RE: Geneva to Rotterdam, via the M4: PH Blog
Discussion
don logan said:
I've done this journey a couple of dozen times and can't understand why you didn't just head Geneva - Dijon - Troyes - Reims - Calais?
I can usually do the Frejus Tunnel to Calais in 9hrs in a V10 Toerag without risking losing my licence!
What is it with Belgian drivers and last minute lane changes? It happens SO often that it's not a generalisation!
My friend did this route ~2 weeks ago, and despite there being large amounts of snow deposited all over the N5 immediately North of Geneva, the journey from the Pont du Mont-Blanc (~470 miles) was despatched in 5 and 3/4 hours. The remaining 160 miles from Folkestone to his home however, then took another 4hrs 20min's. Highlights the pitifully dire situation in this country.I can usually do the Frejus Tunnel to Calais in 9hrs in a V10 Toerag without risking losing my licence!
What is it with Belgian drivers and last minute lane changes? It happens SO often that it's not a generalisation!
Sentiments regarding Belgian drivers echoed here - their ignorance/incompetence on the autoroutes never fails to amaze me. Mind you, in my recent experiences there have also been more than a handful of Brits demonstrating the shocking lane discipline that has become endemic on the home front.
Hats off to the French though.
End of shocking generalisations from me, and apologies to any Belgians reading this that still have a full compliment of rear view mirrors attached to their cars.
D.no said:
don logan said:
I've done this journey a couple of dozen times and can't understand why you didn't just head Geneva - Dijon - Troyes - Reims - Calais?
I can usually do the Frejus Tunnel to Calais in 9hrs in a V10 Toerag without risking losing my licence!
What is it with Belgian drivers and last minute lane changes? It happens SO often that it's not a generalisation!
My friend did this route ~2 weeks ago, and despite there being large amounts of snow deposited all over the N5 immediately North of Geneva, the journey from the Pont du Mont-Blanc (~470 miles) was despatched in 5 and 3/4 hours. The remaining 160 miles from Folkestone to his home however, then took another 4hrs 20min's. Highlights the pitifully dire situation in this country.I can usually do the Frejus Tunnel to Calais in 9hrs in a V10 Toerag without risking losing my licence!
What is it with Belgian drivers and last minute lane changes? It happens SO often that it's not a generalisation!
Sentiments regarding Belgian drivers echoed here - their ignorance/incompetence on the autoroutes never fails to amaze me. Mind you, in my recent experiences there have also been more than a handful of Brits demonstrating the shocking lane discipline that has become endemic on the home front.
Hats off to the French though.
End of shocking generalisations from me, and apologies to any Belgians reading this that still have a full compliment of rear view mirrors attached to their cars.
Well timed that man! Great car for that trip, nice blend of performance with civility to keep fatigue at bay.
Did a similar non-stop trans-European trek about 10 years ago (started in Southern Ireland, got ferry to the UK, across UK and ferry into France, on down through Switzerland and Italy to Monza in a Honda S2000)... took 21.5 hrs with fuel and driver change stops. You really miss any sense of refinement about 12 hours in I can tell you!
Did a similar non-stop trans-European trek about 10 years ago (started in Southern Ireland, got ferry to the UK, across UK and ferry into France, on down through Switzerland and Italy to Monza in a Honda S2000)... took 21.5 hrs with fuel and driver change stops. You really miss any sense of refinement about 12 hours in I can tell you!
Just to bookend this discussion on UK - Geneva routes, here is the one I used this year....
This is a routing for the journey in the other direction; i.e. Calais to Geneva (well Ferney–Voltaire) rather than GVA to the UK. Some PH'ers might just recognize it. It’s the journey that Colin Goodwin made to the Geneva Motor Show and then wrote up in the April 1st 2015 edition of Autocar magazine last year.
He did the whole thing without using any of the French Auto-Route system. And, moreover, drove both there and back in a Caterham Seven 160, which I think must claim to be the ultimate definition of hair – shirt motoring. Respect for that.
I liked his story so much I cut out the article and kept it for future reference. My edit on his routing is contained (well) within this post-it note. Lovers of irony may note I have this example of my “old-school” navigation guide stuck onto my XK Coupe’s dashboard - next to the sat-nav screen.
I cheated on his example twice; once by using the Auto-Route from Calais to Amiens and secondly by having an overnight stop there as well. The next day I covered the rest of the journey on a mix of RN and D –class roads, as per the post-it note directions. Worked a charm and Colin’s routing does indeed use some lovely and quiet driving roads (as picture 2 shows). Highly recommended if you have the time to try it out on either the outbound or the inbound legs, although I think I’d try and source something with a bit more comfort than a Seven……….
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/ComMqDrS.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/qoZfLJkI" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/qoZfLJkI.jpg)
This is a routing for the journey in the other direction; i.e. Calais to Geneva (well Ferney–Voltaire) rather than GVA to the UK. Some PH'ers might just recognize it. It’s the journey that Colin Goodwin made to the Geneva Motor Show and then wrote up in the April 1st 2015 edition of Autocar magazine last year.
He did the whole thing without using any of the French Auto-Route system. And, moreover, drove both there and back in a Caterham Seven 160, which I think must claim to be the ultimate definition of hair – shirt motoring. Respect for that.
I liked his story so much I cut out the article and kept it for future reference. My edit on his routing is contained (well) within this post-it note. Lovers of irony may note I have this example of my “old-school” navigation guide stuck onto my XK Coupe’s dashboard - next to the sat-nav screen.
I cheated on his example twice; once by using the Auto-Route from Calais to Amiens and secondly by having an overnight stop there as well. The next day I covered the rest of the journey on a mix of RN and D –class roads, as per the post-it note directions. Worked a charm and Colin’s routing does indeed use some lovely and quiet driving roads (as picture 2 shows). Highly recommended if you have the time to try it out on either the outbound or the inbound legs, although I think I’d try and source something with a bit more comfort than a Seven……….
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