---
title: "Scenes of France"
description: "The perfect backdrop for any car."
date: "2016-10-04"
modified: "2017-01-04"
authors:
  - name: "The Drive Staff"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/the-drive-staff"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/setting-records/4270/scenes-of-france"
categories:
  - "Features"
---

# Scenes of France

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/volvo-france-tn_0.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

![volvo-france-gal-1.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-1.jpg>)
*It’s good and pouring at 5am in Paris. Cobblestones are slick, traffic is already starting to back up. It will present a serious test to the Volvo S90’s Pilot Assist.*

![volvo-france-gal-2.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-2.jpg>)
*We leave from the Arc de Triomphe, one of Paris’ starring tourist attractions and a huge traffic circle.*

![dsc04119\_alt.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/dsc04119_alt.jpg>)
*Roy, a one-time resident of Paris, takes the morning shift through town.*

![dsc04013\_alt.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/dsc04013_alt.jpg>)
*Traffic, on this side of town at least, starts out light.*

![volvo-france-gal-5.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-5.jpg>)
*A look at one of Paris’ signature broad, treelined thoroughfares.*

![volvo-france-gal-6.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-6.jpg>)
*Onto the highway, into thunderstorms. Bad weather slows us down, the helping hand of Pilot Assist keeps Roy's spirits up.*

![volvo-france-gal-7.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-7.jpg>)
*Breaks in the clouds reveal France’s pastoral countryside. Castles come and go at freeway speed.*

![volvo-france-gal-8.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-8.jpg>)
*Our next glance of traffic comes in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. Our average speed creeps even lower when we hit Grenoble.*

![volvo-france-gal-9.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-9.jpg>)
*Cantle takes the wheel for the start of the record run in Vizille during a break in the clouds. The good weather doesn’t last.*

![volvo-france-gal-10.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-10.jpg>)
*With miles of historic and twisting tarmac, the Route Napoléon is handily one of the finest driving roads in the world—when the weather’s clear.*

![volvo-france-gal-11.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-11.jpg>)
*Even dodging thunderstorms, skirting the French Alps at speed is unimprovable.*

![dsc04489\_alt.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/dsc04489_alt.jpg>)
*We reach Golfe-Juan, between Antibes and Cannes. It was here, in 1815, that Napoleon began his march to Paris, forging the path that would become the Route Napoleon.*

![volvo-france-gal-13.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-13.jpg>)
*Without the plaque marking the launch point for Napoleon’s departure to Vizielle and Paris, this little intersection wouldn’t be more remarkable than any other on the Côte d'Azur.*

![volvo-france-gal-14.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-14.jpg>)
*45-minutes east, through Nice and over French coastal roads, Monaco and it’s ritzy harbor are our final destination for the French leg of the trip.*

![volvo-france-gal-15.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-15.jpg>)
*It’s a gorgeous evening in Monaco.*

![volvo-france-gal-16.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/volvo-france-gal-16.jpg>)
*The next day in Monaco is perfectly cloudless and warm as we prepare for our next endurance run in Spain.*

### Author social links