I drove in Normandy and Brittany for a number of years when my sister and I vacationed there for a few years. There were many roundabouts we stayed in for a few rounds till we founf the right exit so I can relate!
An alarming piece! Driving in France is terrifying without help from the car. I seem to remember a Priorite a droite rule. Anyone coming from the right could slam into you if you were in the way.Naturally, as a left-handed person, I take exception to that particular rule.
I enjoyed the piece and was glad your family was able to put the alarms to use in choral form. Too many pieces of equipment have alarms these days—refrigerators, ovens and so forth. I always think one will get used to the noises and fail to observe them in necessary moments.
This rule exists in Germany as well, which got my best friend's mother in trouble when they returned to their native Germany after many years elsewhere!
So glad you all survived with grace and humor. I traveled to Paris with friends five years ago. From the moment we left the airport to when we arrived at their apartment I said “yikes” and other well worn words more times than I care to admit. Happy weekend to Eli, Auggie, Mom and Dad.
Love this! I've been a French resident for fifty years, so am used to the driving here (and people drive far better now than they did 20 years ago). I'm on my second leased Toyota hybrid car now - and the warnings drive me absolutely nuts! A friend's daughter managed to eliminate one of them that annoyed me the most - as soon as you get over the speed limit the dashboard indicates, by a km or two, the car beeps at you until you slow down to the "required" speed. Unfortunately, it makes mistakes frequently - the car taps into the speed limit signs you pass, and sometimes into one on an adjacent road. You'll be driving along a 70-km road, and it suddenly indicates 110km/hour from the nearby highway, or 30km/hour from who knows where. And the "safe distance" warnings are even worse - the car panics everytime I back into my narrow garage door. I'm always telling the car to shut up. But it's an automatic transmission, so driving is a dream.
I don't know how good I would be for your "calmness training" for when someone knocks on the door. I'd knock, say hello.. and then go immediately sit between Eli & Auggie on the floor. 😁🐾
This was too funny! I've never driven in Paris; just witnessing the insanity of 11 lanes of traffic around the Arc de Triomphe was scary enough. On our honeymoon, my then husband drove our rental, and we used our own GPS. He programmed it to "Squirrel", so we had this cartoonish voice that, when approaching every roundabout, sang out "Here comes the roundabout! Wheeeee!" 🤣 It would also randomly talk about nuts and its relatives if too much time elapsed between giving directions. 🐿
When we traveled to Scotland a few years ago, we were on a group travel tour bus and we had to sit up front once. When we got to the roundabouts I almost peed my pants because I thought for sure we were going to have a head on collision. Danger Zones! Too funny!
My husband wondered why I was throwing my head back and laughing out loud at today’s episode. It’s so reminiscent of our move to Spain. We brought our two cars with us. One of them was a large Mercedes GLK and the other en electric Smartfortwo. It didn’t take long to determine that the GLK presented problems on the 15th century streets of Betanzos, our closest larger city. Street parking was a nightmare and the underground garage left a stripe of our car’s paint on the exit ramp on the one and only visit we used it. Luckily, or maybe not, the GLK let us make all our mistakes without so much as a whimper. But we were able to get a good trade in with it on an an electric Smartforfour. And we’ve never looked back!
Gave me a welcome morning chuckle, thank you! I recall solo driving in the Scottish Highlands (only in the areas populated with more sheep than humans in cars). I kept walking to the wrong side of the car to get into the driver’s seat. And discovering to my horror that there’s no “shoulder” to the roads. 😂🤣
I drove in Normandy and Brittany for a number of years when my sister and I vacationed there for a few years. There were many roundabouts we stayed in for a few rounds till we founf the right exit so I can relate!
An alarming piece! Driving in France is terrifying without help from the car. I seem to remember a Priorite a droite rule. Anyone coming from the right could slam into you if you were in the way.Naturally, as a left-handed person, I take exception to that particular rule.
I enjoyed the piece and was glad your family was able to put the alarms to use in choral form. Too many pieces of equipment have alarms these days—refrigerators, ovens and so forth. I always think one will get used to the noises and fail to observe them in necessary moments.
