Jeroen

[This followup was posted to rec.travel.europe and a copy was sent to
the cited author.]

In article ,
[email protected] says...
    > I'm interested to hear how any non French resident's or non European's
    > experience was in renting a car in France. Problems, bad experiences, etc.
    >
No problems. Just make sure you fill the tank to the brim before you
return it. If the rental company does it for you they'll charge you a
fortune.

    > Say I rent this Peugeot 406 for US 297/wk: http://www.rentabc.com/france/,
    > are there any other items (insurances, etc.) I should need?
Petrol but, as far as I can tell, that's pretty much it. But ehh, that
pic is not a 406, that's a Xsara Picasso. That 406 is a somewhat sporty
styled but rather cramped car. The normal xsara will have about as much
usefull space inside.
    >
    > Is US 297/wk a good deal or average?
    >
Not bad, considering it's with unlimited mileage. But, compare with Sixt
for example.
    > Am I free to drive mostly any where in France without restrictions?
    >
Yes, although, you might want to rethink about driving in central paris.
    > Thanks,
    > Brett
    >
    >
    >
    >

--
Met vriendelijke groeten/Best regards
Jeroen Wijnands
http://spam.pagina.nl

Thomas Peel

nightjar schrieb:
    >
    > "John Stolz" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Watch out for 'priorite a droite' which you may not be used to.
    >
    > Is it still sufficiently common to be worth mentioning? I've done a few
    > thousand miles around southern France this year, covering everything from
    > large towns to small hamlets. In that journeying, I have come across
    > precisely two places where the junctions were not clearly marked with stop
    > or give way signs. Both were in small villages and at both places it was
    > obviously thought sufficiently uncommon for it to be necessary to put up
    > warning signs that priorte a droite applied.
    >
    > Colin Bignell

Right-before-left applies in most European countries in the absence of
other signposting.
I realize this is one fact of life that anglophiles can neither
understand nor accept, but that's the way it is.
I can show you at least 10 road junctions within 2km of where I live
with right-before-left priority.


Tom
(NRW Germany)

nightjar

"Thomas Peel" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > nightjar schrieb:
    > >
    > > "John Stolz" wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > > > Watch out for 'priorite a droite' which you may not be used to.
    > >
    > > Is it still sufficiently common to be worth mentioning? I've done a few
    > > thousand miles around southern France this year, covering everything
from
    > > large towns to small hamlets. In that journeying, I have come across
    > > precisely two places where the junctions were not clearly marked with
stop
    > > or give way signs. Both were in small villages and at both places it was
    > > obviously thought sufficiently uncommon for it to be necessary to put up
    > > warning signs that priorte a droite applied.
    > >
    > > Colin Bignell
    > Right-before-left applies in most European countries in the absence of
    > other signposting.
    > I realize this is one fact of life that anglophiles can neither
    > understand nor accept, but that's the way it is.
    > I can show you at least 10 road junctions within 2km of where I live
    > with right-before-left priority.
    > Tom
    > (NRW Germany)

Thank you for the condescension. However, in the past few months I have
driven extensively in the Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc-Roussillon regions, my
trips frequently involving visiting small, out-of-the-way villages.
Virtually every junction now seems to be clearly marked with 'other
signposting', a change that is very noticeable to someone who has been using
French roads since the 1960s. I also found it surprising that it was felt
necessary to remind French* drivers of the priorite a droit rule where it
did still apply.

* Certainly no tourists are likely to use the roads concerned. One is on the
back-road route from my house to the nearest supermarket, a couple of
villages away.

Colin Bignell

Glenn

"Brett" wrote:

    >"Glenn" wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...

    >> >
    >> I've rented cars in France twice now with no problems whatsoever.
    >> Don't know how drop-offs go, as the first rental was dropped in Munich
    >> and the second time was dropped in Barcelona.
    >> Very good experience on the second rental. We were picking up an
    >> intermediate sized standard-transmission car at Gare d'Lyon in Paris,
    >> when the girl asked me "Do you know how to drive automatic
    >> transmission?".
    >Why would she ask if you know how to drive an automatic?

Most cars in Europe are manual, to which there is a different
driving style, in using your engine to slow down as you're stopping or
going down hills. If you're used to doing this, you may forget that
it doesn't happen the same in an automatic. I figure that for a
European to go from manual to automatic could be as nerve-wracking as
for most Americans to go from automatic to manual. (?)

