If your European campervan trip starts in Paris, the first thing you drive is not a scenic road — it is a narrow city street, in a van you have never driven, with everything reversed.
This is not an overview of Paris. It is what actually happened on the first day we picked up our 7-metre left-hand drive manual diesel motorhome and had to drive it out of the city, as a Japanese family used to the opposite of all four of those things.
Why Day One in Paris Is Harder Than Any Later Day
Almost the moment we left, before everyone was seated, I moved the van a little and it lurched like a sudden brake. The eldest and the youngest were still standing. We all felt that one.
Four unfamiliar things stacked up at once. Left-hand drive, the opposite of Japan. Manual, which I hadn’t driven in years. Diesel, a first for me. And a 7-metre, 2.9-metre-high vehicle around me. I don’t usually say much before driving, but I remember saying I was getting nervous, wondering if it would be alright. My wife said nothing.
She just prayed.
I nearly stalled pulling away. Nobody in the family said anything for a while after that. It wasn’t relief yet. It was just quiet.
Does France Drive on the Left or the Right
This is where the confusion doubles for a Japanese driver. In Japan we drive on the left, in a car with the steering wheel on the right. France drives on the right, and the rental vans are left-hand drive. So it isn’t one thing flipped. It’s both the side of the road and the side of the car, at the same time. Every junction, every roundabout, every instinct built over years of driving in Japan pointed the wrong way.
Rental companies that operate these vans in France tell customers to take the first day or two easy, especially pulling out of junctions. That advice is aimed at drivers from right-hand-drive countries generally. For us, coming from Japan, it wasn’t easy for even a day. It stayed uncomfortable the whole time we were in Paris.
How Wide Are the Streets, and How Big Is the Van
The Paris streets were narrow and I had no feel for the width yet, so I rode up onto the kerb more than once. The strange part was the mirrors — when I could see the sides clearly, my attention got pulled there, and the thing I should have been watching next changed completely. A 7-metre van doesn’t behave like a car. What you check, and in what order, has to change, and that only comes with time behind the wheel, not with knowing the numbers in advance.
INFO ・ The vehicle
- Length: approximately 7 metres
- Height: approximately 2.9 metres
- Transmission: manual
- Fuel: diesel
- Steering: left-hand drive
What the Rental Staff Actually Do Before You Drive Off
The staff member came out, said “it’s fine, it’s fine,” and handed me an English guidebook. That was the entire handover, beyond the paperwork. No practice loop around the car park, no walkthrough of the mirrors or the width. If you are picking up a van like this in Paris, don’t expect a driving lesson. Expect a guidebook and a reassurance, and then the street.
Should You Start Your European Trip in Paris
When I finally stopped and parked, it was a small relief, a wave of exhaustion, and a lot of worry about what came next, all at once. Honestly, day one never got comfortable. For anyone doing Europe by campervan, the first day of driving is the real hurdle, and starting that day in a major city, in a van this size, in a country that flips both the wheel and the road from what you know, makes it harder than it needs to be. If you can choose your pickup point, a smaller town with wider streets buys you an easier first hour. If Paris is where the van is, go in expecting the kerb, the mirrors, and the quiet in the back seat, and know that it does get easier after that first day, just not on it.
