Practically Classics Forum

martin, this should give directions to my village
http://www.viamichelin.fr/web/Itinerair ... eConso=5.6

mr rusty wrote:it's a lot easier to drive your own car abroad than it is to adapt yourself to LHD. Overtaking can be a bit of a stresser however unless you're on a dual carriageway it's a lot easier if you have a sensible passanger who drives regularly and knows when it's safe to go or not.

I'd second that, although I own a LHD car. In France the rural roads are pretty quiet and it's not too hard to keep going at the maximum 90kph and you don't need to overtake too often, just stay well back from the vehicle in front. Spain and Italy are far more scary. Bizarrely, I have the most difficulty with the LHD car abroad, as I don't do it that often, although I quite happily drive it around in the UK.

rich. wrote:martin, this should give directions to my village
http://www.viamichelin.fr/web/Itinerair ... eConso=5.6

Small world; my friends live at Charroux

Thanks to Mr Rusty and Suffolkpete. When I went to Italy, it was only a day trip from the Tyrol, over the Grossglockner Road, to Cortina and back, so not far into Italy. When I was in Austria, I had the impression that most cars, driven in a more wild manner, would have an I on the back. The other thing, that occurred to me back then, was that if I had been in my own car, the locals would have been aware that I was not native to the area and might make allowances, as I would. I also remember wishing I had my own car when driving over the Grossglockner; a VW Polo didn't really do it justice.

I will not have a passenger but as Mr Rusty says, a good one would be a help overtaking. This reminds me of an incident recalled by a friend of my father's (Sadly when we went to visit him, only weeks before he died). My father had just bought a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica (When they weren't worth silly money) and called to see his friend, who was still doing national service. They went for a spin and some local idiots, who were in a Vauxhall Cresta, thought the Frash very amusing. My father and his friend said to each other "We're not going to take that" and made off after the Cresta. They were on the Rhigos Mountain road and caught the Cresta going into a long 180 degree bend. My father's friend looked over his shoulder and could see the way was clear, so my father just took the Cresta around the outside and they then left it for dead Lot's of the uinitiated used to assume (People like that never think) that the Frash was some kind of Austin 7 Special.

from my calculation your friends live 137 km from me
the only problem i have with driving a rhd car in france is when either i drive the wifes car, i get in & there is no steering wheel or when i get back to blighty & i get lots of people waving at me even though i dont know them

Oh I see, you're at the start of the trip

all roads lead to rich..

rich. wrote:... when i get back to blighty & i get lots of people waving at me even though i dont know them

I wonder if they were also waving at you before you left - for much the same reason...

They were waving at him because he was driving on the wrong side of the road.

TerryG wrote:They were waving at him because he was driving on the wrong side of the road.

Precisely!