 Poster: A snowHead
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| richmond wrote: |
| I tip my hat to Red Bull's marketing people. |
But not, in my view to the 'Dark Dog' marketing people.
Now...I know this makes me sound a grumpy old woman.... but was anyone else up at the Toura Resturant (Les Deux Alpes) last week when they had some sort of Dark Dog promotion event?
The live (presumably?) music wafting across much of the adjacent mountain seemed to just repeat the line "shut the f*** up" almost to the extent that I wondered if this was the Dark Dog theme tune (in English?). Heard the eloquent line some 20+ times ...nice during school mid-term break ....good thing it wasn't at Cairngorm!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My understanding is that it is legal in France to have a gps device (tomtom) which advises you of fixed camera locations.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| david@mediacopy wrote: |
| I understand that there is an automatic ban over a certain speed (160 k's springs to mind) - can anyone confirm this ? |
It isn't automatic, but if you are caught doing more than 50Km/h (about 30mph) over the limit, they may confiscate your licence on the spot.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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philw,
It can be synthetic but exist naturally in bile in many animals..was first isolated from ox bile hence the name.
Not an hormone as I stated though
Taurine
Whether it's good or dangerous seems subject to some debate..
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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JanA, The radio is also a source of stress when you have 5 year olds in the car. Got to to know most of the songs you had to re tune for pretty quickly.
The weirdest experience was doing the food shop one Sunday morning in Champion pushing my trolly round to Alanis Morissete, you can imagine my surprise to hear her sing unedited, "are you thinking of me when you **** her" You wouldnt get that in Tescos.
Italy thankfully continues to edit the wee swearies in English songs on the radio.
Back to the driving in France, a collegue had a (ahem) good relationship with the Gendermerie, never knew any of the staff have a fine go through except for driving with a mobile phone. That was the Captains big beef and none of them were ever able to revoke it
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I read recently that things have now changed on the points front. if you get a "points" driving penalty in France they will be now fed back to DVLC and added to your collection, previously this didn't happen, you just paid the On the Spot fine and heard no more.
To enable the above, it seems likely to me that the French "DVLC" computer is now linked directly to the UK DVLC.
This leads me on to that the French might also be more diligent now in pursuing drivers who are "flashed" by cameras.
As my collection book is already half full I must be cautious everywhere.
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Gilberts Fridge, JanA,
France don't edit ( at least until recently) swear words even in franch, so that they won't bother in any other language..different attitude/laws that's all...
Plus I found here that kids quickly know what the bips means so not sure it serves any real purpose
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Kruisler, My fealing from friends and collegues was that most of what we would call swear words did not have the same weight in French, ie you would not worry too much about the use in front of family. There were a couple of exceptions I understand. Maybe im wrong but thats what it felt like to me.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| kevinrhead wrote: |
| My understanding is that it is legal in France to have a gps device (tomtom) which advises you of fixed camera locations. |
no problem with a sat nav device that has camera locations on it. It's Radar detectors that are illegal in France. Radar jammers are illegal in France and UK, although you can get away with it if you have remote control garage doors/gates as the technology is very similar. A friend has jammers on his car and it will open supermarket doors on passing them.
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| philw wrote: |
| Patch, am I correct in thinking that they are well marked, or did we miss lots in Jan!? |
The fixed speed cameras are always marked in my experience, but there are also lots of police with hand held speed guns, particulary on stretches of motorways where speed limit is reduced to 110. I got done twice in a hundred mile stretch 3 months ago 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Hidden cameras, and hidden/unmarked police cars. On quiet country roads as well as big ones. Beware. Vehicles with radar detectors may be impounded, especially if the gendarmes get any old lip.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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You know it makes sense.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
Headlight deflectors are required in France.
A first aid kit is required in France.