This rule exists in Germany as well, which got my best friend's mother in trouble when they returned to their native Germany after many years elsewhere!
After the first roundabout I would’ve ditched the car and walked 😂
So glad you all survived with grace and humor. I traveled to Paris with friends five years ago. From the moment we left the airport to when we arrived at their apartment I said “yikes” and other well worn words more times than I care to admit. Happy weekend to Eli, Auggie, Mom and Dad.
Love this! I've been a French resident for fifty years, so am used to the driving here (and people drive far better now than they did 20 years ago). I'm on my second leased Toyota hybrid car now - and the warnings drive me absolutely nuts! A friend's daughter managed to eliminate one of them that annoyed me the most - as soon as you get over the speed limit the dashboard indicates, by a km or two, the car beeps at you until you slow down to the "required" speed. Unfortunately, it makes mistakes frequently - the car taps into the speed limit signs you pass, and sometimes into one on an adjacent road. You'll be driving along a 70-km road, and it suddenly indicates 110km/hour from the nearby highway, or 30km/hour from who knows where. And the "safe distance" warnings are even worse - the car panics everytime I back into my narrow garage door. I'm always telling the car to shut up. But it's an automatic transmission, so driving is a dream.
Sweet Mary. I’d be homicidal.
:-). By the way, I don’t back into the garage door - just the garage!
I don't know how good I would be for your "calmness training" for when someone knocks on the door. I'd knock, say hello.. and then go immediately sit between Eli & Auggie on the floor. 😁🐾
What a freaking nightmare! I think I might have opted for the Hal option.
Driving in Scotland, they’ve never met a roundabout they didn’t like. At least our GPS worked!! Yikes….
This is hilarious !!! I'm laughing with you, not at you.
😂😂😂
When I first read this, I thought I'd die laughing. And the boys...adorable as usual. Such a wonderful timeline cleanse!
This was too funny! I've never driven in Paris; just witnessing the insanity of 11 lanes of traffic around the Arc de Triomphe was scary enough. On our honeymoon, my then husband drove our rental, and we used our own GPS. He programmed it to "Squirrel", so we had this cartoonish voice that, when approaching every roundabout, sang out "Here comes the roundabout! Wheeeee!" 🤣 It would also randomly talk about nuts and its relatives if too much time elapsed between giving directions. 🐿
The squirrel thing almost sounds entertaining
I laughed soooo hard while reading this!!’ Great way to start the day😂😂😂😂
My husband managed to drive in France from CDG to Normandy by themselves. I still hear the stories, and I'm very glad I wasn't with them.
The "marital exchange" made me laugh. We all have that moment, don't we?
And here's a great scene from the remake of the film "Vacation" https://youtu.be/fG5K7ULUkg4?si=TWo7sQH2-3DVvL5i
When we traveled to Scotland a few years ago, we were on a group travel tour bus and we had to sit up front once. When we got to the roundabouts I almost peed my pants because I thought for sure we were going to have a head on collision. Danger Zones! Too funny!
My husband wondered why I was throwing my head back and laughing out loud at today’s episode. It’s so reminiscent of our move to Spain. We brought our two cars with us. One of them was a large Mercedes GLK and the other en electric Smartfortwo. It didn’t take long to determine that the GLK presented problems on the 15th century streets of Betanzos, our closest larger city. Street parking was a nightmare and the underground garage left a stripe of our car’s paint on the exit ramp on the one and only visit we used it. Luckily, or maybe not, the GLK let us make all our mistakes without so much as a whimper. But we were able to get a good trade in with it on an an electric Smartforfour. And we’ve never looked back!
Gave me a welcome morning chuckle, thank you! I recall solo driving in the Scottish Highlands (only in the areas populated with more sheep than humans in cars). I kept walking to the wrong side of the car to get into the driver’s seat. And discovering to my horror that there’s no “shoulder” to the roads. 😂🤣
Next time, watch a few seasons of the old Top Gear before you go. You'll be in good shape for approaching a car in the UK!
I learned to drive manual from the passenger seat in my big brother’s car. Driving in Ireland was no problem at all.