France Vacation Rentals

	En route! Driving in France
		Allons-y!

Vive la difference!

Big Difference #1: road signs point to destination cities, and don't always show route numbers. In the States we follow route numbers to get where we want to go. On French signs, they're almost an afterthought (although now seen more and more). So always plot your trip on the map first. Road signs are configured from top to bottom by destination town or city: Distant large towns or cities are shown on top in green, Then smaller intermediate towns in white below, Then nearby villages below that. The route may take on several route numbers along the way. They're handy, but keep the destination town in mind. For instance, to get from Avignon to Apt, you'll take the N7, D973, D22 and N100. You may not even notice these route numbers, but at every crossroads there's a large green sign for Apt. Just suivre Apt. Points of interest are shown with a small brown logo and italics (above right). If there is a French toll road (autoroute) nearby, the top sign will be blue with the autoroute logo. A note on converting kilometers to miles: Muliply the kilometers by 6 and move the decimal point 1 place to the left. 8 kilometers = 4.8 miles 12 kilometers = 7.2 miles Speed limit 70 = 42 miles per hour
Big Difference #2: route designations always start with a letter. The route that you are on appears at the top of the sign in a small orange rectangle. Abbreviations are: A - Autoroute - the limited access toll road. N - National routes - the old main routes, often multiple lane or divided highways. D - Departmental routes - major roads within a department (similar to a state). These can be duplicated from department to department. Thus there are many roads named D2 throughout France (but only one N100).
	A personal favorite - the D99 near St-Rémy-de-Provence
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