French Roads and Signage: Ils Sont Compliqués

  

French roads have to be the best in the world. They are smooth and well-marked. The two-laners wind through beautiful countryside. The auto-routes (expressways) are efficient with aires (gas stops with stores and restaurants every 10-20 miles). They are all clean, well-maintained, and fast--130 kph (80 mph). Coming from Michigan, a state that pretty much stopped adequately taking care of its roads since the Engler administration of the 1990s, French roads are a dream. Signage, however, remains a baffling challenge that makes navigation difficult--and critical. If you make a mistake, it may take you a while to turn it around. 

 
Here are a few examples of what it's like to drive the French countryside. One caution: the landscapes are gorgeous, but keep your eyes on the road!

• The road signs indicate their directions by citing cities but not north, south, east, or west. You must know your geography.

• The speeds are constantly changing depending on the topography and whether the road goes through a town. In the countryside speeds are between 70 - 90 kph depending on the number of lanes available. Towns reduce the speed anywhere between 30 - 70 kph. Even the auto-route speeds change between 110 kph and 130 kph. Sometimes what you think is an auto-route (a 4-lane divided highway), isn't because the road is going through a city where the speed can go down to 70 kph. Of course, the radar speed machines are strategically posted nearby ready to catch you speeding. (These machines take a picture of your license and then two weeks later send you a fine in the mail. People usually just pay the fine instead of contesting it.)

• Mountains can suddenly appear without warning. The ground may be gradually increasing in altitude and voilà, you are among giant rocks, huge gorges, and endless switch-backs. It's absolutely beautiful, but you better know how to use your engine brake so your brakes still work after going through the mountains.   
• Maps are complex and difficult to read. A map of France has intricate detail of the whole country. It is more advantageous to have a map of a region.
• It is difficult to read a map while you are driving. It really takes two people to get to where you are going: a driver and a navigator. Road signs are not always helpful or available.
• Roads are circuitous because they follow old roads and circulate around various land forms and water. 
• Unless you are on an auto-route, there are not readily-available rest stops with bathrooms, gas, and food. On the two-lane countryside roads, however, there are little parks that allow you to stop. Make sure you bring a picnic lunch and toilet paper to use in the weeds or behind a tree.
• Winds can affect driving. Watch for the wind socks that provide both the direction and force of the wind on high bridges that cross magnificent valleys and gorges.

French road and traffic engineers have to be the best in the world. They have taken cities that were built for pedestrians, horses, and wagons and converted them to modern roadways that accommodate cars, mega-buses, and trams. They are an engineering marvel. However, Americans traveling in France must learn new tricks to the road and adapt their eyes to different signage (pictograms instead of words), different maneuvres (rotaries, priority-of-the-right), traffic lights that are on the side of the road instead of overhead, and different sign colors for departmental, national, and auto-route roadways. Cracking the code to the system is the ultimate challenge but with it comes sweet victory and confidence. Bon voyage!