Route South?

[tonyv]

Finally, next week I'm heading out to take posession of my new home near St Girons. So, on Saturday/Sunday I'll be driving, with caravan, wife and dog from Calais to Toulouse.

My Garmin, and Google maps both want me to go straight through Paris, which is certainly shortest, but doesn't seem like a terribly good idea, and I'm more inclined to go via Rouen and Chartres.

So does anyone have experience of alternative routes, and can make a recommendation, please?

[Cat]

Why doesn't Paris seem like a good idea?  Unless you want to break the trip into 2 days?

I don't know why people are so resistant to using the Paris route, it's not as if it takes you through the city centre.  Admittedly going North can be a headache if you hit traffic, but to get down South it's always been a piece of cake for us.

Sorry, not what you asked for I know [:$]

[Patf]

We have driven the route via Rouen and Chartres, but not for a while.

At the time it was quite a headache driving through Rouen, but I THINK there's a ring road now. But maybe not - see this thread:    http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43708

Another recent improvement is the continuation of the motorway around Cahors.

 

[David]

Rouen and Chatres I find is the best route to go South. Rouen can be a bit of a nightmare but only when the Le Mans 24hr is on. Otherwise a nice relaxing route.

Have a good journey ![8-|]

[Richard T]

I usually travel from Boulogne rather than Calais and according to my TomTom going via Rouen and Chartres will add just 8 kilometres compared with the Paris route but will take 30 minutes longer.

I last did the Paris route a few weeks ago arriving at Paris about 5 o'clock on a Sunday evening when I thought the roads would be fairly quiet. Indeed the traffic was reasonably light but there was quite a lot of stopping and starting which added about 20 minutes to my estimated time of arrival in Limoges. Had I hit Paris on, say, a Friday afternoon I guess that 20 minutes could easily have extended to an hour or more.

I find that the estimated time of arrival on the TomTom is accurate to within a few minutes if I travel via Rouen and Chartres so I have now decided to make that my regular route on the basis that I will always get held up in Paris to a greater or lesser degree. At Rouen I follow the signs for Evreux rather than relying on the GPS as my maps are a little out of date.

Hope this helps.

Richard T

[Anton Redman]

I would not fancy Rouen Chartres with a 'van on the back. From memory lots of roundabouts and an evil not very level crossing at the foot of a hill. Have you considered either Autoroute south from Rouen to Tours than Tours Veirzon or even down to Bordeaux and across ?

 

[AnOther]

[quote user="Patf"]Another recent improvement is the continuation of the motorway around Cahors. [/quote]?

What continuation, it's been motorway from Paris to Toulouse for as long as we've been travelling these parts which is best part of 3 years.

Anton, when we were moving we always went Rouen - Chartres and even with a BIG (1700kg) trailer it was a doddle. A good few roundabouts yes but not a real problem. Don't know which evil level crossing you refer to either.

Paris can be the best way but timing is crucial.

[Iancharlton]

I'd avoid the stretch between Chartres & Dreux. Lots of roundabouts, minor roads & villages. A right pain.

The route round Paris is OK. That said, I've only done it anti-clockwise coming from Le Havre or Dieppe

Best done on a Sunday (No HGVs)

[f1steveuk]

We used to do the trip every three weeks, now every six! Speedferries, Boulounge, then to Rouen, (which you don't have to go "through") Everuex, Dreux, Chatres, Orleans, pick upthe motorway, Limoges, and turn off at Souliac toward Bergerac, and it has always been quicker than the few times we tried through/round Paris, certainly doesn't take two days either! We allow ten hours, but it usually takes eight.

[Patf]

Ernie - yes the Cahors bypass has been open since late 2003. It's obviously a long time since I drove that way.

[PaulT]

I prefer the Rouen Chartres route.

Paris seems a nightmare and a 'do not try' without a sat nav.

There are road improvements going on but these do not cause delays and give hope for a faster journey when they are complete.

I found that Tom Tom was not too keen to take this route nor was Multimap. However, Mappy will do the route - the other two seem to still want to take you via Paris!

We normally hit Rouen during the morning rush hour but does not take long to get through.

Yes, there are some roundabouts but are really no problem towing a van.

A copule of places where you come down to one lane, such as the approach to Dreux but should not be too much of a problem.

Just before Dreux is a L'Eclerc filling station on a roundabout and I normally fill up here going up and down. Plus also come off the A20 at junction 60? which is signposted north Montauban if memory serves me correctly. Less than a mile, along a road lined with large stores is a L'Eclerc and I refill the tank here, wich makes the journey so much cheaper than using service areas.

Paul

[Richard T]

[quote user="P2"]I found that Tom Tom was not too keen to take this route nor was Multimap. However, Mappy will do the route - the other two seem to still want to take you via Paris![/quote]

In TomTom set the route as normal then select "Find Alternative...Avoid Part of Route" then select "Paris" from the route itinerary. It'll recalculate and offer the Rouen/Chartres route instead.

This works for TomTom Navigator so I presume it'll work for other versions.

Richard T

[tonyv]

Well, thanks everyone, for your insights. Not much of a concensus, though.

I'm intrigued by Cat's distinction between travelling North and South; why should there be a difference? I'd prefer to avoid Paris for the same reason that I'd prefer to avoid the M25, although I'm going to have to use it to get to Dover.

My favorite route has always been St Malo, down to Bordeaux, then across, but we wanted to spare the dog from the 8-hour ferry crossing, so it had to be Calais. Bordeaux seems a hell of a detour just to avoid Paris.

I'm quite tempted to try the Paris route, after all, it'll be Saturday afternoon, and Gloria (Garmin) has never let me down so far. On the other hand, I think the perceived wisdom here is to go the pretty way round, so I'll certainly take heed.

Guess I'll finally make the decision on the day. Thanks again for all your advice, I'll report back here when I've done the trip (and got FT to connect me up [:'(] )

[Madeira Jon]

Mrs. TomTom has always taken me from Calais to Perigeux via the Paris peripherique with no problems whatsoever. And that includes a Paris Sunday afternoon when chacun et son chien  where out driving.

the Rouen route I dislike because of the number of lorries on the N roads involved.

[Anton Redman]

Cannot understand the problems with Paris

http://www.tuningfever.fr/fr/videos/cat-28-mercedes/pic-315631-c-etait-un-rendez-vous-1976-claude-lelouch-mercedes-ferrari-275-sound.php

But does explain why going North is different