Driving through France
It was such a change from driving in Indonesia not just because it is on the same side, but for many other things.
As my car is British registered it drives on the right similar to Indonesia.
Here are some things the car has to carry/have that is different than in the UK.
– Luminous Jacket, the kind of ones men at work would have – I am not sure what for.
– Breathaliser, what? yes weird right, to carry your own breathaliser. You can buy this at any French supermarket.
– GB sticker
– Covered up some part of the light so it does not blind people- I wasn’t sure which one, I just covered some up with tapes. You can buy a special thing for it.
The shock was the road are empty, that is an obvious, before this holiday I was my mum’s chauffer for 2 weeks in Indonesia. There were several occasions where I missed the automatic car we had in Indonesia, because it took literally 2 hours to get somewhere that should take 10 minutes. My knees were hurting. Bad.
Anyway back to France, there were plentyful of toll roads, which is not different to Indonesia, but the machine allows you to pay with coins or card. There was no man in a window. In the UK hardly any toll roads. We just pay motor tax. Man in a window returns when you drive in toll roads in Spain. The roads are less maintained in Spain. Less maintained but look at these beautiful views of the Pyrennes.
There are plenty of stopping place a long the toll road, only a few have shops. Unlike in the UK the stopping places are in some distance to each other but always have shops and fast food.
In France you can’t just drive out in to the toll road, where in Indonesia people just don’t look and slide out, in the UK, where the merge is long enough, and people are considerate to move to another lane. In France, Cedez les Passage!
Driving on the side roads are better though, if you have time, you get to see those quaint little houses and villages, vineyard, churches, and if you on the right times crop.
Sunflower are all over the trip I was on. Had to stop in a tiny road to take pictures.
Pretty isn’t it?
Have you driven in a different country lately? What did you find different from where you regularly drive in? Have you driven in other Asian countries?
haiii…salam kenal yaaaa. Aku silent reader blogmu ini lho. Suka bgt !!
Hello! Salam kenal juga! Silent reader, mengapakah dirimu silent..? Terima kasih udah baca blogku.
OMG!!! Take me there!!! The sunflower field is so pretty!!! Feels so SUMMER! XDD It’s still winter down here =( feels so gloomy. Driving in Australia is also the same like in Indo, except they follow the rule hahaha… Though I drive here I don’t dare to drive in Indo since someone crashed into my back right door and scolded me though he’s the one who ignored the sign 3 years ago *sigh*
Yes, but as soon as you get summer, we will frozen. Really? You just need the confidence to yell at him too. Ask for his name where he works and say ill call the police. 🙂 Its not fun anyway driving in Indonesia, jakarta specially. 🙂
Sunflowersss….ahhhh!!
And you mention there’s no toll road in UK? I’ve never driven in Europe but here we don’t have toll road but we do have toll bridges (some are manned, some not – you have those sensor on your car and have them charged your credit card directly) since we are somewhat archipelago. We do pay motor tax greatly. A car here costs 3 times the price, the other two part is the tax 😉
Yes I think its the same here. Mostly it is toll bridges. Wow sensor in your car that directly debit to that? Great!
How did you manage to drive on the right side with steering wheel on the right?
As for the jacket I am sure it is to wear when you’re changing tires or so at night?
Hmm carefully. It is not a major deal, just have to be careful of the massive blindspot. Yes you are right re:Jacket. Do they do it over there?
Here it is most common to have vests not full jackets
The rule is to have them in the car?
Yes. 😉
Cédez le passage boards are indeed everywhere, mostly before the exits in France. In The Netherlands coming cars make a way free for cars joining the traffic. I drove in France and Spain during my holiday last month. What I noticed in Spain; on the streets in Barcelona people park their car so close. Sometimes it was bumper to bumper. Maksa! As in Jakarta, I do not use to drive there anymore. What a traffic!
How did you find driving in France while you are used to traffic on the left on the UK?
I have driven in Holland several times.Yes spain and Italy is somewhat similar to the driving in Indonesia.They do what they want. 🙂 I think it was just such a contrast to indonesia I want to write about it. I think after an hour I was fine with driving on the left. I just kept saying to myself, left, left, left.
Cantiknya bunga mataharinya, itu yang di film Mr. Bean bukan?
belum pernah nyetir selain di Indonesia. Pengen coba sih, tapi selalu lebih tertarik mencoba angkutan umumnya. 🙂
Tapi kalo pemandangannya seperi ini dan udaranya sejuk, bagus untuk di coba. 😀
Hi Yuna! Blom nonton Mr Bean jadi kurang tau. Kalau biasanya sih orang mengasosiasikan bunga matahari dengàn Tuscany di Italy. Iya angkutan umum sbenernyà lebih mudah klo di tempat2 wisata yah? 🙂
Aku juga lupa judul filmnya. Belom pernah bongkar-bongkar travel Eropa sejauh ini.Ntar aku check2 semua. Iyah, kalo lagi wisata angkutan umum leebih mudah dan murah. 🙂
Kalau di sini naik kereta lebih mahal dari naik mobil. 🙂
Oh yah? baru tau kereta bisa lebih mahal dari mobil. ow.
Iya na, di Inggris juga gitu.😄 kemana aja na?
Kmren ada acara nikahan teman di Surabaya, mampir ke Malang, end up di Bali. jadi gak sempat bermain-main di med sos banyak. Gak enak ama yg lain. 😀 😀
tapi sekarang aku kembali. Dirimu apa kabar? semua baik2 aja?
Oh gitu..! Spertinya menyenangkan. Baik2.