How To Drive in France and Not Get Lost
By Walt Ballenberger

“Come over to our house for dinner” said Tom, our new-found English friend. “It’s easy from your hotel”. Thus began our first odyssey of driving on French roads. We were visiting my company facility in Toulouse to make a decision about moving there for two years. Needless to say, we got lost that night. Very lost. After realizing that I missed a turn off the rocade, a freeway-like road in the city, I simply took the next exit to turn around and go back, as I would do at home. To my surprise, the exit road ran off in some unknown direction, and there was no way to turn back! Later we did manage to find the rocade again, but the exit we needed wasn’t accessible from that direction. The overhead signs said we were heading toward Bordeaux. I didn’t know where I was, but a two hour drive to Bordeaux that night was not an option. We seized upon signs for “Centre Ville” which we knew meant downtown. After a long struggle to find a pay phone and figure out which coins were needed, we did manage to call Tom to pick us up. I’d like to say that was the last time we got lost on the roads of France, but that is hardly the case. Here are a few hard-learned tips to minimize wrong turns there, or anywhere in Europe:

It’s the Direction, Not the Street Name that Counts In the U.S. one navigates by turning at certain streets. In France the streets often are not marked. There may be an old sign on the corner of a building, but there are few street signs as we know them. What one does see are signs with names of towns. These signs are remarkably accurate. If you want to go to a town that is marked, just follow the signs. You won’t have to worry about missing a turn from D-11 to D-603, for example, the signs do all the work. If suddenly you see signs that do not indicate your destination, have no fear. Just go straight and your destination will be indicated farther on. A problem arises when your destination is not mentioned on the posted signs. It might be before or after the town that is indicated, so you need to know which direction to follow. You must find this out before departing, either by asking someone which town to go toward, or by getting internet directions (more on that later on).

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