Self-Driving France Part 2: Everything You Need to Know

In Part 1 of this self-driving France series, we explored everything you need to know about car hire, speed limits and navigating the service stations in the stunning Alsace region.

In part 2, we continue exploring the gorgeous regions of southern France while providing the practical information you will need to self-drive stress-free. We begin by unpacking the toll system in France.

Negotiating the Toll System in France

France, like most European countries, has a massive network of Autoroutes. Each country funds these in different ways and in France it’s by tolls. As much as it’s great to get onto the back roads and by ways, there are times when freeways inevitably will be used to get from A to B quickly.

How to Pay Your Etoll

The toll system has the Etoll set up for locals but is well catered for a card or cash entry into a machine at the toll booth. Again, there is a language option but it’s pretty straight forward and so the language issue is not a problem. We sometimes saw hold ups when people had difficulty tapping their phone – so we always use a “real” travel card and have never had an issue when tapping with that.

The signage above the large toll booths advises which ones accept a card and or cash. It can be a matter of collecting a ticket from the booth on entry to the autoroute, submitting the ticket into the machine at exit and then tapping your card for the required amount. Sometimes these are a few Euro and there may be several junctures of toll booth on the one freeway along the way, or it can be an amount upon entry and then you are on your way. There can be some larger amounts in the order of 10 to 20 Euros, and these obviously add up.

Etoll Routes in Europe

The French have started to introduce purely Etoll routes on a small selection of freeways though we didn’t come across any of these on this trip. Apparently, they are well signed and it’s a matter of going online or paying at a variety of retail establishments after the event, within a few days. These will no doubt become more prevalent so some research ahead of your trip is advised. We will certainly be doing that prior to our planned trip in 2027.

Vignette Stickers and Digital Vignettes

A brief note about other countries because it’s important to research each and every one. There are differences. Italy, for instance is like France, as is Spain. In Germany Autobahns are free and have no speed limit! In Austria however, you need a “vignette” which is a sticker you apply to the windscreen – these are purchased from petrol stations near the border, so you buy one ahead of crossing over. They have varying periods so you can choose what suits your visit. The shortest period of ten days cost us about 12 Euros. Warning: the fine for not having one is substantial.

The same in Slovenia, where cameras will pick up your number plate and you’ll get a 300 Euro fine if you don’t have a digital vignette before you drive on a National road. In Slovenia it’s a matter of registering at a petrol station, where they take your number plate and put it into the system. You can get a few days or longer periods depending on how long you are staying.

Portugal is a whole other animal, not cheap at all and the system (whilst improved from our visit in 2023) is convoluted….we were still receiving the charges to our card three months after our return! All I’ll say is research the Portuguese system carefully (it’s still definitely worth a visit, don’t let their toll system put you off!).

What is a ‘Bludge’ Day and Why it is Essential When Self-Driving France?

In Marssac, we started our stay with a “bludge day”! Bludge days are of course an essential part of any holiday. When you have a car and there is so much to see and experience, the temptation is to want to do EVERYTHING! So, it’s important we find, to just opt out of exploring from time to time and enjoy the house, some great food and wine, have a read and a swim and even watch some telly.

Here again though, comes a great benefit of having a car. It allows you to find accommodation that is not as expensive as a hotel and is more luxurious with all the features and resources one would want. And whilst it’s wonderful to dine out often when on holidays, having a car means you can shop, eat at home and still access wonderful local food. This particular bludge day, as with others on our trip, the food and wine were grand and, we were spending less.

Exploring Gorgeous Marssac, Albi and Toulouse

Next day was the opposite as we packed in heaps!! We walked along the Tarn river into the village of Marssac and after returning we set off for the nearby town of Albi; a magnificent World Heritage listed city which is home to the Toulouse-Lautrec museum, housed in an extraordinary 13^th century castle adjacent to a massive and spectacular cathedral. The grounds are equally spectacular. A not insignificant town by size and content, yet I’d never heard of it. It is a treasure still largely undiscovered by tourists.

After Albi we drove on to Toulouse and found the crowds. So many people! It was very beautiful but absolutely heaving. We walked and walked through the massive old city, doing around 23,000 steps in one day. We were there to collect our son arriving by train that afternoon, having flown into Paris from Australia that morning. Toulouse is known as “la Ville Rose” due to the colour of the traditional bricks: it is very beautiful, but we didn’t feel quite at ease.

