Chateau de Biron is in the Dordogne region of France, south of Bordeaux in the South-Western corner of the country. Started in the 12th century, the chateau was in the hands of one family for 800 years, the Gontaut-Biron, and enhanced and expanded until the 18th century.

Chateau de Biron, Dordogne, France

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The chateau of Clos de Vougeot is nestled in the vineyards of Burgundy, the area of Eastern France close to Dijon that brings us delightful red wines. Lighter than the more famous Bordeaux, I like Burgundies because of their delicacy and the way they complement and flatter food. The photograph you see here is of the original 12th century monastery building, built by Cistercian monks from nearby Citeaux (Da Vinci Code fans note: the abbot of Citeaux is supposedly the person who convinced the Pope to create the Templar order to protect the Priory of Scion).

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My sister-in-law lives in The Jura, an area of Eastern France near the Swiss border. It’s not a particularly well-known part of the country and you’ll have to work hard to find it in many guide books (honorable exception: The Rough Guide To France). It’s still a pretty part of the country, and plonked in the middle of a forest is a remarkable set of pre-revolutionary buildings: the Royal Salt Works (Saline Royale, for those of you who speak the lingo).

Royal Salt Works, France.

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Some have asked for recommendations of websites or agencies they should try for car rentals in Europe.

Not all rental car companies are equal — San Francisco CA

So here are the sites I use:

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Driving in Europe continues to be something that generates a lot of email, so on to another popular driving topic: traffic circles — or, roundabouts as they’re known in the UK. Incredibly popular in Europe, you don’t see these too often in the US. When you do, they appear to generate a lot of confusion amongst drivers.

Early traffic circle — Stonehenge, England

The “golden rule” of traffic circles is pretty simple: traffic entering must yield to anything already in the circle. As you approach, take a look to see if there’s anything coming — if there is, slow down or stop. You don’t need to stop if there’s no traffic in the circle. You do need to stop if entering would cause traffic in the circle to slow down or stop to avoid you!

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I got some follow-up questions to the article on renting a car in Europe. It seems this is a topic that causes some anxiety, so some additional tips are in order.

Yes, gas is somewhere between $7 and $8 a gallon in Italy, depending on the exchange rate. This isolated statistic, by itself, causes some of you to freak out. After all, your small SUV does 18 miles to the gallon (I’m talking actual miles, not the sticker MPG) on a good day, so that kind of pricing is bad news for the vacation budget, right?

Well, hold on. Most of that $7 is taxes, so the actual price hasn’t varied as much as in the US since the raw gas cost itself is far less of a component in the price. Car manufacturers in Italy and the rest of Europe have had a while to get used to this kind of pricing level, and this means the majority of cars there are very different to those in the US.

Those of you who have been to Europe know that cars there are smaller. That’s one effect of high gas prices — cars that are smaller weigh less, and therefore require less gas. In general, cars are smaller in size, lighter and have smaller engines. However, to compensate for the smaller engine size, they also have very advanced engine management systems to squeeze maximum performance from the engine. So European cars sip gas like it was an expensive wine, rather than gulping it down like cheap beer, but can still perform.

But that’s not all. Diesel fuel is widely available in Europe and Italy, and not reserved for trucks at gas stations. This is because diesel cars are even more economical than gas cars — the engine design means they use less fuel, which also means lower CO2 emissions. Diesel engines used to be slow, noisy, dirty things with poor acceleration. But the same engine management technology that has improved efficiency of gas engines means that turbocharged diesel engines are quiet, clean and deliver amazing acceleration — while using even less fuel. Thus you can achieve 50 miles to the gallon or better in a European diesel car (actual MPG, not sticker). To top it all off, Diesel fuel is actually cheaper than gas in Italy and many other European countries.

So don’t freak out at $8 a gallon for gas, because diesel is cheaper, you can easily get a diesel rental car (if you don’t get one by default, ask to change to one) and it will do far more miles to the gallon. Just remember that diesel is called Gasolio in Italy, which sounds confusingly like gas. But now you know differently, so fill up your diesel car with gasolio with confidence.

Parking: yes, you will need to be reasonably good at parallel parking in Italy. It’s a learnable skill that you can achieve with a little practice.

To rent a car in Italy you only need your US state license. Show it at the rental car counter, sign the paperwork and you’re off. But the law in Italy says that you must have an International driver’s license if you are not a European Union license holder. This means you, my American friends. You can get these for about $15 at AAA. The fine for not having one if the police stop you is 70 Euros (about $100 or so). You may be thinking “OK, so what’s the chance of being stopped?” One major difference between the US and Italy is that the police do not need “probable cause” to stop cars. They can set up roadblocks and do random stops to check on vehicle condition, drink-driving, and paperwork violations. It seems like a reasonable trade-off: $15 and the inconvenience of a trip to the AAA office, versus a 70 Euro fine. If you develop an attitude when stopped in this way, the Italian police can also impound your car… but you’d really have to annoy them to get that far. So be nice and enjoy your vacation.

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You’d be forgiven for wondering why there’s a need to write an article about renting a car. After all, millions of people do so every year - but there are enough differences when in Europe for it to be worth a few tips.

Tip One: Only rent a car if you need it

In many European capitals and major cities, it is often advantageous not to have a car - parking is difficult to find and expensive, and moving around by car can be slower than public transport at busy times. Unlike the US, many hotels do not have their own parking. So when in Rome, Paris, London, Florence etc. don’t rent a car if you intend to just sightsee in the city itself. If you need to get out to visit another town or city, consider taking the train or even a bus. Services in Europe can be fast, frequent and reasonably priced.

