First things first, Ride on the Right! - your throttle should always be nearest the curb.

France is one of the best countries in which to ride, apart from large cities, you can forget traffic jams. Expect long open roads mixed with stunning scenery and twisting bends.
French car drivers are sensitive to bikes (motor and push), you will see them pulling over to the right (towrds the curb) a little, indicating you have been seen and go past if you like.
As in every other country bikers stick together and will help in any situation, if you breakdown expect the next bike to stop or slow down looking for a signal that you are OK, or if not, indicate you need help.

As France is several times larger than the UK with approx the same population = less people per square KM = more open road!. Road surfaces are generally good / better than the UK and road signs are everywhere

Etiquette
As you are riding on the right-hand side of the road you cannot raise your hand as a thanks (right hand = throttle hand) so the custom in France is to out-stretch your right leg a little.
Motorcyclists coming from the other direction will give a little lift of the left hand as a 'hi mate' jester, please do the same, you never know when you are going to need help!

Sundays
If you are travelling from the UK into France then be aware that on a Sunday petrol stations are closed (some open in large towns), you can still get fuel but only with a French registered Credit card... so fill up on a Saturday!
Or if you are really stuck (its worked for me) aproach the next car nito the station and offer the driver cash if he will use his/her Credit card in the pump for you.
Sunday is a great day to ride, throughout France HGV's are not allowed to use the roads (exceptions, frozen food, medical supplies)

Mondays
Throughout France Mondays are a bit of a non starter, many shops, banks etc are closed at least for the morning, so keep this in mind if you want breakfast!

Gendarmes / Police
The ones on bikes are generally 'good guys' as long as you are not blasting through a 50 at 90!
On a sunny day expect to see police at roundabouts, they generally stop older vehicles but will stop anyone that they see crossing a white line, or a great favourite, not actually coming to a full stop at a T junction... be warned!.

Cars or bikes aproaching flashing their lights? Police are around the corner!

On the Road
As in any country, watch out for farm vehicles esp. in rural communities, tractors stopped talking to the yellow 'La Poste' van is the classic road blocked scenario!

Overtaking, this is a national sport to the French, watch out for 2 cars coming at you just around the bend or over the brough of that hill. Tailgating is also high on the list of national sports, not a real problem for the biker except if you are trying to pass 2 cars, that car in front of you will be trying to get past the first car and will not be aware of you behind, make sure he knows you are there, flash your lights, beep your horn, when he knows you are there he will move over to the right slightly - safe to go, if that doesn’t work make sure you overtake with masses of room to your right. If the car does indicate he has seen you then don’t forget the right leg out 'thanks mate' trick

Remember, esp. in South France, it gets very hot, tarmac gets runny.... if it rains you have skid pan, stop or ride very, very carefully! especially on ring roads or heavily used roads.

France is divided into Regions and Departments, each department has its own number (example: Tarn = 81), this number is used as the last 2 digits on the french nuber plate, if you know which department you are travelling through then you can spot cars 'out of department' and treat them with caution. This is to change soon to Regional numbers, making it harder to spot drivers away from home.

Priorite a Droit
"Priorite a Droit" means Priority to the vehicle approaching from the road on the right.
This is so important, if you are on a straight road and there are roads joining from the right then beware they MAY have priority over you. They WILL use this priority and pull straight out without looking.

How to spot these nightmare junctions

Signs - "Vous n'avez pas priorite" red triangle with big black cross (occ. flashing) - you really do not have priority so although the road looks like it goes straight on, treat it as a T junction, slow down and take a good look up that road on the right

Road Markings - the road joining you on the right, if it has a white line across the end of it then the user on the road must stop before joining your road, if there is no white line across the end of the joining road then that road has priority. Now this is not easy to spot so make sure you are consistently looking at roads joining from the right

"Gravillons" means Gravel
Look out for this, it will be a temp sign at ground level, also look out for road works sign (man digging)

August
During the end July and the whole of August all of France goes on holiday, those in the South go North, those in the North go South - traffic can be heavy, drivers out of paris are now free in the countryside, they think its a racecourse so beware. Death tolls rise in this period, don’t be one of them

Speed Limits
French speed limits (in Km/hour). Know the equivalent miles/hour and put a red spot on your speedo at the relevant position. Speeding fines are on-the-spot, so keep spare euro’s handy if you plan to break limits. Usually 90 euros a pop, 9/10 you won’t get any points on your licence (too much bother to process the paperwork)
Since mr Sarkosy has come to power he has made great efforts to minimise accidents and has imposed a 30 kmh over the limit licence suspension, apparently this does apply internationaly.

The limits are:-
In town 50 kmh (unless marked other wise)
Open road 90 kmh (maybe 70 if marked)
Toll roads (peage) 110 if wet other wise 130 kmh

There have been stories of police, using the peage ticket, calculating the time between toll booths to see if you have been speeding, maybe a myth but be warned

Things to Carry
A toilet roll, map, first aid kit, E111 (health) or equivalent, phrase book, credit card, Euros and your driving licence!

France is a great place for the biker, people are friendly towards us, but please remember the points above and above all enjoy!!

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1959 Triton 650
Tarn France

Hi Johnny Boy,
As far as I'm aware (and I will check on this) you *need* to carry:

Driving Licence (both parts)
Indentification (Passport)
Insurance (European cover)
M.O.T (although not required by French registered bikes)
*Added* and obv. a helmet!

As far as the police breaking up large groups of bikes, not seen or heard of that and can only imagine it happening if there has been a problem (maybe in the previous town there had been complaints about the group?)

Remember, IMO bikers are more welcome in France than you are in the UK (police included)

Hope you enjoy your visit, ride safely

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1959 Triton 650
Tarn France

i know this is a bit vague but i hear it's illegal to have wires trailing from your helmet to the bike, although i think it's ok to have bluetooth...