Article : Tips for First Time Holiday Makers to France

I was researching recently and came across a forum topic where new visitors to France were being discussed. A gite owner had been expecting their guests to arrive at 5.30pm but arrived much later on a Sunday evening, they had not realised the distances involved travelling through France. Something most of us have experienced when new to France.

In the days before GPS I remember staying in the Champagne region in a little village called Châtillon-sur-Seine looking at the map and thinking ‘Oh Versailles isn’t so far away’, almost four hours later we arrived! We had a very pleasant stroll around but then had the long return journey, it seemed such a good idea at the time. But I learnt my lesson and have never underestimated distances in France again!

The other common mistake that new visitors make is assuming that the supermarket opening hours are very similar to ours. All this made me think about what basic information would be useful for first time visitors, I hope this will help those of you who have never travelled to France before so you are better prepared and can enjoy your holiday to the fullest!

Shopping:

• Only the hypermarkets tend to stay open all day and through the evening.
• Food shops are normally open very early in the morning at around 7 a.m., particularly the boulangeries (bakers). Most other shops will normally open at 9 a.m.
• It is common practice for most general shops to close for lunch, sometimes between 12 noon and 3 p.m. this is particularly the case in rural areas. However shops do stay open later until around 7 p.m.
• Shops are usually shut on Sundays, French trading laws do not allow shopping on a Sunday except in tourist areas.
• Remember to keep some 1€ coins on you, not only are they useful for the toll roads but you will usually need them for a trolley.
• If you are renting self-catering property and you arrive at the weekend it is worth taking a few basic supplies with you and to check with the property owner if they do a welcome pack. Some as standard will provide a basic welcome pack whilst others do it at an additional cost or you can request extra basics at a further additional cost. This is often well worth it when you take into account the time on the road, tiredness and lack of available open shops!
• Outside of high season and major cities you'll find it hard to find many restaurants open on Sunday or Monday evenings, and many shops and businesses take Monday off as well.

Travel:

• This may sound obvious but France is a large country. Looking at a map it is easy to make the mistake of thinking that the journey won’t take long. The best way to avoid this is to check on the internet, there are various route planners but a particularly good one is www.mappy.fr. You can calculate distance, length of journey and cost on the toll routes.
• Speed camera detectors are actually illegal in France, even if they are switched off or packed away. If found in your car, the gendarme can confiscate the device and issue a hefty fine.
• Note also that most, if not all, petrol stations will not be staffed outside of hours (other than on the autoroutes) and non-French bank cards will almost certainly not work in the automated pumps.
• On most motorways, a ticket is issued at or shortly after each joining point. At the toll-booth ( péage) you may need to press a button to obtain your ticket or it may be ejected automatically. When you exit of the motorway or when you come to the end of a stretch of motorway you pay the toll. You can hand in your ticket and pay the toll booth attendant or there are separate lanes marked with ‘CB’ where you can pay be bank or credit card. As long as the card has a microchip you should be able to use these lanes, there is no need to type in your pin. You insert your ticket and press the red button should you require a receipt.

If you have any further suggestions that may be useful please do contact us at info@ourhouseabroadfrance.com