When it comes to a larger geographical area like Tuscany or the Dordogne, then you are going to need transport to get about, and a car is the most efficient way to do so. I say this as someone who really likes to take good public transport, and often takes not-so-good public transport. It is possible to get around by bus in areas like Tuscany, but boy is it a logistical challenge and fundamentally you will get to spend far less time enjoying the area. When you have limited time to vacation, spending it on a bus is not good. Buy carbon offset to cover the CO₂ emissions of the car (and your plane ride, while you are at it) if you feel bad about that aspect.

Tip Two: Rent a small car, or several, rather than a giant car

Resist the urge to rent a larger car, even if it is appealing because you have a large family or group on the trip. Get a couple of smaller cars instead. Larger cars are rarer in Europe because running them is more expensive, and also European towns and cities were not designed for cars at all. As well as being expensive to fuel, large cars are hard to maneuver in narrow streets designed for nothing wider than a few pigs and maybe a horse or two.

On one trip, we were staying a few nights in Florence and then heading out to Villa Vignamaggio. We were to stay at Hotel Brunelleschi, squeezed into the centre of the ancient city of Florence. The area is so old, the hotel is built around a Byzantine tower with Roman remains in the basement - it even has its own museum. The roads leading to it are really, really narrow: even the taxi driver had a hard time getting his small Fiat around the final bend. Some kindly Italians stopped to guide him back-and-forth as he edged the car around the corner. With even a small SUV or Minivan you’d be wedged between two buildings several turns back.

Incidentally, we’ll probably never stay at the Brunelleschi again. Not because it was bad - quite the reverse: it is a truly historic hotel with charm, good rooms, friendly staff and a fantastic location. No, I blame Dan Brown: it’s where his characters Langdon and Sophie plan to stay at the end of The Da Vinci Code - presumably for a night of passion. I could be wrong about the last bit, but it doesn’t seem like they’re going to sip tea and discuss iconography. At any rate, ever since then prices have gone up, up, up and you practically have to be Dan Brown to get in.

Tip three: Use your credit card rental car insurance to save money

Many credit cards offer extensions to basic rental car insurance to cover accidental damage and/or theft - far more cheaply than the rental car company. You are already paying for this in your annual card fee and/or interest, so make use of it. Check the website of your card supplier to find out what they offer, and read all the small print so you know exactly which insurance to accept, and which to decline.

I like American Express’ coverage in this area, and so use that card for car rental charges. Our rental car was vandalized in Toulouse, France (not badly, but bad enough for a hefty charge from the rental company) and we claimed through Amex. After sending in the paper work they did their investigation and then paid up. Insurance is getting simpler in places like Italy where there are a lot of claims - all rental car companies now mandate you buy comprehensive cover.

The insurance cover you probably don’t need is for personal possessions. Most people’s belongings are covered by their household insurance policy, but there are exceptions for expensive stuff like cameras and lenses and jewelry. Read your policy to see what is covered and don’t buy coverage twice. In general, the best policy is to take anything remotely valuable out of the car as any kind of car trouble tends to ruin your day.

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Ever thought about renting a villa in Italy, France, Spain or some other European country? Figured that it was hard to do and just for millionaires or film stars? You may be surprised to learn that renting a villa can be more reasonable than staying in a hotel, especially if you are a family or in a larger group (though being a film star or millionaire does help if you want to rent an entire Tuscan village from the Ferragamo family — yes, the shoe people).

Renting a villa doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive; there are just five simple steps.

Step one is to decide if a villa vacation is for you. The pros are that you’ll have a base for a week or two that you can come back to each night. You can stay in all day, lounge by the pool or in the garden, go somewhere, eat in or out… all up to you. The cons are that there’s no daily maid service or other hotel amenities, you are in the same place (so visiting places far from base means a longer round trip), and you have to keep the place reasonably clean and tidy, and do the cooking yourself if you stay in (and clean up afterwards). Personally, I am happy to trade off hotel amenities for a more relaxed and flexible vacation.

Step two is to pick a country and general geography — South of France, Tuscany etc — based on the kind of things you want to do and see. Get a few guidebooks to places you think you might like to go. My personal favorites are the Dorling Kindersley “Eyewitness” travel guides (DK guides), and the Rough Guides. I like the DK guides because they’re chock full of photographs so you can get a much better idea of what a place is really like, and they’re also a good starting point for planning photo-taking days. The Rough Guides are impeccably researched with good writing on places, their history, art and place in contemporary life, with great vignettes on the famous locals. However, although brimming with great maps to get you around. they are sparsely illustrated when it comes to photos.

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North-by-North-west of Toulouse, the Lot and Dordogne departmentare a joy to behold: well-preserved medieval towns called Bastides with their neat churches, gridiron layouts and square covered markets cling to the limestone banks of the rivers for which the regions are named. One of life’s pleasures in this region is to sit comfortably in a café in the shade of a Bastide’s covered market on a summer’s day, enjoying a glass of the local Cahors wine. What the tour guides fail to mention is that these picture-perfect villages are the result of 13^th
and 14^th century global economic forces, technological innovation and plain old real-estate speculation.

Belves market square - a classic Bastide layout

The first clue to the commercial purpose of the Bastide is its layout- specifically, the location of the church. Elsewhere in France and other European countries, the church usually occupies a strong or central position in the town or village. Often it had its own square, vying for attention with the market square. But in Bastides, the market occupies the center of the village, with the church pushed off to one side. In this photo of Belves in the Dordogne (left), you can see the church is off a side-street from the main market square.

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