Chances are that the car you had priced online is a manual
transmission, as rental prices for automatic transmission cars in
Europe are usually pretty prohibitive. (Not actually having looked at
the web site, I may be speaking out of turn ?)

    >When I answered 'yes', she upgraded us to a luxury
    >> sized automatic-transmission car, the Citroen C5 ;-)..... of course
    >> we ended up having to pay for it in the end... when we had to fill up
    >> more often because the gas mileage wasn't as good ;-(
    >> Most major credit cards cover the CDW, any other insurances depend on
    >> your driving comfort level. In my case, as far as the other
    >> insurances go, I feel that they are overpriced and ALWAYS decline
    >> them. So far I've been lucky (knock on wood) and never needed them,
    >> in over 25 driving trips thru various European countries.
    >> (Once I had hub-caps stolen, but the rental company just shrugged that
    >> off, said it happens all the time ;-)
    >> --
    >> Glenn Valentine
    >> --
    >> Reply addresses should be corrected
    >> for Auntie Spam!

--
Glenn Valentine
--
Reply addresses should be corrected
for Auntie Spam!

John Stolz

wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Thomas Peel" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > >
    > > nightjar schrieb:
    > > >
    > > > "John Stolz" wrote in message
    > > > news:[email protected]...
    > > > > Watch out for 'priorite a droite' which you may not be used to.
    > > >
    > > > Is it still sufficiently common to be worth mentioning? I've done a
few
    > > > thousand miles around southern France this year, covering everything
    > from
    > > > large towns to small hamlets. In that journeying, I have come across
    > > > precisely two places where the junctions were not clearly marked with
    > stop
    > > > or give way signs. Both were in small villages and at both places it
was
    > > > obviously thought sufficiently uncommon for it to be necessary to put
up
    > > > warning signs that priorte a droite applied.
    > > >
    > > > Colin Bignell
    > >
    > > Right-before-left applies in most European countries in the absence of
    > > other signposting.
    > > I realize this is one fact of life that anglophiles can neither
    > > understand nor accept, but that's the way it is.
    > > I can show you at least 10 road junctions within 2km of where I live
    > > with right-before-left priority.
    > >
    > >
    > > Tom
    > > (NRW Germany)
    > Thank you for the condescension. However, in the past few months I have
    > driven extensively in the Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc-Roussillon regions,
my
    > trips frequently involving visiting small, out-of-the-way villages.
    > Virtually every junction now seems to be clearly marked with 'other
    > signposting', a change that is very noticeable to someone who has been
using
    > French roads since the 1960s. I also found it surprising that it was felt
    > necessary to remind French* drivers of the priorite a droit rule where it
    > did still apply.
    > * Certainly no tourists are likely to use the roads concerned. One is on
the
    > back-road route from my house to the nearest supermarket, a couple of
    > villages away.
    > Colin Bignell
Right before left is no th problem - thats a general rule throughout Europe
and applies to 50:50 junctions where one is aware that there is a 50:50
junction.

The problem is the true priorite a droite juntion, where a minor road joins
a major road on the right. If there is no other indication or road paint
the junction is priorite a droite. There are many of these in rural areas
and they are more common than you might imagine in towns.

In our village of 300 souls there are 4 of these junctions, all of which
appear to be obvious main roads, but at all of which the minor road has
priority.

Its true that they have been all but abolished on main routes, but this
makes the remaining ones all the more dangerous to the many visitors who
belive this custom has been abolished.

Mark Hewitt

"Glenn" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Brett" wrote:
    > I figure that for a
    > European to go from manual to automatic could be as nerve-wracking as
    > for most Americans to go from automatic to manual. (?)

Nonsense. After driving a manual all my life, adjusting to an automatic is
as easy as anything!
Ended up kicking the inside of the footwell a few times as I went for the
clutch when stopping, but apart from that, no problems at all.

[email protected]

"Brett" wrote in message news:...

    > Why would she ask if you know how to drive an automatic?
    >

Because a lot of europeans, myself included, have never drivven one.
And I wouldn't be willing to try it without some good explanation.

Jeroen

I. Wilson Gittleman

I have not read all the answers, so perhaps this has been discussed:

Are you _renting_ or _leasing_?

And for how long a time? I presume you know the differences between the
two, as well as the better of the two if you are using the auto for four
weeks or more (lease).










