OK to drive in Paris?

Really, is it really that difficult to drive in Paris? We are staying in

Paris for 3 days and at the end of those days we would like to pick up a rental car to drive to Normandie (or Burgundy first, not sure yet) and the countryside. We have never been to France before and time will be an issue. The rental car company has pickup locations around Paris. If we pick up a car in Paris and

followed a map, would it really be that difficult to find our way around? I understand there is a car rental pickup at the Musee du Louve. Any comments?

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It is really difficult to drive around Paris - not just to follow the maps etc but you really need nerves of steel - there are a few areas where I likened driving to a modern form of jousting! Drivers switch lanes in the blink of an eye and seem to think that horns are an essential part of driving. I didn%26#39;t drive a car there - I was a passenger with someone who loves driving and has driven all over the US and Europe and he was so frustrated and angry by the time we got out of Paris that I thought he would have a stroke! Give it a try if you must and you will have a few good stories to tell once your heartrate retruns to normal but we got the train back into Paris...The trains out of Paris are fantastic and driving regionally is no problem. As for getting a car at Musee du Louvre...it%26#39;s bang in the city centre and will be difficult to say the least to get out of the city.

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I drive in Paris frequently (eventhough I do not love it).

Map your route and stay in the right lane if you have doubts. Ignore drivers honking behind you. Practive tunnel vision. You can do it if you are used to big city driving like NYC, Boston etc.

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Paris is a nightmare for driving. Trust me. A nightmare. Add the crazy traffic, varying speeds of drivers, insane taxi drivers, rond ponts, pedestrians and one way streets that you can%26#39;t figure out...you get the picture.

I would suggest getting a car on the outskirts of Paris (for instance if you are going to Normandy, get one in Neuilly sur Seine or thereabouts). The Louvre is the exact center of Paris and the area around the Louvre is terribly congested.

Les

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I just returned from Paris/Normandy and rented a car. Based on suggestions here, I rented at Port Maillott. I used my portable gps and didn%26#39;t have any difficulties.

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I agree with Les - once you know where you are headed, pick a point on the outskirts of Paris (or even beyond) and get the car there as it will be much less stressful (my husband still tells stories about getting lost, accidentally ending up circling the Arc de Triomphe, and only eventually fighting his way out of there to get to the place he was trying to go, outside of Paris).

One possible way to do it - take the RER or a regular train to a stop just outside Paris. It won%26#39;t take long (or be very expensive if you book ahead) and the stations that also are TGV stops almost always have all the %26quot;usual suspects%26quot; in car rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, and the major European ones). Then you can just make your way to whatever route heads in the direction you have decided (as the two you are considering are opposite directions, obviously you will want to decide that question first, LOL!)

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I actually enjoyed driving in Paris, but it is to be done with caution. A balance of defensive and aggressive driving is required. Watch out for motor bikers, push bikers and pedestrians, not to mention other cars. As am unwritten rule (at least I think it is unwritten), if you are behind someone it is your responsibility to avoid the accident.

A word of caution, ensure you understand your insurance well before pulling out with the car. The possibility of a scratch or a ding is a real possibility of not a probability.

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we have driven in and out of Paris several times including picking up a car at the place near the Louvre and dropping one at Gare du Nord

it is like driving in New York or Boston or Seattle or Chicago -- not worse -- with a good map it is just city driving -- there can be horrendous traffic jams like in any city -- it took my husband over an hour to get from our apartment in Montmartre to the rental at Nord because of traffic -- and the one way streets etc make it tricky

I wouldn%26#39;t worry much about picking up a car to go out of town -- just get a route lotted before leaving the rental -- and get out to the periferique and off you go -- it is actually a bit harder to come in and locate the rentals which are usually underground and badly signed

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To those of you half heartedly thinking of doing it - don%26#39;t. As others have said you need the patience of a saint, and nerves of steel. I have done it but have no desire to repeat the experience. (Still haven%26#39;t paid a parking fine from 1989: hotelier told us it was Ok to park outside, car was ticketed but hotelier advised they would never be able to trace a British registered car)

Instead, next time you%26#39;re in Paris just look at the number of cars with dents, dinks, and scratches; it seems to be every other vehicle. That, in my book, speaks volumes.

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Use the métro in Paris. It is economical and one of the most efficient transit systems in the world

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Is it that difficult? Yeah, it is.

Being an ancient city, many of the streets were built with horse-drawn carriages in mind. since the buildings can%26#39;t be moved, this makes for either very, very narrow two-lane streets with no parking, or very, very narrow one-way streets with cars crammed in belly to belly for miles. Street signs are very small and difficult to read, and the enormous roundabouts are not like anything you%26#39;ve ever dealt with in the States.

Parking is extremely hard to find and breathtakingly expensive, and is proportioned so tightly that you%26#39;ll find yourself wondering if you%26#39;re going to make it back to the car rental lot with your side mirrors intact. Even if you%26#39;re a skilled driver.

There are several times more traffic than the streets were ever designed to bear -- I%26#39;ve sat in traffic jams for hours in Paris -- worse than any I%26#39;ve ever come across in the US.

We have driven in Paris, but find that it%26#39;s so stressful and difficult that we prefer to stay on the outskirts of the city and take a train/metro to anywhere we want to go.

It%26#39;s not the end of the world, but it is far more hassle than it could possibly be worth.