French travelling tips
By Jamie Simpson
Ok so I thought this piece may be helpful to anyone who has little or no experience of fishing in France.
Travelling to France for a fishing holiday can be a daunting prospect, yet the draw of large Carp and a slightly warmer climate is almost impossible to resist. I thought I would just put a little list of things that may help and hopefully a few other bloggers can add to any that I miss or have overlooked.
- Always carry a High Vis jacket, emergency breakdown triangle, spare bulbs etc as this is a legal requirement in France now.
- You will definately need your drivers license, insurance document and ownership document.
- A silly one but you wont get far without your passport.
- If you have to go over the Dartford bridge then you will need £1.50 for a car as from November 15th 2008. It is easier if you have change rather than queing for an attendant.
- There are toll fees wherever you travel on the French motorways and nowadays these are often not attended so you will need a credit card to pay for these (often around 20euro depending on how far you are going).
- If you go to the French supermarkets then a 1 euro coin is needed for the trolly.
- Remember that the French drive on the wrong side of the road and go round islands in an anticlockwise direction.
- When you pull up to A junction with a solid white line you have to come to a complete stop before proceeding ( I fell foul of this one myself and if it wasn’t for a French friend I am sure I would have received a fine.
- You must ensure your headlights are dipped correctly, especially as your car will be weighted down with fishing tackle.
I hope some of these bullet points are useful and I wish anyone travelling out there all the luck in the world as there are some massive carp to be caught and unlike a large percentage of UK waters they are accessible to everyone.
Cheers
Jamie
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Oh A couple more things worth mentioning
Currently it is more expensive to fill up with unleaded in France but cheaper for Diesel than in the UK.
You can’t get decent baked beans in the French supermarkets so if you like them then you will have to take them with you
Hi Jamie,
You seem to have covered most things there but one thing worth rememebering is the use of light reflectors if you are going to be driving an english ‘market’ car in france.
Also to make sure that you never forget anything for your trip it’s worth making a list of everything you think you will need, and make sure this is double checked before you go.
Cheers,
Pat
Pats comment about the list is a good one. I was driving along a French motorway a couple of weeks ago when I remembered where my rod pod was. At home!!!!
Cheers Ron
I always carry a multi-plug extension lead with me and the obvious French plug converter.
Nothing worse than waiting your turn for use of a electric socket. In this day and age of many things requiring re-charging why have to wait your turn? Also a English extension lead means you only need one French socket adaptor.
Share a water with bait boat users and you will see why I now make sure I can re-charge important things
Thanks Pat & Shaun
Great comments.
I can’t believe that I forgot the one about multi sockets as I fell foul of that one myself a few years back.
Nice one Jamie,
You’ve covered most things but I think you now need a mini fire extinguisher in the back of the car too.
As for having baked beans in France…instead they have these lovely jars of beans (haricots blancs, haricots verts) you can buy and add whatever you like to them. Much nicer IMO! French food is so good!
Oh and I’ve posted this before and on the Angling Lines website. I hate travelling overnight and getting to a lake knackered Saturday morning. I now catch a Friday early afternoon ferry, missing all the worst of the UK traffic. I arrive in France Friday evening, drive at least half way to the venue and stay overnight in a Formule 1. There is a huge network of these cheap hotels all over France and you can easily book on line. They are clean and most of them have totally secure parking so you can leave your gear in the car park overnight. A room with a double bed and a single bunk that sleep three people costs less than 30 Euros. For another couple of quid you get an all you can eat French breakfast which sets you up nicely for the day. If you have time you can even do a supermarket shop on the way to your fishing lake. That way you get to your venue well rested and fresh for the off instead of feeling completely knackered!
Elie
Good point Elie
This will certainly come into it’s own for people from the North of England and Scotland that perhaps have a six or more hour drive in the UK before boarding the ferry.
The one we stayed in the other week was pretty decent and there was even a restaurant a couple of hundred yards away.
The beauty is you feel refreshed after a good nights kip and a shower and I am certain you fish the first 24 hours more effectively than when you are worn out from the drive.
Got to say though that I am not yet a convert to the Frenchj version of Haricot beans (love me Heinz too much)
Jamie
French Travelling Tips…
I saw this excellent post on the Quest Baits Blog:
By Jamie Simpson
Ok so I thought this piece may be helpful to anyone who has little or no experience of fishing in France.
Travelling to France for a fishing holiday can be a daunting prospect, yet the…
Just one other small detail (as always) regarding Hi Vis jackets. You must carry one for each person and they must be kept within easy reach inside the car, not the boot.
Can’t agree with you more Elie/Jamie regarding going over to France the day before. I’ve known people drive for 10 hours after getting off the ferry to reach a lake and its not a pretty site. You’re there to enjoy yourself not kill yourself.
Are your sure about the Haricots??? Whilst I enjoy French food and wine, not completely taken with this, although I have noticed that more of the small supermarkets are now stocking some English food in specific aisles, at a premium of course Got any recipes you would like to share?
Hi Phil great point regarding passengers also needing the vests.
Regading recipe’s for cooking in France, over to our very own master Chef Scott for that one.