I did not handle this awesomely. I'd only been driving manual for a couple of months, and only driving in France for 2 weeks at this point. I honestly blacked out a lot of our time on the highway because I was so terrified. And I snapped at my mom when I got overwhelmed. The roads here are....special, you guys. Very special. I don't know why, but my mantra for getting through it became repeating to myself in my head, "Everybody dies someday!" I have no idea why that was comforting, but it was.
