Moved to France forum.

MarkJ HT Mod

I'm biassed - I live there! A great place for a holiday, more expensive than the UK and with excellent food and drink and things to do and see. My experience has shown me that if you are nice and courteous to people they are nice and courteous back ...

Couldn't agree more.

Plus we love French hypermarkets - the choice of fresh food is fantastic, and reasonably priced, so things needn't be expensive.

As for the French themselves - we've always found that if you make the effort to speak French rather than expect them to speak English, you will be well received every time.

Point worth mentioning though - a holiday in France WILL NOT be anything like a package holiday in Greece or Turkey, so don't expect it to be.

I've not been on holiday to France before and I wondered what you thought about it.

One simple question

WHY??????

Get yourself there the further South the better- if you like it warm

but there is so much to do , to see and to eat from Brittany all the way around that HUGE place

we have been going for 15 years now and have only scatched the surface

We take our own caravan these days but started with Eurocamp as a cheap way to see France
BUT there are some really good deals if you travel out of really peak season

I think Alsacienne meat to say LESS expensive that the UK
that's what we have found
Diesel is averaging 55p a litre
Beer wines and spirits are a lot cheaper
eating out is a really cheap experience compared to the UK
e.g. All You Can Eat Chinese in UK we pay £12.99 in France (and Spain) we paid €8.50 =£5.71
the only things we found more expensive are clothes
Oh Yes and St Tropez

Hi Maryj1

My O level French is more than a little rusty....will that be a problem for me do you think?

Also, I usually go to Greece/Turkey because they both have a little bit more 'history' and appear to be a little more 'authentic' than places like Spain, so how does France compare?

Sorry to sound so dumb, but French holidays and what you can/cannot do don't appear to promoted much...

You don't see France advertised on the TV like Cyprus which even hads it's own satellite channel

but on hte web there's loads this is a couple Google finds tons more

http://uk.franceguide.com/what-to-do/home.html?NodeID=112

http://www.poferries.com/tourist/

Thanks for the links...I'll take a look now...

Actually when I said that the prices were slightly higher in France than the UK I suppose I was thinking in terms of clothes and shoes and furniture .... not really holiday items, and so YES I'm wrong you'll find France better value for wine, beer etc and good food!!!!

The French Government Tourist Office (178 Piccadilly, London) have lots of info, and the areas are broken down in to Regional and Departmental Tourist Information Offices, so try googling things like Aquitaine Tourism or Chamonix Tourist Office and you should be on the information trail. Bonnes Vacances wherever you choose to go, and your O level in French (even if taken MANY moons ago!) will certainly come back to you!

Like Alsacienne, I too am biased as I live here! Our experience whether of living in France or holidaying here is that it's possibly one of the most diverse regions to take a vacation on the planet! The people are friendly, charming and extremely helpful. Especially when you use your rusty 'o-level' French on them. They then will usually try out their little bit of English on you!

From mountains to flat plains, to gorges to gentle streams. From ancient villages to modern shopping centres. From the chic & elegant to the rustic. It's all here in France. Come on, the water's warm!

France is great. Somany different sorts of places. As previusly said I would recommend a self catering holiday with Canvas, keycamp etc. That way you will get a better flavour of the place.

Driving over there is easier than in the Uk even in a Right hand drive car. So you can explore the place. With the camping companies you can also booka multi centre holiday so can try coast, town and country type places.

Sorry to disagree with you Hi de Hi. Driving with a right hand drive car over here is so much harder, especially when overtaking. It can be dangerous to do so on single lanes, relying as you do then on your passenger to tell you if you're 'clear' or not.

There are many ways to enjoy France. From hotels, to camping, to self-catering gites, to ready-erected tents or mobile homes. The choice is endless (well almost). Booking direct is now made alot easier as many sites employ English speaking staff, or (like us) are English. That takes quite alot of the worry out of the equation as you're conversing with another English speaker which leads to less confusion and a better holiday experience.

