I've never been anywhere in France besides Paris, at least not until my recent jaunt to the Loire Valley.
Having had visions of setting up easel and eating French bread and cheese amidst relative peace and serenity, I was somewhat perturbed at the intensity of French drivers. I'm not exactly wet behind the ears when it comes to negotiating busy roads and have had my fair share of run-ins with insane Brits who regard themselves as some sort of road Gods, but France puzzles me. The roads are largely clear - congestion seeming to be the curse of the somewhat smaller island nation, and on the whole the traffic flows smoothly and lane discipline (the lack of which gets my goat in Blighty) is rather slick. The trouble with French drivers, in my humble opinion, is the constant tailgating while you are trying to overtake. The speed limit on their motorways is a quite reasonable 130kmh in the dry (about 80 mph) but overtake somebody and there will undoubtedly be some nut who hangs about a centimetre off your rear bumper as if to say, 'How dare you be overtaking when I clearly wish to do so at a far more rapid (and illegal) pace?'
A minor grumble, really. Nice scenery (although nothing I haven't seen topped in the UK)and fantastic food, as is to be expected. Finding somwhere that keeps regular opening hours, however, is a trick and a half, even in the city. They seem to close when they feel like it - which is great for them, but not so great for two starving Brits who have just travelled for six hours and think - 'we'll find something to eat round here!'