Some memories and habits get hard-wired into the nervous -system, Stella. Tying ones shoe-laces and buttoning one’s coat, for example. Playing a musical instrument, riding a bike, soothing a crying baby, changing a napkin…
But I do take your point, and thoroughly enjoy your aperçus 
!
In general driving terms I find that the further south you go the more driving standards deteriorates. Start in Scandinavia where driving on Ice covered roads every winter demands a high level of skill and law compliance then make your way down through Britain (drive too fast on clogged up roads), France(as mentioned by others and think the outside lane on autoroutes is a racetrack), Spain(think that a highway code is optional) and then cross over to Morocco.
Believe me, Marrakesh for example,indicating and wrong lane selection becomes the least of your problems!
Italy is another example, up north good driving and ‘highway code’ compliance, but then Naples and beyond, especially Sicily you need 360 degree vision and a third hand to continually work the horn!
Tailgating as a means of intimidating you to increase your speed.
Overtaking on a roundabout
Overtaking on a speed bump (Dosd’ane)
Overtaking on a blind bend
Overtaking cyclists into oncoming traffic
Overtaking on solid white line
Overtaking an overtaking vehicle
Stopping in the middle of narrow village streets to chat to friends and neighbours
Parking on a roundabout
Increased speed to get home and back to work at lunchtime
Ignoring pedestrians on zebra crossings
Parking on zebra crossings
Motorcyclists using public roads as their own race circuit
680,000 driving without driving licences and insurance according to figures published this month by ONISR (l’observatoire national interministeriel de la securite routiere) No wonder the standard of driving is so appalling and dangerous.
I drove in and around London for 30 years and saw some pretty bad driving but nothing like the french folk hereabouts. I just wish l had that 360 vision and an armour plated vehicle, that way l wouldn’t feel like l am putting our lives at risk every time we venture out on the road.
We lived happily for 10 years in the Pyrenees Orientales and driving was a real pleasure. Sadly that is no longer the case here in this part of Nouvelle Aquitaine (Sud Gironde).
We too enjoy the Pyrenees Orientales… it is a particularly interesting part of France IMO.
We’ve visited and also toured there for many years… had the odd hiccup on the roads… mentally shaken a fist at the odd driver … but nothing much …
We pass through the Sud Gironde…from time to time. We tend to travel when others don’t… 
makes things easier and less stressful.
The PO Stella ? ‘Mostly’ - dry, barren, rocky (white), very windy / stormy, expensive
And…for some balance - loads of great things about it as well! Seaside (some of it!), beaches, seafood, pretty inland villages, Spanish border nearby, easy access to Andorra & Llivia, green foothills,
Yep… we’ve got many happy memories…
@anon87147852 the pleasure in any journey/visit is so personal… it is quite possible that something OH and I enjoy… might not be seen in the same way by everyone else…
Have I made a mistake… I think Perpignan is in the PO ??? perhaps not… (that was where we aimed at… and wandered all around on the way there and back…)
Nicely cleaned up Bob?
One of the odd things I noticed when we cycled in the Lot was how often English Drivers coming up behind us (we rode in single file) would almost sideswipe us in passing. Doubly odd as this was the side where we were nearest to the driver?
My English biker friends have said for years that they loathe riding their bikes in the UK because drivers are mostly inconsiderate or perhaps just thoughtless, but that on the continent they love it, especially in France because of the space they are given by drivers. Unrepresentative sample, obv.
You know when a biker overtakes you and sticks out their right leg - is it cramp or are they being ‘friendly’…? 
At the risk of assuming this was a serious question Simon - they are thanking you. They cannot lift their right hand in thanks as that would mean the throttle closing automatically.
Wow seriously thank you Carl - I knew it was a “thanks” but now I know why they do it!! Cheers!
I only ever had a Yamaha 50 FS1E so never could really tell if my hand was on the throttle or not! 
I remember them, they were the thing to have back in the day for a 16yr old (i never had one). I reckon if you took your hand off the throttle the sewing machine motor would stop pdq 
. They weren’t called a “fizzy” for nothing.
My full face Phoenix helmet (!) was bigger than the electric blue petrol tank! I used it to get to the youth club - essential in Cumbria to keep any modicum of sanity! 
I turned up on a Thursday night with my big helmet and Belstaff jacket with tassels - I felt like a dog with two dic*s but must have looked like a right plonker.
I bet you wished you had kept it now - even basket cases go for serious money.
Over a grand for a restoration example…5 times that for one that has been restored.
A ‘proper’ fizzy even had pedals like a pushbike - 'twas the law back then for a sixteener special.
I could never get on with the 2-stroke bikes…my first was a Honda CB100N and looked like a bigger bike because it had a tacho. Rode bikes for years before I got a car - and even then carried on with the bikes. Have four of them now : 1978 Yamaha XS400, 1981 Honda 250N Superdream, Honda CBR1000 and a Honda ST1100 Pan European.
Love my bikes me!!!
Serious question:- Do manufacturers no longer fit adjustable dampeners to the twistgrip to prevent it from snapping shut on release then ? I always found it a most useful device to prevent getting cramp in the hand on a long trip. On shorter journeys I usually adjusted it to just very slowly close the throttle upon release.
I was in fact talking of ordinary bicycles; but In ancient times, I was aware of the old (even then ) 1925 BSA (with sidecar) in which wartime and postwartime holidays were the way of getting to the campsite in Littlehampton for my Unlcle, Mother and us two nippers. I remember several things about these events and always the square tank with the gearchange on it.
Later when I started work I acquired an ex-WD Despatch riders bike - a Norton 500. The only suspension was under the saddle, and it was girder forks front and back. Also the noisiest bike I have ever heard! The neighbours must have thought WW2 had restarted every time I took to the road! First experience of ‘road freedom’ and like coming out of short trousers (at roughly a couple of years earlier) were great 'rites of passage into ‘manhood’! Needless to say illusional, even DElusional!
Note Vera I did say English drivers in France and not local ones. I have to say if any are arrogant on the roads it tends to be the Lycra Clad Bicycle Clubs. Again just a few of them, but enough to notice. However I have to say it is rare when the ‘old English gentleman plodding along on his old bike’ (as I have been described apparently) doesn’t get a cheery wave and bonjour as they sweep past me - in either direction!
Hi Robert - Other than BMW on their classic R100RT, I am not aware that other manufacturers do fit these devices. I recall that the UK MOT for bikes actually tests for a free and seamless return of the throttle and any stickiness or friction is a fail. BMW used to fit a device than you could adjust the friction which would allow you to back it right of come MOT time. There are a few aftermarket devices that can be fitted to act like a cruise control and these are all mechanical. Most modern bikes are ‘fly-by-wire’ now as regards throttles - no cables as there are no carburetors.
Here on Cap Sizun there is a generally polite driving population. Virtually zero tailgating and extreme courtesy towards cyclists (me).
However if I venture to Quimper it gets a little more hectic and Brest is back to a world in a big hurry.
Signalling seems no worse than my native Cornwall but modern French cars have poorly designed front indicators which are often difficult to see in bright daylight.