Routes to Le Mans

[Halcyon Daze]

Folks,

looking to get some feedback on the routes down to Le Mans. Particularly interested in options from Rouen to Le Mans. We took the N138 last year which was great, and is the obvious alternative to the peage. Wondering if anyone has any experience of alternative routes, and recommendations for a spot of lunch ?

Cheers

Andy.

[E36GUY]

Lunch.

Town of Sees - in the main square opposite the big church there is an excellent place for Moules Frites

[Longers]

E36GUY said:

Lunch.

Town of Sees - in the main square opposite the big church there is an excellent place for Moules Frites

Ditto that! Will be staying in Sees on the Sunday night before the drive home Monday, nice little place

[//j17]

All depends what you want from the route:

Fast+lots of other cars - N138 or A28.
More relaxed+no cars at all - buy a good map (the yellow ones), escape Rouen (easier said than done) and drive anything yellow that heads in the right general direction and enjoy the piece and quiet/disturbing otherwise quiet French villages with loud exhausts/making rubber-necking small boys fall of their bicycles by watching cars, not where they are going.

[alman]

How far down the N138 is Sees? last year was first time so was paying more attention to just making sure I was going the right way tbh.

[Puggit]

Sees

Very pretty town, it's where we stop to do our banking (CA-Normandie Britline account).

[JulesV]

Or try the Lion d'Or just of the main square in Gace. Good food and a lovely typical old French Hotel. The restaurant is very good or you can have a snack in the bar or on the terrace.

[nawarne]

E36GUY said:

Lunch.

Town of Sees - in the main square opposite the big church there is an excellent place for Moules Frites

^^^^^ What he said and the waitress is really fit too!

[NormanD]

JulesV said:

Or try the Lion d'Or just of the main square in Gace. Good food and a lovely typical old French Hotel. The restaurant is very good or you can have a snack in the bar or on the terrace.

I agree with you there.

[Eugene7]

Not sure if it helps, but we've always done the N138 route - almost irrespective of where we start from, if you see what I mean.

However, a year or two back we (that's me and some mates in other Lotus/Caterham 7's - but not with the Lotus 7 Club mob) started using the back roads via TomTom or Garmin on a PDA with headphones for voice directions.

FANTASTIC!

Not a copper in sight, and bugger all other traffic...

The beauty of French roads is that the 'D' roads often run continually in one direction, giving you almost continual right of way, if you plan correctly.

Lots of small town for coffee and lunch stops.

And you can make amazing progress as the roads are so clear.

Have gone via Caen on a loop round to the west, and last year (and this year for the Classic) from Le Havre with a loop round to the east.

Wouldn't go any other way now.

[RVVUNM]

Eugene7 said:

Not sure if it helps, but we've always done the N138 route - almost irrespective of where we start from, if you see what I mean.

However, a year or two back we (that's me and some mates in other Lotus/Caterham 7's - but not with the Lotus 7 Club mob) started using the back roads via TomTom or Garmin on a PDA with headphones for voice directions.

FANTASTIC!

Not a copper in sight, and bugger all other traffic...

The beauty of French roads is that the 'D' roads often run continually in one direction, giving you almost continual right of way, if you plan correctly.

Lots of small town for coffee and lunch stops.

And you can make amazing progress as the roads are so clear.

Have gone via Caen on a loop round to the west, and last year (and this year for the Classic) from Le Havre with a loop round to the east.



Wouldn't go any other way now.

We do this on the way home,amazing roads all the way up to Cherbourg.
Last year we went Dover/Calais and spent hours on the boring motorways and duel cabbageways.Back to Cherbourg again this year though.

[peterguk]

We're getting ferry to Bilbao, couple of days in the Pyrenees, up to Bordeaux, then to Le Mans.

Anyone want to join us, PM me.

[chrisbr68]

I have to say that in my experience the n138 has been pretty dead for the last 2 years!

Still going to do it and Rouen is not always that bad - just most of the time

[t1grm]

I can't tell you the route but, the best drive from Calais to Le Mans I ever did was in 2006. After getting off the boat in Calais I punched Le Mans into my Tom Tom and then selected CYCLING ROUTE. I honestly wouldn't even be able to retrace the route I took if you showed me a map but it was a great drive (once out of the suburbs of Calais) and went through lots of nice villages where you could stop for lunch/snacks. I think it took about 5 hours in total. I assume anyone who has a Tom Tom or similar can do the same and should get a similar route.

[markCSC]

Is it just me or is the N138 a bit dull? Granted it is better than the autoroute but it wasn't the great driving road I expected. Lots of lorries, not many corners and very few other "interesting" cars. I'll probably do it this year but was a bit disapointed to be honnest.

[Little Dave]

t1grm said:

I can't tell you the route but, the best drive from Calais to Le Mans I ever did was in 2006. After getting off the boat in Calais I punched Le Mans into my Tom Tom and then selected CYCLING ROUTE. I honestly wouldn't even be able to retrace the route I took if you showed me a map but it was a great drive (once out of the suburbs of Calais) and went through lots of nice villages where you could stop for lunch/snacks. I think it took about 5 hours in total. I assume anyone who has a Tom Tom or similar can do the same and should get a similar route.

I like the sound of that. That is the route I will take this year - bit of a Magical Mystery Tour.

[Halcyon Daze]

I think its the "cycling route" for us as well. Frankly you get your fill of auto exotica when you're down there, so I'm not that worried about seeing them on the way down, I'd much rather enjoy some French countryside, a few bends and as much pace as that allows. Its at least 50% about the road trip for me. So far got this as my plan starting the off road in Rouen :

Rouen
Caudbec-Les-Elbeuf
Le Neubourg
Conches-en-Ouche
Breteuil
Verneuil-sur-Avre
La Ferte Vidame
La Madeleine-Bouvet
Nogent-Le-Rotrou
La Ferte-Bernard
A11 (Jcn 5)

If anyone has any feedback on the route shout. Cheers.

Andy.