22 May 2015

Paris car and parking issues

We got the Peugeot back from the mechanic's yesterday. He had his crew purge the brake fluid (le liquide de freins), inspect the front brake disks, and replace the brake pads (les plaquettes). Both Peugeot and Citroën recommend that the brake fluid be changed every two years, no matter how few kilometers you've driven in that time. That seems excessif to me, but what do I know?

The fact is that the brake fluid on the Peugeot had never been changed over the 12 years that I've owned it. So now it's done. Dominique, the mechanic, said he didn't really think the brake pads needed replacing, but he did it anyway. It had been nearly 10 years since they had been replaced, I imagine. We don't really drive the Peugeot hard or for long distances, but it feels good to have this maintenance done. It cost only about 135 euros.

A week from tomorrow, I'll be driving up to Paris to pick up CHM and bring him to Saint-Aignan via Nogent-le-Rotrou, Bellême, Mortagne-au-Perche, and Alençon. That's a big detour, and we'll spend a night in a hotel in Mortagne before driving back down to Saint-Aignan. It's a three-hour drive from Paris to Alençon in lower Normandy, but we'll want to spend some time sight-seeing and we'll make a day of it. Then it's a three-hour drive from Alençon to Saint-Aignan, and again we'll make a day of it and spend some time seeing towns, villages, châteaux, and churches along the way.

This is the Citroën [see-tro-enn], not the Peugeot [peuh-zhoh].

I'll be driving the recently acquired Citroën up to Paris, and I'm a little nervous about driving in the city again. I did it last year, and I've done it many many times in the past, but it just gets harder and harder. My reflexes are not what they used to be. There is more traffic. And this car is wider and longer than the little Peugeot, so I'm still getting used to driving it in tight spaces. All spaces in Paris are tight when it comes to cars.

Last night I started looking at web sites about parking your car in Paris to remind myself of the rules and regulations. In past years, parking in residential areas like the one where CHM has his apartment was always free on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. Well, I learned that all that has now changed. There is no such thing as free street-parking in Paris on Saturdays since January 1, 2015. Sundays and holidays, yes, but not Saturdays...

Parking (le stationnement) in central Paris costs four euros, or about five dollars, per hour. In the more residential outer districts, it's 2.40€ an hour, from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m., or 26.40€ (nearly $30) for the 11-hour parking day. Make that 44€, nearly $50, in the more congested central districts. Residents who have paid for a sticker to put on their car get a break on those rates. Visitors like me are supposed to be discouraged from driving and parking in the city.

This is Saint-Aignan, not Paris. Park wherever you want.

Okay, so I can pay the 15 or 20 euros it would cost me to park the car for, say, 8 or 9 hours on the Saturday, assuming I arrive in Paris between 11 a.m. and noon. It's a one-time expense, right? The bigger problem is that it is illegal to leave your car in the same curbside parking space for more than two hours. If you don't move it and look for a different parking space every two hours, you can get a parking ticket requiring payment of a hefty fine. So if I park at noon, I'll have to move the car at 2, 4, and 6. That means staying in the neighborhood all day, and crossing your fingers that you will find a new parking space each time without too much trouble.

The other solution is an underground parking garage. I just found one in CHM's neighborhood by searching on the internet. The web page says I can park from 11 a.m. on Saturday until early Sunday morning for 16 euros. So that sounds like a good deal, if it works out. I can reserve a space ahead of time. From 11:30 p.m. until 6:30 a.m. the garage is locked up, so I won't be able to take the car out during those hours, but I wouldn't be doing that anyway. And it might feel good to know that the Citroën is locked up overnight rather than sitting out on the street, where it's vulnerable to vandals and careless drivers.

By the way, the drive to Paris takes four hours if you avoid all toll roads. If you take the toll roads, the trip is three hours, but the toll is 20 euros. And either way, you'll burn between 20 and 30 euros' worth of diesel fuel (in my case) on the way. Gasoline (essence) would be considerably more expensive. It's enough to make you want to take the train. I guess that's the point.

25 comments:

  1. I read your mail before I read this post. If you can make a reservation ahead of time, that would be great. That way you can come early and we can chat like two pies borgnes.

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    1. I reserved a space in the Bonvin Lecourbe parking lot on rue François Bonvin for 16 euros and for 24 hours, arriving at 11 a.m. on Saturday. It's possible to take the car out and put it back in for no extra charge Saturday afternoon and evening if we want to take a ride around town.

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    2. OK. We'll have lunch at the Kuboda and dinner at home with the tambouille I'm cooking right now. Brace yourself!

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    3. Bonjour cousin,

      Do you mean a ragoût or a grub ?
      ( sauve qui peut !!!) TeeHee :-)

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    4. Bonjour cousine,

      Well it's a mixture of lardons fumés, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes and herbs. It's barely edible. I'll make a soup out of it. For dinner we'll have instead, ham, potato salad and cheese and if I'm in a generous mood — and remember it — some raspberry sorbet.

