Bon jour, Francophile friends, I hope you can help.

We are scheduled to fly out on May 1 and return on May 18. We're flying into Paris and flying out of Strasbourg. Our plan was to spend about a week in Paris, then 3 days in the Loire Valley and the rest in Strasbourg. We were going to travel by train but now we're thinking of renting a car when we leave Paris, due to all of the transportation strikes. The idea of driving causes me stress, but the idea of DH's driving causes me a lot more stress so I will do all of the driving. I'm very proficient with a manual transmission as I currently drive a 6 speed, and I know those are much more common in Europe. I've driven in Europe before, but I find it more relaxing when I'm not driving.

So I have a few questions: Do you think we should change our plan from train travel to driving? It's been about 30 years since I've driven in France and I recall a lot of toll roads. I don't care about the cost but I'm concerned about having the right change, unless cards can be used.

One more wrinkle to this plan, DH is having a medical issue so there's an outside chance we will postpone this trip. But for the purposes of this thread, let's assume the trip is on.

Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

We were in Alsace for 2 weeks this past September. Then 2 weeks in Burgundy. We used our Cap One US credit card for all toll roads. Never had to pay cash.

We also used our CC to pay for gas at a few unattended stations - which was a first for us. A few times our Cap One chip & signature card worked (no signature or pin, of course) and sometimes it did not and we used our Morgan Stanley debit card with a pin.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu, I was so hoping you would see this. What do you think of the train vs car?

Frankly, I found driving in France as easy, if not more so, than in US.
One time, we drove from rental place near the Eiffel, around the Champs Elysee, then northwest to Normandy. Easier than Chicago. Just go with the flow
Just plan ahead, know the route in your head
Another time, driving south out of Paris was a small challenge, in that the road signs indicating upcoming Xway entrance were abrupt.
A later time, we bought a GPS. Easie peasie Went thru the various roads, Xways like prunes thru a duck., even at rush hour.

Thanks tomboy.

I can't imagine being without a car for any of our 50 or so trips we've made to France in the past 35 years. The only time we've done so are trips to Paris only, and to Nice, Lyon & Marseille (this year) where we started with multiple days in these cities, and then picked up a car several days later.

We pretty much do the same thing every year. Last year we took the train from Paris to Strasbourg, rented a car, visited Alsace & Burgunjdy, returned the car a month later in Dijon, and took the train back to Paris. This June we'll take the train from Paris to Marseille, use a car, and return to Paris by train from Avignon. In Sept - train to Valence, car, and back to Paris from Montpellier. I realize that we could fly to Marseille or from Montpellier (we've done this - ugh!), but we hate multiple flights on the same leg (we have 3 flights daily from SFO to CDG). And on the return leg, it makes for a very long day. We kinda like the one-nighters in Paris too. Taking the train from CDG to our first destination would be fine - but the schedule just hasn't worked out. Plus we prefer the one-night in Paris.

I never design an itinerary where once we land in France, we need to fly or take a train from one area to get to another.

Car gives you the most flexibility. And like you noted - train strikes can pretty much throw your itinerary out the window. I'm a tad worried about our June train to Marseille. We may need to take a flight to Marseille if trains don't run (too far to drive).

Stu Dudley

Thank you both for all of the good info. When I drove in France in 1992 there was no Google maps so maybe it won't be so stressful this time. If we get good medical news for DH this week, I will move forward with plans to drive.

We are in the exact same situation as you. There may be a medical procedure that is needed so our trip could be postponed. We have full coverage with trip insurance.
We got our IDPs last week but they are good for a year.
We used to rent manual transmission but now book automatics. We always rent cars outside of cities in Europe and only used a train one time in Italy.
If Paris protests continue we may delete Paris and add those days to our other destinations in France. We were starting in Paris to get over jet lag before driving.
We loved Strasbourg, a beautiful city. Enjoy your trip!

I hope you're able to go on your trip, and good luck with the medical procedures.

I don't have an IDP, is that necessary?

It is required in France - unless something has recently changed due to Covid. I have not encountered any car rental agent that has asked for one. The only people who would show the least amount of interest, IMO, would be the police. We've been stopped by police, and they have not asked for an IDP. I suppose that if one pi**ed off a policeman, he/she might want to see an IDP. Don't know about insurance claims. We had a claim, and nobody wanted to see one - but that was about 4-5 years ago and perhaps before the "law" was passed requiring one.

Stu Dudley
.

Just download an app that gives you driving directions offline and you are good to go.

Stu, it sounds like the IDP is technically required but not vigorously enforced. OK, better safe than sorry. Thanks.

I've travelled to France some 30 or 40 times in my life and I've gone by boat, bicycle, foot, train, car and locally hired car.

Of these locally hired car seems to give you most flexability but actually you just plan more badly. I presently find train and taxi works out fine for when a bike is too much effort

Although it is nice to have the flexibility of being comfortable with a manual transmission, I would opt for an automatic transmission for two reasons: (1) it's simpler, and puts less stress on the driver; and, (2) it is going to be a step up from the cheapest rentals and will likely come with Apple Car Play (which will allow you to connect your phone and use it for navigation, with the caveat that you should have a paper map as a planning aid and cross check). You can download maps offline if you don't want to use data, but I opted to get an e-SIM from Orange, which allowed me to use data for navigation, and to surf the internet at will just like I would at home.

We traveled last May. I have a Visa from Chase bank which has a chip, but it is not a chip and pin card, and had no issues using it on the toll roads. I think there may have been one unattended gas station where it was an issue, but this was in the town where we were staying, and not a crucial stop along a drive.

One other bonus, if I were doing your trip, is that you could stop along your route from the Loire to Strasbourg at the Guedelon castle building site, which I find to be very interesting. Look for some Youtube videos if you want to know more about this project (they are building a castle using 13th century building methods, and getting closed to finished after 25 years).

"One other bonus, if I were doing your trip, is that you could stop along your route from the Loire to Strasbourg at the Guedelon castle building site, which I find to be very interesting."

This is indeed a very interesting place to visit. We spent most of a day there this past September. However, it is quite time-consuming. M_M already has about a 6 3/4 hr drive from the Loire to Strasbourg. Adding Guedelon would make this an 8 hour drive. Eight hours in a car and a 2-4 hour visit would be a very long day. Perhaps stay overnight in Beaune or Dijon. Dijon (along with Toulouse) is our second favorite city in France. Beaune is in our "top 5" of medium-sized cities. We spent several days in both Dijon & Strasbourg in September.

Stu Dudley

Actually I had looked at the driving time from the Loire Valley to Strasbourg and I was thinking we would stay somewhere along the way. I heard good things about Troyes, how does that compare with Beaune or Dijon?

It's pretty cheap....$10 or so at AAA....just consider it as trip insurance.

Re: the fear of running out of gas, and not speaking French:

A little ingenuity works. One Sunday in France in a remote village, the automatic gas pump wouldn't take our "pinless chip card'.
So I took a 20 euro note out of my wallet and put in the gas cap cover, flapping in the breeze.
In 5 minutes or less, a car pulled in. I waved another 20 at him to get his attention, held my card up and shook my head NO, and pointed to him, with a quizical look. He caught on immediately, took the 20, scanned HIS card, and filled up my tank. I said, "merci".
As he left to his own car, he said "have a good day".
'twas just like doing charades in the olden days

Good idea tomboy.

I called AAA, they said I can get an IDP in about 30 minutes. I'll do that after we get the medical news which determines if we will go, s/b this week.

Flip a coin.

Beaune is smaller, so getting in & out is less time consuming. Troyes is one of our favorites. We've visited it twice and stayed overnight each time. If you are a foodie - Dijon is noted as a gastronomic capital. Probably better museums in Dijon. Their main museum just went through a major re-do - but visiting it is very time consuming because there is a lot of stuff to see.. Troyes has some nice museums also. Both Dijon & Troyes centre ville is "pedestrian only". The Les Halles food market in Dijon is one of the best in France (we've visited 50-75 markets). It is open in the morning on Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat. Do not visit either Dijon or Troyes on a Sunday or Monday when most shops are closed. Beaune has fewer shops closed on Sundays. If you visit Dijon, pick up an "Owl Walk" at the tourist office & follow it.

Driving time between the Loire & Strasbourg via Troyes or Dijon/Beaune is about the same and mostly autoroute. We drove Strasbourg past Dijon last Sept.

If you decide to visit either Dijon or Troyes, we stayed at very nice places in each & dined at excellent restaurants. We have not visited Beaune in over 10 years - so my hotel/restaurant recommendations are old. Let me know if you would like any info about hotels & restaurants.

Troyes is actually pronounced just like the French pronunciation for the English number "three" (trois).

Stu Dudley

Last year at this time, all AAA offices in the greater San Francisco Bay Area were out of IDLs. Some were available in Eureka - about 5 hours away. We had a friend pick one up for us at her AAA office in San Diego, after we mailed her our application & picture . No working on-line system was available then.

Stu Dudley