Driver's License

If you are near an AAA office, you can go there in person and get an IDP within minutes.

Ahh! Thank you! My panic is now subsiding!

I agree with Mary. It is super easy to get the IDP at an AAA office (takes 30 minutes at most). There have been some discussions here about whether or not an IDP is needed in France. But I would just get the IDP and not have to worry about it... We'll be driving around there in early July, maybe we'll see you!!!!

Not getting into the practical need for an IDP in France (other than to say you can skip it), the "notarized French translation" line is complete garbage despite it's frequent appearance across the web. A notary guarantees that the person signing the document was who they said they were. There's no way that a translation can be notarized (even if French law offered such a possibility, and it doesn't).

Not getting into the practical need for an IDP in France (other than to say you can skip it)

Wow. Maybe we should start with what the French law actually states:

Le permis de conduire étranger doit remplir les 2 conditions suivantes :

• Être valide

• Être rédigé en français ou être accompagné d'une traduction officielle ou d'un permis de conduire international.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1459

Your foreign license must:

• be otherwise valid
• be translated into French or be accompanied by an IDP.

In the US, IDPs are available from either AAA or AATA. By treaty, US issued IDPs are valid for 1 year:

If you decide to have your license translated, from the first listed French government reference above:

Si vous souhaitez obtenir la traduction en France, vous devez vous adresser à un traducteur agréé.

there is a link to the accepted translators:

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F12956

Official translations currently cost about 50€ per page, but such a translation is valid as long as your license is valid. Offical translations have a stamp, similar to a notary, validating their authenticity.

Thanks for showing that the notarization is bunk.

other than to say you can skip it

Being dragged in kicking and screaming, never in human history has an American suffered any inconvenience from driving in France without an IDP. Yes, you could conceivably be the first, no argument there. Be sure to get your rabies shots though, there's a risk of rabies in France also.

Wow, how did you get to talk to every American driving in France over the years since an IDP was required?

French law requires an IDP. You an choose to trust the opinion of someone posting here or you can follow the law.

That's like some of the people here who say you don't have to worry about pickpockets or take any precautions because they have never experienced it or saw it.

Indeed, it's not that you need a regular notary public to notarize the translation that you would have any yahoo make of your driver's license. It's that the translation of said driver's license can only be done by an "agreed" (like a certified) translator in order for the French government to accept it, and as Tocard pointed out, they bill their services at very high rates.

Yes, it is far easier and cheaper and faster to get an IDP from AAA.

AAA will give it to you in minutes……in France 3 weeks ago I asked when we rented our car in Tours if we needed the Int’l DL…..the agent said its only required if the DL you have is not readable to the officers…he used Mandarin Chineses as an example……if they can read your English DL you are fine using it

I'm Canadian and always get an IDP when going anywhere in Europe. I was asked for it in Nice when picking up a rental car in 2008. What I find the IDP most useful for is when using an audioguide at a chateau or museum. They ask for one's passport for security. They have never refused my IDP instead. I'd far rather lose it than my passport.

Interesting that a North American drivers license that is in French is accepted. The benefits of living in a bilingual province!

I don't know why so many people on this site act like they are the French police, scorning people for driving without an IDP. Remove the broom from body orifices where it does not belong, and let people make their own decisions based on information. You gave them the link to the French law. The lecture is unbecoming.

FWIW, I got an IDP every time I drove in Europe, and have been asked to show it exactly zero times.

Thank you everyone! The biggest takeaway is that my fear that it would take several weeks for an IDP to get back to me as been dissolved. I called my local AAA and they said they can do it in a few minutes. I feel much better now. Happy travels!