Our Peugeot 308 & Roundabouts

Rick here…Kathy has done most of the writing so far, but I have some comments about our car and driving in France.  We’ve now logged almost 3000 km, about 1900 miles.  As Kathy said in an earlier post, we leased a car through the Peugeot Open Europe program. What we have is a 308…one step up from the entry level 200 series.  We were upgraded to “Select” from basic because that’s what was available.  We were told that the difference was a sun roof. We can always spot our car because it’s the only one we’ve seen in three months that has a red license plate!  We’re told that this indicates that we’re not European and hopefully locals would exercise restraint on their horns and  middle fingers!

The car is equipped with a user friendly GPS in English (a nice British female voice who doesn’t sound scolding, even when she’s saying, “At the next opportunity, make a U-turn.”).  It has front and rear proximity sensors which display on the monitor, but also four corner sensors which have proven quite helpful on the narrow streets and tight parking spaces that we encounter quite frequently.  We opted for the higher fuel mileage stick shift diesel (45 mpg) which is quiet and plenty powerful.  It handles surprisingly well–fairly tight steering, short throw shifter, good brakes and no torque steer from the front wheel drive.  The cruise control will even slow you down if you approach another car too closely!   The dashboard digital display shows the posted speed limit beside our actual speed in either mpg or kmpg as does the GPS screen.  For the automotively challenged, the car will suggest that you shift up or down when it determines you should–actually helpful since the car is so quiet that we don’t get the usual auditory signal to shift gears.  Our four carry-on size bags fit neatly into the trunk.

In much of Europe, traffic circles or ’round-abouts,’ as they are called here, occur at many intersections instead of traffic lights.  They facilitate a smoother flow of traffic once you learn how to navigate them.  Except in ‘Centre Ville’ most or round-abouts are two lane affairs.  If you are exiting at the first opportunity,  you enter in the right lane with your right turn signal on.  If you are going further around, enter into the inside lane with your left turn signal on.  Then flip your turn signal to the right as you approach your exit.  Once in the circle you have the right of way.  Being alert and using the turn signals ensures smooth sailing.

I’ve been doing the bulk of the driving as Kathy tends to freak out on the narrow streets of towns and she’s not crazy about the roundabouts, either.  She’s not a bad navigator, though…helped, of course, by our trusty GPS gal.