help! heading to paris and then the Loire Valley in September and was planning to rent a car to drive around the countryside with my boyfriend, but neither of us knows how to drive a stick shift. A quick check on Hertz and Avis show they have no automatics at the Tours train station where we had planned to rent a car. Should we rent in Paris? Anyone have any tips for us?

You have 5 months in which to learn.<BR>Assuming you have two normal arms and two normal legs, I don't see why you cannot.<BR>Of course, finding someone with a manual shift who will put their car at risk is another matter.

If you can't find a friend who don't mind having their transmission &quot;synchrotrashed&quot;, your local driving school usually offers a stick refresher course.

Did you ask the rental agencies if they have any automatics outside Paris, perhaps Chartres or Fontainebleau? Did you try Autoeurope? Driving out of Paris is not that bad, and it would give you the opportunity to visit Chartres on the way to the Loire. I would not recommend learning how to drive a manual and then go to Europe and use a manual while trying to get used to Frnehc road signs and driving habits.

I live and work in Manhattan, therefore learning to drive a manual is out. What's Autoeurope? a local car rental place?

I don't know why learning to drive a manual is out, no matter where you live. <BR><BR>Autoeurope is the &quot;leading&quot; car rnetal broker for Europe. They are NOT a car rental company; they have no cars, but they will provide you a quote and arrange a car rnretal for you -- might be with Avis, Nationa, etc - - and save you 25-50% of what you would pay otherwise.<BR><BR>See www.autoeurope.com<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

www.autoeurope.com. It's basically an agent for European rental car companies.

Um, first of all, i live in new york city. most people here don't even own cars (myself included) so i don't have someone to borrow a car from. second of all, it would be extremely expensive to take a class to learn how to drive stick shift just to use the skill for three days in europe. lastly, i'm not sure why anyone cares whether i learn to drive a stick. i asked this question because i wanted some info on renting cars in europe (thanks, btw, for the autoeurope site, i will check it out) not to be told to go learn how to do something.

Amyknyc,<BR> As a fellow NYer I understand fully how hard it would be to borrow a car (I don't think I know more than 2 people who own cars!) and learn to drive a stick shift...I can just see you bucking up Madison!!!<BR> <BR> Automatics are much more plentiful than they used to be in Europe and the trick is to just hook up with one on the right day at the right place. AutoEurope reps locations just everywhere. You might ask also about Orleans as another possible pick-up location. Good luck.

It isn't that expensive to learn to drive a stick shift. It would just take a few lessons. The problem with not learning is that when you reserve an automatic (and it is possible) they are so rare that there's a strong possibility that when you arrive to pick up your car, they'll tell you they don't have an automatic even though you reserved it. They can substitute cars any time. Remember this is Europe. They'll look at you and throw up their arms and say, &quot;We just don't have one here&quot;. Also if your car breaks down they may not have an automatic to replace it. If you want to drive in Europe, and this won't be your last time, you need to drive a stick. Just look at it as another skill to learn.

If you do find an automatic transmission car in France, you'll be paying out the ass for it. Not just the rental rate but the cost of the extra gasoline needed.

I see you got lots of silly answers. Keep it simple, rent in Paris (maybe go back to the airport for selection and ease of getting out of town). The US companies aren't always the biggest/best in Europe, but if you are renting at the airport, getting an automatic shouldn't be a problem. <BR><BR>The autoroutes are pretty straightforward driving (though the tolls are a bit expensive). If you are driving around the back roads, investing $20 in a decent road atlas (spiral bound type) can be worthwhile to avoid confusion in the roundabouts.

amyknyc: I agree with Michael -- look for another site (other than in Paris) that has automatics. But as others have said - reserving an automatic is just the beginning. You can always ASK for one -- BUT there is no guarantee you will get one. If a rental location has an automatic or two, OK but what if the previous renter decides to keep it another day -- or they wrecked it and there just isn't another one available?<BR><BR>There will be no recourse - if an automatic isn't available that's it. And if you have mechanical problems or an accident you won't get a replacement automatic.<BR><BR>This is just to remind you to be flexible - you may end up on buses/trains if you just can't cope w/ a stick. <BR><BR>(Lordy - Europeans must think Americans are daft -- can't drive a stick and can't learn how ?!)

Lordy, something tells me Janis doesn't live in NYC.

No - I TOTALLY understand the NYC issues. I was just thinking how it might look to others who drive sticks w/o a 2nd thought ---

<BR>Take a train to a suburb, rent a car for the day with someone who can drive a stick and practice in an empty car lot, like at a business that is closed on Saturday/Sunday. That is the way my friend taught her son to drive a shift car.

Don't use NYC as a crutch. I live in NYC and drive a stick. Many people in NYC drive sports cars with stick. They still sell them here in the US and some of us prefer them.

My daughter and I took the train to Chartres and rented an automatic there from AutoEurope- no problems at all. We then drove to the Loire, had a great three days there and then returned the car to Chartres. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was not overly expensive.

I never learned either. And in renting cars for over 25 years, have asked and always received an automatic..but I am willing to pay for the convenience. Try Autoeurope, kemwel, though I have never had trouble with Avis. But I rent at the airports outside of Paris and go from there.

Here's 2 other companies you can try. Last June in Germany, we rented an Opel with automatic transmission through the first one (Nova rentacar-europe). Their prices are often better than Autoeurope:<BR><BR>http://rentacar-europe.com/<BR><BR>www.ofran.com