What are the different roads like in France?

You've decided to rent or lease a car . . . or take your own. Now, what are the roads like in France?

In a word . . . excellent. There are different types of road and they can easily be differentiated by their numbers.

The AutoRoute always starts with the letter "A" followed by the route number, i.e. A6, A71, etc. These are dual carriageway roads (double highway with 2 or more lanes in each direction) and most of them are toll roads. The toll is usually lifted as you go around a city as they serve as a periphery highway or ring road.

When you enter the AutoRoute, you go through a toll station, manned or automatic and pick up a ticket. At various points along the highway, you go through other toll stations to pay the toll up to that point. Most are manned and you can use cash. Some are entirely automatic and you have a choice of cash or credit card. We've only been through one that required a credit card and our USA non-chipped credit card worked just fine. You will also go through a toll station when you exit the highway.

There are large digital signs warning of dangers or problems ahead. These are all in French so get the Michelin France Tourist and Motoring Atlas and look in the front for some common warnings and memorize them.

The AutoRoutes are excellent roads (if you are from the USA, they are comparable to our very best Interstate highways). They are well maintained, well marked and well patrolled. They also skirt the towns and cities so you don't see much from the road. We use the AutoRoutes selectively, that is, when we have a time constraint. Otherwise, you miss a lot of lovely French villages, and we love going through all the small towns and seeing the architecture and local attractions. So . . . use the AutoRoutes if you're in a hurry. Otherwise . . . Use the N or D roads.

The N roads are Routes Nationale or National highways, usually 2 lane roads but often with 4 lanes around or through a city. These are well maintained and well marked and go through towns and cities as well as the lovely French countryside. The numbers are always preceded by the letter "N" as in N57, N12 or N59, etc. These are excellent and often very busy roads but good for touring.

If you haven't driven in France since about 2009, you will notice that the government has turned over care of many N roads to the local Departments so what you may have known as an N road is now a D road. It's a good idea to get an updated map so you have correct route numbers if you are doing any extended driving. There was a time between renumbering the maps and renumbering the roads that was a bit confusing, but virtually all the roads have now gotten their new number signs.

The D roads are Departmental Roads and nearly all are 2 lanes, one in each direction. They are well maintained and well marked and very useful for touring. There are many more D roads now that the national government has turned the care of many N roads over to the local Department. The number will always be preceded by "D" as in D43, D125, D1224, etc. These roads are excellent for touring and often not at all crowded. Especially on high traffic days when the AutoRoute is at a standstill (Bastille Day weekend), the D roads offer a much more pleasant alternative.

Former N roads that have been changed to D are better than standard D roads. In general, the more rural, the narrower the road. Either N or D roads can be very narrow within villages.

There are other roads including C roads with C standing for Commune and these vary wildly in quality. We've been on excellent, though narrow, C roads and we've been on C roads that turn into gravel roads or once, ancient cobblestone not conducive to good driving. We tend to avoid C roads but they are great for hiking and have only very local traffic, i.e. the local farmer and his tractor.

You may take a GPS unit (we do), but I strongly suggest a map in addition. The GPS is not failsafe and sometimes you simply want to know what is in the area and a map is very useful. We use the Michelin "France Tourist & Motoring Atlas" along with our GPS. It has all the different highways and local roads, 75 separate town plans, scenic drive suggestions and traffic laws. It is very useful. We get the smaller spiral-bound version as it packs better. There is a larger version (also spiral bound) that would be good if you need larger print. The smaller one is about 9 x 12 inches so easy enough to read.

For planning, use either Google Maps or the Michelin web site. You type in your start and end points and it will give you a route, driving directions, cost of fuel and tolls and an approximate time for the journey. We use Google Maps and Michelin and they are both good. Michelin seems to be more accurate with the tolls. Both web sites give you options of driving, bicycling or walking and several other options if you are driving.

Good map web site for travel planning: The Michelin Map web site