we're going to be renting a car in Paris to get to Normandy. I'm fine once we are out on the highway, but driving from where we pick up the car (gare du nord) and getting out of the city is something I was hoping to avoid, but it has to happen that way.
Is there a good website that goes over road signs and things like that so I can educate myself on driving in the city before we get there?
This should get you started
Thanks, most of those are pretty universal and easy to understand.
I guess the next question is if there is anything someone who has driven in America for 35 years should really know about driving in Paris before he gets there
Where have you driven in America? New York City? Boston? Philadelphia? If yes, you'll be fine. Believe me, I've lived and driven in all three of those places and driving in Paris is easy compared to them especially if you are leaving from Gare du Nord which is basically three turns -- one out of the garage as you follow the one way road around the hospital, one to get on Boulevard de la Chapelle and one to go north on Rue Marx Dormoy. The main things to watch out for are scooters, bicycles, and jaywalkers -- same as NYC but with slightly less beeping and much less cursing and fewer people blocking the box although that does happen. Now if your answer is that you do all your driving in beautiful wide open spaces on wide, well-maintained streets, it's still the same things to watch out for but you may want to just try your best to get into the city driving mindset.
Blockquote
I guess the next question is if there is anything someone who has driven in America for 35 years should really know about driving in Paris before he gets there
Blockquote
There are no stop signs in Paris. When you come to an intersection without a traffic signal, you need to yield to traffic from the right. This often means active looking as parked cars block the view and recognizing if street is one way.
No rights on red in France.
Understand how speed limits coming into towns work so that you slow down. It's not always clear to tourists.
and you need that IDP - International Driving Permit as well as your license.
If you wind up somehow on the Périphérique you should know that entry ramps have priority over the main road.
Taking the train to Caen and getting a car there wasn't possible?
I agree that renting a car in Caen sounds like a better idea.
But also, make sure you know how to handle roundabouts.
That was the original plan, but the more I looked into it, I saw that two train tickets were going to be at least €200 round trip, plus the cost of the rental car once we got to Caen. Renting the car in Paris isn't any more expensive than renting it in Caen, and we save the 200 (minus the cost of gas of course)
Plus since it's a slow regional train, it's not any faster getting there than driving.
Renting the car in Paris isn't any more expensive than renting it in Caen, and we save the 200 (minus the cost of gas of course)
And tolls!
According to ViaMichelin Paris to Caen is (Click here for details):
Time: 02h28 (02h02 on motorways)
Distance: 234 km (221 km on motorways)
Costs: €45.68 (Toll €24.50 + Consumption €21.18)
Hmmm. That is pricey. New wrinkle in the plan. Thanks for the info. Food for thought
The other factor with tolls is that many posters here (and myself) have reported failure of American credit cards to work in all or some tollbooths. That calls for waiting in the human-attendant line, and having enough smaller bills to do the transactions. Did you say you'll already be adjusted to jet-lag before the day you start the drive?
I drive in (rectangular plan, traffic light at every corner) NYC three times a week, and I found Paris driving much harder. There are also more one-lane passages in Paris, where a dumpster delivery (or whatever) might delay you with no way around. That does happen in New York, especially during oil-delivery season, but most NYC streets have room to pass a double-parked car. Going around the Arc de Triomphe is the scariest thing I've ever done in a car.
The main thing to me is knowing how to “follow directions” when driving in France. That is to say — you may know, for example, that you need to head north on a certain highway, but you will NOT find signs that say the equivalent of “I-95 North.”
Rather, you have to know the bigger cities further along that highway in the direction you want to go — and, as you get closer to your destination, more specific towns along your route. I find that I need to study my maps ahead of time and keep those intermediate cities in mind — sometimes I even write them down on a card.
How many of you are there and when are you going? I see round trip tickets Paris to Caen for €30/person. Are you looking at prices on Eurail?
All excellent advice. I'd add that you should not blindly trust your GPS or Google Maps app when driving out of Paris. Study the route carefully ahead of time and use Google Street View to get familiar with major intersections, roundabouts, and highway interchanges. You'll be picking up your car in a parking garage, so be sure to know which garage it is and the easiest way to get to the Périphérique. Remember the easiest way is not necessarily the shortest or fastest way, so plan ahead.
