Points Recovery Course in Paris 20e Arrondissement

Taking your driving test in the 20th arrondissement of Paris means training in a very contrasting and multicultural eastern district of around 185 140 residents, structured around the Père-Lachaise cemetery, Belleville, Ménilmontant and porte de Bagnolet. The 20th lies entirely within the Paris Low Emission Zone, which has banned Crit'Air 3 and more polluting vehicles since 2024. The arrondissement, known as the "arrondissement de Ménilmontant", provides direct access to the A3 motorway towards Seine-Saint-Denis via porte de Bagnolet.

The Belleville, Saint-Fargeau, Père-Lachaise and Charonne districts show marked relief and very heterogeneous urbanisation. Rue de Belleville, rue de Ménilmontant and rue des Pyrénées climb steeply from place du Colonel-Fabien (border of the 19th) to the plateau of the Belleville park and place Gambetta. Boulevard de Ménilmontant, boulevard de Charonne and cours de Vincennes structure south-north traffic. Place Gambetta, a vast roundabout at the heart of the arrondissement, is an unavoidable passage point for candidates in training.

To obtain a category B licence in Paris 20, candidates must master merging onto the eastern ring road via porte des Lilas, porte de Bagnolet, porte de Montreuil and porte de Vincennes. Direct access to the A3 towards Bobigny and Le Bourget airport from porte de Bagnolet is one of the most used passages in north-eastern Paris. The surroundings of the Bel-Est shopping centre at porte de Bagnolet and the multimodal transport hub generate specific traffic to be anticipated.

Preparing for the licence in the 20th also requires handling the very steep streets around Ménilmontant and the Belleville park, where uphill starts are a frequent exercise. Coexistence with the heavily used buses on lines 26, 60, 61, 64, 69, 76 and 96, the cycle paths added along boulevard de Belleville and boulevard de Ménilmontant, and pedestrian density around the Père-Lachaise cemetery and the Belleville and Ménilmontant markets demand from candidates sustained vigilance, good mastery of clutch dosage and a mobile reading of sometimes complex signage.