You let me change lanes, while I was driving in my car

No, I haven't been driving. Which is probably just as well, because driving in many European cities seems as though it requires both a well written will and a fairly good death wish. Take the majesty of the Arc Du Triomphe in Paris. No, this isn't another complaint about Paris, and I don't dislike the city as much as my previous posts have made out, I just figured that people would like to hear about the harsh complaints more than the wonderful sights. Perhaps a balance is required.

So taking the behemoth of a roundabout that surrounds the grandiose Arc Du Triomphe, you are presented with a spectacle that likely defies all normal road rules and probably several key aspects of self preservation. This invention has about seven or so major roads leading into it, and an unknown number of lanes going around it, for there are absolutely no road markings at all.

To an outsider, it appears to be a vehicular representation of chaos theory, or perhaps an exercise in kindness that uses up the majority of Paris' goodwill in its peak period of traffic. Cars enter and exit the roundabout in a seemingly random fashion, and frequently cut across multiple lanes of traffic without any sort of warning or even with what would seem like a perfectly rational use of indicator lights. Cars proceed slowly around in a mostly circular fashion, occasionally breaking to let someone in or out, and miraculously, the whole thing functions without a hitch.

Though I revisited it several times, I didn't see a single accident, nor even anything that I'd consider a close call. Somehow, Parisians manage to conduct a massive flow of traffic around the arc without major dramas. In fact, during my time in the city, despite numerous acts of driving that seemed to border on suicidal, I saw only a single accident. That was one car rear-ending another, and the way the entire street turned and gawked at it gave the impression that it was somewhat of a rarity. Perhaps the French aren't as rude and arrogant as stereotypes suggest - well, at least not on the road.