The website I was on was saying I think 35 to 50 each way each person depending on when the train left, and our trip isn't until next May so it's too early to get a handle on how much the exact cost will be
I was looking at rome2rio. Pretty sure the cost was one way but now that you've said that I will double check. Makes a big difference
I was looking at rome2rio.
Rome2rio is excellent for looking at options for getting from one place to another. I don't rely on them for prices (ever) and not for driving times either. Look on the French train website for prices or try Trainline or Seat61, whichever works best for you. Prices won't be showing yet for next May but you can see what they are for right now, or for the next 90 days at least and that will give you an idea of what they might be.
I would definitely take the train to Caen and rent the car there, but that's just a personal preference. I've driven all around France (but not in Paris) and it's as easy as driving in the US but for this route I'd take the train.
I have not driven from Gare du Nord out of Paris, but I have driven from Loches to Gare du Nord, on a Sunday no less!
You've gotten some good advice. We were following the GPS in the rental car that didn't know about some construction on the outskirts of Paris. Luckily we had planned for this kind of problem and the 10 minutes it took getting back on track was no problem.
We ended up getting routed through the heart of Paris, which you can easily avoid. I've driven in Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. , L.A. and even parts of NYC. I found Paris driving about the same. You have to drive with confidence, but not aggression.
Would I drive in Paris again? Not if I could help it. Would I do it again to save 200 euro? Given my Scottish heritage, of course!
BTW, when we drove in France, we had no problems using our American Visa or MasterCard.
Was in the area 2 weeks ago. We picked up our car from Hertz through Auto Europe at CDG. Gare du Nord looks like it is IN the city, any chance of picking up your car at CDG? You will be on the auto route in less time than GdN. I did not drive in Paris and I most certainly would not drive around the Arc. I do not shirk from driving anywhere but I have learned not to put myself somewhere I do not need to be. As you go from Paris towards Normandy there will be numerous toll roads and speed cameras. It appeared to me that most of the toll booths were unmanned. Driving from Paris to Mt St Michel, to Bayeaux, and up the coast into Belgium, I only saw 1 manned booth. We did not have a problem with a Visa card but AmEx was another story at the toll booths. As you arrive at the toll booths you will see that they are similar to toll booths here. Some lanes are for a toll pass, some for credit cards, and some that do a mixture of cc and/or cash. You will also come across unmanned gas stations as we did when we stopped at a place in Dieppe. I could not get either our Visa or AmEx to work. Luckily we were not in dire circumstances so I stopped at a manned station on the way out of town. Most of the gas stations we stopped at had a central pay station that you entered the pump number and the grade of gas or diesel that you want. Some pumps you had to go inside, if manned, if you wanted a receipt.
As for driving rules, there a sources available online. Such as this:
Some rules are: when entering an intersection that does not have any stop signs, the driver from the right has the right of way. You will have to do this in the cities, towns, and out in the country. I forgot this driving through Honfluer and was honked at but luckily not hit. The other notable one is the sign showing a red arrow and a black arrow in the directions of the 2 lane you are on and who has a right of way. I'm sorry I can not explain it in better detail. Be prepared for the ever changing speed limit on country roads and through towns. In town it is 30k across the country. It may drop from 90 to 70 to 50 to 30 as you approach. Sometimes you are warned about a decreased speed limit ahead, a lot of times you may not be. Our rental car had a GPS that informed us that we were approaching a toll booth, speed camera, work zone, or an accident. I did not catch on to the speed camera warning until the second or third day.
If you are able, download the owners manual to the rental car you have. You will find it helpful. If it is a Renault, Renault USA has their manuals available in English. I hope you found this useful. Lengthy yes, but useful.
We will already be in Paris for a full day by the time we need the car, and we are staying within a km of Gare du nord, so I thought it would be very convenient. Walk to europcar at 8am, return the car by 10pm for a quick day trip to normandy and back. All were planning in doing is visiting the beach, the American cemetery, and one museum in Bayaux. Sounds simple, but after getting so much advice in this thread I may going back to the original plan of renting the car in Caen instead.
