Stupid idea I know. Wondering if anybody has done it and how long it took them/how much did it cost in petrol?

I have also heard that the French have a train that you can load your car on to and it carts you down south (bit like the channel tunnel trains). Anybody know if this is true and do you have contact details, website etc??

Ta very muchly

Mark

They do have a train. It seems expensive, but if you consider how quick it is (11 hours or thereabouts)and how much you save on petrol it is a good plan. If you are driving on your own you will need to break the journey over 2-3 days depending on keeness to get there. Its called Motorail or something like that.

Mark,

It's seriously fat cash to Motorail, way exceeds the cost of petrol and toll's, plus you don't get the thrash down.

That said, I did the drive all the way south once and fell asleep at the wheel, not to be recommended. We normally go to the Dordoigne which is about 2/3 of the way and takes us about 10 hours door to door.

I just make sure now that I have lots of Red Bull in the car. If I feel sleepy we stop, I have a 10 minute doze then have a can of Red Bull and head off again. Otherwise my wife drives.

You will also need to pay more on the Motorail if you want a cabin thing to yourselves.

Dave

Did it once in one stint. Never again, total madness

2 days should do it

Kwack

Do it, we did it a week ago from North London to Switzerland, with two days in france. 3 days in Switzerland. Cost us £155 for a Seafrance 5 day return, wonderful break and a great time. Relaxed driving times and plenty of food and beer http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/biggrin.gif

Try

Done it regularly - used to drive thru the night swapping drivers when I could no longer keep awake. Nowadays do it in a day - early train on Le Shuttle, then hack it down - abt 9 hrs to S.France. Cant remember the toll costs but who cares ? The roads are great and very quick, and it's fun. Just dont go too fast as French Police will just fine you at 100/110 mph but above that and yr licence will be taken away.

I'm just back from Cannes and drove all the way from Frankfurt(SW Germany). 1100KM(650 milesish) in 1 day and I can safely say its too much.
Absolutely buggered at the end. Petrol is slightly cheaper than the UK. Tolls cost in total about 35 quid through Italy and France.
Be VERY VERY careful when you get to the South of France around Nice/Cannes area make sure you ALWAYS lock your doors when your in the car as scooter boys #1 crime in that area is to open the door or boot and shoot away with the contents. It happened to us in our 3rd day but they got bugger all and later our rented house(alarmed and linked to security firm) was burgled at the end of the 3rd week. They target foreign cars as you stand out, also be prepared for a nervous first few days if you've got a nice car due to French driving style. Took us 12 hours to get there and I was driving pretty fast in some bits but traffic jams killed us through Italy.

Best of Luck
Cammy


[This message has been edited by camk (edited 07 August 2001).]