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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

Driving through France on a Sunday - anything I ought to know?

18 replies

Bramshott · 27/02/2008 12:05

Trying to decide which day to start our holiday in August - Sun 3rd or Mon 4th. We're getting Dover-Calais ferry at about midday, then driving to near Poitiers. My hunch is to go for the Sunday as the roads will be quieter - but will there be any problems driving down on a Sunday? Will we be able to stop for a meal somewhere (not gourmet, but basic refuelling for the kids)?

Anyone any experience?

OP posts:

soremummy · 27/02/2008 12:09

You will have to use services for food hypermarkets will be closed

soremummy · 27/02/2008 12:10

sorting baby out but we went near there before will get u a link for servivces etc autogrills...

littleolwinedrinkerme · 27/02/2008 12:19

We did this journey last summer down to a friends wedding near Poitiers - needed to eat and again like you no gourmet so we ended up being real brits abroad - McDonalds!. We knew we could get something for the girls, salad for me, big mac for DH all very quick and back on the road!(Normally limited to big treats in the UK). Sunday will be quieter but as soremummy said all supermarkets will be closed so carry basic provisions. In car DVD player was also a godsend....

Walkthedinosaur · 27/02/2008 12:28

Also lots of petrol stations closed too, although services on main roads may be different. Petrol stations in France only use French bank cards so make sure you've got enough petrol in the tank to get where you're going.

Original poster

Bramshott · 27/02/2008 12:58

Thanks guys, this is all useful. WTD - that worries me - how will we fill up on a day to day basis once we get where we are going? Will we have to use cash?

OP posts:

fatzak · 27/02/2008 13:06

Good point Walkthedinosaur about the bank cards. I was very suprised that the automated petrol pumps don't accept English Visa cards - we were almost stuck a few summer ago on the way back to the port but fortunately found a small place open who we could pay in cash. Many of the petrol stations will accept foreign cards if there is someone actually taking your payment but even the huge hypermarker petrol stations wouldn't accept our cards.

Milliways · 27/02/2008 19:51

We have also been stuck on a Sunday night looking for a fill up - ALWAYS fill up BEFORE you leave the Toll Roads, where you can pay the cashier at the services.

We ended up giving another motorist 20 Euros cash to put some fuel in our car when was filling up

The Supermarkets have petrol pumps for other days - just be careful to choose the lane where you pay a cashier.

Othersideofthechannel · 27/02/2008 20:03

I would travel on Monday. The roads here are always really busy during the weekends in the summer. On the radio they always recommend not travelling on the weekends. If we HAVE to do it, we start in the evening and drive until 2am. If you drive in the afternoon there are huge queues at the motorway tolls, service stations are really busy.
Also by travelling on a Monday you will have no problem getting fuel at a hypermarket with a cashier controlled pump.
For basic refuelling, Flunch is pretty good.
If you want to go for a burger, why not try Quick which is the French burger chain.

Othersideofthechannel · 27/02/2008 20:10

Bisonfuté already has predicted traffic conditions (presumably based on previous years) and Monday is showing green whereas Sunday is showing orange.here

Desiderata · 27/02/2008 20:10

Be slightly cautious on A roads, etc. French drivers can be quite fond of assuming right of way from a side road, and you're often not sure whether they're going to cut you up.

After years of working on coaches, the general consensus amongst professional drivers was that it was better to slow down, rather than speed up, if you see a car waiting to pull out.

Othersideofthechannel · 27/02/2008 20:14

Side roads quite often have right of way over main roads.

Desiderata · 27/02/2008 20:16

Yes, it can be quite challenging!

Othersideofthechannel · 27/02/2008 20:20

Isn't the reason you couldn't use UK bank cards in the automated pumps because the pumps use chip and pin (which has existed in France for years) and until a couple of years ago UK cards only had magnetic stripes?

Or is there an incompatibility between UK chip and pin and French chip and pin?

Desiderata · 27/02/2008 20:24

We used to use fuel cards years ago when in France, and these were issued from the UK, and could be used in the UK too, so I'm not sure about incompatibility.

Original poster

Bramshott · 28/02/2008 11:08

Thanks! OSOTC - that site is great - thank you!

OP posts:

mand1963 · 28/02/2008 22:37

I'm pretty sure that OSOTC is correct; now that UK cards have chip & pin they will usually work. We've certainly had no problems in the automatic pumps recently.

Another recommendation for uncomplicated eating that we sometimes use, no opening hour issues and good with kids is "Buffalo Grill" (I think they've got a website), a sort of chain franchise steakhouse. They're usually on retail parks on the outskirts of towns Not posh, but you know what you're getting and you know the kids are welcome, which is sometimes exactly what you want!

slalomsuki · 04/03/2008 14:58

Supermarkets in big towns will be open until 1pm on a Sunday. It may be worth stopping at one of them to eat and pick up drinks/wine/snacks etc for the journey and beyond. Tourist towns will be lively

MorocconOil · 04/03/2008 15:04

Look out for, and stick to the speed limits rigidly. We were fined on a smallish road for speeding. The Gendarmes are skilled at hiding behind hedges etc and are often where you'd least expect them.

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