Part VI: Adventures in Barcelona. Provence and Carcassonne - Summer 2014

Collioure

 

A lovely seaside with a historic port and art everywhere, home of the Fauve movement. 

 

A short while after getting into France we headed east towards the Mediterranean.  There were lots of windy roads, and round-abouts, and signs towards a dozen different towns. 

Driving in France

Manual Transmissions You probably noticed the rental agencies didn't really offer automatic vehicles.  Our compact SUV was 6 speed, had a thick credit card that you stuck in the console between you and pressed a button.  It's taken me all this time to realize that really it's not only designed to optimize your MPG, but it's what allows you to cruise through the round-abouts.

Rond-point (Round-Abouts)  If you are not on the freeway, there will be round-abouts, which are used instead of traffic signals.  You yield the right of way into these. The sign as you approach usually shows the schematic of exits.  Sometimes it actually shows the name of exit  next to the symbol, but sometimes it's a list.  That list is in order.  If you miss your exit, simply go around again.

Know where You're Going   Make sure to note the bigger cities/towns near your destination.  The signs will show those first, so go that direction. 

Car Size Two issues I find are one, we need space for our luggage, and two, surprise!, there are actual medieval streets.

Country Roads

Here is an article I wish I had read before I visited: http://www.templarmechanics.com/templar_detail.asp?templarid=241 and either the same author wrote the Wikipedia page, or they plagiarized him.