DerekJ Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I'm trying to plan our next trip down to the Lot. Due to some commitments in the UK I need to work around some dates. This means that I probably need to travel around the times of some of the public holidays in May and I'm trying to judge whether I'm likely to encounter a lot of heavy traffic.Travelling downOne of the weekends - Saturday 8 May - VE Day - as this is a Saturday is this likely to cause many problems - we'd probably travel on Friday 7th.Or, possibly - Thursday 13 May - Ascension Day - travelling from the UK latish that night.Travelling backSunday 23 May - Whit Sunday (Pentecôte).orMonday 24 May - Whit Monday - I suspect this may be more of a problem.Any advice gratefully received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Personal view Derek based on experience on A31, A5, A6 and A7 - so your route will be a bit different, but this probably represents a worst case with not only the French (and particularly Parisians) but also Dutch, Belgian, German etc weekenders on my route all heading for the Med or the mountains:Saturday 8th - probably not too bad because most will have travelled the evening before. The fact that the holiday falls on a weekend means that there is less incentive to go away that weekend than if the holiday had been Thursday, Friday, Monday or Tuesday. Friday 7th - and especially the evening - will be rather crowded.Thursday 13th evening - no problem - everyone will already be wherever they are going having travelled the night before or early morning.Sunday 23rd - I would not expect any special problems.Monday 24th - will be busy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 Thanks for the input Andy. I think we'll probably end up taking a late ferry on the evening of Friday 7th and travel overnight. I think we can delay our return until Monday 17th when hopefully any weekend buildup will have disappeared. It was the question on whether with VE Day being a Saturday and therefore, for many, not really an additional holiday there would be a lot of additional traffic.I'll ponder on for few more days before booking anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme poivre Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 HI Can anyone tell me will all of france be closed on the 2nd April Good Friday as we will be drving down to the vendee from dieppe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 To the best of my knowledge, Good Friday is not a holiday here. My French class has not been cancelled, as they would do with bank holidays and school holidays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme poivre Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Thanks for that Judith ( Brilliant Name by the Way :-)) Was wondering if there would be loads of traffic on the roads we will have to get through Rouen Friday morning.Mrs J Poivre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Can't help with traffic in Rouen on a Friday - I always get lost there, and plan to go through on a Sunday if I can at all possibly. Maybe someone in the area can help.Re the name: never thought much about it, but thanks, since it's not made up but my own ( I can never think up silly names so tend to use my own) ..... there seem to be quite a few of us on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Again Mme P cannot help with the specifics, just the generalities 2nd April is not a holiday (as said) but Monday is, so there will be a number of folk wanting to take a long weekend away. This will cause a build up of traffic later on Friday but the morning should be not be worse than any Friday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme poivre Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Thanks for the replies Didnt realise monday was a holiday ( well didnt think did I) will the shops be open saturday as normal will need to get some fresh provisions :-)Hopefully we will be able to get to and through Rouen before the locals are a wake our ferry docks at 4.30 am so should be quite quiet when we arrive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Shops will be open Saturday - yes - but you may find (like all "holiday" times), that they will be busier than ususal - as in the UK, when holidays come around, people shop as though the shops will never be open again ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Have a look at this (In English) http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/Traffic_forecasts_for_2010_cle1dc317.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted March 20, 2010 Author Share Posted March 20, 2010 [quote user="NormanH"]Have a look at this (In English) http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/Traffic_forecasts_for_2010_cle1dc317.pdf[/quote]Norman. Great, thanks for that. Very useful.[B] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme poivre Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 thanks very useful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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