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Overnight Stops - Map of Lay-bys?


Mark
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Does anyone know of an on-line map of all sizeable overnight lay-by stops in France?  You know, the ones that leave the main road, have picnic areas, toilets etc.  I've tried Google but can't find anything.  Failing that, does anyone know of a stop on the A20/N20 around Souillac?

Thanks, Mark. 

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I assume you're looking at "aires"?

The new Michelin atlas shows them all, but be aware that they are real targets for thieves. Every year the French papers carry stories of peiople's cars broken into, and people robbed at gun/knifepoint, of caravans pumped full of anaesthetic gas, and the contents of the caravan/car removed.

If you MUST do it, choose a populated aire/service area, and park in a well lit spot. Avoid going right to the back or between two lorries.

Better a slightly disturbed night than ripped off. Personally, we stopped this about 5 years ago.

Alcazar

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Good grief, that's a bit worrying!  Any safer to pop off the main road and stop in a simple 'Parking' on a D road?  I'm about to enter a phase of having no income whatsoever so even F1's are going to be stretching the finances!
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Before we got the house I was a caravan user .Three years ago I met a couple with a big motorhome who were on the same site as I was .They were waiting for the local  Puegeot  main dealer to get for them and fit a small  window that had been cut out of the cab with a stanley knife ...they had secured the cab doors together inside  while they slept in the aire so were not robbed .. They woke up  while the break in was under way put on a light ..and they heard somebody run  get in car and drive  off .. ..they were very shocked more from the fear of what might have happened to them than what actually did !  ... .I   think I would find a camp site or  38 euros worth of double room in a BB Hotel  for the night rather than stop in an aire ....I think you would get a better nights sleep . ..I read that East European nationals are suspected of being behind a lot of crime taking place in aires ...looking for passports as well as money .

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We took holidays for many years with our caravan down to the South of france, always with young children , so an overnight stop was innevitable having set off from near Manchester.

Following advice from the Caravan Club, if we couldn`t find a caravan site at a reasonable time, we would head for the Autoroute and stop at a Service Station, not a rest area, we heard plenty of tales of folks being robbed/attacked at the latter.

 

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What, and get anaesthetic gas shoved into my car by Eastern European gangsters whilst sleeping?  Nope, much safer to prop my eyes open with matchsticks and do the whole run from 85 to 65 in one go!

 [;-)]

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I've stopped at the Aire de la Porte de Correze twice in the last four weeks. I've vowed never to stop there again because the food is so poor. It might not matter if you just wanted somewhere safe to park overnight though. I expect the morning croissants would be OK.

Hoddy
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Why not stop the journey a bit earlier, head for the nearest decent town and use a 'camping municipale' for an overnighter. We used to do that and were fully converted to municpale campsites, they seem to be avoided by Brits. We never remember paying more than about E10 if no electric hook up used.

Regards

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Good bless les aires (during the daytime, judging from this thread).  There are so many of them and are brilliant for a quick pit stop to do the biz, let the children go on the swings for two ticks and then fly back onto the autoroute.  I wish that we had them in the UK.

About the original posting and a map of the aires, I would like to know if there is a book, listing the aires/service stations and, in particular, their facilities.  I tend to stop when I need to but it would be great to plan ahead and stop at the one that has the best swings/slides.  Even though I have done Caen-Bordeaux trek at leat 10 times in the last 2 years, I forget which one is which.

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[quote user="KathyC"]I hope to God I never meet either of you on the road. What an appallingly irresponsible attitude to take, just to save 30 odd euros.[/quote]

Oh dear, the "holier than thou" brigade are out again.

FYI, I do it because we usually have valuable stuff in the car with us, it can't ALL be unpacked and taken into an hotel, and we know three people who have had cars broken into and stuff nicked at French hotels.

I drive overnight when there is hardly anyone on the road, and if I feel tired, I stop, get out and walk about. I also drink plenty of coffee.

MYOB, OK?

Alcazar

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I think that anyone who drives over 700 miles without sleep is criminally irresponsible, as any motoring organisation would tell you. If you post on a public board then anyone can respond to you and everyone has suggested ways in which a stop would be possible. Your precious valuables are not work risking other people's lives even if you don't care about your own. I take back what I wrote about not meeting you on the road; I trust I never meet you anywhere. Next time I pass a tangled mass of wreckage I'll think of you and hope to God you haven't taken anyone else with you!
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This is obviously a thorny subject with some fairly polarised views, but here is my two penn'orth

I have some sympathy with Alacazar as security at either aires or hotels is not good and it is always a risk to park up when loaded with items. On the other hand falling asleep at the wheel is definitely a bad!

But I do not wish to remove all risk by travelling down by horse and cart either (even if it does!)

Our drive to the south is around 700 miles but both of us are used to long distance driving anyway, which helps, but we rotate drivers every couple of  hours (not an option if you drive alone though) and drink Red Bull or take Pro Plus which keeps us pretty alert. There is always risk in driving and I just look to try to minimise it as far as possible. Nothing to do with cost saving either - why is that assumption so often made?

The problem with the Autoroutes of course is that all vehicles are travelling at a fair speed so any accident is likely to to be serious. However, much as I personally dislike speed limits, I have to admit that the quality of driving on the Autoroutes at least has improved considerably since enforcement started and the journey does not take much longer now. With fewer accidents there seem to be fewer hold ups (although I do try to travel at 'unsociable' hours and avoid weekends now so that may well be another factor)

I did see some stats once which implied that most accidents tend to happen within a short distance from home - possibly apocryphal!

We have stayed over in aires in the past but stopped that when we read the reports of thefts etc so now just use them for a break during the day. The reports of gassing are true - and staying on a camp site does not necessarily get over that; we were camping outside Nice several years ago and that is exactly what happened to us.

This has got a little off subject and for that I apologise!

Andy

 

 

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The last time I drove from the North of England to Munster (Germany) without sleep I really do believe that I was an accident waiting to happen. I swore then that I would never ever repeat the exercise, even if it meant a Formula 1 overnight.

We did a 900 mile Berlin to Wales trip in a oner but with 3 drivers and the 'next' duty driver was sleeping, we changed drivers at 2 hour intervals and it obviously was not a problem that way.

The answer is of course to have multiple drivers and hence avoid the overnight security issues.

Regards

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It is not only the danger of having an accident when driving long distances in one go - you are risking your health also.

We did south of France to Calais in one go, then Dover to North Norfolk - stopping just a few times in France for quick refreshments etc. About a week after arriving back I developed a DVT in my left calf, and a cluster of smaller clots in my right leg,  resulting in daily heparin injections in my stomach for 2 weeks (plus the daily blood tests) as they couldn't stablise my INR, then Warfarin for 3 months. Plus the worry at the start of whether the clot(s) might move upwards. It is not something I would recommend to anyone, especially if you don't like needles, although they don't bother me, but the severe bruising from the heparin was very unpleasant.

I had no history of anything like this before and it was quite a sobering experience. You don't need to fly to get a DVT!

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We've done Costa Brava to Buckinghamshire in one day before now and been home by 10pm after breakfast in the Spanish Hotel. No feeling of being tired at all. It's not something I'd do regularly now but it can be done by two drivers without being anywhere near falling asleep at the wheel. Maybe just a question of age (car and drivers) as I don't think I'd feel up to it now?

In answer to the original post - there was a book available some years ago called "French Autoroutes" by Richard Binns with info on the autoroutes and stopping places and Michelin had a similar guide. A bit out of date now but it is still available on request at some libraries - I know this as I requested it a year or so ago.

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