Driving in French Countryside

Navigation in France (and most of Europe) outside of cities is usually very easy. I'm one of the heretics on this site, but I often find it easier to navigate by road signs than by GPS- the roads are so well marked that to find most sites of interest to tourists, all you have to do is follow the signs. Particularly when you encounter a round-about, it's often easier to just follow the arrows on the sign that to have to take your eyes off the road and check the GPS.

One big difference between road signs in Europe versus the US- you navigate by the names of towns, not by geographic direction. For example, rather looking for a sign that points to "A6 West", it would read "A6 Paris".

Tom,

I don't think you're a heretic. I traveled many times in Northern Europe without a GPS, never feeling I needed one.

Then I drove through Italy with only a map and my wife as navigator. The road signage was either of limited use or nonexistant.

We came home and bought a GPS. Now that I have one, I take it everywhere because it's the easiest way to navigate to a street address (or public parking near a city center or point of interest). Since my vacation time is limited, any saved time can be spent doing things I like.

If being "a little lost" on a scenic drive is what you like, a GPS might actually spoil the experience for you.

Bruce, my Garmin automatically notifies me when I approach an automated radar point, so perhaps yours does this.

... my biggest caveat being that I have never driven in Italy!