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 Jeff Steiner's Americans in France.Resource for people that would like to live or travel in France. |
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Parking RelatedParking on Alternating Sides of the Road
In most cities in France, parking will be allowed on only one side of any given road. If that side alternates, it will be semi-monthly. There are two ways this happens. First, a sign can indicate which days parking is allowed on that side of the road. Second, a special 'no parking' sign triggers a bizarre set of rules that alternates not only the side of the road, but in front of what address you can park.
Semi-Monthly Parking
| The signs to the right indicate no parking on specific days. Like the other 'no parking' signs, they apply to the side of the road where they are posted and last until another sign cancels the restriction or to the next intersection, whichever comes first. The sign with "1.15" means "NO PARKING FROM THE 1ST TO THE 15TH OF THE MONTH". The sign with "16.31" means "NO PARKING FROM THE 16TH TO THE END OF THE MONTH". The transitions between the last day of the month and the 1st or between the 15th to the 16th occur between 8:30pm and 9pm. |
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Semi-Monthly Parking Zone
| The sign to the right indicates a zone of no parking on specific days. It's similar to the signs above, except it applies to a zone, not a street, and you have to remember which half of the month is odd and which is even. During the first half of the month (1-15), parking is allowed only in front of buildings with odd addresses. During the 2nd half of the month (16-31), parking is allowed only in front of buildings with even addresses. This sounds horrible, except that all addresses on one side of the road are either odd or even, so it really just indicates which side you can park on. Sometimes there will also be signs on each side of the road indicating which one to park on (see above). |  |
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