David_Dickson

For those who are interested (probably no-one )
I have recently got back from France, having spent the last 2 weeks on a driving holiday there, clocking up over 3200 miles in total!

I had an absolutely fantastic time, and as usual, returning to Britain is a real eye-opener as to the state this country is in.



I drove from Aberdeen to the Billing vauxhall show (sorry, I own a Vauxhall), leaving here very early on the Friday, arriving there on Friday evening. Spent friday and sat night at the show, Which I found to be quite dissappointing this year to be honest. Anyway, left early on the sat morning and headed down to Dover. I had a couple of hours to kill so stocked up on the usual supplies of stuff for my sister who lives over there and has done for the last 20 years - Cheddar cheese, bacon, Rowntrees jelly and a few other things



The ferry crossing was with a fairly new company called Speedferries. They are incredibly cheap compared to the others. They run Dover to Boulougne on a fast Catermeran so the crossing is only about 40 minutes. My return ticket only cost £50 for the car and myself. (book on-line at www.speedferries.com)



Off the ferry, I quickly remembered what a joy it is to drive in France. This was the first time I had taken my own car though so was the first time in a right-hand-drive car too, but this wasnt really a problem at all.



French town centre roads are about the same quality as Scottish ones, quite bumpy, with plenty pot-holes and stuff to avoid, but once out of the towns and on the open roads and motorways, they are fantastic.

Low suspension, 17" wheels and low profile tyres mean British motorways are a bouncing series of jolts, weaving between potholes, sunken drain covers and bodged repairs. You need to constantly scan the road ahead to try and avoid the worst of these.

In France, it couldnt be more different, mile after mile after mile of smooth, well laid, well maintained tarmac, not a pothole in sight. Progress was fast, smooth and quiet, and I quickly remembered how much fun driving should be.

Very little roadworks (I only encountered 2 different lots on the whole trip and they werent causing delays) not too much traffic and a very logical system of road-signs mean it is possible to do some large distances without hold-ups.



French motorways are generally only 2 lanes in each direction, except up steep hills where there is a 3rd crawler lane for slow lorries, unlike the British where motorways are generally 3 lanes. This isnt a problem though, as the French dont need 3 lanes, they know what lane-discipline is, driving on the inside lane, ovetaking on the outside lane and then returning to the inside to let faster cars past. Everyone uses their indicators too!



At 11pm I decided to stop for the night. There are always hotels around most big motorway junctions, so pulled off and went into one. Automated check-in using a credit card in a machine in the lobby gives you a code to open the digital locks on the main door and room door. Only 30Euros for the night for up to 3 people in the room. Fantastic.



I spent the next 10 days or so driving around. My sister lives about 100km west of Toulouse, so most of my time was spent exploring the south and west of the Country, including a fantastic trip along the Meditarranian coast, taking in St-Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monaco.



Stocked up on cheap, but great quality wine from a place near my sisters, and incredibly cheap **** from over the border in Spain I headed for home. I made the run from my sisters up to Boulougne in one day this time, stayed overnight and got the Ferry the next morning, then headed up to Aberdeen that evening, arriving home last night.



Being back in Britain sucks ***. bumpy roads, 3 lane motorways permanantly reduced to 2 lanes due to middle-lane mororns, people hogging the fast lane, roadworks, delays, hold-ups, congestion, gatsos, specs cameras, radar speed traps, over-zealous motorway police patrols...need I go on?

All the time I was in France, I saw 1 speed-trap.

I was kinda tired so considered stopping for the night...went into a service station travel-lodge type place. The surly night duty guy informed me a room would cost £59 for the night. Thats pretty much triple what I was paying in France for the same kind of room. Erm...no thanks.



Cost-wise, I deliberately didnt keep track of how much petrol I used, unleaded is slightly cheaper there then here, but super-unleaded is a fair bit cheaper.

I spent about 60 Euros on toll-motorways, which seems a lot, but I now think toll-roads are a good idea. The M6 toll road here is a good example. I think £3 is money well spent for a drive on smooth, new roads with no hold-ups and less traffic.



The car ran without a hitch, used maybe 1/4 of a litre of oil which isnt bad at all for 3k miles. The lifters have become slightly noisy on first start-up again though.

The only two incidents were self-inflicted. Firstly I got a bit carried away with my speed down a big dip in the road. At the bottom, the suspension bottomed out and the front splitter hit the road and was ripped off. I stopped and later re-fitted it with some random self-tapper screws.

Secondly, I was leaning across the seats paying at a toll-booth. When I sat back down I twatted the rear-view mirror very hard with my elbow and smashed the windscreen. I will replace it when I can be bothered.

The car got a lot of admiring looks and thumbs-up from the locals. Car modding is a bit hit-or-miss over there, strict regulations mean most mods arent approved for road use, so there arent many modded cars to be seen driving about there.



Open road, sunny weather, no traffic.


Off the beaten track...still decent roads though.


Random car shot...


The splitter-killing dip

NotoriousREV

Yep, that was roughly my experience in France last month. A great place to drive, friendly people and cheap wine

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I go regularly and NEVER fail to be depressed when I return.

I once drove from near Limoges, about 800 km to Calais, seeing one speed trap.
From Dover to home I saw over 30:

You should try taking a modded Scoob if you want admiration, they are still rare over there esp. the classics, so attract a LOT of attention. I've come out of a restaurant to find a crowd of blokes round my '98 car, all with questions.

Alcazar

David B

We've just got back on friday from a 2 week holiday around Ille D'Oleron (west coast, near to La Rochelle). Can't agree more with how good their roads are! plus there's much less traffic! Toll roads were fine, not that expensive for what you get, I suppose after the petrol reduction it works out roughly the same p/p/mile. 98 sans plomb btw is 1.10 - 1.25 euro's per lt. (upto 82p /lt).