"It doesn't matter what you do in the bedroom as long as you don't do
it in the street and frighten the horses".
-- Mrs. Patrick Campbell (English actress)

Ariege

But ehh, that
    > pic is not a 406, that's a Xsara Picasso. That 406 is a somewhat sporty
    > styled but rather cramped car. The normal xsara will have about as much
    > usefull space inside.

Everything's relative. When I rented a car in Miami I picked the least
expensive car. At the agency the guy looked at me and my two kids,
pointed to the picture on the chart and said "Now are you SURE you
want that? It's the SMALLEST CAR." It turned out to be bigger than
most French models I've ever driven, with loads of trunk space.

Jesper Lauridsen

"Mark Hewitt" wrote:

    > Nonsense. After driving a manual all my life, adjusting to an automatic is
    > as easy as anything!
    > Ended up kicking the inside of the footwell a few times as I went for the
    > clutch when stopping, but apart from that, no problems at all.

I had a couple of hard stops, after trying to go slow by kicking the
clutch. After that, no problems until I got home to my own car.

Jeroen

In article ,
[email protected] says...
    > But ehh, that
    > > pic is not a 406, that's a Xsara Picasso. That 406 is a somewhat sporty
    > > styled but rather cramped car. The normal xsara will have about as much
    > > usefull space inside.
    >
    > Everything's relative. When I rented a car in Miami I picked the least
    > expensive car. At the agency the guy looked at me and my two kids,
    > pointed to the picture on the chart and said "Now are you SURE you
    > want that? It's the SMALLEST CAR." It turned out to be bigger than
    > most French models I've ever driven, with loads of trunk space.
    >
Really? Which one was that?

I've drivven a Renault Kangoo on corsica. Category B but loads of room
for a family of for and luggage.
--
Met vriendelijke groeten/Best regards
Jeroen Wijnands
http://spam.pagina.nl

Brett

"Jesper Lauridsen" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Mark Hewitt" wrote:
    > > Nonsense. After driving a manual all my life, adjusting to an automatic
is
    > > as easy as anything!
    > > Ended up kicking the inside of the footwell a few times as I went for
the
    > > clutch when stopping, but apart from that, no problems at all.
    > I had a couple of hard stops, after trying to go slow by kicking the
    > clutch. After that, no problems until I got home to my own car.

Why are some people saying driving an automatic in France is difficult? I'd
think the standard would be more difficult for those that have never driven
a standard. I don't find either one difficult.

Thanks,
Brett

nightjar

"John Stolz" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
    > Right before left is no th problem - thats a general rule throughout
Europe
    > and applies to 50:50 junctions where one is aware that there is a 50:50
    > junction.
    > The problem is the true priorite a droite juntion, where a minor road
joins
    > a major road on the right. If there is no other indication or road paint
    > the junction is priorite a droite. There are many of these in rural areas
    > and they are more common than you might imagine in towns.

My point was that, despite being well aware of the rule (combined with the
illuminated dustbin lids that passed for roundabouts, it made Paris in the
60s an interesting place for the motorist) I don't recall seeing any
junctions in towns, and almost none in villages, that were not marked with a
priority. Sometimes the priority may be a bit odd to British eyes, like
putting the Stop line on a D-road effectively giving priority from the right
to a minor road, but the markings are there.

    > In our village of 300 souls there are 4 of these junctions, all of which
    > appear to be obvious main roads, but at all of which the minor road has
    > priority.

Are these main roads actually main roads, i.e. a D-road or better, or are
they roads within the village that only locals are likely to use? In my
village, in Herault, all the roads, even my private road serving four
houses, has a stop line on it where it joins a more important road and,
while I have not walked around them in such detail, the neighbouring
villages seem to be equally well marked. The exceptions being the two
junctions I mentioned originally, where it has been though neecessary to
post signs on the approaches warning that priorite a droit applies.

    > Its true that they have been all but abolished on main routes, but this
    > makes the remaining ones all the more dangerous to the many visitors who
    > belive this custom has been abolished.

I still question whether a tourist, even one with an exploring nature, who
might be expected to be acquainted with the more obscure rules, is
sufficiently likely today to come across an unmarked junction in France for
it to be worth while warning about priorite a droit. Nobody bothers to warn
tourists driving in Britain that everyone has equal priority at an unmarked
junction, which is possibly more dangerous. However, I use three such
junctions almost every day. It is just that they are on such minor roads
that few, if any tourists are likely to meet them, even though they are in a
popular sea-side resort.

Colin Bignell