数日前の日記でもご紹介したヨーロッパドライブ豆知識を。
In this article, I’d like to write in detail about the “Roundabout (Ron Pointe)” process from the time you enter to the time you leave, using examples.
I have been saying for a long time that you can almost clear the roundabout as long as you understand the concept of “forward priority road”. Of course, there is no change in my opinion, but I think it is more difficult to go out in the direction you are aware of.
It is true that once you are in the roundabout, you do not have to be so conscious of incoming cars because you are the priority, but if you are not used to it, you tend to be so conscious of various places that you forget where to exit.
So I’d like to do a quick review of the process from before I entered the roundabout to after I left, using as an example.
First, check the “Destination Information Board” before you enter!
Now let’s pick up a run in the “French Basque” region where I’ve actually run.
今、バイヨンヌ（以下の地図には載っていない）から南に20分弱のところにあるEspeletteという街に到着、そこから南西にあるAInnoaという「フランスで最も美しい村」を目指しています。実際に使っていたミシュランマップの写真を見てみましょう。
I’m in the middle of the map. When you are in the city, it is quite difficult to drive because there are many roads intersecting each other and it is easy to lose sight of your current location.
After going through the city for a while, you will see a guide sign like this. This is a roundabout sign. France drives on the right side of the road, so the sign is also on the right side. It’s important to check this properly first!
We want to go to “AINNOA”, so it is just in front. At this stage, we have to get it into our heads, “We’re going to the front! in your mind.
Shortly thereafter, we arrived at its rond pointe (that’s how we say it in French).
Our goal was the “front”. This is the road with the blue bar on it. We enter here.
ちなみに入るときの注意点は「中の人優先」でしたね。中の人は左側から走ってきます。進入前に徐行しかつ左側を必ず確認してください。車が来ないようでしたらそのままはいってしまって大丈夫。もし車が来ている、目の前にいる、のであれば必ず一旦停止してください。
In addition, you should be able to slow down naturally because the road is quite curved before entering. Then, check your left side, but it is precisely the left front, so you can easily check it without moving your head. Drive slowly and don’t panic.
There’s even a destination sign inside!
As a matter of fact, I told you earlier that you should look at the “destination information board” before entering and tell yourself to “go to the front”, but even so, you may accidentally miss it.
But that’s okay. In most of the Long Pointe, you can almost always find a destination sign like the one circled in red on the left in the photo above, even after you enter the building.
This is what it looks like when you zoom in.
This is a relief because you can actually see this when you are driving within Long Pointe.
So you can exit from the direction you want to go as guided.
By the way, in the example below, there is a car coming from the right, but this car has priority because it is already in Long Pointe. You need to pay attention to the movement of the car, but you can go ahead without hesitation.
Therefore, because there are various guide boards, there is not so much panic, but even so, because there is no guide board in some places, or there is a turn and it is vague, you must not be careless. In that sense, it is easy afterwards if you confirm which direction you should go with the destination guide board introduced in advance as much as possible.
You can count to the left, one, two, three!
In fact, the trouble with Ron Pointe is that you’re so distracted by all the information that you forget which way you’ve come in, or how far you’ve gone.
In the first place, you tend to lose your sense of direction because you are turned around and around. And it is not so much a problem if it is a crossroads like the example above, but there are more than four roads, or more than four roads and they are radiating, or there are exits that are not like a right angle crossroads but are angled in a strange way.
So there are times when you simply can’t divide by “right” or “front” or “left”.
There is a good way to avoid confusion in such cases.
それは「左回りで、イチ、ニ、サン」と確認する方法です。
今度はブルゴーニュ地方にある世界遺産「フォントネーのシトー会修道院」へ行く途中のルートを例にとってみましょう。
First of all, as usual, the destination information board before entering. Let’s count leftward like this.
I want to go to “Abbaye de Fontenay”, so it is the third.
And this is what the actual intersection looks like.
You can’t see it from the picture, but there is the third exit further left. That’s where you want to go.
Once you enter, you count “one” and “two” each time you pass through an exit. In this case, you want to go to the third exit, so you should go out from the next exit after counting “two”.
Of course, there is also a destination information board at the exit, so don’t forget to check that.
These are the ways I have passed Ron Pointe myself. I hope you can find it more or less helpful.
I think the difficulty of Ron Pointe comes down to the amount of information it contains. It’s easy to get in and out. I think it is more difficult to escape to the direction you want to go.
However, to be honest, if you don’t know the basic driving know-how, you may get confused even if you have a navigation system.
いずれにしても、ロン・ポワンは非常に優れた交通システムです。これを使いこなせれば非常に快適なヨーロッパドライブになるはずです！
