If you can organise being at Barcelona on the 11th-13th you could go to the Spanish Grand Prix. I went last year and it was fantastic. Highly recommend you sit in stand C near the chicane, that's where I sat and it gives a great view of about 7 corners. Much better than doing a track day in France imo!

Hi Adam, just done something similar but in a much shorter time frame!

Calais-Reims-Beaune on day one, but taking the old Dijon Road, the D996. Lovely road!! Stayed here http://www.lecedre-beaune.com/uk/index.php and ate in their restaurant as arrived late. Terrific bar, excellent Martini (Plymouth and Noilly Prat, olives).

Beane-Grenoble-Route Napoleon-Nice on day two. The N85 is one of the world's great roads, just stunning! The only thing I would change would be avoiding Gap, we hit it at Friday rush hour and it took almost an hour to get across! Bypass it if possible.

Chilled in Nice and Monte Carlo for 2 days, the coast road between them is gorgeous, not a fast drive but a very scenic one. Casino is great, also a top notch Martini using, of all things, Martini. The gin I had bever heard of. Lemon peel.

The group then drove to Clermont-Ferrand on day 5 (nothing special, just a halfway point) but they went through Verdon and across the Millau, reported as being stunning but they got caught in snow!! This was Sunday!!

I had to drop Mrs Yeti off at Nice airport Sunday so just did the autoroutes very, very quickly, via Marseille and Lyon. As autoroutes go, just stunning scenery, really enjoyed the drive through the mountains!

Clermont Ferrand to Etoges on day 6 (near Epernay) and stayed here http://www.etoges.com/ Can't recommend it highly enough, including an amazing dinner in the attached Orangerie. Sampled the local brew before and after dinner from here http://www.champagnes-ruffin.com/Champagne_Ruffin_... which was just round the corner. No time for a tour as wanted to get back a decent time and also felt a little delicate this morning, but they do them. We had 2 bottles of the 1998 and it was excellent and reasonably priced. After two failed attempts at a Martini, I gave up. Awful and they were most apologetic as they knew it.

One thing that's fun is driving round the champagne region avoiding autoroutes. Some of the little roads you can bomb along are a hoot and not another car in sight. Much fun was had and the principle applies to everywhere in France really.

Then the good old A26 back to the chunnel

I'd also recommend getting the toll tag https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/ I wish I'd had it, feel like a git getting out and walking round the car to collect tickets or pay the fee. Everyone else had one and they all ended up waiting for me at every toll.

Set cruise at 85-87mph and never be troubled by le plod - you'll get there 10mins later and a lot less stressed. Zero tolerance nowadays, and 150kph seems to be the point of no return it seems. However, one of our group was pulled and fined 90Eu last year and none of us were speeding, he just looked fast as was in a 550! Le plod figured he would have been speeding at some point... and he'd have been right.

Enjoy and hope some of that is relevant to you.

We are doing

Folkestone - Beaune - Castellane (2 nights) - Briancon(2) - Annecy(3) - Gerardmer - Gosnay - home

in July

Happy to share my research/routes etc with anyone.

Started researching at Xmas

Don't forget the obvious, a quick 'pit' stop at Reims circuit for the obligatory pictures. The girlfriend may not appreciate it but it's very atmospheric. Not too far off the main route

I got one of these for our summer trip as we have always been jealous of the locals just powering through whilst we were trying to reach out with our €'s. The misses struggles to reach out sometimes so has to open the door which has resulted in the odd 'clunk' as it hits the raised kerb (NOT in the DB9 - extra careful there ).

We are only planning the one trip this year but if it can save us 30mins across several toll stations I reckon it's worth it

Had the first bill the other day for the set up charge and rental charge! After that it's something like €6 for each month you actually use it (up to a maximum of 2 months charge I believe) plus the tolls themselves.

I also double checked that they don't share info regarding speed between booths with les flics as well

Same here, I've heard stories that they time you from the start to the end and can incorparate a fine into the cost if you arrive there too quickly. Don't know how true that is though, definitely isn't on the M6 toll

Moi aussi, much prefer the N roads

Definately get the TAG as I kerbed a wheel trying to get close enough for the MRS to pay for the Toll. The timing between booths is an urban myth as I have travelled between them at more than 150 KPH and nothing has transpired. Obviously keep an eye out for le plod as they will obviously fine you if they can. Obviously I would never condone speeding.....

Ay up! This is the route we took, click the link and it takes you onto Google maps http://g.co/maps/9a6d8

You can also stay on the A26 beyond Reims and join the D996 later and save an hour. Overall, probably 2-3hrs extra to Beaune and I would cut out the last bits as well, the roads get quite rough! Hope that helps

Turning in for the night after a fantastic dinner at Chateau d'Etoges and a tour at the Taittinger cellars (free with AMOC membership) at Reims earlier.

Tomorrow is the long schlep to Grenoble, via Route de Dijon and then lots of boring AutoRoute.

Thanks everyone for the tips so far!