I don't do it.
While picnicking with a friend today she invited me over to visit her at her apartment next week. I thought to myself that this could be a good opportunity for me to drive there with Max. She lives in the suburbs of Paris and it wouldn't be considered actual Paris driving.
I mentioned this to my husband and he thought it would be a great idea. Any mention of me driving is a great idea to my husband, he's been trying to get me to drive since we got our Twingo right before Maximilien was born. But the thing is Paris drivers are crazy. It seems like complete anarchy the way they drive. There are no lane markers and what is this crazy priorité a droite? But having a small baby and living in the city sometimes the public transportation just isn't possible. And every time we go on our big road trip to Belle Ile en Mer Julien is always the one to drive.
So, tonight after mentioning that I might take the car out to see my friend who lives in the suburbs Julien offers to go out with me TONIGHT to drive a little. He is that excited about me driving. I looked at him and saw visions of him being one of those front seat drivers yelling , "Non, par la, PAR LA!! and cringing at every move I'd make. He's done it before a long, long time ago when he was trying to teach me how to drive stick. Anyway... I pushed that image out of my head and told him that we'd do it another time. So the conversation ended like this:
Note: Julien and I speak to each other in two different languages. Me English, him French. Always has been like this. Totally throws everyone off but it works perfectly for us.
Julien (eyes aglow) : Ne t'inquiete pas, Je vais m'asseoir derrière avec Maximilien et regarderai Smallville sur ma PSP. Ce sera comme si je n'étais pas là. - Don't worry, I'll sit in the back seat with Maximilien and bring my PSP and watch Smallville. It will be like I'm not even there.
Me: "Yeah, right!! I know you, you'll be watching my every move. If I don't turn properly I'll hear it right away"
Julien: "Non, ma cherie....je serrerai les fesses si tu fais une betise. - I'll just squeeze my butt cheeks if I see you doing something wrong.
Yeah, yeah... so we'll see. In August all the Parisian are gone on vacation so I think we'll be doing some night driving to practice and Julien will have buns of steel from all the squeezing.
"Non, ma cherie....je serrerai les fesses...."
Thanks for the French lesson. I'm totally gonna use that.
Posted by: sfgirl | July 26, 2007 at 02:32
Well, if it is anything like Seoul...geee, never been so scared to walk at the crosswalk, with the light...in my life...or ride in a taxi holding Jack, and or Sarah in my arms...uhg....nightmares...
Squeeze Julien...backseat drivers are very annoying! ;)
Mary Anne
Posted by: Mary Anne | July 26, 2007 at 05:23
Oh my god, I wish Stéph would do that! When we are together, I would say 80% of the time he drives, so the few times that I do drive all I hear is "driving too close! you shifted badly! thats going to ruin the engine!" Or else I take a turn too fast and hes screaming little a little girl. Isnt he charming? *grrrrrr*
Posted by: Vivi | July 26, 2007 at 08:48
that's one of the joys of having an automatic car - not having to worry about shifting, etc at least lets you concentrate more on the actual driving.
and fab and i are the opposite - i'm the one always yelling at him. "Stop being so lazy and use your turn signals!" "Hey! Come on, you should've let that little old lady cross the road" or "Slow down, you're going to kill us"!!
Posted by: samantha | July 26, 2007 at 09:07
I think I'm the only expat who thinks that Paris drivers are not that bad. You just have to keep your eyes peeled and not hesitate. A cinch.
Admittedly, this is more difficult when there are children in the back seat screaming, singing at the top of their respective lungs, pulling each other's hair, etc, but other than that, it's a piece of cake.
Posted by: Jennifer | July 26, 2007 at 10:46
Man, I am so freaked out about even trying to drive in la région parisienne. Jenn's words SHOULD reassure me, but for the moment they don't... And would you believe that after more than 5 years here, I still haven't gotten my permis? Ugh, I've got to get on that.
Aimée, you and Julien sound so funnny together! This was hilarious... Now I need to get my boy to teach me how to drive a stick -- then at least I can maybe take the wheel when we're on road trips!
Posted by: Alice | July 26, 2007 at 11:10
We love to drive, it's often a battle between us to know who will drive our PT Cruiser :P
BTW, we will be in Paris in 2 weeks.
Posted by: Missty | July 26, 2007 at 13:51
I am curious to see how Paris drivers compare to Montreal drivers. We are apparently notorious for being the aggressive drivers here in North America. We'll be in Paris Monday, we will finally get to witness the famous Paris driving.
Posted by: Jiwon | July 26, 2007 at 14:27
You're brave! I'm not sure I could do that altho' I love the freedom driving offers. I've driven on the "wrong" side of the road in the UK,trying not to be intimidated by the truck flashing lights behind me as I pass 140km, driven 2000+km road trips with four kids in the car, negotiated hairpin downhill curves tickling terrifying dropoffs, and city-drive regularly (albeit in the relatively small and civilized city of Vanc'r), but drive in Paris -- are you kidding? But you impress me, through your blog, as capable of a great deal and I'm sure you'll be zipping through that traffic like a native, and parallel parking your Twingo in a spot that N. Americans would consider impossible (that might be the European/Parisian driving skill that most impresses me -- I've really pushed myself to improve my parallel parking since seeing what can be done with real motivation)
Posted by: materfamilias | July 26, 2007 at 15:31
The boyfriend doesn't allow me to drive. I mean, I drive the car without him, but if the 2 of us are going somewhere, he has to drive. We both know it's because I don't like being corrected and he won't be able to stop himself.
Buns of steel. I'm dying with laughter here.
Posted by: ambika | July 26, 2007 at 19:30
Hey, here's an idea... why don't you do a short practice run over to my place in the 15th? It's a straight shot almost the whole way down Rue Tolbia/d'Alesia/de Vouillé, no rond-points, and then you'd just have to drive around the block to get near my apartment and find a place to park on Rue Labrouste. Could be a nice confidence booster. You could work your way up to scarier parts of Paris after that.
Having said that, I grew up and learned to drive in New Jersey, with our crazy highways and have driven in New York City many, many times with never a single fear or worry (or accident). I am even planning to drive in England when I go there later this year. But I have ZERO interest in driving in Paris (though I might some day rent a car and drive elsewhere in France). So I totally get why you don't drive here. THESE PEOPLE ARE FRIGGING INSANE on the roads. It's like they take all that pent up energy they hide underneath those reserved and gentil exteriors and take it out on other drivers.
Posted by: The Bold Soul | July 26, 2007 at 23:00
omg. i LOVE that julien watches Smallville!
it's one of my faves
Posted by: Jenn | July 30, 2007 at 18:06
omg. i LOVE that julien watches Smallville!
it's one of my faves
Posted by: Jenn | July 30, 2007 at 18:07
Hum, we are now the 2nd of August... Did you start driving ?
Anyway, I admire you to be willing to drive in France. Christian, my compagnon, and I are both French, so you can imagine the atmosphere in the car when I had to start driving him around when he broke his ankle two years ago...
Remember one thing : if YOU are the driver, YOU know best how to apreciate the situation, try to ignore the yellings ;-)))
Posted by: Laure | August 02, 2007 at 11:52