The no stop sign thing confuses me. Does mean every single intersection is treated like a 4 way stop?
no stop signs in paris but there are traffic signals at intersections on main roads, just not on the side streets. When you come to an intersection with no traffic signal, you yield to traffic on the right. It's not a 4 way stop, you don't stop to look, you look and either keep going or stop.
In any case, if you're going from Gare du Nord to Caen via the toll road, it will be on a main road with traffic signals to the peripherique, assuming no traffic related diversions. I would rent the car if you want to drive. Otherwise its 15 euros per person each way on the train to Caen.
15 is very reasonable. Yesterday I saw numbers of 30-50 for a regional train and thought maybe I should investigate other options
That would be a very looong day of driving and sightseeing. It’s not going to be much fun driving back in to Paris and trying to find Gare du Nord at that time of night after being out all day.
Can you not go spend a couple of nights in Bayeux? Then you could take the train straight there, go to see the Tapestry late afternoon, and the next day go on a full-day escorted tour of the beaches. They will pick you up right at your hotel. Back to the hotel that night, and then back to Paris in the morning. It would be much safer for you and everyone else on the road.
Nope, we have one day. Leave the next morning for Strasbourg
Not interested in doing more than the things I mentioned, and there is time to do those in one day
There are D Day tours from Paris. They are exhausting, but probably less so than driving yourself to Bayeux, sightseeing, staying just one night, then driving back to Paris and taking the train to Strasbourg.
I would say that in that particular case, a day tour from Paris with an extra night in Paris is more efficient. Getting from Bayeux to Strasbourg will swallow the whole day, whereas Paris to Strasbourg is a quick TGV ride and you are planning to stay close to Gare de l'Est.
Hi again
Can I throw in a couple more thoughts?
You are going in May. May in France is wall to wall French national holidays. It is well worth checking all your travel plans to be sure you know what will be happening - train or car wise - on those days.
Also, it is well worth knowing which day of the week the trip to Normandy will be. Fridays often has heavy traffic out of Paris, especially if there is a nearby holiday. Saturday most car rental places close half a day. Sunday most car rental places and almost all stores including those selling fuel close, so you will be using the automatic machines except some brands and on the Autoroute. Sunday also usually has very heavy traffic back into Paris starting around midday and going well into the evening.
Spending the night in the Normandy area is not an option I'm even considering. Yes it's going to be a long day but as long as I keep my itinerary focused it won't be that bad
We are going on a Saturday, May 16th to be specific. I've already checked the hours for the rental car agencies and both the one in Caen and the one near the train station in Paris have late hours
ok, got home from work and looked up some train prices with the links provided. It does look like I got some bad information, as $15 Euros seems to be the going rate for each person, each way, I saw 30 to 50 and got concerned.
Thank you for the help with the driving information, especially the warning about the tolls. I didn't take that into account when thinking about driving from Paris. The tolls would have been more expensive than the Train tickets.
A simple rule regarding train tickets: When buying tickets or checking prices, always use the website of the company that operates the train!!! There are several "booking sites" that not always show all trains, and usually add their own booking fees.
If in doubt, the German Railways has a good search engine that covers most of Europe.
Why does trainline show some times that oiu does not? I'm seeing a 7am route I am interested in, but only when I visit the trainline site
It's too far out to look for train times now.
And if you're not even spending the night in Normandy, I'd even more strongly consider either a tour from Paris, or a tour from Caen/Bayeux timed with the trains... it will save you a lot of hassle. Sat May 16 shouldn't be a high-traffic day, but the drive from Paris isn't interesting.
I'm just talking about in general, like times for next month. Looking at the train websites, they aren't at all consistent with each other
I looked into the tour groups, and none of them offer what I'm looking for, so we're going to have to wing it on our own
If you're going to take the train to Normandy and rent a car there, I'd recommend taking the train to Caen instead of Bayeux. There are five car rental agencies at the Caen train station, so it's an easy pick-up and drop-off. In Bayeux there are only two places to rent a car: One is really a car dealership with rentals as a side business; the other is so far out of town that you need a taxi to get there.
Thanks, that was the original plan (and the plan I think I'm sticking with)
