Road Trip to France! - 2040 Miles!

[50p]

Yes, you do need one in France but only in certain areas. As they were free when I applied for mine I got one just to be safe!

[Kental]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/britons-warned-of-fines-when-driving-in-france-with-petrol-and-diesel-vehicles-targeted/ar-AAYlOhP?ocid=ob-fb-engb-1511253547831&fbclid=IwAR0zHxeXIoB3bIiuv4AIXPKifcmmyAK-V4Lr-oDvKEsHBrGhHxP-zskQWaA&fromMaestro=true
spooky

[50p]

1 hour ago, Kental said:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/britons-warned-of-fines-when-driving-in-france-with-petrol-and-diesel-vehicles-targeted/ar-AAYlOhP?ocid=ob-fb-engb-1511253547831&fbclid=IwAR0zHxeXIoB3bIiuv4AIXPKifcmmyAK-V4Lr-oDvKEsHBrGhHxP-zskQWaA&fromMaestro=true
spooky

Quote from link above .. 'The vignettes cost just €4.51 (£3.85) including postage per vehicle and failure to have one can lead to an on-the-spot fine of up to €135 (£115).'

Hmm, was sure it was free .. sorry for duff info!

[Stopeter44]

11 minutes ago, 50p said:

Hmm, was sure it was free .. sorry for duff info!

Be careful, some third party sites will make the application for you, and charge you a 50+ € for the pleasure. My technophobe sister in law got caught out that way, make sure you go through this site :

 

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr

 

[Cyker]

Yes!!! So many of these sorts of scams going around!

[Stopeter44]

15 hours ago, Cyker said:

Yes!!! So many of these sorts of scams going around!

The thing is, they are not strictly scams. They offer a service, for which they charge a very hefty commission, if you are savvy and paying attention, you would know that you don't have to do it that way.

In France, so much has been made "digital/electronic" whatever you want to call it, that some people are completely incapable to complete what should be relatively straight forward administrative tasks, like getting the car registration changed, for example.

They even invented a word "illectronique" (or something similar, I always forget what it is), to describe the inability of technophobes to manage in these modern times. (In a TV report, one lady had put off/was unable to complete her retirement request for over two years, because she didn't know what an email address was! The worst of it for her, is she'll never see those two years of retirement pension, because they don't back date applications here.)

 

[Woofwoof]

On 3/30/2022 at 6:10 PM, Cyker said:

Don't worry about mpg - For a long journey like that I think the best thing is to learn how to operate, and get familiar with, the radar cruise control and lane centring systems, as those will be of incredible help with the boring bits of the drive  

If you have LEDs they should be projector type and have a very flat beam pattern so shouldn't need beam deflectors.

 

Make sure you're up to date on the regs - Deffo get a kit with all the stuff you need to drive in france (High vis, a fistful of breathalysers etc.), and I think you need a green card and GB sticker now since we're no longer part of the EU. May also need an international driving permit if you don't have a photocard licence.

Maybe get a dashcam to record the journey!  

You need a uk sticker

buy an eu kit from eBay/Amazon or ask your dealer for 1, I think it’s £50

[Perry313]

Thanks for all the advice. 

We went ahead and booked our flights to France, we didn't want to risk not getting a seat. 

Although I rang a for an update a month ago and they said it was delayed until August... 

Got a call and were picking it up next Thursday 😂 Typical. 

Nevermind, we have a week away down South before France, so I can enjoy it beforehand. 

My friend said I am okay to drive his car and the car is insured. We'll be driving it from Lyon to Montpellier.

[nielshm]

Most motorways in France costs a pretty high tax to use. Around 1 Euro per 8 km. 

The motorways are in extremly good condition, low noise, very smooth driving, no bumps or bad repairs. It's easy to set the cruise control and keep it  unchanged for 100 km. or more.

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, nielshm said:

Most motorways in France costs a pretty high tax to use. Around 1 Euro per 8 km. 

The motorways are in extremly good condition, low noise, very smooth driving, no bumps or bad repairs. It's easy to set the cruise control and keep it  unchanged for 100 km. or more.

Oops, that’s too expensive. I rather take the A roads, or whatever is free there. From my driving through Europe experience, France never been a pleasant drive for some reason, the roads, the signs , the markings seems very strange to me, all other countries are fine. 👍

[RabButler]

2 hours ago, nielshm said:

 

The motorways are in extremly good condition, low noise, very smooth driving, no bumps or bad repairs. It's easy to set the cruise control and keep it  unchanged for 100 km. or more.

Until it rains!

[Kental]

15 minutes ago, RabButler said:

Until it rains!

You can still set the cruise, just for 110 rather than 130kph

[Rambler56]

3 hours ago, nielshm said:

Most motorways in France costs a pretty high tax to use. Around 1 Euro per 8 km. 

The motorways are in extremly good condition, low noise, very smooth driving, no bumps or bad repairs. It's easy to set the cruise control and keep it  unchanged for 100 km. or more.

I'm happy to mix and match routes and am happy with the tolls in France (watch out if you have bikes on the roof if you pull up to a toll booth that also caters for HGVs as the ticket can be dispensed from the higher cab height machine meaning getting out to retrieve the ticket!).  

I like the frequency of services and air du temps when travelling in France, much better and more frequent than what you find in the UK.  

I think Germany has good services too but Belgium motorway services I've been into I found the facilities quite dire.

[Cyker]

Yeah our services rate quite poorly; It's one thing that truckers always complain about when they compare here to the continent.

The problem is they are self-funded and have to pay a fee to the government, when really the government should be putting money into them.

That's been part of the problem for decades tho' - The government keep privatising stuff that shouldn't be privatised and then bringing things into the public sector that should stay privately run!