International Driver's Permit--Is It Really Necessary In France?

No IDP.

Hertz in no better nor no worse than others. Go for the best deal.

I’ve rented from Hertz in Paris at the Esplanade de les Invalides terminal. Booked online before trip, walked from hotel near rue Cler, and did the paperwork at the Hertz desk in the terminal. No different really than booking and picking up in the US. Cars are parked in underground garage. Hertz has many locations in Paris. No IDP is required. You will need your license and a credit card (just like here).

An IDP is good to have if you are stopped by an officer who doesn't speak English and can't read your drivers license.

I always love this questions and the responses that say, "Na, you don't need it." Of course, they have no dog in the fight. And that applies to the carrying the passport question. As an old researcher I always ask myself do I want to commit a Type One Error or a Type Two error?

Is it better ---

To have it and not need it??? OR

To need it and not have it ??

To me the answer is obvious !!!

It's incredibly easy to get an IDP. It took no more than 10 minutes at our local AAA.

I'll just add to the confusion. I've been stopped in both Austria and France, and did not need the permit in either locale.

Frank....this really doesn't have much to do with whether they have a "dog in the fight" or not. The question was fairly simple.....in France, "is the International Driver's Permit required?"
No, it is not.

The IDP is not necessary in France. When I got pulled over last year, they did not even ask for a drivers license. ( I left it in our room, but did have my passport.)

We were driving thru the small town in the Loire near our Gite after dinner, when a Gendarme stepped out from the curb, flagged down our car, and stuck a breathalyzer in my face. He did not ask for any ID, but said something in French to me when I rolled down the window. I don't speak French, so we did the best we could to communicate with each other. He did not like what I was doing with the breathalyzer (he wanted me to blow harder...I think), so we went back and forth in sign language, until he finally looked at the results from my second attempt, flashed a big grin, and gave me a big "Au revoir!".

I was lucky. He could have thrown the book at me for not having a drivers license, but he was more interested in stopping drunk drivers than hasseling dumb tourists.

I did get an IDP for our recent trip to Italy,(it is required there!) but if I go back, next year, to a country like France, that does not require the IDP, I will not renew it.

I really getting tired of High Highness and his postings. I was not "dead wrong" since I did not offer an opinion on the requirement for an IDP in France. I was just commenting in general on the general question. Obviously his reading comprehension matches his travel experiences -- very limited. His Highness believes that virtual travel experience is a match for actual.