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Hello from Paris!
Well, not really Paris. I returned to Germany from Paris late last night.
All I have to say is, if you ever have the opportunity to go to Paris, do it. It is by far the most amazing city I have travelled to!
Some car related stuff from my trip:
If you ever have the opportunity to rent a car in Europe, do not rent an Opel Corsa. Mine was right off the lot with < 1000 kms on it, and it was about the size of a Golf but with a 1.0L engine producing (they claim) 100hp. On the highway, if there was a mild incline I would often need to downshift into 3rd gear just to make it up, otherwise the car would slow down and stall - even with the pedal to the floor. This is not a good way to build a car! However once I was in downtown Paris it was a good car for the narrow, short streets. On the Autobahn I gradually topped out the Corsa at about 160 km/h (even though the speedometer goes up to 230).
Driving the Autobahn was a blast. Everyone drives very well, they should have similar highway laws in Canada! The road itself is incredibly well kept with some fun curves and hills. Most highways are toll roads so you need to stop and pay a toll once and a while (small price to pay for such nice roads). Occasionally I was passed by someone doing exceesive speeds. A motorcycle passed me when I was doing about 120 km/h and he was the fastest moving object I have ever seen. The guy must have been doing > 300 km/h because the sound he made was a like a bullet whizzing by. I didn't even see him come up behind me and he was gone in a blink (literally). Most of the other fast moving cars were large BMW's.
The ugliest car in Europe is the Renault Megane. They were everywhere in France.
I wish I could have rented something a little quicker, at least a 1.8T. However, Kaiserslautern locations do not rent any "sports class" cars, and anyhow the cost would be incredibly high. Renting my car was only 150 euro ($300 canadian) for 2 days, but gas was around 100 euro for 1.5 tiny tanks ($200 canadian) so my piece of crap corsa was > $500 bucks!!
Anyhow my Paris trip was probably my one and only opportunity to do any driving in Europe this year - next time I take the train.
All I have to say is, if you ever have the opportunity to go to Paris, do it. It is by far the most amazing city I have travelled to!
Some car related stuff from my trip:
If you ever have the opportunity to rent a car in Europe, do not rent an Opel Corsa. Mine was right off the lot with < 1000 kms on it, and it was about the size of a Golf but with a 1.0L engine producing (they claim) 100hp. On the highway, if there was a mild incline I would often need to downshift into 3rd gear just to make it up, otherwise the car would slow down and stall - even with the pedal to the floor. This is not a good way to build a car! However once I was in downtown Paris it was a good car for the narrow, short streets. On the Autobahn I gradually topped out the Corsa at about 160 km/h (even though the speedometer goes up to 230).
Driving the Autobahn was a blast. Everyone drives very well, they should have similar highway laws in Canada! The road itself is incredibly well kept with some fun curves and hills. Most highways are toll roads so you need to stop and pay a toll once and a while (small price to pay for such nice roads). Occasionally I was passed by someone doing exceesive speeds. A motorcycle passed me when I was doing about 120 km/h and he was the fastest moving object I have ever seen. The guy must have been doing > 300 km/h because the sound he made was a like a bullet whizzing by. I didn't even see him come up behind me and he was gone in a blink (literally). Most of the other fast moving cars were large BMW's.
The ugliest car in Europe is the Renault Megane. They were everywhere in France.
I wish I could have rented something a little quicker, at least a 1.8T. However, Kaiserslautern locations do not rent any "sports class" cars, and anyhow the cost would be incredibly high. Renting my car was only 150 euro ($300 canadian) for 2 days, but gas was around 100 euro for 1.5 tiny tanks ($200 canadian) so my piece of crap corsa was > $500 bucks!!
Anyhow my Paris trip was probably my one and only opportunity to do any driving in Europe this year - next time I take the train.
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