Having driven through France only a couple of times, each time I have been a little fearfull of negotiating Paris, so each time we planned our route to go down via the west coast, This summer we would like to think we could go direct towards our destination, and this would incur driving through Paris, Is it that bad??? We manage Barcelona ok, is it worse than that? Are the routes signed good? Do you have plenty of time to get in the correct lane??
Thanks, H.
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Many thanks T End, I didnt actually mean going into Paris (NO WAY HOSE) sorry for wording it like that what I meant was would it be easy enough to drive around similar to M25 or M60 around Manchester, the peripherie in other words or is it still advisable to steer clear???
There is a really good route that goes under Charles de Gaulle airport towards Fontainebleau that somebody gave me off of here, sadly our hard drive crashed and I no longer have it saved to disc but I am sure somebody else can post it for you. It was fantastic, easy to follow and we avoided Paris a treat without going a long way out of our way.
Ali
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Where are you headed for, Harold? Wherever you go in France, there's no real need to go through Paris, unless you want to go to....er, Paris! If you're headed to the Med coast, try following a line from Calais-Troyes-Lyon-Orange etc. If you're going to the west coast go Abbeville-Rouen-Dreux-Alencon-Le-mans etc....
We were initially going to go from Roscoff or Caen down through the Loire and end up in Sitges Spain nr Barcelona, but have you seen the prices from there, we have a motorhome 7mtrs long and it will cost between £650 to £750, so now its going to have to be Calais, thats when the dreaded Paris bit comes into play.
Gonna take the advise and dodge it I think. cheers for replies guys.
No need to go through Paris at all Harold. Just keep west of Paris as you're coming down, it's a doddle, honest! Have a look onwww.viamichelin.com it'll even work out your tolls for you!
I think Floydfan's suggested route to the south west is the most sensible, but that said, you shouldn't be too afraid of tackling Paris. In my experience it isn't that bad.
We often go via Paris on our homeward leg as a little treat to soften the blow of going home! The first time I did it I just headed for the centre, parked local stylie not knowing where I was (be more difficult, granted, in your MH), and just headed for the nearest metro station. We've usually just had say an afternoon and evening there before heading off to the boat. But that's always been well worth it; seeing sunset over the city from Sacre Couer kind of feels like the sun going down on the holiday....
One time I put half a dozen sights into the sat nav, and just held tight whilst we hurtled past them; that was a scream. Last year we made more of a feature of it and camped for a couple of nights on the outskirts and then used the train / metro.
Don't let the traffic reputation put you off going altogether, even if you're just 'passing through'. Its a great city, even when seen through a car window.
If you want to go round the south east/south west of Paris, from the A1 follow the A104/N104 its well signed and far enough out of Paris for a reasonable journey. We have done it during the rush hour uo towards C de G Airport and it was OK.
Yes David I think that was the one. Fab route and avoided all the chaos of Paris. I might have a paper copy of it in the glovebox I will check and post it if I do.
Hi, we've tried and failed to navigate through with a map bought in the UK. However, when we bought a map in France we drove through no problems. Again, the C de G airport way.
--If you want to drive from Calais to Barc. & dont mind toll autoroute all the way you dont go anywhere near Paris- go Calais Reims Dijon Lyon Nimes Beziers Perpignan Girona Barc---ferget sat nav jus buy a map--
The 'Francilienne' (E104/N104) is like an even further out version of the M25 - skirts around the to east of Paris, and pops you out on the route south, with none of the scary bits. It's a very pleasant route, well signposted, and with places where you can buy cheap petrol, and even pop into a hypermarket, whilst not going more than 100 metres off the road. Take the motorway from Calais to just south of Senlis, you can 'cross-country' toward Ermenonville at this junction, and avoid the complications around Charles de Gaulle airport, then head for the 104 (new road numbers so be careful with SatNav or more then a week old map books!!!!!) and just follow it around until you see signs for 'Lyon'. If you need more details than post reply, and when my brain is re-engaged after the Christmas/New Year lull, and when I'm back in holiday planning mode, then I can almost detail the route without even looking at a map! (How sad is that - as previously mentioned in another thread, can now negotiate France by 'best patisserie' routes from north to south).
We tend to avoid Paris when heading south but heading home we find it is the quickest route. The big problem we found first time we did it was that there are no signs for Calais ! The trick (we found) is to follow signs for Metz/Nancy - then Lille - and eventually you pick up signs for Calais.
We went through Paris on our way south last September with the help of a route downloaded from www.viamichelin.com and found it surprisingly easy with clear, easy to follow directions.
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Topic: Negotiating Paris
