Driving in France

I don't know if it is required, but I got one before my trip to France last year. It only cost $15 from AAA, and I always think it is better to be safe than sorry. It translates your state drivers license, so you will need to have that with you too.

For the sake of accuracy, the correct term is International Driver Permit (IDP), not international driver license. While it is not legally required in France, it is a good idea to have one when driving in any country where English is not the native language.

US DL is good enough.

Your U.S. DL might be "good enough" legally (I haven't checked to see if it is), but it takes one incident and a language barrier to have a major problem. You cannot assume that a police officer speaks English and can interpret your DL. Recently someone posted that they had problems in England with a police officer not understanding his U.S. license, and the last time I checked they actually speak English there! Why cheap out on $15 when it could make a big difference if you are involved in an accident or something else that would require you to prove you are driving legally.

I've reported here several times about my experience being stopped for speeding in France. An IDP is not required but the gendarme (in a powder blue polo shirt) struggled to understand my Oregon drivers license. And with that experience I concluded that it will be to my advantage in the future that if I'm going to be stopped by a gendarme, I want a happy gendarme. So I will get an IDP.

It's not that big of a deal to get and can save you a lot of headaches. I've now been here in France for over a month - driving - and it's quite easy. That is it's easy once you get the hang of the tiny roads and streets! :)

An IDP is not legally required in France but as has been said above, if you get stopped for a traffic violation or have an accident you will by God wish you had one. Spend the lousy $15 and then pray you will never need it.

Thanks for all the great advice! $15 is definitely worth it!