Driving from Calais to Nimes and back - where is best to break the journey overnight?

[bossykate]

I think the title says it all really! From what I can see from the map, I think Dijon would be a good choice.... but am very interested in mumsnetters' views.

Thanks very much in advance

ou les expertes francaises?

Dijon is reputedly glorious and surely worth a stopover
We always, always find the recommendations in the Cadogan Guides very accurate, and pleasingly they always include out-of-town and family-friendly B & B type places as well as nice central hotels
If there is a Cadogan Guide for Burgundy I'd consult that
But that whole area of France is way off my manoir alas

merci!

i really need to get a move on and book this plus the crossings - have already probably missed out on bargains - gah.

We have never actually planned a stopover as we travel as far as we want then look for a cheap motel (£0 per night per room) on the outskirts of a town, starting at Formula 1 (really cheap, broken shower heads etc.) etc. a list of the budget ones dont travel on a bank holiday expecting to get a room ad hoc, you wont.

Missed the 3 it should read £30 per room per night.

hi discoverlife. thanks for that. you clearly have a higher appetite for risk than I! actually we will be travelling the last two weeks in August so I would be concerned things would be booked up. thanks though, driving as far as you can and then stopping is a good idea

We had to start doing that as we could never calculate where we would be in the country, the first time we did it we arrived at the hotel by 3pm and ended up cancelling and travelling for another 3 hours before we were happy to find somewhere to sleep. We try to get as much travelling done during day one so that we are fairly rested after only 3 or 4 hours travelling when we arrive at our holiday detination.
We travel From Calais to Paris and circle around Paris (or go down the coast to Rouen) then towards Orleon, Bourges, Cermont Ferand, then Millau, then the coast. We always stop off at Millau to see the fantastic bridge there here

any more pensees?

I mailed you a link you rascal, did you not get it?

We do exactly the same as discoverlife. Depending on what time we get a crossing (we always do eurotunnel), we either stop in Orleans, Bourges or Clermont Ferrand. The further you get on day 1, the less you have to do on day 2 - bear in mind if you are renting a property or checking into a hotel, if you get there too early on day 2 you may not get access to your villa/apartment/hotel until much later!

This Year we are doing the Portsmouth to Bilboa crossing then driving to Lisbon for 5 days, then further up north about 60km to a friends beach house for a week then possibly back down to the Algarve, if not the Algarve I may try the Mar Menor area of Spain for a week, then make our slow way up through Spain and France to the Channel Tunnel. We will probably stop en-route to go canoeing down the Gorges du Tarn or the Dordogne river, then we could be stopping at Poitiers to visit the science centre there.

sounds great discoverlife.

I love the lifestyle in France - we are lucky that my parents have their villa in the Languedoc - its just a shame they need to rent it out so we can't go there at every available school holiday!

Enjoy!

xxx

thanks

marina, what if you email me that is it end of?

discoverlife, aznerak - have just looked at the map of france and i totally get you. will do as you suggest and estimate how far we can get depending on crossing time.

thanks very much for your help

and to the most highly esteemed marina and her fabulous email

what time do you arrive in Calais?

hi asnerak, am looking at eurotunnel next and will put it all together - i hope...

thanks for your help

Whatever you do, don't be seduced by the maddeningly optimistic drive times offered by both ViaMichelin and Maporama
We may be ardent Francophiles but not behind the wheel of our cherished old Nissan...at one point we were six hours behind our itinerary's estimated progress (and OK some of that was down to dd and her pause-pipi demands, but not that much) with the inevitable fire and brimstone standoff between driver and navigator...

we always use theaa.com and google maps - with dh's driving [ahem] we normally get there quicker than the estimated times...

our crossings are at midday (ish) on the way out - so i though we could get as far as bourges.

and on the way back i think we can get as far as orleans leaving us plenty of time to get to calais for four o'clock (ish).

dh had a massive wigout on the way home from La Rochelle and became utterly convinced all our tyres were flat
We can look back at it now and laugh...
Just like the time we drew up on the forecourt of a seemingly deserted and very plain kind of outhouse on the edge of town to let dd have another sodding wee and it turned out to be the town mosque no identifying architecture or signs, nothing to reveal this fact. Luckily the deed was done and the portapotty stowed away, but we got the shock of our lives when suddenly a load of guys came out from what must have been evening prayer. We were absolutely mortified

We were in Milau at lunch time one year, grabbing a baguette and some cheeses for a picnic up at the top of the valley (we try to do it every time). When we had our first and only accident. We were reversed into, on a deserted street, BY A BRITISH HOLIDAY MAKER. What was it, was he hunting for a fellow brit or something? Did the GB sticker present and irrisistable lure? Luckily for us he only hit our tow ball, but it wrecked his bumper.

Can I butt in slightly and ask Discover Life - we're doing Calais to La Rochelle/Niort area - do you find it better to go via Paris or Rouen? Any experience of that? We are trying to find somewhere sensible for overnight stop so need to plan it now...

We drove from Calais down to the Pyrenees and decided to go via Rouen rather than via Paris. You do get held up a bit in Rouen on an urban dual carriageway but we hadn't got the bottle to go round Paris. The Paris route is the shortest one and would probably be faster if you chose your time (i.e. not rush hours).