A warning triangle is required in France. |
By law? I thought that was the case only in the Germanic countries. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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hd, yes, by law. Police will fine you for every one of these you are not carrying if you are stopped.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Helen Beaumont, Really?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, apparently, although we have never been stopped.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Agenterre wrote: |
Can someone rename this thread 'Driving in France - A Thousand Urban Myths' ?
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Don't go there, any thread on avalanches could have the same tag line.
According to the legislation in R413-14 30km/h above the speed limit can result in a ban. A spurt of 160km/h could see you continuing your ski holiday on foot. At 50km/h an hour over they can confiscate your BMW X5 and put it in the crusher, amongst other things.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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and I believe a complete set of bulb replacements is required too, though maybe another urban myth. I wondered about the DVLC one - when I was caught doing 38 mph in a village with no speed limits up, no people, and as far as I could see no houses which had been inhabited for half a century (but a name... which is all that is required to give it a 50kph limit) I just paid the fine. Nothing on my UK licence.
Unmarked police car lurking outside closed café full of cobwebs and ghosts of old men drinking Pernod. 
Oh - and all insurance papers, registration book and driving licence. I had that lot, that time. But another time I had left them in the apartment and got stopped in big roadblock in Megeve that stopped everybody, and looked at all papers (but not the other things mentioned) I got a bollocking. I was very polite, in little old lady mode, and could speak not a word of French. Was told never to do it again.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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pam w's , right. Full paperwork, headlight deflectors, full set of bulbs and if you wear glasses to drive, then you must have a spare pair . . . but most of these things only come into play if you cause problems with the police. But I do know from personal experience that if there's bad weather or a speed restriction on a motorway the kermit fuzz get a SERIOUS SOH failure 
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| Quote: |
| We all drive better than them after all |
The French have the right idea on the Autoroutes though. When overtaking get on with it and pull back in.
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| tomstickland wrote: |
| Quote: |
| We all drive better than them after all |
The French have the right idea on the Autoroutes though. When overtaking get on with it and pull back in. |
True - normally when a car is sat in the outside lane, with nthing around for miles, its a brit !
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| pam w wrote: |
| and I believe a complete set of bulb replacements is required too, though maybe another urban myth. |
I think that that is correct, or at least the RAC believed it was a couple of years ago (it helped them to sell replacement bulb packs, of course).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I think it is still the case. Even though with some modern cars you seem to need need a fully-euqipped garage to change a bulb.
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| I have Ph.D. in molecular genetics. I can splice genes together. How hard can it be to change a light bulb? |
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| “It is becoming increasingly difficult on modern cars for the user to replace burned out bulbs,” it began. Well, no poo-poo Sherlock, I thought, you’ve hermetically sealed the access panel. The manual continued: “Hardest of all are the front lights due to the proximity of the engine. It is suggested you consult your local professional dealer for all necessary repairs.” |
This guy was able to change his rear light, though 
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Even to replace the headlight bulb on our mini tractor involves removing several other parts including the battery 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Kruisler, it's not a hormone but a major constituent of bile. It may have some implication in skeletal muscle development but there is no evidence for any energy giving properties. It's found in most animals, including humans, the name comes about as it was first isolated from ox bile.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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edit
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Fri 7-03-08 13:14; edited 1 time in total
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I don't bother with the spare bulbs for the Espace. I have changed a Brake light bulb at home, it required striping out the interior trim and the exterior mouldings, all with star keys, takes about 30 minutes with a really good tool kit.
I take Hi Vis vest, First Aid kit, Glasses, in case I can't wear my lens, have euro number plates, snow chains and winter tyres, driving licence, vehicle reg document, insurance certificate, warning triangle. Can't fit headlight deflectors to an Espace, so I'm happy to blind them all. Switch the sat nav and speedo to read in km.
Second thoughts I might throw a couple of bulbs in the dash, even though there's no way I could fit them away from home.
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You know it makes sense.
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edit.
