i heard a story of needing a replacement cable for the car. Cannot remember what cable....brake, or whatever.

anyhoo......cos the cars in France are all Right-hand drive....all the cables in the country were short. Needed to fetch replacement cable from blighty. A 30 minute job ended up taking an eternity.

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

Your car's lights are not too bright. But all cars are set to illuminate the edge of the road higher than the centre of the road. Therefore, if you were driving an English car on the continent, you would blind the oncoming drivers. The reverse is also true. Therefore, all cars driving on the "wrong side" in the respective country have to dim their headlights by means of a foil. A friend in England told me that his friend, who is often on the continent, has a car (Skoda) where the lights can be set to continental conditions at the touch of a button.

Halfords European Driving kit for £32. Might be some saving on Amazon. Looks like breath kits have been dropped, but the light reflectors and GB stickers are a give away if you don't have them.
Used to be spare bulbs too. If so Fiesta sets are cheap!
I wouldn't worry too much. Enjoy yourself. Going September too - once all the kids back at school.

Does anyone happen to know if there is a ferry between England and France or Belgium where you can take your dog on deck? Normally you have to leave him in the car in the hold during the crossing, but our poodle would certainly make a fuss (and my wife on deck even more so).

Sorry, Dolphin, but I drive to France every year and you haven't needed a breathyliser for years. There was, I think, one year when taking one was recommended because the law was about to change, but the relevant law never came in. Repeat: you do NOT need a breathyliser to drive in France nor in any other EU country.

The GB sticker is now meaningless. You need a UK sticker.

You DO require headlight deflectors by law ie you could be fined if stopped, but I've never bothered.

You need one hi-viz for each occupant of the vehicle and they must be stored in the cabin and not in the boot, top-box etc.

The requirements for each European country are handily listed and easy to find on the RAC website.

The crit' air sticker is incredibly easy to purchase from the official French government website and it costs less than 4 quid, including postage. It covers you for every region you might deliberately or inadvertently pass through and it lasts for the lifetime of your vehicle. Provided you have ordered one and received confirmation, you can still drive in a controlled area if the sticker hasn't arrived by the time you leave blighty.

Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)

in the case of Civil Strife, do not park your car at Les Banlieus. Unless you want to torch it and claim some insurance money.

Drive through Britanny with a Paris sticker if you wish to be pelted with rocks......and with an Ireland sticker if you want your Celtic cousins to offer you free Cider, Crepes, and their daughter's hand in marriage.

Speakers of Welsh/Cornish can also attempt to chat with Breton elderlies in the native tongue.....with some amusing results.

I heard a rumour that David Lloyd George spoke Welsh with Clemenceau ( who had Breton ) and that the two could reasonably understand each other. To the bemusement of their London/Parisian contemporaries.

Edited by PalazioVecchio (21 Jul 2023 12.59pm)

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford