I'm with Andrea. Much prefer driving over here in the calm of the Loire. Who cares how well the French drive? Where we live there are only about 10 cars per mile of road anyway. Was over in the UK 2 weeks ago and a bloke on a push bike spat on the front of my car. He was passing me on the inside, as of course I was stuck in a traffic jam at the time. Now whether he didn't like my French plates or whether he was just having a bad day I'll never know. I certainly wasn't going to bother asking him. Still his loss.. I live here and he doesnt!!

Hi all,
Made it home!!, also find the new drivers(mostly young) with there "A" sticker a source of concern.
I belive they must show this for several months after passing, though my thoughts are that its a badge of extreme danger (myself and all of you also started driving somewhere and probaley left a trail of destruction, so must not be to harsh)
Thanks for the responses.

Sorry, but I had to laff at this - spat on your car? How disgusting apart from being apallingly bad mannered. I would hate to hazzard a guess that it could have been your French plates - what a terrible example if you were French, of English bad manners.

Once, like you, I was in a traffic jam along Alphington Road going into Exeter. It's just a giant car park at rush hour, and I was resigned to just sitting there. A motorbike approached on my right and I manoevred the car towards the kerb slightly, having checked carefully no push bikes were approaching, so he could pass between me and oncoming traffic. Was then stuck like that, and a bike came along, had to stop, and would you believe, poured Fanta Orange through the sunshine roof on me. Can't tell you what I said, it would be snipped off here pronto, but I had a hell of a job explaining my state of dishabille to my students and spent a very sticky and cross day indeed.

Longing now even more for the comparative peace of Brittany driving, if I ever have to come back I shall buy a horse and cart and be done with it.

I remember driving in the Pyrenees, and there was a central lane for overtaking, but as I watched closer as cars started whizzing by at speed, I noticed this same lane was an overtaking lane for cars on the other side of the road too! I watched gobsmacked as there was a near head-on collision. Whoever came up with that insane system is surely responsible for the high death toll on the roads.

My father-in-law always warns me to take it extremely easy around Tours as the Gendarmes are particular aggressive, and will get you for doing just one or two km/h over the limit. They hide in obscure spots with high powered binoculars, and then grab you when you least expect it. I sometimes play spot the hidden Gendarmes, and sometimes they are as discreet as hell, just short of covering themselves in deer skin and painting their faces with camouflage paint.

Loved Andrea's story about the Fanta. Once again alarming, atrocious but funny. Can you be absolutely certain it wasn't Tango, cos I'd have loved to have given the obvious response! You just have to feel sorry for these creatures with such miserable and drab lives, whilst we on the other hand......

I drive around three hundred km a day six days a week and get cut up, less in a month than in a day in the UK doing the same mileage. I get no road rage given out or received. I have cut people up accidentally and been given a hands up ok on a few occasions.
They have more lane discipline here and hogging the middle lane seems to be non existant down here particularly.
I also remember driving from here to St Malo in one hit. The stress between Pompey and Fareham (about nine miles) was ten fold the long journey through France.
As Andi says, give me French idiots to UK ones any day.

well done,
must be some going with that km.
must say i am not to sure about the road rage thing, i collect my van from the yard and collect the 2 french guys after my commute.
i have driven in france for some months and to be honest where i live you have a good chance if you upset someone to be either beckened of the road for a altercation or rammed of the road.
so it looks like i am in the minority, work with to chti's and they are big guys so when sadly things escalate it usually stops pretty fast (safety in numbers)!!!
Oh and before you think its my driving its taken me some effort to get a job here and trust me( i would not risk anything to lose it)!!

just say ch'storry ch'cuse ch'me and all will be ch'well isn't that right Sdale?