driving to languedoc

[doodledo]

We are driving from Calais to nr Carcasonne with a 2.8 and 5 year old. Will break the journey by staying in a logis in Limoges outskirts. Any tips - ie where are the good rest areas (aires?) to stop off at . Have got a portable dvd player for theat hairy and boring bit round Paris and lots of new toys-can't go too overboard as dd1 gets travelsick if she reads.
TIA

We did this in July with 2 stops on the way down and 1 on the way back. We have dt's who are nearly 4 years. We also had the DVD in the back for them and took about 10 DVD's to keep them occupied.

We also bought a couple of party bags from Adams (but you can get them from Tesco, Woolies etc) which contained crayons, sweets, stickers.

There are plenty of petrol stations along the way so we would stop and let the dt's choose their own goodies for the journey.

Some of the petrol stations have playgrounds and toilets but be warned that often the toilets are the french variety which I didn't like.

There are rest areas with toilets every 10-15 mins drive and there are play areas about every 30-40 minutes of driving. Some better than others.

Take plenty of euros with you as the toll charges are throughout the journey

Thanks, Charellie

Yes the stand up toilets are a bit - well -"strange" aren't they - I especially enjoy the wet feet sensation when you flush

How do you know if an "aire" has a playarea - are there signs to indicate this?

There are signs on the motorway advising how long to the next play area.

We found at most of them they had slides and rockers. Some had swings and climbing frames. The set up is so much better than here.

Thanks!