Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
priority over those coming in. Red trafi c lights get ignored
regularly. When the light turns green in your favour, look
before you charge out there.
As a driver, you really aren't supposed to hit anything or
anybody in French trafi c, though you can get very close.
You want to be the guy in the superior position, especially
if you don't have the right of way. One way to achieve that
is simply by not making eye contact with the other car or
driver. Ignoring him forces him to accommodate you. Once
he notices that you have seen him, you have to give him his
right of way.
The Parking Game
Parking has been elevated to an art form in Paris. There aren't
enough places to park in Paris, even though most cars are quite
small and there are many underground parking lots. The French
consider this a challenge, a chance to demonstrate their creativity.
It is something like a dance.
The i rst rule is: the rules were made to be broken. Improvisation
is part of '
Le Système D
' for
Débrouiller
. You will learn the tricks in
many bureaucratic elements of French life.
The second rule of the game is: the more clever the breach of the
parking law, the better the status points for the driver.
You will see many creative parking jobs in Paris. Some have
parking tickets already on them. Meter maids in Paris have
backbones of steel. There is even a clever little two-seater French
car just long enough to i t the width of the parking lane, very popular
in Paris.
If you do something really wrong, you will be reprimanded.
This can involve you in things like horn-blowing contests,
shouting and fist-waving with other drivers and even
pedestrians. Fay Sharman says the French treat their cars
the way they treat women. Though I am grateful that hasn't
been my experience, I must admit I enjoy watching French
trafi c. From the relative safety of a Paris sidewalk cafe, you
will i nd the confrontations, contortions and brilliant near
misses highly amusing.
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