In 2023, Damola packed his bags from Lagos, Nigeria and moved to Bordeaux, France to go to business school. He went from 8 years of driving almost everyday in Nigeria, to 8 months of navigating Bordeaux’s public transport system, but it was all good since the buses and trams met all his needs. However, when he got the call for a Research & Development Analyst job in a small tourist town called Brantôme en Périgord, he knew he had to get a car and start driving in France.
Describe your first driving experience
I was 16 years old when I first tried to move my mother’s car, a Mazda 626, and I crashed it against a perimeter fence and gate. After the incident, my mother started taking me for driving lessons after she returned home from work. In about 3 lessons of about 2 hours each, I started short distance drives within the neighbourhood until I was 18 years when I got the official driver’s licence. This all happened in Lagos.
What cities have you driven in since then?
Abuja and Akure (Nigeria) and Brantôme, Perigueux (France).
What are the common ways to get around in Brantôme?
In Brantôme, where I currently live, you need to have your own car to get around the town. The bus schedules are not frequent to support moving around, the buses are available 6AM, 1PM and 7PM. There are no trams here like there are in bigger cities like Bordeaux for instance.
What do you look out for when you’re buying/renting a car?
I usually just look for basic functionalities, a car that can move me from point A to B without hassles will be fine. I currently drive a Peugeot 308 SW 2013.
Would you say what you were looking for in a car changed when you travelled?
Well, yes. I was driving a more expensive and classier car back in Nigeria, a Toyota Camry SE 2020. To start with, I could afford it, so I bought it as an upgrade and secondly, my role in the bank where I worked required a status car. So, if you don’t already drive a car classified as a “Status Car” by the bank, then you are obliged to be given one on a termed loan with no interest.
How difficult was it to get all the requirements you needed to drive in your city?
It has been quite difficult, and I only finished the process recently. For a while, I was driving with the international licence and my Nigerian licence right now as my student status was active until April 2025. Students are allowed to drive with their home country driver’s licence in France, however once your student status ends, you need to already have your French licence ready to continue driving.
What is the best part of driving in Brantôme en Périgord?
Basically makes you move efficiently from point A to B in good time. The town I live in is a popular attraction/vacation spot for tourists. Having a car if you are visiting will be an added advantage for tourists.
I have only one hour in Brantôme en Périgord, where do I drive to ?
There are lots of parks and restaurants here, however in 1 hour you will be able to visit some riverside parks and the town historical museum.
What’s the traffic situation like during rush hour and how do you deal with it?
It is a quiet and peaceful city. There is no traffic congestion at all.
What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you while driving there?
This is not necessarily a crazy thing, but everyone here drives at speed levels way below the indicated levels on the road. This can be very frustrating when I am trying to get to work on time especially when I can’t accommodate any extra time allowance within my normal commute time to work.
Oh but one crazy thing that did happen was that I ran into a deer once and it damaged the front of my car quite badly. It survived but left limping. When I reported it to the insurance company, they mentioned that this was a common occurrence in this area. There are a lot of woodsy areas around so it’s not out of the ordinary for animals to cross the road from time to time.
What’s the biggest challenge of parking in this city, and how do you find good spots?
There are ample park spots around the city and close to attraction spots. Usually they are paid parking spaces. However, during the summer there are usually lots of tourists visiting so parking spaces can be a little hard to find.
What’s the best city you’ve driven in and why?
Here in Brantome. I love the driving experience here, the roads have wide lanes and it is never busy. Commute time is fairly predictable.
What’s the worst city you’ve driven in and why?
The answer will always be Lagos, Nigeria. I can’t even begin to describe the driving experience within Lagos metropolis. Peak period is every hour and every work day and weekends especially Saturdays. It is absolutely insane, to put it mildly.
