Im taking the kids to disneyland (there goes all my modding fund) in august going to drive there and either ferry or tunnel is there anything i need to do with car ie lights etc before i go or do i just turn up obviously insurance is going to be sorted but not sure what else?

I used this website (or a similar looking one the first time I drove in France in 2008).

about-france.com/mobi/travel-mobile

Apart from lights and gb sticker you need a reflective vest and alcohol meter . Be careful with speeding as they like to target British plated cars , done once for 3 kilometre an hour over even though my sat nab said I was at correct speed

Have lane discipline they are good drivers and respect you for doing the same if someone comes up your rear with left indicator on move into slow lane asap, good glad I did because was undercover rozzer

And enjoy !

Avoid the arc de triomphe and don't speed between payage and don't hand over large sums of money to the police.

don't speed between payage.

They often check the time of ticket issue and time of arrival at exit booth, and then call a loitering gendarme if the average speed is over the top.

The alcohol meter thing should be a couple of these "one use" sticks that many places sell, including Halfords - they have a couple of initials on them, maybe ND or similar. Be sure that any sat nav system/app you are using does not identify speed camera locations - identifying areas of risk seems to be okay, I have been told, but that if they locate the actual camera location. I'd always play safe and fit masks to the headlights as it does rain severely in France sometimes in Summer and even if it is daylight you will need to use your lights, something that too many people in UK still don't quite understand!

Edited 27 June, 201510 yr by rum4mo

Police have been known for spot checks on GB cars near the ports, especially if they don't see beam converters on the lights. You may also have to have headlights on in tunnels.

You also need

Spare bulbs

First aid kit

Warning triangle in case of breakdown or puncture

Re the alcohol detectors you won't get fined if you haven' got them, but the gendarme will get exciteed about it, and an excited gendarme is best avoided!

They often check the time of ticket issue and time of arrival at exit booth, and then call a loitering gendarme if the average speed is over the top.

Yup that's what I mean

A couple of things when driving over there to be alert to that we are not familiar with are:-

 

1) Priorité à droite (priority to the right).  I first drove in France in 1971 and this was much more common back then.  Nowadays, most main roads have give way lines and a yellow diamond on the main road to show that you have right of way.  However, be alert if you're on rural roads, roads in towns and cities or if you pass a yellow diamond with a black line through it.  It there are no give way lines, you need to give way to anyone coming from the right, even if it's a farm track.

 

2) As with all continental countries, be careful to look at the pedestrian  lights if you turn at traffic lights, as they can often be green for pedestrians and green for you to turn at the same time and you're expected to give way to antone crossing.

The alcohol testers law was dropped last year so you no longer need them

All the above are very useful posts.  Have you also considered European breakdown cover?  It was about £45 from the RAC for the week when we went last year.  Thankfully we didn't need it but I do own a Vauxhall....

 

If you can, avoid buying fuel on the motorways too as it's generally cheaper in the towns.  We had a high vis vest for everyone in the car and make sure your mobile phone provider either knows you're going or sign up for some sort of European roaming deal or you might find a large bill when you get back. 

 

As for the light converters, I put ours on whilst in the queue for the tunnel.

 

Have a good break and enjoy the motorways as I found them to be pleasant places to drive.

Hi

 

Just back having driven to Geneva and back, 95% of that was in France.

 

1 - its a pleasure to drive there compared to the UK, they do use the lanes on the motorway correctly and in the almost 2000 miles I did the only lane hogs I saw had UK plates!

2 - enjoy the cheap fuel, we were paying about 1.26 euro per litre (1.37 on the motorways) so that is about £1 or less.

3 - you need a HiViz vest for the driver AND each passenger and these need to be inside the car not in the boot.

4 - you need both parts of your driving license, your V5 document, insurance documents, MOT and passport.

5 - breathalysers are still listed as required but they have abolished a fine for not having them so most people don't bother

6 - GB sticker, warning triangle, bulb kit and beam converters (if needed) are all required.

7 - UK plate cars do get targeted by the French police so don't speed 130kph is about 80mph so you eat up the miles but remember the speed drops to 110kph in the wet.

 

Lots of useful info on the web like http://www.drive-france.com/checklist/ which will tell you how much the fine is for missing the above!

 

Have a great time

 

Martin

Great thanks everyone and thanks for the list martin two questions though will i need beam convertors with projector headlights and can i stick the GB or maybe CYM sticker on the roof box instead of the car?

