Le Mans info - roadworks & shopping

[Podie]

Gents,

Having just returned from a lovely ten days in the Loire valley, I thought it fair to give you some advance warning...

1) LM town is being torn apart to install trams. There roadworks everywhere (outside of the centre) which makes progress entertaining. In fact, some of the ramps and camber between surfaces made it tough going in the Mondeo..

I am sure the local authorities will clear up a large proportion of things (otherwise it'll be hell on earth) but you may wish to consider this as you enter the town. Good news is that the route from Houx Annex to the Carrefour is not affected.

2) Should you wish to purchase anything from a supermarket that doesn't come in cases , it appears that France no longer does free carrier bags - you have to provide your own. So should you want anything other than the refreshing alternative to food then you may wish to take a couple of Tesco's / Saino's "bag for life" jobs with you...

Happy

[morebeanz]

Thanks! Particularly the bags bit - would never have thought of that...

[Podie]

morebeanz said:

Thanks! Particularly the bags bit - would never have thought of that...

Nor did we... highly entertaining having just bought half the contents of Carrefour to then have to decant it into the boot...

[DJFish]

V. useful reminder about the bags, I have some Ikea bags floating about and may take them to put the meat and baguettes in.

[mel]

Also be aware that the B262 New Barn Road is being resurfaced overnight and will be closed on Wed 13th June.









This is of no relevance what so ever to almost anyone on here except Pied Piper, simply because it's the road outside his house and means he'll either be kept up all night by the noise or won't be able to get out at silly o'clock in the morning to catch his ferry

[F308 MAN]

Podie said:

..... Should you wish to purchase anything from a supermarket that doesn't come in cases , it appears that France no longer does free carrier bags ....

do i interpret this correctly and assume that you can buy them ? ... hope so, then i can diddle the lazy gits back at camp out of even more spondulies.

d

[Podie]

F308 MAN said:

Podie said:

..... Should you wish to purchase anything from a supermarket that doesn't come in cases , it appears that France no longer does free carrier bags ....

do i interpret this correctly and assume that you can buy them ? ... hope so, then i can diddle the lazy gits back at camp out of even more spondulies.

d

They have their own bags you can buy (not cheap) and they weren't exactly plentiful. Trouble is, you never know what they'll do to prepare for the British invasion

Oh, and old town and Cathedral aside, LM is a dump...

[cooperlola]

You can buy bags for just under a Euro each which they'll exchange if they split etc. They are huge and very tough so aren't bad value.

[goodlife]

Podie said:

I am sure the local authorities will clear up a large proportion of things (otherwise it'll be hell on earth)

Sadly not! Our friends who live in Le Mans say the mayor is already getting some serious stick for this not being ready in time. Be prepared for the town center to be hell, so best bet is to use the ring roads. Also beware that on Sunday coming back from the LM24 practice, our SatNav (Garmin) was caught out more than once by roads that are now one-way, that SatNav thinks are two-way.

[F308 MAN]

cooperlola said:

You can buy bags for just under a Euro each which they'll exchange if they split etc. They are huge and very tough so aren't bad value.

so a clever alternative, would be to take the strong bin bags you have carried all the way from the uk ?

(then try hard to throw it all in the skip a few hours later !)

d

[goodlife]

cooperlola said:

some stuff...

Hello Deborah. Thanks for the picture link

[Podie]

cooperlola said:

You can buy bags for just under a Euro each which they'll exchange if they split etc. They are huge and very tough so aren't bad value.

Yep, you can buy bags... but given how few they had midweek, pre-LM...

[cooperlola]

goodlife said:

cooperlola said:

some stuff...

Hello Deborah. Thanks for the picture link

You're welcome. And hi to you too.

Podie, you must visit different supermarkets from me.

Edited by cooperlola on Tuesday 5th June 21:51

[fatboy18]

You could always use your empty swimming pools as large plastic bags

Well lets face it, they wouldnt let us put any water in them last year

[Podie]

cooperlola said:

goodlife said:

cooperlola said:

some stuff...

Hello Deborah. Thanks for the picture link

You're welcome. And hi to you too.

Podie, you must visit different supermarkets from me.

Edited by cooperlola on Tuesday 5th June 21:51

Popped into LM to nose round the old town and cathedral. Left the town via the Carrefour. Funny, throughout all the supermarkets we visited in the last 10 days very few seemed to have carriers for sale.

Then again, my French doesn't extend to anything other than "biere"...

[DHA]

Les sac plastique

[Polarbert]

mel said:

This is of no relevance what so ever to almost anyone on here except Pied Piper, simply because it's the road outside his house and means he'll either be kept up all night by the noise or won't be able to get out at silly o'clock in the morning to catch his ferry

[Polarbert]

dos cervezas porfavour

[Polarbert]

Wait thats wrong isn't it?

[Rude Girl]

cooperlola said:

You can buy bags for just under a Euro each which they'll exchange if they split etc. They are huge and very tough so aren't bad value.

Yep, they're big - exactly the same size as Tesco/Saino 'bags for life'in fact. At just under a euro each that's about 7 times what you pay en Angleterre.

Incidentally, the Carrefour near Houx is by far the most expensive supermarket in the area (I did a tour of the lot whilst searching for the best deal on an espresso maker!! ). If you want a paddling pool, I'd get one of those from Tesco before you go as well (oh, and fill it with carrier bags )