The number plate game

I’ve made it across central France from La Clusaz and have arrived on the West coast. The drive over was fun, although slightly dangerous, thanks to a game that my friend Jen tricked me into playing. Sometimes, this game seems next to impossible and it’s downright frustrating. I can’t resist playing it.

It’s the number plate game! In France, there are 95 departments: each department (region) has a number (see the map here – I’m in 74). French post codes and number plates reflect the region. So, for instance, my postcode starts with 74, and the local number plates also contain 74 as the last two digits, separated from the rest of the numbers and letters. These two last digits will be shifted into the bottom right corner with the new French standard number plate comes in, and no longer requires the region with the registration (but the French still want the numbers displayed so people know which department they’re from). The number plate game is simple. The game starts when you spot a number plate ending in 01. You then look for 02. I spent about a week seeing 02s but no 01s which was really frustrating. Finally, success! I saw one 01 and started watching out for 02s. Nothing. For two weeks, I searched. I saw 03 to 07 in one day alone: the number plate game was taunting me. I finally saw 02 and 03, then got stuck on 04 for the rest of winter 2007. I still find myself far too interested in car number plates when I really should be watching the road as I’m now stuck on 47.

This all started when I was sitting in Jen’s car and she said “21!”. “What are you talking about?” I asked, and so she explained the game to me. I thought, “Well, if Jen came out in late November and she’s already up to 21 by mid-January, it must be pretty easy.” Jen revealed yesterday that she actually started her count last May. And that was during a road trip where she drove through loads of departments.

Other numbers I’ve been stuck on include: 9; 19; 26. Luckily, Jen educated me on department 20: it doesn’t exist. Instead, the French island of Corsica has two regions: 2A and 2B, which are separate to the department of 02. Confused yet? Try the number plate game and this will all make sense.

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About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

3 Comments on “The number plate game

  1. We used to do this in the UK when I was a kid. Of course, UK no plates just run from 1 to 999, so it’s a bit easier (on average you only need to wait for 1000 cars!). And we were doing things like going to the swimming pool on the bus, so not quite as dangerous as when you’re driving.

    Did you ever come across the pub names “legs” game?

  2. Nope, I have no idea what the pub names “legs” game is but I did crack 47 on the road trip and now I’m up to 53. Yay! If anyone would like to fill me in on the pub game, please feel free.

  3. I think I’ll just explain it over a beer or two, and then you can write about it!

    I’m guessing 75 isn’t going to be tricky when you get there…