Ribbon Petrol

does anybody have any tips or things i should learn, before i start my holiday driving in france?

I have just booked my holiday to berny riviere in the north of paris, and fortunately i don’t leave till june, so i am getting started fairly early on learning the basics of driving in france as i will be driving from calais to berny riviere and it will take approx 2.45 hrs.
The thing is i am absolutely petrified, i will will share driving with my partner, with our 8yr old in the back. I am going to fill the car up before i board the boat, so hopefully i won’t have to make any tricky stops to any petrol stations.
i have a few of my own quirky ideas, such as putting a ribbon on the right hand side of the steering wheel, and i was also going to use my sat nav, will this be a good tool.
i am going to learn the road signs, but what i want to know is what should i expect with the actual driving on a roundabouts, junctions, crossroads ETC

Park your car in a place where there is a double wide driveway and park it on the right, (pretending to drive on the right side of the road.) You will notice that you look through a different part of the window to where you would look when when driving on the left. Remember the ‘normal’ spot to look through, which you will not use when if France. On the ferry, or when waiting to go on the train, tape something small on that spot. A cross made of small size plasters/band-aids was what my brother used in a like situation.

Motorway traffic might be easier to drive than smaller roads, as there are more cars going the same way. Stay on the right most lane, unless that is a turning lane, till you get the feel for the situation. But best of all, if your partner is willing and able to drive, let him do the driving till you are sure you can take over. If it is less than 3 hours driving, that will not be a hardship.
Do not drive untill you feel ready!
If in doubt ‘give way’ and be extra careful when you start driving in the morning, and when you are confused by the layout of the road. Satnav will be very helpful as it takes away a lot of uncertain situations.
Keep to the rule that the driver drives and that the other takes care of the child, has money handy for the toll stops and things like that.

Walk in at your Automobile club, as they often have a lot of advice. Or at least check the website of the main British ones, search on driving in France and things like that.
And learn not just the signs of the road, but also the words they use with those signs, like Rappel, (repeat, used where the situation is dangerous and they repeat an earlier warning sign.)

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