I often decide at the beginning of a trip that I will not use the freeways at all, but after being stuck behind a truck for 15km or having to weave around innumerable tractors, I sometimes change my mind.

Get a good map and a gps

The small towns are wonderful.

Our first impression of driving in France, many years ago, is that you better know where you are going, they drive very, very fast, and have little patience for people who dawdle..they use the horn more than we are used to, but the sinage is good. You must keep up your speed, otherwise, they come up behind you and blink headlights furiously. You have to maintain the minimum speed and stay in the appropriate lane, be aware of the exit ahead of time. However, we agreed that they are, for the most part, very skillful drivers, and thus predictable.

However, we got a little wiser on the next trips and we make notes before we leave.

The horn? I almost never hear a horn. They <b>do</b> flash their lights at you when they are not pleased.

The one thing I find a bit stressful on the French autoroute is the toll booths. You have to make sure you get into the correct lane to give money to an actual person, as I have heard that some lanes are automated and do not accept US credit cards.

Other than that, I agree that highway driving is less stressful than the alternatives if you are going any distance and are not planning on stopping en route or going for the pleasure of seeing the countryside.

The roads are marked by the name of the next major town, which is in much bigger letters on the signs at roundabouts and intersections than the road number you are following on the map. This is fine if you know the names of all the towns on your route, but less so if you have to look quickly at the map while trying to navigate the roundabout. The good thing about roundabouts is that you can keep going around until you know which exit you want.

That said, I would only use the autoroute for going long distances or when you don't want to think about things too much.

I have driven on the autoroutes with my parents, my brother, and my nephew, all of whom have given me their American credit cards to slide into the credit card slot. They have always worked with no problem. I think that some of the people who have had problems just do not know the correct way to slide them in. It is not at all a question of chips, because the chips are not used -- even on the French cards, only the magnetic strips are read. This worked for my American Express card (which I finally cancelled after 28 years) and also my Monoprix credit card which I regularly use in the toll booths, and neither of them has ever had a chip.