Lost in Paris

On our way to the MBAT at HEC School of Management in Paris a few days ago, we got lost in Paris. I wasn't surprised. First, we were driving on the wrong side of the road. Second, we were driving on the right in a right-hand-drive car. Third, the signs were for inexplicably long French place names - and very difficult to read while driving along even at normal speed. And finally, I was completely foxed by the complex road numbering system in France (and a very bad map).


How do you read these signs? Or this map?

In fact we got lost almost immediately on driving into France. We were to take the A16 to Paris from Calais, and followed signs diligently. Yet how we landed onto the A26 and then on to the A1 I have no idea. What we did right was follow signs to Paris and that meant that though we took a rather circuitous route we eventually did get to Paris. However that also meant deviating from the planned route through Paris. And that's where it all went wrong.

In France motorways bear the prefix 'A' and National roads 'N' (what's the difference?). Local roads are 'D'. But then, there are also 'E' roads (what are they?). And if the map we had was to be trusted, some roads were both 'A' and 'E' on the same stretch. Or 'A' roads become 'E' roads. Or 'N' roads. Confused? Not as confused as I was while we were driving through Paris and I was trying to navigate in vain. I still am (confused - not trying to navigate in vain!). And for someone who believes in his sense of direction, it was a cruel, belittling, blow. Strangely, signs often prompted us to take the innermost lane - until we suddenly found we had to exit the busy motorway - changing 3 or 4 lanes in about a hundred metres or so. Bad enough for Seb, who was driving my car, but even worse for the driver of the second car, Joby, who had no idea where we were going and was blindly following us.


Are we on the A26? Or on the E15?

We drove around Paris, trying to decipher what road we were on, what direction we were moving in, and what road we were supposed to be taking next. The map didn't help either. Certain roads disappeared suddenly...and certain others had no numbers associated with them (well, they did, but not on our map). We found ourselves going round in circles, and rediscovering roads and landmarks we had seen only a few minutes before. I think we finally found our way through Seb's sense of direction (I console myself by thinking, 'I wasn't driving...I'd be more in control of my sense of direction if I was') and Vinita's map reading and backseat navigation skills.


Is our car likely to explode on this road? No, as it it turns out, it is the suggested route for vehicles carrying flammable materials.

On the way back from HEC three days later, we rather easily managed to get on to the main Paris ring road, the A86 - but did not realise for about 30 minutes and about 25-odd kilometres that we were in fact driving in the wrong direction! Then to compound matters all signs for the A86 suddenly disappeared and signs for the N86 (or was it E86?) appeared, and we thought we were lost again - until signs for the A86 magically appeared again (and signs for the N86 / E86 stopped!). Thankfully the nature of a ring road dictates that as long as you stay on it you cannot get lost - and though it probably meant about an extra 20-25 kilometres and about half an hour of lost time, we could find our way out of Paris and onto the A16 to Calais with relative ease.

Yet in some ways I found French roads absolutely fantastic. Contradiction? You bet. I suppose once you understand the city layout, the way roads are numbered, and what the major signs say, driving in Paris is a pleasure. On one of our nights there, we took a taxi from HEC, which I guess - judging from how long it took us - is about 30 kms from Paris centre, to Concorde Plaza in the heart of the city. I was surprised that right from leaving the HEC campus to Concorde Plaza we only had to stop twice - there were practically no traffic lights or roundabouts on the way. Almost every single junction was negotiated through a tunnel or over a bridge. A similar journey in London, and you can expect numerous sets of traffic lights slowing down traffic and increasing travel times substantially.

I guess I need to spend some time deciphering the French road system. It can't be that complicated. Or is it?



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