One of the things some visitors to France comment on is just how many trafffic roundabouts there are in France. And they are not wrong. The statistics bear this out and show that France is a world leader in roundabouts.
This roundabout, in the industrial boondocks of Amboise, has an abandoned helipad in the centre.
According to the painstakingly calculated figures on the blog 'Beyond the Maps', the most roundabouts per population are to be found in mainly western France (Vendée, Loire-Atlantique, Landes, Mayenne) plus Pyrénées-Orientales in the south. The fewest roundabouts per population are around Paris and in the north east. We in Indre et Loire appear to sit in the middle.
A plane on a stick. To be precise, a Dassault Mirage IIIB two seater training jet previously of the French Air Force, now a roundabout decoration in Saint-Amand-Montrond
In terms of actual numbers of roundabouts there is a roughly east-west divide in the country, with the west being generally much more heavily endowed with roundabouts than the east. Toulouse takes the prize as the municipality with the most roundabouts (499 at last count). Virtually everywhere roundabout numbers are going up.
A roundabout in the middle of le Blanc, a town about half an hour to the south of us.
France is the European record holder for roundabout density, easily outstripping neighbouring countries. The most famous roundabout in the country is of course the horror known as the Etoile, a six lane roundabout in central Paris, surrounding the Arc de Triomphe.
Arc de Triomphe and the Etoile.
This post is dedicated to entomologist Simon Leather, who loved aphids and France, but sadly died while being treated for colon cancer a few years ago. His blog is called 'Don't Forget the Roundabouts'.
2 comments:
Chatellerault has a fine collection.... shame about the loss of the hand, but the rest are really well laid out...
I have before and after the protest pictures of "the hand"
Given the abundance of opportunities to practice, why do so many drivers only use the outer lane when taking a ‘left’ or feel so shy about signaling their intentions to other roundabout users by correctly using their indicators?
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