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UK FlagFrench FlagThe following was posted on the MX-5 OC Forums by "itsallgonepetetong" and I've reproduced it (with permission) here as I thought it would be useful.

Please note all comments below are those of the poster and do not necessarily reflect those of the MX5 Owners Club or myself. I also accept no responsibility for the accuracy of this information or problems caused by it.


Here are some words of warning after almost weekly trips and over 6000 miles of driving in France in my MX5 last year and some close scrapes. It might sound a bit anal but trust me being frog marched at 1.00 am by 6 armed Gendarmes to pay a Eur 80 speeding fine (130KPH in a 120 KPH zone at 12.15 am on an empty road) is no fun.

Don't put your front fogs on unless its totally foggy (its easy not to notice they're on as the switch is obscured by the wheel) I was pulled over last year by the Gendarme and was lucky not to get an on the spot fine.

If you get a puncture on an autoroute do not try and change the spare wheel:- it is illegal to do this on any French autoroute and is a a hefty fine. I carry a run flat can and found it perfectly ok to get me back the 70 miles to Calais. I found the AA hopeless if anything happens on an Autoroute, you have to be removed by a French Police authorised company first then the AA can get its agent out. The Mazda Assist lot were excellent.

I found it almost impossible to buy fuel off the autoroute after 12.00 on a Sunday in many areas. Nearly all supermarket and local filling stations are unmanned after this time and the automated pumps would not accept any of my four UK credit and debit cards. I have got the AA and Visa/mastercard investigating this issue at the moment after nearly running out of fuel in Picardy two weekends ago. I usually carry a jerry can but you are not allowed them on the Channel tunnel.

If you are just going for a day trips and plan to go regularly then join the Eurotunnel club as you get a discount and can go for £35 return. Do several trips (pool your a/c number with mates) and you get a free one

The French police are notorious for trying to catch British and Dutch/Belgian drivers around the channel ports. They are at their worst around any public holiday and at weekends. Weekdays on autoroutes they accept that people just want to get to work and doing around 90 is the norm. Where you must slow down is where the autoroute goes down to 120 kph (or lower) , they rigorously enforce this and the same goes for roadworks/ small towns/villages and in wet conditions.

Mid week don't lane hog you will almost be forced off the road if you are doing less than 85 in the fast lane by some businessman in a Golf/BMW/Audi diesel. Lane hogging as a British disease and the French along with all other European countries I have driven in won't tolerate it.

Don't even think of drink driving (not that sensible 5 owners ever would!!!), despite this almost being a national sport in the rural France for years the current government has really clamped down.

Just an hours drive south from Calais there are some excellent driving roads around the Somme area in Picardy. If you are out before lunch on Sunday the roads are completely empty , hedgerow and lorry free (on all except E routes on Sundays) and will offer some of the best roof down fun. Trust me you will hate driving in the UK after one good blast!

Don't park on the street in any large French city, the chances of a scrape (accidental or otherwise) or a robbery are much higher than if you park in one of the underground car parks.

If you are in a large town or city for Bastile weekend :- July 14th then put the car well away, small scale drunken riots and car smashing is frequent and no UK insurer will cover you for repairs "caused by act of riot" outside the UK.

Carry a couple of spares, Mazda dealerships and 5's are very rare (except in areas where lots of Brits live)

Be carefull when entering and exiting their underground carparks:- they are often very steep and will scrape the lower part of the back bumper if you have any sort of weight in it :- did precisely this in Lille last year when car was only a month old! Doh!

Make sure you tell the ferry company if you have bike rack, some are now charging extra (Britanny Ferries I think) , and you could lose your sailing if they are very busy and you have not declared it.

Always have at least Eur 150 cash to pay on the spot fines. If you are doing a long drive the local police have to receive payment before you leave their zone and will make you stay overnight in a hotel until they get their money:- I learned this by bitter experience you have been warned!

If you overtake a lorry get past it damn quick, I had a tyre tread on a Hungarian artic delaminate right beside me on the autoroute back from Paris. Had the lane next to me not been empty and the 5's great handling got me away quick several kilos of tyre tread would have hit my head as the roof and windows were down. I guess now these Eastern European countries are in the EU they will have to ahere to striciter lorry safety regs. Incidently the driver of this lorry had no idea that he had lost most of one of the rear tyres on his trailer and just carried on!! I know that this could just have easily happened in the UK but often these lorries have been driving in much hotter conditions for many hours which make this kind of thing more common.

Be careful of the priority from the right rule. Although it no longer technically exists and is in line with the rest of Europe you will find older drivers particularly in rural areas still do it. The other place they still do this and is effin scary is on any of the large roundabouts in Paris :- Arc de T etc if you do not do the same as them you will face masses of abuse and arm waving. Saying that don't be afraid of driving into Paris or any big French city on a Sunday (especially in July or August when most French leave the big cities en masse) there is very little traffic and is a fun way of seeing the sights with the old roof down. Their signposting is vastly superior to ours and most town centres have good access and plenty of underground car parks.

When blasting down empty roads which run though forested areas watch for deer. My parents hit two in the space of 3 months in France. In both cases the deer ran across the road and hit the weaker sides of the car. One hit required new front wing/ front and back door on their 406 and was close to being written off. The front leg of the deer actually smashed through the side window. Consider that a stag which weighs as much a a big motor bike (and is nearly as fast!!) and would when leaping across a road be level with your head and roof and side windows could be down. Ouch! The risk is greatest on weekends when hunting parties are out (the deer are often running from the dogs) . If you see several knackered old 4X4s and guys with orange hi vis vests near a road you know a hunt is on. If you think this could only happen in out of the way places the smash with the Stag and 406 happened 70 miles from Calais.


Dont let some of the above put you off, as apart from the speeding fine debacle I have found driving in France great fun and the driving standards and general road courtesy far better than here. Coupled with often empty roads it is the best and nearest place to do with your 5 what it was built for.. wind in the hair fun.


Peter Esders added this information later on in the thread:

Don't even consider taking a gatso detector with you to France. A friend of mine was caught with one on the way to Le Mans this year. The Gendarme confiscated the device and took it away to be destroyed. My friend was then frog marched to the cash point machine and was made to pay an on the spot fine of €750 (about £500). He was not speeding at the time - this was the fine for having such a device in France. They can detect them even when they are plugged in and not being used.



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