06 Dec 07
Once on the other side of the Channel, the long drive by two tired grown-ups was made even less appealing by filthy weather - always a good start to a holiday. Thankfully, we found the S-Max to be comfortable enough to allow the non-driving adult to recline and snooze in leather and Alcantara seats while the other peered through the wipers at the roads ahead.
A number of things became apparent after a few days driving around France. The first was that we didn't see many other S-Maxes - and the ones we did were also British. There were certainly plenty of C4 Picassos around: the French, being the patriotic types they are, have obviously taken to the futuristic-looking MPV. I've driven it a couple of times and have to say that, while it has some interesting new gadgets and a great swooping windscreen, it isn't as good to drive as the Ford. Oh well, it's their loss.
The other thing I quickly noticed is how the French love signs: there were loads of them, everywhere. Now on the face of it, this is a good thing and something we poorly signposted Brits could learn from (on our return journey, I couldn't help but notice that there wasn't a single sign to a motorway from Poole harbour). But once you came off the autoroutes and main roads and entered the towns, it became something of a visual eyesore to the point of distraction. Every school, dentist, vet and shop seemed to have a sign at roundabouts and junctions: there's just too much information to process when you're driving and trying to work your way through the list to find the sign you're looking for.
There was one other thing about French roads - pedestrian crossings - that differs from the UK, but we'll come back to that subject later.
The most obvious phenomenon I picked up on was the cult of the Twingo. Certainly in the town that we were staying in, the old versions were everywhere. It was particularly noticeable because a) they were never sold in the UK, so their distinctive looks stood out to the English car-spotting eye, and b) it was simply the most popular car around by a country mile. It goes to show that the new version has big wheels in which to follow.