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    5. I always enjoy a good vegetable soup. Especially with lardons fumés. Sounds almost like a North Carolina brunswick stew.

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  2. Safe journey...
    and bury the car overnight....
    especially as it is so new!
    I hate city driving... and the bigger the city, the worse the experience...
    nice, rural roads... only blocked by people having a conversation....
    through the windows... or leaning on bonnets [hoods, to you I think?]...
    I don't mind... never hurry through life!

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    1. I used to love driving in Paris. It was there that I had the Renault 4L, back in 1981-82. It was great. Now I'm getting to old and slow to enjoy that kind of driving. And traffic is Paris is much worse than it used to be. With the underground car park, I'll feel the car is secure and won't get banged up too much.

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    2. Oh, and all brake fluids deteriorate with time...
      the LHM that is in the 2CV systems needs changing every five years....
      or, should I say, that was the advice in the manual in the 80s!!
      Also the hotter the climate, the more frequent the changes needed.
      The last bottle of LHM I bought said every two years!
      But, on a 2CV, it is quick to purge...
      uses little fluid... and you bleed the brakes at the same time.
      [But I get the garage to do it, now... each CT!]
      Tim

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    3. Bleedin' brakes... LHM sounds like a fashion statement -- YSL for example. No worries about a hot climate around here these days.

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  3. i was once one of the touristy-goofballs who got stuck going around and around the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe during a heavy traffic time... but then when we left the next day there was no one on the street. so of course we made a couple extra loops just for good measure. back then i remember parking being expensive and now - wow! enjoy your trip!

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    1. The last time I drove around the Etoile I almost got creamed by a young woman driver in a BMW. She blew her horn and waved her fist (finger?) at me. I thought she was crazy, but then she probably thought I was a codger. That must have been fun looping around the Arc de Triomphe a couple of times, carefree!

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  4. Brake fluid is hydrosopic, or something like that. It absorbs moisture and the brakes become less effective. For this reason it should be regularly changed. I've yet to hear of brake failure because of a lack of changing brake fluid. Probably a good idea to change the fluid when brake pads are changed but really it is a bit of nonsense.

    As I have often said when in congested traffic or looking for a parking space, should've caught the train.

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    1. I read all about brake fluid. My 12-year-old stuff must have been mostly water. I haven't driven the Peugeot since the brake fluid was changed, but Walt said he didn't think it made much difference. I guess that's a good thing in some ways. I'm glad to have new fluid and new pads. Catching the train this time is not an option for me.

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  5. Bonjour Ken
    "so I'm still getting used to driving it in tight spaces. All spaces in Paris are tight when it comes to cars."

    That's how Washington DC feels these days. We were there last week and driving through the major arteries in the NW got Y all stressed up. Connecticut is like a 6 lane street when it should be only 4 considering the buses and the parked vehicles - some double parked during the day. Hence it is not surprising to see the fender benders.

    Hope you have good weather in Paris and Basse Normandie.

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    1. Sometimes, I wish I was still young, careless, and daring. Especially when it comes to driving. The last time I drove around D.C. was in 2006. That was already a long time ago.

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    2. I meant carefree, not careless. Freudian slip?

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    3. I meant carefree, not careless. Freudian slip?

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  6. That seems a very reasonable price for brake pads and fluids. I am looking at getting rear brake pads done here and its double that.

    I, too, would opt for the underground garage....much less hassle. At 5 dollars an hour Paris parking is more expensive than here in LA. However, they have the meters going 24/7 where we live. And now the Parking Piranhas (we used to call them meter maids) have little radar things on the roof of the car that can read the meters without the driver getting out. And don't even think of parking in a red/yellow zone temporarily while you get something from the store, 'cause the car will not be there when you get back.

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    1. 24 hours, wow. Sixteen euros for 24 hours seems almost like a bargain.

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  7. Holy cow, amazing info about parking in Paris -- I had no idea! But, that parking garage is great. I'm so glad that you found out about that.

    Alençon: That's where my former student (now a French teacher herself!) spent a year about three years ago, as an assistant in Enlgish classes, at un collège. I enjoyed following her blog about it :) Have you ever been there before?

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    1. I've been to Alençon at least twice, but only for an hour or two each time. The last time was in 2011, and I remember the open-air market well, plus lunch (choucroute) in a restaurant. I took the train from Alençon back to Saint-Aignan via Tours. I remember reading your student's blog and enjoying it.

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  8. The Normandy excursion sounds like a good trip. Hope you publish lots of pictures. As for driving in Paris, no thanks. I've driven in Boston, that's enough living on the edge.

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  9. Ken and chm, I envy you your trip through the Perche. Don't go through too fast and please take lots of photos for the blog.

    Judy, I read your student's blog and enjoyed it. Learned a few things from it, too. Was it really as along as 3 years ago?

    We were stuck in a 5 o'clock traffic jam in Paris once, on a two-way street that I think was four lanes. The intersection ahead was blocked, so no cars were coming toward us. Some enterprising drivers behind us drove their cars into the empty half of the street.

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