Things to Be Wary of When Exploring Toulouse

Beggars working in teams were everywhere, particularly around the train station. Young women at pains to show you their babies in their prams, were working in a team when you watched them from a distance. A distraction on a staircase as someone had a medical episode; hold on to your wallet and keep your wits about you. These were all things that we witnessed or felt. It was an unease that we had rarely felt before. Larger cities all have issues, and Paris is no exception but we’ve never felt unsafe there. In Toulouse, an undeniably beautiful city, we were not at ease and when we collected Aidan, we breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to Marssac.

Understanding How Parking Works in France

Throughout our trip we obviously needed some idea of how parking would operate; both for accommodation as well as day trips. When visiting a town, we typically entered into the GPS a parking station close to the middle of town and often we were in luck for a spot.

Cost of Parking When Self-Driving France

Parking was not generally expensive for a few hours. You can just get into the heart of somewhere and leave as you want. The systems are much like in Australia and again there is always a language option on the machine. From time to time there is a booth operated by staff. The entrances, exits, pathways and parking places themselves can take a little, or a lot, of getting used to.

Forget any ideas of space that you might have about a parking station in Australia. Often, it’s a case of the passenger getting out before you reverse into a spot, as they won’t be able to open their door afterward! They can be very, very tight!

Accommodation Parking

When staying within a town, either at a hotel or a house, the accommodation will almost always have specific detail on parking options such as whether it’s onsite, whether it’s free or if the accommodation is in an area with no or limited vehicle access, which can often be the case. Directions to parking options will then be provided.

Very often, especially with hotels, they will have an arrangement with a parking station for longer term parking at a discounted rate. Often this will mean paying for a parking ticket at the accommodation to use on exit from the parking station. Or, if the parking is a long way from the accommodation they may have discounted taxi rates from the parking area to the site. This can even be a flat rate.

In larger cities, 24-hour parking prices can be a significant cost factor. We paid up to 30 Euro per 24-hour period, so this is an important area to research as it needs to be included within your budget for the accommodation you book. Finding a house, in town, with parking on site is simply the best! Come and go as you see fit!

From Marssac we travelled into Iberia and spent the next month in Spain and Portugal. Wow!! But that’s a whole other story; maybe for another time! When we re-entered France, it was from the Costa Brava. We’d been staying the previous days in Catalan country not far from the French border, with views to the Pyrenees, and upon re-entering France there was a jaw-dropping drive with wonderful views of the Mediterranean as we made our way out of Spain.

The Stunning Village of Eus

Our first stay back in France was a few nights in a stunning village called Eus. We travelled there via Collioure along a route called the Route de Vins. Vineyards anointed the landscape and rolled down to the Mediterranean Sea on our right. Then we headed inland along backroads. Wow! Such spectacular scenery and vast drops and cliffs, all the way along the road.

Through quiet lanes and isolated villages with landscapes lined with conifers and cork trees, we didn’t see another car for hours. A couple of motorbikes and push bikes but no cars! Before we got to Eus we stopped at the geological marvel Les Orgues d’lille-sur-Tet. These features evolved due to erosion of what was once a sea floor, over tens of millions of years, resulting in pillars reaching up above you and presenting like an organ or a person’s hand high above. They are called “hoodoos” and have taken over 50 million years to form and, with every rain event, little by little, they have worn away.

From this marvellous segue we travelled into Eus.

Where to Stay in Eus

We had been looking forward to this accommodation, Casa Ilicia. Within the town, a young couple had built three accommodation options on the side of the hill with the top story being open to the elements. Completely private due to its angle away from the village it had uninterrupted views of the largest mountain in that area of the Pyrenees – Mount Canigou. Parking was on the street below and then it was a matter of a few flights of stairs up to our deck.

One half of the space was roofed so had it rained we would have had shelter. There were mozzie curtains though they were never needed. The bathtub was in the open and there you could look out over the countryside and the Mountain or at night gaze up into the sky!

Stairs are What makes a Village Special….Right??

Many old European villages are built on a hill or a peak, a typical defensive process back at the time. So, to explore means plenty of climbing up stairs – but it’s always worth it and there’s always the trip down afterward! I got into a lot of trouble with my wife on this trip by saying “let’s get them in the bank”. I reckon I was on thin ice by the end.

