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Can anybody give me a good site/link which will enable me to work out the cost of driving from the UK to France taking into account the price of petrol, toll roads and of course time!  I've searched the net but can't seem to see anything.  There used to be a good site but its gone now.  The plane seems cheap until you add in taxes and charges for luggage.

Thanks for any help.

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Thanks for your answers, have tried the aa site and agree it's not terribley good but will try michelin.

I'm trying to work out the cost against flying to la rochelle and getting a train to my destination but am not having much luck

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Good recommendations all.

We were interested in finding (yet) another route to avoid the boulevard peripherique round Paris,  and were researching how to get through Poissy unscathed.    What really wowed me was being able to "fly" down the streets using Google Earth and VERIFYING which were ONE WAY by looking at the road markings.   That revealed quite a lot that might not be evident from the average map.    And gave one a rough idea of landmarks/junctions to look out for.

We've never actually used the route (although all the details have been noted just in case) but if all else fails Google Earth or GeoPortail are not such idiotic ways of checking driving practicalities like that.

I would not recommend a ViaMichelin sat nav though (I don't think they make them any more) - truly one of the worst bits of kit I've ever bought,  which has nearly landed us in terrible (and indeed potentially dangerous) situations many many times.   The ordinary mapping is OK.

Sorry,  I've veered a little bit off topic haven't I!  

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Hi Martin, I don't know how old your viamichelin was but my old tomtom was next to useless in France too.

The latest tomtom go 730 is much better and even recognises our little lane with only two houses in it.

Google earth site is amazing, so also google maps, that allow you to drive down some of the roads in villages, click on the little man symbol above the zoom in & out. 

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We bought it in Nov 2007.

Mostly the roads are in the right place,  but it's the fact that it often doesn't seem to know that streets are one way,  or that pedestrian passages are just that and not car-capable roads.   Madame famously once tried to send us up a flight of stairs in Cahors,   having got us comprehensively lost.

And some of the menus are bordering on the dysfunctional,  with greyed out options that suddenly re-appear only when you "jog" the software by (say) changing from toll to non-toll option.

We'll wait a bit and then buy something else,  that is if the British government haven't bankrupted us before that!

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Hi

Sorry to hear of problems with Sat Nav. I have used both a Navman and a Sony in France and have never had any problems either around Paris or in pretty rural areas.

As for Paris I regularly travel around Paris by any of the three usual routes, (Francilienne , A3/A86 or the Periferique) depending on the traffic reports via the overhead signs and only generally experience problems and long delays due to accidents or during rush hour.

I would also endorse the use of Mappy.com for route planning prior to departure.

Good luck with trip

Paul 

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