Route from Calais/Dordogne and somewhere to stop on the way

[Looster]

Hi - we will get to Calais c. 1.30pm and want to drive a few hours on the first day. We are heading down to Jumilhac La Grand, just at the edge of the Dordogne, southwest of Limoges. Any recommendations for routes - pondering on Rouen then down through Orlean vs Rouen then down via Le Mans.

Also, recommendations on places to stay with secure parking and relatively cheap - will need to book 2 rooms as there are 5 of us.

Many thanks!
looster

Novotel at Rouen Sud is pretty good - we stayed there last year. Enclosed car park which is locked over night. Swimming pool. Oh just saw there are 5 of you. You can normally book a 2nd room at a cheaper rate.

Or we are currently staying here near Saumur so a bit south of Le Mans. They have b&b rooms and it is lovely.

We stopped at Le Mans and stayed at this lovely B&B.. www.lalunelake.co.uk

We have done similar.

Last summer we took an early morning Eurotunnel crossing - and arrived in Blois for early afternoon. We stayed in aniceish hotel. It was in the centre of town, and I had sourced suitable car parking prior to visit. We paid 5.50 Euros for overnight parking in a very clean multi storey.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon looking around the town, and had a nice dinner.

it broke our journey nicely - and was aproximately half way to our final destination in Daglan in the Dordogne.

I do think it is good to break it up - it is a long drive to do all at once. The traffic can be busy on a Saturday too, so by doing some on another day -you minimise the hassle.

We have stayed in Rouen in a previous year. We used the Etap. A bit out of town, but had its own car park. Rouen was nice to wander round too - but I think I wouold have preferred to motor on a little - it was only a couple of hours from Calais.