FtS, just trying to keep the post count up.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Fri 7-03-08 13:16; edited 1 time in total
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Quote: |
take Hi Vis vest, First Aid kit, Glasses, in case I can't wear my lens, have euro number plates, snow chains and winter tyres, driving licence, vehicle reg document, insurance certificate, warning triangle.
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Must these all be in triplicate?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Quote:
take Hi Vis vest, First Aid kit, Glasses, in case I can't wear my lens, have euro number plates, snow chains and winter tyres, driving licence, vehicle reg document, insurance certificate, warning triangle.
Must these all be in triplicate?
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Presumably snow chains must in duplicate, and winter tyres in quadruplicate!
And seriously - in some countries you must ahve a hi-vis vest for every occupant of the vehicle. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Well, I've done it now.
It took me around 2.5 hours to get from Stroud to Dover. No delays, steady 80ish.
Off the ferry at 3:20 am their time.
Bit of a faff with finding first services - followed signs to an aire, took me through booths and back out, card swallowed, had to talk to real person. Sorted that, next services had a queue that took 15 minutes to shift.
Once that was done, made up some time. Cruised at steady 85, eye on fuel economy, so didn't hammer the hills.
Reims was reached pretty quickly.
Sky lightened by 5am.
Foggy for a while.
At 7am I started to feel a bit wooly so stopped in an aire and went to sleep for an hour.
8am back on the road, felt a bit washed out for first 5 minutes.
Best thing that happened was pulling off the autoroute and following a cross country route to Lausanne.
This was massive fun. The roads actually went throught towns and I saw real France. The road was empty, wide, quite straight in sections so my speed was actually only slightly lower.
I think the extra stimulation made me feel a lot more alert. Autoroutes are numbing.
It took me a few hours to work my way to Luasanne and on the way I saw snow.
I wasted some time on an unintentional tour roung Lausanne, finally made it Morgins for 1.45pm.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Sun 9-03-08 22:32; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
philw,
It is a legal requirement to have chains in your vehicle to drive up to Les arcs |
Is it just Les Arcs or is it chains for other French ski resorts as well?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| tomstickland wrote: |
| I think the extra stimulation ... |
Any spurt problems?
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sun 9-03-08 19:36; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Crusader wrote: |
| boredsurfin wrote: |
philw,
It is a legal requirement to have chains in your vehicle to drive up to Les arcs |
Is it just Les Arcs or is it chains for other French ski resorts as well? |
I would guess that all French resorts are high enough to have chains obligatory signs. Remember even if there is no snow on the road when you drive up, there may be when you need to drive down 
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boredsurfin, I'm never too sure what the "chains obligatory" sign means. Does it mean at anytime (like, June, for instance?) or only when there is snow on the road? In practice, it's only when there's snow that people will be stopped without chains, but as you say, you never know.
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I just bought some chains from Amazon for £20, and warning triangle etc. My reasoning was that if I was stopped by the French police for whatever reason then I'd have all the kit.
| Quote: |
| Any spurt problems? |
No, I developed a light right foot, keeping an eye on the mpg gauge (1990 BMW) and managed about 36mpg at a steady 80mph.
The only spurt was overtaking two lorries down a big straight on the "A road" I took towards the end of the route.
If I had more time then I'd explore proper cross country routes through France. The Autoroute is exceptionally dull and unstimulating.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| pam w wrote: |
| boredsurfin, I'm never too sure what the "chains obligatory" sign means. Does it mean at anytime (like, June, for instance?) or only when there is snow on the road? In practice, it's only when there's snow that people will be stopped without chains, but as you say, you never know. |
I think this was discussed on the long running winter tires thread. I don't have the legislation to hand but think it is something like 1 Dec to 30 Apr although most of the signs stay up all year round but can be closed outside of winter. Where I live the local highways dept or police will open the signs out if there is exceptional snowfall.
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FAQ
Two fines in the last 18 months in France suggest this is crap, no reciprocal with DVLC .. I'll tell you when there is as I'm not proud of it (not just me .. my missus has one too)
