French highway numbers are prefaced with a letter designation. In France, you
should travel primarily on Departmental roads, which are designated by the
letter "D." Because Departmental roads are generally narrow and often curve
frequently, motorized traffic on these roads is typically light. Most French
drivers stick to the National roads, designated by the letter "N" or the Autoroutes (expressways), designated by the letter "A." Though your route may
occasionally include a short stretch on an "N" road, it will never take you onto
an autoroute. On the Departmental roads, highway number signs are typically
stone markers with yellow tops flanking the road and blending beautifully into
the surroundings.
French road signs indicating distances to upcoming cities / towns are
fundamentally different from the same type of sign in the United States. In
France, upcoming cities are listed from the farthest (at the top) to the closest
(at the bottom); this, of course, is opposite the manner in which Americans are
accustomed to seeing distances presented on road signs.
Upon entry into a city or town, you will typically see a sign indicating the
city / town’s name and in most cases, the number of the road on which you are
entering the city / town. We suggest you use these road signs to confirm you are
on course. Similarly, when leaving a city or town, you will nearly always see
the same type of sign, but with a diagonal line through it; this signs means you
are leaving the city / town.
Also, upon entry into most cities and many towns, as well as throughout the
city / town, you will often see signs directing you to local hotels. Directional
signs to individual local hotels are usually grouped together. These signs are
often all you need to find your hotel.
On roads where repair / construction is in progress, you will often encounter
temporary traffic lights set up to control the flow of traffic in one direction
at a time. It’s important to note that red means stop and flashing yellow means
proceed with caution. Don't wait for green, because there is none.
You will often encounter permanent traffic lights set up at tunnel and
bridge entrances to control the flow of traffic in one direction at a time.
These however, are standard traffic lights with red, yellow, and green.
Therefore, don't proceed until you have the green light. Also, if you are the
first to arrive at such a traffic light when it’s red, move forward until you
are adjacent to the light. Such traffic lights are often triggered by motion
sensors; if you’re too far back, the light may never turn green.
The French often use yield signs (which look the same as those used in North
America) at points where Americans are accustomed to seeing a stop sign or a
traffic light. When you encounter a yield sign in France, remember that the
cross traffic does not stop! For your safety, treat yield signs as stop signs.
Finally, when approaching traffic circles, remember that you don't have the
right-of-way when entering the traffic circle. Instead, before entering, you
must yield to traffic already in the circle. Traffic in the circle always
travels counterclockwise.
