driving through France on the first Saturday of August - how bad will it be?

[geekgirl]

We'll be driving from Zeebrugge down to Tours on Sat the 2nd of August - will the traffic be horrendous? Anywhere we need to avoid? The most direct route takes us via Paris...

If you are travelling around the Peripherique, it is not particularly difficult. I think the drivers are fairly disciplined, and don't do lots of lane switching, It can be slow, though.

What you need to know is your exit name rather than the road that it leads to. They are usually Porte somthing. If you have a Satnav, it will be a doddle; if not, fly the route on Google Earth before you go so you are aware of the twists and turns.

I used to work in the Loire Valley, flying to CDG airport NE of Paris on a Monday, and returnign on the Friday. I'd have to drive crawl around the Periph, and it taught me a lot about driving. I was initially very stressed about the traffic jams, but looking around at the other drivers, they were all very laid back. It taught me to worry only about what I could control.

"It taught me to worry only about what I could control."

Good tip Squeaky. I learned this one travelling on British Rail in the 1980s. Completely changed my life!

Can I Hijack

That forcast looks Fab Marina. does that relate to teh whole of France/Paris or another specific city?

Also what does depart & retour mean. It is obviously leaving and returning but relative to where? Going into/out of city?

We are travelling from Calais to Nantes area (Sables d'olone on the 14th Aug (An amber day) and Paris to Calais on 23 Aug (a red/amber day).

When we go Calais-Nantes I assume Rouen & le Manns is still the preferred route despite comments above. I guess Caen and Rennes is othe roption but it looks quite abit further.

Also does anyone know how the road re-numberng is going. Our holiday itinary says it is ongoing. Is there an easy way to recognise old/new numbers. I guess our satNav will have the oold numbers [nightmare]

DNA

On the Bison Fute calendar - if there is no number in the coloured square then it relates to all regions (though the main holiday routes are most affected). If there is a number then it relates particularly to one area - there is a key at the bottom. eg 1 is Paris area, 5 is South West etc. Depart & Return means going on holiday or coming back, generally 'going' would mean away from Paris and heading South /West I'd think.

PP

Any ideas - Yes - don't go via Paris! The A26 is direct from Calais to Epernay. Why are you going via Paris??

Just wanted to say that we drove back from the South of France to Calais on 2/3 Aug and were particularly concerned about the first day of travelling but on the whole it was fine. There was a lot of traffic around Aix-en-Provence and a couple of jams further up but no queues of any significance for the tolls. However, the services were very busy, impossible to find parking, people were parking anywhere they could, long lines for loos, etc. However, it looked awful on the other side of the motorway (i.e. going South) and we kept thanking our lucky stars that we were going in the opposite direction.