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{{infobox Country
|country = France
|map = <map lat='47' lng='1.5' zoom='5' view='0' height='320' country='France'/>|language = French(regional languages: Alsatian, Occitan, Breton, Corsican, Basque, Catalan, ...)
|capital = [[Paris]]
|pop = 6468,102,1400 million|currency = Euro ( € )|hitch = <rating country='fr' />|BW = FR
}}
European '''France''' is part of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is usually a great country for hitchhiking. There are many friendly car and truck drivers. The highways cost moneyDrivers have to pay toll on motorways (except in [[Bretagne|Brittany]] and at some other places), and you can get a ride quite easily at some ''[[Péage|barrières de péage]]'' (toll pointsstations) . When hitchhiking on local roads, you can get a ride easilymight face some difficulties sometimes, though. One of the commonly known barriers for traveling in France (as in many foreign countries) is the language - you might want to learn some basic phrases before you off on the road in France.
== Autoroutes & Péages Asking people ==If you want to ask for rides, you can say sentences like: "''Excusez-moi, je vais à [[Imagename of the city] en stop. Allez-vous dans cette direction ?''" and if you get a positive answer, just ask "''Pourrais-je venir avec vous ?''". It may be also good not to tell a city but the direction you want to go:peage"''Excusez-moi, je fais du stop vers le sud.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A typical big Allez-vous dans cette direction ?''" == Autoroutes, péages and barrières de péage in France]]==__TOC__'''AutoroutePéage''' means "motorway" in ([http://cs1.imtranslator.net/SL/Free_Projects/169679760/cs_10132017_15_58_47_1.wav?param1=001024 audio]) is a Frenchword for ''toll''. It is also commonly used as referring to [[toll station]]s. Most In France, most of them the motorways are toll roads, and (''autoroute'') which are the fastest way to hitch across he the country. A '''péage''' is a toll booth. There are two types of '''toll stations on péages''': Big . First, there are big ones, where all the traffic has to stop to pay a fee (or to get a ticket (called also "Barrière ) - these are ''barrières de Péage", i.e. "Toll Barrier". These péage'' and usually they are excellent spots to get a long-distance ride, usually and make it really easy to hitchhike during the night. They are often located near big cities on the autoroute. Another type is a side barrier, situated on all exits in the toll part of the motorway. On this kind of péages the latter ones traffic is much smaller and , therefore one can expect a longer waiting times longertime, although sometimes congested toll stations of the first type can be difficult to hitch from due to heavy traffic. To reach the ''barrière de péage'', but you may need to walk along the motorway; with a help of a proper map check if it the distance needed to be walked is not too long. It is located near illegal to walk on a relatively big town or on side lane of the crossing with a motorway (same is valid for some parts of national road itroads (''voie express'' or ''voie rapide''s pretty ok) in France); if police sees you, you may be driven somewhere safe and may be fined for 11 to 40€. At this type Péage toll stations are considered a part of péagesthe motorway, and legally you do not have the road usually splits in two on-ramps going right to solicit rides there. You may be asked to wait in the parking area which is after each direction''barrière de péage''. In practice, this is rarely enforced (maybe 5% of the time), so most toll station employees simply want to make sure you might need 're not endangering yourself or others. Having a sign with your directiondestination (or the next city) is recommended and will distinguish you as a serious hitchhiker, and not a vagrant.__NOTOC__You can get free maps in will definitely need it if the péage offices - these also indicate where you can find "all-stop-péages"road splits. The fastest way to travel on a péage is from one of these ''barrière de péage'' to the nextanother. Here Hitchhiking options are some information how to get a lift from péages:[[Image:Derek_hitching_at_péage.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Derek hitching at a péage near [[Valence]]]]* You can thumb immediately after the ''barrière de péage;''* If you prefer a direct approach you can dash across the lanes one at a time until you're at a busy lane and , stand next to the toll machine and talk to the drivers when they stop to pay (as pictured usually it is not allowed to lefthitch from the toll machines but it is often tolerated);. Just say "''Bonjour, je vais à [name of the city]''".