Imay be that every other UK resident driving in France except me already knew this – but on a recent trip with a French driver at the wheel I was puzzled as to why she kept giving way to traffic from the right on unmarked crossroads. Apparently this is common practice, especially in rural areas where the old French system of giving priority to all traffic from the right is still used.

Road signs can override this ‘rule’ and one should never assume, when approaching a junction, that other drivers are aware of this convention – they might be English ;-)

It seemed like a strangely ‘wrong’ thing to be doing. If traffic is driving on the right and you approach an unmarked crossroad you naturally look left. Made me wonder how I’d avoided a dent in the driver’s door for the past 20 years…

More info on driving in France can be found here…

Wikipedia - http://wikitravel.org/en/Driving_in_France

Since July the first 2008 it has become a requirement for all drivers and motor-cyclists to carry a reflective vest in or on their vehicle when travelling in France. This was already the case in several other European countries. Road users face a substantial fine if they are found not to be carrying one inside the vehicle for each vehicle occupant. More information is available (amongst other places) on the Norfolk Line website.

We recently wanted to take some ‘spare’ plants from our garden in the UK to our newly purchased French holiday home. Trawling the net produced lots of the same questions but many fewer answers. Even official sites like DEFRA are a bit impenetrable on the subject.  As far as I can make out, this is the basic situation…

Moving personal household and garden plants between EEC countries is mostly fine with some restrictions on plants known to harbour aggressive diseases. Between the UK and France – for example – there are restrictions on Vibernums, Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camelias which can carry ‘sudden oak death’ disease – ‘a deadly disease that kills trees by creating cankers which girdle the trunk and clog up their water-carrying veins’.

More info can be found here…

Sudden Oak Death - www.rhs.org.uk/advice/sudden_oak_death.asp

Restricted Plants: http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/publicat/impguid.pdf

In order to take your cat or dog on holiday with you to another EU country, you will need a pet passport. Most of the stringent rules actually apply to bringing your pet back to the UK. In a nutshell, you will need to complete the following steps in the right order..

1. Have your pet micro chipped
2. Have your pet vaccinated against rabies. (This can be done at the same time as 1)
3. Wait for 3-4 weeks and then have their blood tested to check the vaccine has ‘taken’
4. Wait for 6 calendar months from the date of the blood test before bringing your pet BACK into the UK
5. 24-48 hours before returning to the UK your pet must be treated for ticks and tapeworm
6. Have vaccinations against rabies at recommended intervals; (with dogs every three years)

Be careful never go over the due date or you will have to start again from scratch! Costs vary between vets so do shop around.

More information is available on the DEFRA website at www.defra.gov.uk