In Eus, amongst these stairs there was a small courtyard and there we found “the” place to eat in town. There are always special places in villages like these. Eus may not be accessible to large groups, but people seek it out and come by car and the locals will always require a bistro or restaurant with extraordinary food. To settle into a fine meal, in a town square, with a view such as Eus provides, is everything you could wish for on the “perfect” French holiday.

The Village of Mayrueis

From Eus, our next stay was in Mayrueis; close to the Gorge du Tarn and Gorge de la Jonte.

Where to Stay in Meyrueis

We stayed in Chateau d’Ayres, a 12th century monastery located just outside the village of Meyrueis. It sounds lavish, and it was, but again – these places are relatively affordable. It was everything you might expect in terms of opulence, having been run by the same husband and wife team for over 50 years. The restaurant was fabulous, and the fine weather allowed for outside dining on the terrace within the gardens.

We spent a lazy afternoon on our picnic rug in the grounds, enjoying local produce and wine. We ate, drank and fell asleep in the mottled light beneath the trees. It was wonderful. However, the real hero of our time in this area was the Gorges. Of all the driving we did in France, this was the highlight – and it’s difficult to discriminate on this subject but, for this area of France words do not adequately convey the beauty, the scope, the wildness, the sheer walls of nature that drop away from you or soar above you.

The Jaw-Dropping Drive Above the Gorges

Driving out of Meyrueis, there are five ways to choose, and every single route is gobsmackingly stunning. No words, just no words. On one day we drove up above the Gorge de la Jonte and onto a plateau before descending to the Gorge du Tarn. And “descend” means dozens and dozens of switchbacks. We reached the last couple and had almost made our way to the village below when we came across a couple of cars stopped in front of us.

Beware the Unprepared Camper Van Drivers!

A camper van had been trying to come the other way and was never going to make the switchbacks. It didn’t! It’s base got stuck on the angle and some locals were working furiously to lift it so it could be moved, somewhat, out of the way. Thankfully they were able to do this shortly after we arrived. I had just done some very nervous reversing to a point where I could turn around, when the camper van was successfully put back onto all four wheels and in a position where we could get past.

Camper vans are not our thing, though I understand the appeal for many. Europe certainly has plenty of them, but, if you’re going to do it, a special kind of research has got to be involved. This La Dill, should never have been on that road.

An Afternoon on the Tarn River

From a plateau that featured bison, sheep (the local cheese is magnificent), wheat and forestry, we had entered the gorge and made our way through villages until we found the lovely Sainte Enimie. Set along the gorge, beneath the cliffs and on the Tarn, we stopped for a picnic lunch on the banks of the Tarn and swam in the water holes that present regularly along the river’s winding course. Canoeing is a popular option here and families, Dad’s and sons, groups of friends, floated past from time to time as we swam and lunched, and enjoyed a chilled local rose!

You can hire a canoe and let the river flow take you along to your designated collection point – they’ll return you to your car afterward. This is common along the many rivers in Europe and is something we must do when on our next trip which will be on the Dordogne. Packing up and driving off in a different direction afforded many more spectacular views and towns. This is what driving in France is all about – absolument!

Discovering Chateau de Peyrelade

Another day, we drove along the Gorge de la Jonte in search of what is a most remarkable Chateau at the mouth of the Gorge du Tarn. Chateau de Peyrelade is certainly off the beaten track. Our GPS suggested a non-traversable road but we luckily found a small sign that directed us up a narrow rural laneway until we got to the Chateau.

A few Euro’s to get in, paid to the young man in the office and the place was ours to explore – quite surreal. The castle sits upon a rocky outcrop and is freakish in its appearance. No one could have conquered this place; it would have been impossible to siege and its views over the Tarn mean that it had been held as a significant fortification for centuries, even being shared for three months at a time amongst various nobility of the era.

Yet, the only way you are seeing a place like this, is via a car trip. No tour would go there and even if they wanted to a bus was not getting up that laneway. It was so very special.

Part 3 of Self-Driving France

The final post in our self-driving France series, which will be published soon, will cover exploring Uzes in the beautiful Provence region as well as the stunning Annecy!

Please note: all advice, observations etc are made in good faith and were our experience as best recalled. All prospective travellers should do due diligence on all matters relating to travel (and the subjects covered in this journal) and take responsibility for their own decisions.