Scenic route from Calais to Le Mans

[yeti]

Am pottering down the Classic with Mrs yeti this year in the Plus 8 hence it would be nice to take a more scenic route than endless autoroutes and tolls.

Recommendations to keep us off the big roads and a decent stop about halfway please..? Maybe Rouen?

[Irish]

N138 - the original road (now a D road I think). Take the main road to Rouen then turn off. Lovely way to enter Le Mans.

[yeti]

Irish said:

N138 - the original road (now a D road I think). Take the main road to Rouen then turn off. Lovely way to enter Le Mans.

Cool - I like the sound of that!

[gt6]

Best to avoid rouen at the moment as the bridge is still closed, the details of diversions around rouen are posted elsewhere, if you take the N138( now d438 i think) after rounen there are plenty of villages/small towns to stop at and watch the world go round as you eat lunch

[joncon]

honfleur is worthy of a stop, good food and drink, plenty to see .
very touristy but for good reason !
plus if you plan a decent route from Calais you get to cross the pont de normandie

[ellroy]

Honfleur is nice, but way of piste.

To get round Rouen, before fairly easily picking up the D438, try aiming for yvetot before heading down to caudebec en caux (sp?) pretty little place with a few bars/ cafés overlooking the Seine and right next to a bridge to get over easily.

[FartKong]

Irish said:

N138 - the original road (now a D road I think). Take the main road to Rouen then turn off. Lovely way to enter Le Mans.

This is what we do every year. Some lovely villages on the way down. This pic was in Gace, can see my car in the background. They don't speak a word of English but did a really nice steak & frites with nice cold beer.

[Bebee]

Yeti, if you haven't already then you should get this prior to your drive.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Le-Mans-Chasseur-Michel-Le...


Played it to death since it arrived 2 weeks ago!

[DeanoX]

I normamally auto-route to abbeville then go cross country to the south of Le Mans in a straight-ish line.

Generally...
Abbeville -> Marseille-en-Beauvaisis -> Gournay-en-Bray -> Les Andelys -> Skirt Evereux to the North -> Conches-en-Ouche -> L'Aigle -> Mortagne au Perche -> Belleme -> LM

Theres some great section of road in there through classic rolling french countryside. Any number of places to stop for a leisurely lunch. All the roads are wide open, deserted french country roads. Any traffic is invariably easy to pass and the gendarmes seem to concentrate on the Auto-routes/N138 though not a huge issue anyway for our classic convoy. Evereux is the only less scenic element but its only a blip.

In the past I have used the Yvetot route to the north of Rouen. There is a great Autoroute section that is very lightly used and the section heading south from yvetot across the pont de brotonne is excellent. But still too much auto-route from Calais to past Rouen for my liking.

Our convoy from a years back in Les Andelys

[OvalOwl]

FartKong said:

This pic was in Gace, can see my car in the background. They don't speak a word of English but did a really nice steak & frites with nice cold beer.

Oh that's handy. I'm stopping off in Gace on Monday night before heading on to do touristy things in the Loire Valley.

[RallyChamp]

Yup, can vouch for the N138 after Rouen. Not much (interesting) alternative before Rouen unless to go directly South from Abbeville then across (but Paris in/on the way). There is a parallel D928 from Abbeville to Rouen, nice but depends on how much time you have. For any overnighters for near Abbeville I can +1 a châteaux nearby at Behen (cheaper than CentreParks!)

The aim for us is to get to Gace for lunch (like tons of others). Steak and frites with a shandy... Our 06:30 Dover ferry usually gets us there for 1pm lunch (roughly). The N138 to Gace is nice and generally straight. On joining the N138 it's through/past four market towns all beginning with 'B' then Gace. Couple of speed cameras nearer to Gace, if I recall. Two years ago wrote off my just restored 911 into a garden wall near flippin Brionne :-( This year I'll be stopping off roadside to pay my respects with her replacement.

Enjoy the drive whichever route...

[The Tea Boy]

I too, would like to go a more scenic route to LM, we're doing Dover-calais but I'm towing the caravan, so my question is, how much longer realistically will it take coming off the auto route at Rouen to get to LM, im currently thinking it will take me 5-5.5hrs from Calais.

Matt

[gt6]

The Tea Boy said:

I too, would like to go a more scenic route to LM, we're doing Dover-calais but I'm towing the caravan, so my question is, how much longer realistically will it take coming off the auto route at Rouen to get to LM, im currently thinking it will take me 5-5.5hrs from Calais.

Matt

The road is a good few miles less but slower, if you do not encounter much traffic it can actually be faster

[farbbm]

Bernay is a nice place to stop but it's only about out 80-90 miles from Le Mans. I know this as I was stuck there for 2 days after the 2011 Race when my E30's fuel pump broke.

[lowdrag]

If you want a leisurely drive, take the coast road to Dieppe and Le Havre, crossing over the river, as already said, on the Pont de Normandie to Honfleur. From there, it depends on how long you want to take, but my favourite route for the last 25 years has always been down to Lisieux and then a detour to Falaise. Now you can really hit the back roads with a mixture of villages towns and fabulous driving roads with not a flic in sight, crowds waving, and great scenery. From the Falaise bypass take:-

Putanges Pont Ecrepin (great hotel by the river called the Lion Verd)

Ranes

Carrouges

Pré en Pail

Villaines le Juhel

Sillé le Guillaume

Conlie

Saint Saturnin

Le Mans

So many bars and restaurants and a guarantee you'd love the route. Far more interesting than the D338; like comparing an A road with a B road in the UK. It's longer, slower, but infinitely more fun.

[joncon]

don't forget the tiger tank at Vimoutiers

[FartKong]

joncon said:

don't forget the tiger tank at Vimoutiers

Is that easy to find? Would be worth popping off the N138 for a bit to check it out.

[joncon]

its on the main road out of Vermoutiers,
there is a layby next to it !
google earth Vermoutiers, and follow road south, just outside town on a long sweeping bend.