The European way of giving directions

You know how you can be anywhere on the East Coast in the US, and say "go South on I95" and depending on where you are when they say that, you know exactly which way you are going and pretty much when you will get there?    There are also those familiar red, white and blue I95 signs that even glow in the dark...guiding you along the way, North or South.  Try that in Europe, and you'll be eternally confused as route markers change as much as you change your mind.  Ask someone where to get to route this-and-that going South, and you'll get hit with a blank stare.  You see, they give directions here totally differently.  Here's some enlightenment along those lines.

Way back when people didn't travel much and pretty much stayed around their villages, they would get infrequent visitors passing through who knew they needed to follow a goatpath or semblance of a road...but al ot of times didn't know which direction.  So, they would ask which way.  The villager would point and respond to take THIS road in the direction of Paris....cause he knew that this trade route eventually got to Paris, and this is the way everyone went to get there.

Nowadays, it's the exact same thing.  Even here in Mons, Belgium, if I want to tell someone how to go to the Mons Mall, I say get on the autoroute (our version of the highway) towards Paris and take the second exit.  There is no North, South or anything else...and everyone knows what you are talking about.  If I want to go to Cologne, I'll say go on the autoroute towards Brussels and after Charleroi, head towards Aachen.

How's that for a trial by fire in European geography?  It's like this in every European country.  You'd better know which cities lie in which direction and don't worry about the cardinal directions.  You won't use them here!  And when you get out into the sticks into some of these small villages, I hope you are familiar with the larger towns around them.  Yes, you've got your GPS, but the GPS sometimes takes you on some other-than-worldly goatpaths that sometimes end in dead ends or are so narrow, you can stick your hand out one side window and the other and span the entire width of the road.  I won't even talk about the 6 foot roadway ditches and farm machinery you see at every turn.

As a small caveat, I think I know where we got our US route and highway system from, as some areas in northern Europe and England WILL have major autoroutes clearly marked.  But, that is not how the majority rolls over here.  Be sure to study your maps and memorize which big cities lie where in Europe!  If anyone has any driving stories to share that involve directions, I would love to hear them!