Sorry to disagree with you, Song of the bird, but I agree with Hi-di-hi. It is much easier in respect that the roads are much clearer than UK, there is much less pressure away from Paris. If you hire a LHD car you first have to get used to the car which in our experience on our first time driving abroad was more difficult than the actual driving 'on the wrong side of the road'

Patka

I have driven many thousands of miles in France in my own cars. I have driven around many of the major cities including Paris and can honestly say that it is easier than driving in the UK. There is more space and the other drivers have better discipline. The only problems I have ever had were in supermarket car parks!

Well, we'll all just have to agree to disagree then. Driving a lefty here in France is not difficult at all. When driving any new car for the first time, it takes a bit of getting used to. When you're just on holiday here for a week or two, then there's generally no problem. The passenger can always reach the ticket at the peage, and pay at the other end too, there's no rush to be anywhere in particular, so driving becomes less of a chore & more of a pleasure. When you live here it's a different story. It's far, far easier to drive over here on a permanent basis with a left hand drive car. Trust me, you wouldn't want to drive indefinitely from the wrong side of the car!

Just a comment but an important one. Please 'take on board' from my personal experiences:-

It is easy to find your hand in the door pocket when you meant to change gear!

It is no problem driving on the other side of the road initially, because you are taking ultra great care. It's when you set off a few days later that you tend to forget!!

Be careful with roundabouts!

Be aware that many roads that we would consider minor joining the road that you are actual on from your right do in fact have right of way (priorite àdroite)

Be very very careful when turning left out of a side road or a supermarket car park to end up on the RIGHT hand side ........ it's here that you are most likely to forget you are not at home and end up on the wrong side of the road!

One other thing about driving in France, I have been driving through France on the Autoroutes for many years on my way to the Uk and have noticed an increased Police presence on the roads. DO obey the speed limits, it may be tempting to speed on the often empty roads but all of a sudden there is a police car with radar hiding behind a bridge, you can incur large fines if stopped. If going at excessive speeds you may even have your licence taken away from you.

In the last couple of years the French have discovered speed cameras. They do signpost them (radar))))))) but they are set lower down than ours and face towards the traffic. They are also more difficult to spot as they are darker in colour.

Also be aware that on the peage that if you take a ticket and then reach the next barrier in a time that means your average speed will have been greater than the speed limit they will pull you over.

Mind you when Tony Bliar brings in road charging that will happen over here as well.

If you see a car coming towards you flashing his headlights, it usually means a spot check up ahead, or a speed camera in operation by the side of the road! The cameras in set positions are well-marked on maps and are often POI's on satnavs. They're bigger than the UK style ones and are well signposted before you 'hit' them. If you check out your local papers in the areas you're holidaying in, there's usually a section telling you where the mobile traps will be in the coming week.

When you speed between barriers on the peage, it doesn't automatically mean you'll be pulled over. It's only if there's a police prescence at that particular barrier at that particular time. Of course, you never know in advance do you?

Please, let's have fewer 'negative waves' about driving in France.

It's a joy - like the UK was before three car households, yellow lines and the rise of the anti-car neurotics.

My first time driving on the 'wrong' side of the road was in Portugal in a hire car. Terrifying at first, the problem being "where the hell is the right hand side of the car relative to that four foot deep drainage ditch?"

I quickly learned to aim my right hand door mirror straight down at it. Since then I have driven thousands of miles in France and Belgium in my own car, which I far prefer to a left hand drive hire car. I've never found being sat on the right hand side a problem, and just keep this thought constantly in mind, apart from drive on the right of course -

"LOUSY LEFT!" That sums up the turn problem.

I don't think roundabouts a problem because if you are driving on the right there's logically only one way to go around them.

Of course you need to be very vigilant in a right hand side of the road scenario, but to me now it's just as natural as driving on the 'correct' side of the road.

Peter