I live in the U.S. (lived in Canada for four years), and have never had the desire or need to drive a stick. Now that we are visiting Europe every year or other year, I am constantly running into this issue with rental cars. In Ireland, we rented for a couple weeks, but were warned that 90%+ of the cars over there are manual transmission, and the agency will just give you whatever bullshit they happen to have available (just as in the U.S.), and if it torpedoes your plans, tough! We actually had no problem--maybe we were lucky, but we rented with Dooley, who were highly recommended. I badgered them a few times about this, and they assured me I would have an automatic.
Now, we are going to France next month and will be doing some driving around Brittany, and are running up against the same worry. Sure, in Paris, you will almost certainly get an automatic, but in St. Malo?? Good luck, I am told (even though our reservation with Enterprise indicates we did indeed reserve an automatic). We are making alternative plans in case the car does not pan out (train+bus+cab).
We are also possibly looking at moving to Europe (mostlikely Ireland, where nearly all my ancestors originate) at some point in the future, possibly for retirement.
Anyway, I have nearly 30 years of driving experience, and have not had an accident or ticket in over 23 years. I drive in SoCal--not only the undisputed worst place in the entire world, but the worst traffic in the nation!
So, with that in mind, I have always wondered:
How long does it take to get the hang of driving stick? Would a few one hour lessons do the trick? (but then I would have no vehicle to practice in)
Is it like riding a bike in that you never forget, or do you get rusty over time?
Half of me thinks this is a really stupid idea to be a neophyte stick driver trying to get around France for the first time ever. We will be in mostly rural areas and small towns, and I had no problem driving in arguably more difficult conditions in Ireland, but still...
Any thoughts?