Driving in France

wosnick

Hi all ,I have just completed a round trip down to Germany via France, Belgium and Luxembourg (for the cheaper diesel). On returning last Wednesday I was pulled at the Belgium/French border. I was driving a new Ford Galaxy with all the rear seats dropped. I was asked if I had any goods to declare and the customs official went through everything.
I only had 7 boxes of German wine and a small amount of rolling tobacco. When he could not find anything else he handed me over to the French Police officer.
He approached oppening what looked like a fixed penalty folder! I told him he didnt need that but he said "we will see". He checked everything, he could not see my spare glasses until I produced them from the underseat compartment. Boy was he looking fed up by now! He kept the best to the end. "Sir I have searched your car and you do not have a Hi viz vest in the driving area." I asked him to open the overhead compartment and it opened inches from his face containing the jacket. He then issued some French expletives and we had a bit of a laugh together. I then found out he had to pay 10 euro to his partner for not finding anything. I them asked him why all the car stopped were british. If looks could kill!! Now was the time to leave. This was the first time I have been stopped in many visits to europe. All I can say is Make sure you have everything required by every individual country. It was mid day and he made sure I had headlamp deflectors on.

Wosnick

davetrousers

shown73 wrote: »

If I'm not mistaken, driving on sidelights in France is now illegal, in fact I think there are reminder signs to this effect.

Seems sensible, side lights aren't very bright at all.

dangers

Don't forget to watch the speed you are travelling at over there. Our speedometers are mainly in mph - the French use kph. You could quite easily go over the speed limit.
I would also like to know the answer to booster seats as we are going to Frnace in May (flying) and I would prefer not to have to take them with us this year.

SomeBozo

We have driven to France lots of times and never had a problem.

The driving over there is easier and less traffic.

I have only ever had one incident when my little son (aged 3) did a " I need a wee right now" type thing. I pulled off the motorway and found a rest area.

As I was driving down the slip road to re-join I noticed I was on the wrong side of the road! Just a for a few seconds but boy did I miss a few beats!

Just make sure you have all the required legal stuff and you will be fine!

Bozo

yummymummy888888

dangers wrote: »

Don't forget to watch the speed you are travelling at over there. Our speedometers are mainly in mph - the French use kph. You could quite easily go over the speed limit.
I would also like to know the answer to booster seats as we are going to Frnace in May (flying) and I would prefer not to have to take them with us this year.

Found this info... on drive-alive.co.uk

Children in cars: children under 10 are not allowed in the front. In the rear they must use a proper restraint system appropriate to their weight, which means a child seat if they weigh between 9 and 15 kg. Over this weight they can use seat belts with a booster cushion.

So 10 yrs old AND over 15kg are ok with just a seatbelt . Otherwise you need a boosterseat. The rules are just as confusing as this country!!!

Also, as high visibility jackets are now compulsary, halfords have adult ones 1/2 price so £3.99 less 10% off in a promo. So I have just reserved 2. Kids ones I have found cheap on ebay.

sherer

wosnick wrote: »

Hi all ,I have just completed a round trip down to Germany via France, Belgium and Luxembourg (for the cheaper diesel). On returning last Wednesday I was pulled at the Belgium/French border. I was driving a new Ford Galaxy with all the rear seats dropped. I was asked if I had any goods to declare and the customs official went through everything.

sorry to be a bit off topic but i am looking to do a similar route going to Germany late this year. I've never done this before so how long does it usually take to get through each of the border controls ?

diable

I used to drive to Poland in one go but with two small children I always made sure that I landed in France at about 22:00 it was bliss driving until 09:00 in the morning with them fast asleep. Before you go though I'd advise you to watch Shrek 2, "is it far" "how long" drives you insane lol

redux

sherer wrote: »

sorry to be a bit off topic but i am looking to do a similar route going to Germany late this year. I've never done this before so how long does it usually take to get through each of the border controls ?

There aren't any. Well, almost

There is only very occasionally a check at one or two of the Belgium to France borders. Also borders to non Schengen agreement countries, but that won't affect your trip except the passport check and a chance of security or customs questions or searches when crossing the Channel

I suspect the one mentioned is between Tournai and Lille, which I've passed well over 100 times. There's a chicane arrangement to slow you down to 10 mph, I've seen staff there about 5 times, queued up for 20 minutes once about 15 to 20 years ago (I doubt this would happen any more, maybe they were on a work-to-rule about 1992 changes), and since been interviewed once for about 30 seconds, never otherwise delayed at all.

Most other borders, you drive straight through, maybe with a slight drop in speed limit. Quite often you don't notice for a while, then realise the style of the road signs has changed

shown73

Having crossed into Germany, you will most certainly notice the difference in driving styles!! Just keep out of the way as much as possible.

wosnick

sherer wrote: »

sorry to be a bit off topic but i am looking to do a similar route going to Germany late this year. I've never done this before so how long does it usually take to get through each of the border controls ?

My trip was from Plymouth to Manheim nr Heidelburg. I left at 23:00hrs and arrived at 15:00hrs I used the tunnel. No problem at any of the borders on the way over just drive straight through. Bit of a hold up driving round Lille in the rush hour. The rest is easy. Its well worth going via Luxembourg if you have a diesel,dont forget its the same price in all the outlets.