If you plan to drive on the roads of France, do not forget to take with you the papers that should be provided when a check is conducted by the police as it is customary on the part of the French police to conduct immediate checks to ensure that everything is perfect law-wise in driving.
If police in France ask you to bring forward the documents for verification while driving on the roads of France, you may produce these papers : driving license, papers related to the proprietorship of the car you are driving, an official ID card and of course insurance papers. The police are strict because of the crime of car theft is on the rise in France.
The ID card must be a national identity card or a passport. Almost all foreign driving licenses are acceptable in France for up to one year of your arrival in the country. Card ownership proofs are known as cart gris in French which means grey car, while insurance papers are known as cart vert, or green card.
If you own a second-hand car then make sure to collect the concerned documents from the previous owner because police has every right to levy fine on you if you are caught driving in France without the car ownership documents.
Take Photocopies of these car related papers and never place them anywhere in the car because they could be seen by others. This is due to the fact that the thefts related to car are ever increasing in France and take care you should not fall a prey to these thefts. Moreover you should not be caught by the police in France.
While driving in France, be mindful of the fact that you are outside your own country and the rules certainly are dissimilar. For example it is a traffic error in France if you turn right at red light, while it is legal in the US. Otherwise it should be a entertaining experience for the drivers on the roads of France.
While driving in France be especially aware of the fact that all drivers coming from the right have prime concern. This is irrespective of the sizes of the two roads and even applies on T junctions. French drivers are accustomed to this so will often pull out of smaller paths onto busy main roads expecting you to slow down. The exception to this rule in France is while you are on traffic circles. In such cases priority goes to the person already on the circle.
The standard limit while driving through built up areas in France is 50km p/h. When you are on the open roads of France you have to decelerate to 50km p/h when you see a white sign with red borders displaying the name of a place in black, this means you’re getting into a built up area. You can resume higher speed driving when you see the same sign with a red crosswise line through it which indicates that you’re leaving the built up area.
130 km p/h is the speed allowed on auto routes in France which are the biggest motorways. The speed permitted on dual carriageways is of course 110km p/h where the limit is 90km p/h while driving on smaller district highways. These speed limits are not to be displayed on the roads and this is a defect and so you are expected to be aware of these rules.
The Paris subway ticket is undoubtedly the best way to be mobile inside the city. If you are thinking of travelling to the countryside then check this page on driving rules in France.