BIFFO Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 hi do not know if this will help my wife and I have just returned from driving to ypres/somme,I was a little worried about driving but had no problems at all apart from a bit of a mix up with a lorry in the rain on the lille ring road rush hour(my fault) dont know what he called me but I had a good idea as sign language is uneversal! I did take break down cover just in case,we have been before but on a coach tour,the difference was unreal,we went to a few places and had the time to have a good look around rather than be told"20 min stop". we stayed near the menin gate and went every night we were amazed at all the different groups, gurkas,canadians ,didnt really think it nice to see the people climbing up to get a better view,after all it isnt a circus. so for anyone wavering take the car its fine HONEST. yes AUREL it is a long way from ypres to the schwaben but to stand by millbrook and look up the slope that the ulsters charged man they were brave men,in conought cemetary I was shocked to see one grave that held 15 soldiers man it brings it home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIRKY Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 Hi I agree, driving in France is really enjoyable. When we go the drive to to Dover from Wolves is always a nightmare but as soon as we hit France it is relaxing, quite and fun! Only ever had one french lorry driver try to run us off road because we were trying to keep to the speed limit. tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 Yes, agree, generally pleasant driving in France and Belgium but suggest avoiding big cities and rush hours (as you would do in UK) Pleasant surprise if you have a diesel car due to lower diesel costs over there. Being able to wander the battlefields , pause and reflect in solitude - absolutely priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick H Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 I have always used the car going to the battlefields and have found driving in France far more pleasurable than here ! The French tend to drive faster and closer than we are used to but they seem to be more in control and I have NEVER seen a french driver using his/her mobile! Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 You haven't been looking. Anywhere in France and Belgium you will see people driving with one hand around a roundabout and talking on a mobile. Yesterday I was even passed by someone who was so relaxed he was leaning with his back against the door whilst driving with one hand. I don't worry about it now. They usually kill themselves fairly fast. As long as they don't take me with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 I thought that driving with one hand and using a mobile in the other was obligatory for anyone under 40 and for all drivers of vehicles over one ton! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philary Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 Hi Glad to read that we are not the only couple never to have driven in France until last October! (And we've got grey hair!) Yes it was exciting. We went by channel tunnel, getting off the train, 100 yards up the ramp and the sign said Dunkirk - right, Boulogne - left and we were off! No chance to drive 3 times round the car park to get used to the other side of the road! It was a great experience, we managed to get lost on the Lille ring road too (and the sun was shining!). We were smiled and waved at and nobody beeped us! Maybe it had something to do with the car we were driving - a red Morgan 4/4 with the hood down all the time! Even the Gendarmes waved, now that can't be bad! I wonder, would we have got the same reception if we had taken the 'tin' top - a silver Renault Megane, HMMM! We shall be returning! Hil & Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 Choice: Drive down M74, M6, M42, M25, M2 to Dover or Cross to Zeebrugge from Rosyth (15 miles away from home) and then take the Motorway down the coast past Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne etc no argument - go French! Hilary - swap you a Platinum Renault Scenic for your Morgan. Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRIAN TALMER Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 Don't feel bad about it, most people get lost on the Lille ring road at one time or another! I think the French are more tolerant of foreign drivers than we are in England. One the one occasion we managed to go the wrong way round a roundabout they just let us get on with it. The same performance in England would have led to furious honking & gesticulating. regards Lesley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevew Posted 20 May , 2005 Share Posted 20 May , 2005 we managed to get lost on the Lille ring road too <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I always manage to get lost at Lille, usually going from the Somme to Flanders, but not the other way around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypres1418 Posted 2 June , 2005 Share Posted 2 June , 2005 Haing been the passenger for nigh on 17 years the first time i drove my friend gave me the advice of follow the car in front! luckily he was on the right side of the road or who knows what would have happened, Now i drive to the South of France as well as the battlefield. Love going round the roundabouts (or as our french friend translated them 'turn arounds!' Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 3 June , 2005 Share Posted 3 June , 2005 Hello Having lived in Belgium for the last 8 years I am shocked to find that people find the driving here more pleasant than the UK. Driving in the UK can be such a pleasure. It is safer and more pleasant to drive in France than in Belgium but it is hard to match the tolerance and good nature of the British motorist. I often drive down to France and have no problems whatsoever but the nearer you get to the Belgian border the more dangerous it becomes. However do not let that put you off driving to the battlefields. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick H Posted 6 June , 2005 Share Posted 6 June , 2005 On this topic, I have just (sunday) returned from the dordogne using motorways for 10 hours, absolute picnic! The roads are a pleasure, I experienced no road rage, or 4WDs trying to push me off the road (as in UK!) and only saw one perosn using mobile phone in 10 days. Compare: Sunday early evening jam packed M20 with cars cutting in and out dangerously, Dartford crossing 30 minute queue, M25 a nightmare! Think I should move to France just for the road network. Beware: The A1 Lille to Paris motorway now has forward facing speed cameras with no warnings ! Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 6 June , 2005 Share Posted 6 June , 2005 My experience had always been the reverse of Dikke Bertha's, i.e. I felt much safer driving and cycling in Belgium. However some horrible transformation seems to have come over Belgian drivers in the last couple of years. Tolerance levels towards other road users have shrunk dramatically and 'boy racers' seem to have proliferated in the Ieper area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 6 June , 2005 Admin Share Posted 6 June , 2005 On this topic, I have just (sunday) returned from the dordogne using motorways for 10 hours, absolute picnic! The roads are a pleasure, I experienced no road rage, or 4WDs trying to push me off the road (as in UK!) and only saw one perosn using mobile phone in 10 days. Compare: Sunday early evening jam packed M20 with cars cutting in and out dangerously, Dartford crossing 30 minute queue, M25 a nightmare! Think I should move to France just for the road network. Beware: The A1 Lille to Paris motorway now has forward facing speed cameras with no warnings ! Patrick <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I had a similar experience, drove happily round France and Belgium last week even through an amazing thunderstorm last Friday, and on the M25 was nearly wiped out by some w****r cutting from outside lane to a slip road and only avoiding me by a fag paper on way home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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