French farmers launch blockade of oil refineries and fuel depots

You will be fine Helen. It will take a few goes to get used to it but it will become second nature. When I return to the UK I find sitting on the other side of the car really bizarre now!

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Iā€™m right handed Bill and canā€™t really identify why and when I started to muddle up my left and rightā€¦my partner is left handed and there have been many instances where we havenā€™t been able to see eye to eye when he tries to show me how to do something which seems easy for him but less so for meā€¦Heā€™s all for me going LHD but itā€™s me thatā€™s currently going to be driving it the majority of the timeā€¦Iā€™m insured up to the hilt on the LHDā€ā€¦ā€.toutes les risquesā€ and no excess and English speaking helplines on European breakdown coverā€¦(note to self cancel ADAC)ā€¦The Renault has no handbrake as suchā€¦at least not what Iā€™m used toā€¦! x :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the encouragement Mandyā€¦Iā€™m feeling well out of my depthā€¦two years on and having never driven a la droite prior to leaving U.K.Iā€™m now confident driving in France in my kerb hugging RHD uk Volvoā€¦Iā€™m not even gonna contemplate driving back to UK in an emergency in an LHDā€¦! x :slight_smile:

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Why not Helen - it would be kerb hugging? :slight_smile:

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I drive a RHD van, wife has a LHD car and I frequently jump from one to the other without any problem, to me itā€™s all about confidence as a driver.

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Sorry to appear a bit ā€˜pickyā€™ but can we get back to the original post regarding fuel shortages etc for a minute ?

Does anyone have any idea if the refinery blockades etc are still in force ? Iā€™ve travelled around quite a bit over the past week and havenā€™t seen any evidence of shortages.

As protests go, it doesnā€™t seem to have been very successful !

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Hi Peter

some days ago, the farmers suspended the blockades after there had been a breakthrough in negotiations. Since then, there has been nothing more in the Press (that I can find)ā€¦ I reckon both sides are still at the negotiating table. :relaxed:

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Thanks Stella, iā€™ve been out of circulation for a few days so missed the excitement !

It will be fine. Go for a drive along a few quiet roads with grass verges and get used to it. It really isnā€™t a big deal. Good luck and enjoy the new car.

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Helen, Iā€™ve always found Renault to be very sensitive cars (not joking) but not in a temperamental way, just that they seem to adapt their ā€˜behaviourā€™ to the driverā€™s mood. You being a highly intuitive type, I expect your Renault will see you OK, and not do anything to alarm you.

I had a beautiful Renault 16 in the late 70s, it was a delightful silver colour with electric windows on the front doors, and a gear-shift mounted on the steering column. It was the first car I ever had with five (!) forward gears. So quiet, comfortable and elegantly French. After five years of driving it I part-exchanged it for a Datsun Violet, which rusted badly within the first year after purchase, but looked cute.

Talk to your new Renault, and she will listen and empathise with your concerns. Bon courage and roule bien.

Please, @anon88888878, no vomit comments on this occasion.

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It a a Renault, the French equivalent of BLā€¦:drooling_face::poop:

I have had a few though and not really had any problems (R19 16v, ex gendarmerie R4, Megane)

Peugeot also made great cars. The 404 was very popular in sub-Saharan Africa in the '70s and -early ā€˜80s and couldnā€™ t be faulted as a rugged, reliable and easily maintained car that met sub-tropical requirements to a T. They could be, and were driven into the ground there, and only gave up when human ingenuity had run out of fix-it creativity, which is not in short supply in Africa, IMHO.

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I hope so Peterā€¦this is a Lagunaā€¦she has two exhausts not noticed by me but noticed by my son and my partner when I sent photos ā€œhomeā€ā€¦My son has visited the garage with me last weekā€¦the garage man has asked us to nip in again Tuesday morningā€¦hoping to complete the transaction before my son goes back to uk Thursdayā€¦I would just appreciate his eyes on the road too whilst I get used to itā€¦If I get it on Wednesday then I can see that weā€™ll spend Wednesday with both me and him driving her all over the placeā€¦weā€™ve pencilled it in to our itineraryā€¦x :slight_smile:

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Iā€™ll just give a quick update to this with grateful thanks to all who offered words of encouragementā€¦I picked her up yesterday after lunchā€¦after my first brief but disastrous test drive the garage owner seemed relieved that it was my son who actually drove her out of his garage after me telling him that he drove an HGV in ukā€¦he really took to my son and my son had been determined to learn a few French phrases so as not to appear ignorantā€¦We were all really laughing and joking yesterday and it warmed my heartā€¦It took me yesterday afternoon to get used to it and today on the airport run if anything I was too close to the kerb and the grass verge rather than driving in the middle of the roadā€¦random bollards and bits of kerbs and bizarrely placed posts had me breathing a sigh of relief once I got past them without mishapā€¦the car has sensors and radar and all manner of extras but my son switched everything to manual so we could gauge the reality of me driving an LHDā€¦Feeling so fortunate that I have a garage within 2 miles where the owner speaks a little Englishā€¦His dad spoke to my son in French and my son was able to recognise the words and respondā€¦customer for life and my son promised to call in and say hi in October with his nephews my grandsons in tow to say ā€œbonjourā€ā€¦To try and stay on topic I had no problem filling up with diesel yesterday and on finally getting back home this evening I think my Laguna is cheaper to runā€¦x :slight_smile:

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You will be fine after a few drives. Glad youā€™re happy with your new car.

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Bravo Helen :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:

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Iā€™ll delete these pics in a bit but hereā€™s the first very French member of my householdā€¦x :slight_smile:

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Very nice. Are you feeling more confident now?

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Yesā€¦getting over my cognitive dissonanceā€¦changing down the gears say approaching a roundabout still had me reaching into the door compartmentā€¦I stalled it once when my son was here and didnā€™t know what to do as it has no key and a push button startā€¦but having done it that once I havenā€™t stalled it againā€¦x :slight_smile:

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I borrowed a Laguna a few years ago. Needed to find reverse at one point and had a complete mental blockā€¦took me agesā€¦felt like a complete $#/)head.

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