You think driving in Boston and New York is scary?

Ok, before I get to some of the things that I've done so far, I feel a compelling need for the driving situation to have its own blog entry.

I've been in the family car a few times as well as on the bus and let me tell you, sometimes it is a little scary. The roads here are really narrow and instead of most of them being one way, like in Boston, most allow traffic in both directions, although one direction has the right of way (there are at least signs for this).

Also, in the U.S. there are stop signs or lights before almost every place you'd make a left or right hand turn, not so here. Many times, the people driving straight have a stop sign and the ones turning right just go on through. I'm sure there is some logic to this, but it seems a bit nuts to me.

I wouldn't say that it is the drivers themselves who are scary, but the driving itself, given the narrow streets and the rules of the road. Also, people park on sidewalks and it is very common for vehicles to go over the curb when turning or making room for another car to pass.

When I told Marie-Christine that people drove a little differently here, she asked if I was scared. I said no, but honestly, today I was afraid the bus was going to hit a fence when making a tight turn (still going what felt like at least 30 mph - or ~48 kilometers per hour), but it didn't - we cleared the fence by an estimated 10 inches or so!

I haven't gotten any photos of Neuilly-Plaisance yet, but once I do, you'll see what I mean.  I'm just glad that I don't have to drive here and learn all of the tricks.