them to navigates, except on motorways (A for autoroute) and highways (N for national highways).  When using smaller road (D roads), navigate by the names of towns. If where you are going is on the main road to a bigger town, follow signs for the bigger town. You’ll start seeing signs for your destination only when you get near it.

6. Car size. Another thing to keep in mind when renting a car is vehicle size, and in particular trunk space. If you’ve got big suitcases and/or children, be sure to rent a car that’s big enough for both passengers and baggage. 

7. Luggage size. If you plan to carry luggage in the Paris Metro, think again. There are practically no elevators and only a few escalators, so pack light. Same goes for staying in bed and breakfasts, where you won’t find elevators.

8. Pickpockets. They are quite common in Paris, especially in the Metro, so be wary. My phone was grabbed in February, and I received a report from some guests that they had their wallet stolen in the Metro the day after staying with us.  Another common scam is the “lost gold ring”. While walking down the Champs Elysées, for example, you might notice someone stop and pick up a ring. They’ll approach you and say it’s gold and try to give it to you. Don’t accept the ring. Refuse to touch it. The ring is worthless, and they can become quite insistent if you refuse to give them money in exchange for the “gift”. It’s also very distracting, which makes you a perfect target for a pickpocket accomplice. 

9. Eating times. Try to plan your day so that you eat during French mealtimes (Noon-2PM and 7:30-9:30 PM), because it can hard/impossible to find a decent meal outside of normal eating hours. This is especially important outside of big towns. 

10. Opening hours. Practically all museums and monuments are closed at least one day a week, often Monday or Tuesday, even the world famous ones. Plan your visits accordingly.

Travel Tips: Driving in France

After a long talk of breakfast recently with some guests I thought I’d try to compile our advice on driving in France.

Right of way

Called priorité à droite, this is one law you must remember. Cars coming from the road on your right have the right of way – even if you’re on a main road and the other car is on a minor road. The exception is at intersections when the road on the right has a stop sign, solid white line, yield sign or there’s a roundabout.

Priorité à droite intersections are common in the countryside and in villages. Often, but not always, they are indicated by this sign kind of sign:

Yield to right

 If you see the following sign, it means you have the right of way at the next intersection only.

right yields to you

When arriving in a village or town, look for a yellow diamond on the village’s name sign.

priorité à droite suspended

If you see one it means priorité à droite is suspended and the main road traffic has the right of way until you reach the end priority sign, which is usually on the “now leaving” sign.

 

If you don’t see one (our village, for example) priorité à droite is still in effect.

No yellow diamond. Priorité à droite in effect

Confused? Who wouldn’t be? When in doubt, let the car on the right go first.

Road numbers

The French don’t attach much importance to road numbers, with the exception of motorways and major national highways. They don’t navigate by them. Instead, they use place names. For example, if you’re heading to a small town that’s on the way to a larger city, follow the signs for the city. When you arrive in the vicinity of the town, you will start seeing signs for it, but not before.

Some portions of road can have anywhere up to three numbers, especially around Paris where bits of national highway have been integrated into motorways. You’ll also notice that some main roads also have an E road number. Pay no attention to it.

To make matters more confusing, a few years ago France’s central government handed over responsibility for 18,000 km of national (N) roads to local authorities. In their infinite wisdom many authorities decided to re-classify and re-number some of the roads. Be aware of this if you have an older map or haven’t updated your GPS maps recently. Also, the locals haven’t assimilated this fact, so if you ask for directions chances are they’ll use the old road numbers (if they use them at all).

Road system

The French road network is a hub-and-spoke system, not a grid. So, if you make a wrong turn, you’ll end up miles from where you want to be. Unlike in some countries, a wrong turn will never put you on a parallel road. Turn around as soon as you can.

Tolls

The roads of France’s vast motorway/highway network are of the highest quality (in most places) but aren’t cheap. They are toll roads. Tolls are per car and depend on the distance driven.

Picnics

The food at the motorway service areas is usually bad and expensive. Think ahead and picnic at the benches and tables available in the service area. However, avoid picnicking at ordinary rest stops. The Turkish toilets will put you off your meal.

Speeding

Radar speed traps are common in France. If it is a manned one, you could be hit with an on-the-spot fine. Radar and laser detectors are forbidden in France. GPS speed camera detectors are allowed.

Gas/Petrol

Diesel is less expensive than unleaded petrol/gas in France. Gas stations on the highways are expensive. Supermarket pumps are cheapest, as are Elf stations. Unless indicated otherwise, you fill up your car then pay. WARNING: supermarket pumps are in automatic mode outside of business hours, which means you have to pay by credit card (but not all foreign cards are accepted).

Paris traffic

Avoid it if you can. If you can’t, try to time it right. Traffic is lightest in late morning and early afternoon. Rush hour is 7-9AM and 17-19PM. If you’re coming from the Channel, take the western route via Rouen, even if your GPS tells you to go around Paris. If you’re renting a car in Paris and heading anywhere but north, pick it up at Orly Airport. You’ll avoid the worst of the traffic.

Holiday traffic jams

France is plagued with seasonal traffic jams, mainly in spring and summer, when vacation-goers are heading to and from their destinations. The worst are the 2^nd and last weekends of July and the first weekend of August. Traffic can also be very heave on the other weekends of July and August and the first and last days of any long weekends. There is also a direct correlation between sunshine and Paris traffic: the nicer the weather the more Parisians head to the Normandy coast, fouling up traffic on the A13.

Mandatory equipment

All motorists in France are legally required to carry spare bulbs, a first aid kit, a warning triangle and a fluorescent jacket in their vehicle. The jacket must be inside the car, not in the trunk. If driving a right-hand drive car, the headlights must be adjusted.

Travel Tips: Speed cameras to become sneakier

The French government has just announced that it is going to make speed traps trickier to foil. Supposedly it's to further reduce the number of fatal accidents. But everyone is mumbling that it's because the government needs more money.

I've talking in the past about how to spot a French speed camera. They've always been easy to anticipate, thanks to the big sign politely located on the side of the road 400 meters ahead of the camera.

Motorists have got the hang of where they are (Hint: if the brake lights of the cars in front of you all suddenly light up, then chances are there's a radar ahead) . Sat-navs and other devices alert them to upcoming speed camera locations.

So here's what the prime minister announced that the government was going to do:

1. 800 new speed cameras will be installed between now and 2012. Instead of the big warning sign upstream, a small sign indicating a speed trap zone (contrôles de radar fréquents) will be posted 1-2 km before the zone. And there could be more than one camera in the zone. 
2. 100 "average speed" cameras will be installed starting in 2011. These cameras will check your average speed as you enter and leave "sensitive area" as the government calls them and calculate your average speed. 

Both measures should spell the end to the slow down-speed up dance that everyone does today.