France

howiedean · Unread post by **howiedean** » 06 Jun 2010, 00:10

Hi,
I've just returned from a holiday in France, unfortunately we had to take the Renault as the kids wanted to use the bikes whilst on holiday, we only have a tow bar on the renault. The Modus performed well considering it had 4 bikes and a roof box (the Xantia would have been much more suited to this load). Fuel economy was shocking when carrying this lot, just nudging the wrong side of 40mpg. I really enjoyed driving in France, even the trip to Paris wasn't that bad although I resisted the Arc De Triomphe, it was interesting to see from the passenger seat of our taxi.
It was nice to see loads of Citroen oldies around although no DS's were spotted. What surprised me was the number of Renault garages, in fact we could see three within the space of 25 miles in rural France. All in all I can fully recommend driving in France although we missed the ferry due to the French A1 being closed due to roadworks (1.5 hour delay).

The only slight mishap was some clown on the English side pulling onto the busy motorway from the hard shoulder with no run-on speed. I didn't have many places to go other than hard on the brakes luckily the kind driver in the outside lane anticipating my problem allowed me in.

Regards

Howie

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 06 Jun 2010, 09:14

Sounds like a great trip Howie....i tied to talk my misses into driving to Paris but she wasnt keen on sitting int he car for that long.....me neither to be fair but id love to drive the Xantia around in france

Paul240480 · Unread post by **Paul240480** » 06 Jun 2010, 12:31

Living in France, I must say that we are 'spoilt' with the roads here & driving is a pleasure

My last long haul was from Southern Brittany to (just) into Holland. On the toll-roads I very nearly had it all to myself! Fantastic!

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 06 Jun 2010, 13:08

I adore driving in France - suddenly my CX's seem to come alive and revel
in their native surroundings. Big long open stretches of road out in the
country where there's barely a soul, and where there are other drivers
they're likley to be going faster than you or virtually standing still!

Unfortunately, in this overpopulated cramped island you can never go
anywhere without someone being stuck in front of you as a moving
chicane scared into doing 26mph EVERYWHERE by all the camera
parnerships and their Safety cameras in H&S wrapped in cotton wool
Britain...

My problem too is I started driving before it all went badly wrong so
have been spoiled and can see the decline in the sheer enjoyment of
driving and the ability of many drivers.

Even if you have a car that can accelerate to mega miles an hour in
mere seconds there'll always ALWAYS be another car comimg the
opposite direction even out in the wilds of the back of beyond preventing
any remote chance of passing the eurotrash/japcrap.

Andrew

citroenesque · Unread post by **citroenesque** » 06 Jun 2010, 23:50

Just arrived from a week in France: 1,860 miles - 780 miles yesterday alone! - in my 1995 XM. Air con, good performance, OK economy (30 mpg overall fully loaded) and superb comfort even at 130-170 kph (

), radio, CD auto changer and some exquisite views...

Happy? You bet

old'uns · Unread post by **old'uns** » 07 Jun 2010, 10:14

unfortunately don't get much chance to drive off the M'ways, in a hurry to get to the 'chateaux' & same on way back.
however, now on countdown to go Ypres for the IRC/Historic rally then to le Mans for the Classic in this....

did the same last year ( but for the 24hr) nice steady 60mph, a bit noisey at 5.5k though!, top down but on the M'ways. this year definitely looking at N roads

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 07 Jun 2010, 11:12

I love driving in France, ive been a few times now and really like the experience. Once you adjust to the French way of driving, so long as your foot is well down your ok!

I was stuck in a crawling traffic jam for over 3 hours last year around Paris, never again!

I love the way of life in France, it seems so laid back and a much slower pace (apart from the driving!). Many rural areas seem to be stuck in time. I enjoy spotting older French cars and ones which have been stood for years. A truely excellent place, i hope to be going again soon.

We have friends in France so we usually do a tour around and see them all while we are over there. We always stay in th emore rural areas and aoid the bigger places. We do visit the coastal areas but last year we were more inland.

Last year i took my C5, which was a fantastic car during the trip, id not have wanted to be in anything else. Most of the time the cruise was set to 80 on the motorways, climate set to 16 and just wafted along to our destination at 40+MPG. Combined MPG for the 3000 mile trip was 45, which i was very impressed with.

Pic of the C5 in rural France (It had the old C5 estates wheels on for the trip)

Here is my car related French picture thread from my visit:
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... ght=france

Chris.

Paul240480 · Unread post by **Paul240480** » 07 Jun 2010, 14:21

Fab' pics! Thanks

Yes, I too see many R4's here. One lives opposite in 'van version'. It's very faded yellow in colour, possibly an ex 'La Poste' van. Sounds as sweet as a nut too.

The elderly lady along the way has a white R5 which is the runabout for the 'clan' of elderly ladies in our hamlet. It gets a good wash a & hoover once a year, when all four ladies get stuck in with their wash gear