Discussion
The Badger said:
Any recommendations on where to stay on the Thursday night? We stayed at an F1 in Boulogne-Sur-Mer last time... surrounding area was a bit barren.
We use the Rouen IBIS/Mercure Champ de Mars on the Tuesday night. Nice little bar down the road serving Ruby Lieffe and a Pizza Express place within staggering distance. The hotel also has secure underground parking. With the bridge now open what more does a man need?E36GUY said:
Motorway all the way for me. Completely the opposite of your request but I have done the journey so many times now I simply want to just get there as quickly as possible. Regardless of the Rouen bridge being open or not, I may well stick to the cross country bit over Pont de Bretonne as it's prettier than the rail yard of Rouen and I don't think it's any slower overall.
Such is the rich tapioca of life, I have likewise done more or less every combination of route from all the ports and still the drive to and from Le Mans is one of the highlights of the weekend. I guess it may depend on what you're driving, but it's so much more fun off the autoroute.So to the OP, here's my headline route suggestion - come off at Abbeville, skirt Rouen, aim for somewhere between Evreux & Dreux and then towards Le Mans, you can fill in the details - my approach would be stop in a cafe, open up the map book, see what looks interesting and go from there. Some of the best routes evolve, oh and wherever possible ditch the Satnav.
Vette_1978 said:
We use the Rouen IBIS/Mercure Champ de Mars on the Tuesday night. Nice little bar down the road serving Ruby Lieffe and a Pizza Express place within staggering distance. The hotel also has secure underground parking. With the bridge now open what more does a man need?
Apart from Katy Perry in the passenger seat, nothing.As I find just sitting at 130KPH for 4 to 5 hours about as much fun as nailing my own ball-sack to a coffee table at the best of times, let alone in a '70s classic I'll be going cross-country as usual.
06:50 EuroTunnel then because the Pais du Calais is interminably dull in it's own right Autoroute to Abbeville, then hit the 'D' roads through Grandvilliers to Les Andelys, arriving early for lunch. Back on the road and over the Seine to Evreux and on through L'Aigle and Bonnetable to come in under the Autoroute to the Circuit de La Sarthe from the west.
Unless you go for a big, long lunch in Les Andelys this gets you in your campsite mid-afternoon, with plenty of time to make camp and head to the supermarket for provisions.
I'll probably start the home run, back on the same route on the Sunday evening, staying over-night in Evreux. Last year I stayed at the IBIS Budget right in the centre of Evreuxlast year. Nothing amazing but cheap as chips (£31) with a reasonably secure gated car park, a good number of the spaces underground.
06:50 EuroTunnel then because the Pais du Calais is interminably dull in it's own right Autoroute to Abbeville, then hit the 'D' roads through Grandvilliers to Les Andelys, arriving early for lunch. Back on the road and over the Seine to Evreux and on through L'Aigle and Bonnetable to come in under the Autoroute to the Circuit de La Sarthe from the west.
Unless you go for a big, long lunch in Les Andelys this gets you in your campsite mid-afternoon, with plenty of time to make camp and head to the supermarket for provisions.
I'll probably start the home run, back on the same route on the Sunday evening, staying over-night in Evreux. Last year I stayed at the IBIS Budget right in the centre of Evreuxlast year. Nothing amazing but cheap as chips (£31) with a reasonably secure gated car park, a good number of the spaces underground.
Vette_1978 said:
We use the Rouen IBIS/Mercure Champ de Mars on the Tuesday night. Nice little bar down the road serving Ruby Lieffe and a Pizza Express place within staggering distance. The hotel also has secure underground parking. With the bridge now open what more does a man need?
Pizza... Leffe... Le Mans. Getting giddy now.The Badger said:
Vette_1978 said:
We use the Rouen IBIS/Mercure Champ de Mars on the Tuesday night. Nice little bar down the road serving Ruby Lieffe and a Pizza Express place within staggering distance. The hotel also has secure underground parking. With the bridge now open what more does a man need?
Pizza... Leffe... Le Mans. Getting giddy now.
Here's a nice route from the ferry port at Ouistreham, Caen, although you could also go this way from either Le Havre or Calais;
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Routes?strStartLo...
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Routes?strStartLo...
turbo-ww said:
The Badger said:
Vette_1978 said:
We use the Rouen IBIS/Mercure Champ de Mars on the Tuesday night. Nice little bar down the road serving Ruby Lieffe and a Pizza Express place within staggering distance. The hotel also has secure underground parking. With the bridge now open what more does a man need?
Pizza... Leffe... Le Mans. Getting giddy now.turbo-ww said:
Rillettes, baguette, vin rouge
We're still in transition at this point so stick with something easy on the stomach and palate. From Wednesday onwards it's all fromage, frites, vin rouge and Cafe Creme.Is it wrong I've start getting things ready on the shelf already? Tickets, Sanef thingy, currency, car documents....
Vette_1978 said:
Is it wrong I've start getting things ready on the shelf already? Tickets, Sanef thingy, currency, car documents....
No, not at all. 
The tickets have been there since they arrived, months ago.
The car & ferry docs are filed away in the travel wallet, currency sorted, toll-tag done, house paid for & route planned.
Now it's just the odd 20 days, to wait, until the 'off'...........!
Edited by cja on Wednesday 20th May 04:49
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