We saw a few speed cameras, or atleast I think thats what they were, normally on a sign post 100m before them it would say that "they're there for your safety" or something? No picture of a camera mind. Then 100m further on, a grey box, forward facing, with about 4 glass panels in them. Nothing flashed at us, but maybe they dont flash? But i don't think I was speeding? Noticed them around the major cities on their ring roads.
As for lane hogging, saw none of it, most of the time the french drivers drive like "frogs" leap-froggin in and out of the slower traffic, dropping back into the slow lane almost immediatly! Infact, it's almost anoying how often they do drop in and out of the fast lane, often leaving it quiet late.
My only gripe is that alot do drive right on your bumper! or maybe thats just coz it's a scooby and like David said, there aren't many scoobs out there and they just wanted a good look?
We only saw 2 other scoobs, both french and got a huge friendly wave and smile from both. Got lots of looks as well from people, esp from those sat on street corner cafes.
Car did sweat abit with all the wine we brought back mind
David

stevem2k

^^ Nice place . I'm sure we were the only brits on the island when we went.


Steve

David B

We only saw a couple of other brit cars on Oleron as well, very nice place, lots and lots of oysters! yum!
Incidentally this is where we saw the 2 french scoobs.

SupaMiniCupa

Top report!

...about your hotel, there's a French (I think) chain that does a similar thing in this country - www.hotelformule1.com - Roughly the same deal, £20 to a room of three. Have used the one in Birmingham, its pleasant, just very very basic.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Had to laugh at the comment re French drivers on your bumper:

They will go all out to pass an English car especially a Scoob or other powerful car, (they can often do it as they can see better than you can, know the road etc etc), but seem quite happy to tootle along for kilometres behind a slow French driver:

And secondly, no matter HOW fast I went on French roads, dual carriageways or motorways, there was ALWAYS a people carrier (or "van with windows" as my youngest calls 'em: ) waiting to pass me.
Maybe they drive like that to try and persuade people/themselves it's NOT a van with windows? :

Alcazar

David_Dickson

Yer, it was Etap hotels I used throughout my stay when I was away from my sisters. They are the same deal as the Formule1 chain.

iirc there are only 1 or 2 of them in Britain so far, and typically, they cost more than they do in France for exactly the same room.

As you say, very basic rooms, bit they are clean, en-suite bog/shower etc, decent bed, telly, what more do you need if you are just spending the night there and moving on?

David B

This made me laugh, because it's spot on! We had numerous cars overtake us on the small town / local roads, only to sit in front of us and do the same speed! if only i knew the road

As for the people carriers, we had a dual with on the motorway, he wouldn't be overtaken, came across him doing a slow speed, overtook him without a thought as to what it might bring on, (red rag to a bull) so, no sooner had we pulled in when he comes past, I guess he was thinking... "can't be shown up by a Brit on my own motorway", anyway, he then slows up, forgets he's got no pull in 5th on an incline and I go past him, a bit faster this time to make the point... "Conserve your engine my good man , you won't beat me".

So on the next down hill, who should come past at 120mph!??? people carrier man I know his speed as I caught up with him, quickly, and overtook him once and for all! He gave up then, pride gone, muttering to his wife about selling the slow old piece of merde and buy a scoob!

David

ajm

LOL! Well done for keeping the British end up! Those Frenchies need constant reminders of who's boss!

Frosty The Snowman

I also did this with a couple of friends a month ago, how time flies, I started the trip at about 3pm on the Friday and ended up in Interlaken in Switzerland at about 11AM on the Saturday morning.

We travelled down pretty much non-stop, thank you Red Bull, and was very impressed with speedferries. Have they got the turbo fixed on the ferry? It was broken and therefore the service was running slghtly slower than normal and a bit late as we caught one of the last ferries in the day.

Boulogne was a complete nightmare though, the signs they had were naff and the roads were terrible, you can see that the place has really suffered by losing the regular ferry service a few years back. Other than that the roads were absolutely great and tolls were reasonable, I think it was about £40 in total for France, there and back, and £20 for Switzerland.

It is just so easy to drive in France, even with a right hand drive car it's no problem. The only issue I had was my navigator wasn't used to how French signs work and kept sending me the wrong way

We dropped into EuroDisney on the way home and we were amazed that it isn't sign posted at all unless you come in on the autoroute, in fact the first Disney sign we saw was actually within the grounds of the place.

STi-Frenchie

OI !

STi-Frenchie

Interesting thread - 'specially as a couple of weeks ago I was in Inverness doing exactly the opposite to you David - driving a right-hooker for the first time and trying to get the hang of changing gear without opening the damn door ! I only did 150 miles or so in the few days I was there, all of it in and around Inverness and the highlands and thought the Scottish roads were quite good - a bit narrow but in pretty good nick all the same. Brilliant place Inverness - and Castle Stuart in particular.

As for scoobs in France, maybe on the West side there aren't many but I counted 15 or so on my recent holiday trip down the autoroutes to Nice so they do exist - there are even websites for owners Compare that with the few I saw going round the M25 on the bus on the way back from 'Ness (change of airport necessitated a 2.5hr trip from Luton to Gatwick...counting scoobs and Evos - the Evos had the nod).

Tailgating is a common practice in France (mea culpa) but I'm glad to read your experiences with indicators have been much better than mine...around here, they seem to be the first mod done to *any* road car - remove the wiggly thing on the left hand side of the steering column, you'll never need it