* You can wait before the ''barrière de péage'', just where the drivers choose their lane. There - there is mostly often enough of space for cars to pull over hereto stop for you. Some péages ''barrière de péage'' are really good, some are not. If you've been waiting for a while with using a destination sign, drop it and try with your thumb onlythumbing. Also While on a toll road, you can always try hitchhiking from one [[petrol station hitchhiking|petrol station]] to another, either asking drivers while they refill, or thumbing at the exit of the service area. The staff usually doesn't mind hitchhikers. == Personal Experiences ==''In my experience it's pretty much impossible to go hungry in France. While hitching I almost ALWAYS get 10 or 5 euros thrown my way, and once even 60 euro! The key is to imply you have no money (helps the guilt if you actually don't have any like I did). Ask where you can use the internet or a ride phone, but WITHOUT PAYING, and 90% of the time they'll tell you "I'll drop you off at the station/road/town with 10 euros, alright?" It's not really possible without having a good standard of communication though, so either hope they know English or learn some French! I also wouldn't recommend doing "it" if you have no money or already had access to the next good spot internet or a phone, solely because of guilt. Even though I was genuine in my requests I didn't feel happy taking their money, but food is food!'' - Aaronishappy ''France is great because it has roundabouts, which makes for slow traffic on the wrong directionsmaller roads. Of course, the big highways are off-limits in many cases, but that's alright. Beautiful countryside, good people. For me I enjoyed eating lots of cheese and lots of baguettes, as cliche as that may sound.'' - [[ImageUser:Perpignan bridgeoveronrampChael777|Chael]] ''Don't be afraid to approach people at service stations just because your French is weak (or, like me, non-existent). After a quick 'bonjour', or 'vous allez ou?', people were happy to help. Many people didn't speak English, with some I got by in Spanish, and with 3 or 4 we had no language in common at all.jpg|thumb|right|250px|On ramp bridge near Nevertheless, people were still kind and willing to help.'' - [[Perpignan]]User:Justunein|Justunein]]Also ''My Hitch in France went marvellously! Check this, I was walking along the street in Nimes, minding my own business, and a woman pulled up in a car and asked me if I wanted to hitch to Marseille! She asked me!! When we got there, she showed me around and I slept on her sofa (whenever I tell French men about this they invariably respond 'Did you ''fork'' her?'). The next day, I got 5 hitches from Marseille to Limans, and for 3 of them all I had to do was hold up a cardboard sign and the first car that came picked me up. I was going to write that it's like taking the bus, ''but you have to wait for busses!'' As a bonus, the people who I hitched with were really nice, so much so that one of them lied and said that my French wasn't so bad! Oh yeah, and the bit about French bakeries is incomplete. They have pastries round the back too!!'' ''I can always hitch also said France is very good country for hitchhiking, people are very friendly. Even that they do not speak a lot of English, they will try to help you. One driver also take me in one restaurant near high way even that I did not want that he spend money to by me something to eat. It was nice to cross from one gas station Spain to Germany in two days with hitchhiking.'' ''I started my first hitchhike tour in France and found out that most French people are very kind and in most cases they are happy to take you with them. But I think it's really helpful to speak even a little bit French so you can say want you want and where you want to go because most of French people don't like to speak english or maybee they are not able to. Espacally in the south of france it's also possible to anothertravel short distances by train for free, either asking at because most of them are not controlled. In case of controlling you can say that you're out of money and in most cases they will not send you a bill because it is to complicated for them to find you in your home country. And even if you are in bad luck and they will find you the price is not even higher than the ticket for the train.'' Hitchhikernick - hitched several times through France over the years with the exit latest being January 2024 from Chamonix to Andorra whilst the shopfarmers protests were happening. The protests slowed things down a bit, but still managed to get to Andorra in just over 2 days. Very rarely given any money or at the entrance rampbought food. Average waiting time 1.5hrs. Mixture of highways and national roads. == Main cities ==- [[Paris]]- [[Marseille]]- [[Lyon]]- [[Lille]]- [[Toulouse]]- [[Bordeaux]]- [[Nice]]- [[Nantes]]- [[Strasbourg]]- [[Rennes]]- [[Grenoble]] == Links == * [http://www.asf.fr/shared/pdf/CarteReseau. The staff usually donpdf Le Réseau ASF], a PDF file that shows all ''barrières de péage''t care about hitchhikerson major routes in Southern France.* [http://www.vinci-autoroutes.com/system/files/pdf/2012/12/carte_reseau_vinci_autoroutes.pdf Service Stations Network], a pdf file that shows all service station on major routes in southern France.
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[[Category:Western Europe]]
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