I used the normal AA pack for the headlights and all seemed well with the police as they did look at the car a few times on our journey.  As for the sticker, the AA pack had a magnetic badge included and this worked a treat.  No damage to the paint (as long as it goes onto clean paintwork) and I can reuse it this year too.

GB sticker should go on the lefthand side  of the car, as you look at the rear, near the number plate.   All the stuff mentioned above should be carried plus your driving license and V5.       

 

I have to admit that I have never done any of this when driving in France myself for the last 40 years and never been pulled.      Just lucky I guess.

I drive regularly in France on business (mostly rental cars these days). Speeding between the toll booths on the autoroutes (Peage) is not a good idea, as they do automatically check the journey times. UK plates are targeted because you have to pay an on the spot fine. Instant cash. I've found the basic package of motoring stuff for Europe from Halfrauds was all I ever needed, apart from breakdown insurance and recovery back to the UK, as this is pretty important if you do have a failure or an accident.

They dont time you between toll booths thats an urban myth

 

They do however often have a speed trap close to toll booths and a gendarme at the toll booth pulling people over

If you do not want to stick a GB to the car, you can get magnetic ones that are quite strong magnets & do not fall off.

 

I was thinking about getting one when I had my Citroen BX, but realised immediately that the hatch was plastic    so waited till next car to get one.

 

Ever since they became available & legal i have the Euro GB as part of the plate , then no need to worry about having one. 

They dont time you between toll booths thats an urban myth

 

They do however often have a speed trap close to toll booths and a gendarme at the toll booth pulling people over

You could be right, understandably I've never tested it, but many of my French friends have anecdotal stories.

They dont time you between toll booths thats an urban myth

 

They do however often have a speed trap close to toll booths and a gendarme at the toll booth pulling people over

For 15 years until last year we had a house about 100 miles south of Calais, and used the A16 to go to & fro. A friend of ours is an ex-gendarme, and he warned us that this was something they did in the booths from time to time (not always). Luckily we had a Sanef transponder so we were never checked (not that it was cause for concern for the 7 years we had the Doblo!).

Its clearly a widely held myth even for ex gendarmes As I said they often have speed traps near toll booths and they often stop for a random check there which is why people hold this false belief

 

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=40160

 

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=37515

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=631556

In answer to your question "do I need to fit beam deflectors if my car has projector lights?"  - unless you know how to flatten the beam using a lever fitted to the headlight assemblies, then yes. I don't think that you can buy deflectors for projector lights, for the reason that most have a lever to flatten the beam, so just use your own judgement to cut off the "offending" sector of the beam - check against a wall, you are trying to cut off the sector that shines across to the right.  I first needed to consider this when taking delivery of my Passat B5 with HID lights back in May 2000, I bought Lucas deflector kit but this car with HIDs was not mentioned - I asked AA "sorry, ask your local VW dealer",  I asked local VW dealer, they said "never been asked that question before, we'll contact VW UK" who could not give an answer!  So I was on my own with no car to practise on, travelled by train to Eastern Holland in daylight and sunshine, collected car and drove back to Chunnel, rain sky got black in Belgium so I stopped and fitted deflectors and then the rain poured down, the deflectors seemed to work. Years later someone discovered that there were levers in the headlights of that model of Passat - too late for me.

If you have the GB flag on your number plates can you do away with the separate GB sticker?

In answer to your question "do I need to fit beam deflectors if my car has projector lights?"  - unless you know how to flatten the beam using a lever fitted to the headlight assemblies, then yes. I don't think that you can buy deflectors for projector lights, for the reason that most have a lever to flatten the beam, so just use your own judgement to cut off the "offending" sector of the beam - check against a wall, you are trying to cut off the sector that shines across to the right.  I first needed to consider this when taking delivery of my Passat B5 with HID lights back in May 2000, I bought Lucas deflector kit but this car with HIDs was not mentioned - I asked AA "sorry, ask your local VW dealer",  I asked local VW dealer, they said "never been asked that question before, we'll contact VW UK" who could not give an answer!  So I was on my own with no car to practise on, travelled by train to Eastern Holland in daylight and sunshine, collected car and drove back to Chunnel, rain sky got black in Belgium so I stopped and fitted deflectors and then the rain poured down, the deflectors seemed to work. Years later someone discovered that there were levers in the headlights of that model of Passat - too late for me.

 

I have not needed to do this as mine has a software adjustment in Maxidot for LH & RH drive due to the type of headlights fitted

If you have the GB flag on your number plates can you do away with the separate GB sticker?

 

Yes, GB sticker not required if you have the blue GB section on your number plates.