Alfa in France

[LukeC]

I thought I would make a post while on route back home from France. Has some Alfa relevance since I ended up with an Alfa Giulietta as a hire car.

Buried VERY deep in the online hire car documentation is a statement that says if you do not arrive at the specified pickup time, the hire car company may not be able to give you the car specified. Well, we were more than an hour late and the auto 1 series BMW I had chosen so my wife could start getting used to a left hooker allegedly was not available. After first trying to give me a Yaris (Not on your life, François!) and then trying to screw us into a non-gratis upgrade Merc C class (Almost equally yuck), I was offered a manual Alfa Giulietta. I can live with that... A long hour later we were away. First time in a manual left hooker in 4 years from Gare du Nord in central Paris...

It was a much nicer car than the Diesel Giulietta that we had in Italy 4 years ago. I think that was a poverty pack, and did not have much in the way of B&Ws. This one (I think as I did not lift the bonnet to inspect the inevitable moulded plastic engine cover) was a 1.4 Multiair Turbo. From what I can gather, similar in power at around 120 kW, but less torque than the diesel. The one we had before was pretty uninspiring in the interior (grey velour and cheap silver plastic). This one was a lovely deep metalic burgundy and a fair bit more up spec with faux carbon fibre and alcantara etc (to which I now am a complete convert) and better wheel/tyre spec. I left the DNA switch in D for the 1500 km I drove in and around Paris, and in the French countryside. An easier car to love and enjoy than the previous rental with the sweeter engine, sharper handling and much nicer interior. Not a squeak or a rattle! I could live with one of these on a day to day basis if I was not such a lover of Subaru wagons.

Once again, I was generally impressed by European drivers... Why does Australia breed such incompetent, arrogant and ignorant drivers? The French drive much like the Italians from memory.

Apart from the running around Paris that we had to do, we drove south to the Loire Valley and across to Normandy. The driving was everything from country lanes to the wonderful (but expensive) Autoroutes. Sitting on 140 km/h on almost billiard table smooth roads through the picture-perfect French countryside was so much more enjoyable than our "equivalent" Hume highway.
Le Mans was on the way, so a quick drive around the parts of the track that are public roads near Mulsanne.

My first visit to France of what will be many. What stands out: The food and wine of course... OMG! How friendly, warm and helpful the French are. Completely blowing the myth away in my mind. One narky French waiter on the Champs-Elysees that thinks you are English (and made us laugh for hours) does not represent the population.

Une baguette supplémentaire s'il vous plait!

[Citroënbender]

Wonderful story, thank you. Re the roads, can you update the post in due course once the hire company deducts the péage total?

Gutsy start to a driving holiday, kicking off from central Paris in a manual LHD car!  11/10 for courage.

[carlo rossi]

great story ,
I remember the first time I drove in paris, and I agree with citroenbender "gutsy start " 11 un marked  lanes on the Arch de Triumph  roundabout
I was always amazed at how close all the cars were in the parking strips I said to my wife "how in the hell do they do that"
Then a kindly frenchman came up to me after attempting to get into a reverse park( which I am normally  proficient at)said in a lovely french accent in english you just lightly push the other cars back and leave your hand brake off and out of gear so they can do the same .The light just didnt switch on the chandelier crashed .What a great idea ! imagine Sydney say mid west
you would end up with a gun at your head or a brawl I completely agree with LUKEC what is wrong with us
the majority seems to take angry pills the minute we get into a car
WE have got it so wrong .Cranky police ,manic drivers ,stupid speed limits ,and roadwork zones that go on forever with NO WORK happening or NO end of roadworks sign Those sign people should be fined for disruption
hold on Im getting angry now Thats it!!! we are over manipulated castrated by laws before we begin to drive ,we buy lovely cars that we can only look at .Driving invokes alot of anxiety in australia and you can lose your licence in an instant
Police here cant wait to get everyone ,because its no longer a job ( italian style ) its a Grand final sport, its revenge,its ANGER

enough ranting its making me angry


GO to europe Hire a great car and enjoy the roads if we all do it it might change our ways

[kaleuclint]

Most car rental companies NEVER commit to providing a specific model, just a car from a given 'class' or higher.  My wife cracked it in Paris once when the Renault we sought wasn't available.  After a couple of hours she realised the Mercedes they gave us was better...

The first time my wife drove LHD in France was brief; a couple of minutes.  She turned left at an intersection.  I asked her to pull over and stop.  I then asked her what side of the road she was on.

The Loire with its chateaux and Normandy (guessing Le Mont-Saint-Michel?) are just superb.  You are right, even l'autoroutes are enjoyable in their own way.  A memory etched in my mind (this is the late 'nineties) is of being overtaken all the time by Citroen Xantia turbodiesels.  Always metallic green paint for some reason and always doing 150 plus minimum.  Les Flics are tolerant and sensible.  I never got booked in France or Germany, and I know I was radar trapped more than once well over the limit, even on urban roads.

Next month my wife and son are driving the Pacific Coast Highway and across the Mojave from Vegas.  She's not looking forward to revisiting LHD.  As for the rental car I think they are going for a Mustang convertible.  Hoping they don't get a GMC Yukon.

[Paul Gulliver]

Gutsy start to a driving holiday, kicking off from central Paris in a manual LHD car!  11/10 for courage

We did that about thirty years ago. It was so long ago , If you hired a car for a month on longer they would actually sell you a new car  and then they bought it back at the end of the month.
( Citroen bender , it was actually the Citroen company that organized it) . Anyway picked up the car on Christmas eve and it was every bit as scarier as I thought it would be . After a couple of terrifying hours in central Paris trying to make our way out to the Boulevard Périphérique with my wife with the French equivalent on the Melways on her lap and me screaming at her. I was sure we were in the right spot , but there was no  Boulevard Périphérique . We stopped and then I looked 20 meters above me and there it was,  but no on ramp . After another hour we finally got on to it and I have never seen such a long line of cars all stopped , brake lights as far as the eye could see.

It certainly made me appreciate how well set out Melbourne is with Hoddles grip.  Easy to drive around the block and get to where you needed to be . The thought of driving around in triangles in Paris still makes me shudder

[aggie57]

I remember that system Paul. Many people took advantage of that system. I'm pretty sure other French makers had similar systems.

My first French driving experience was in my '76 Alfetta 1.6, RHD, on a weekend trip to Le Mans. 1981, seems like last week. That's a story for another time.

[kaleuclint]

I still have the (red) plate on the wall of my garage:  Renault D.V.S.E. based at Yvelines.  They'd lease cars for tourists doing up to six month stays and they also arranged our military/diplomatic cars in France.  Peugeot and Citroen had the same scheme.