Flooding in central and northern France - serious!
Just a word of warning to those about to set off for France, or those returning to the ports - large parts of northern France from Vierzon north, right up to the Pas de Calais, have been subject to severe flooding in the last twenty four hours. At the moment
there is no access from Orleans to Paris on ANY of the normal routes. The autoroutes are blocked, and people are being rescued from their cars.
We've driven up today from the Aude, and gone right through the floods. We have come to so many Route Barree signs - and despaired of getting to our overnight Chambre d'Hote. Fortunately it seemed to be situated on the only spot of high ground between
Orleans and Vierzon, so eventually we got here. The lovely people offered to make us a meal as we didn't want to go out again.........!
Take care everyone - the campsites at Salbris, Nouan le Fuzelier, and Lamotte Beuvron are all either under water, or inaccessible, as are parts of the Pas de Calais region.
Quite how we'll get back to Calais tomorrow, we're not sure, but I'll report on our progress tomorrow or Thursday!
Comments
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Just a word of warning to those about to set off for France, or those returning to the ports - large parts of northern France from Vierzon north, right up to the Pas de Calais, have been subject to severe flooding in the last twenty four hours. At the moment
there is no access from Orleans to Paris on ANY of the normal routes. The autoroutes are blocked, and people are being rescued from their cars.We've driven up today from the Aude, and gone right through the floods. We have come to so many Route Barree signs - and despaired of getting to our overnight Chambre d'Hote. Fortunately it seemed to be situated on the only spot of high ground between
Orleans and Vierzon, so eventually we got here. The lovely people offered to make us a meal as we didn't want to go out again.........!Take care everyone - the campsites at Salbris, Nouan le Fuzelier, and Lamotte Beuvron are all either under water, or inaccessible, as are parts of the Pas de Calais region.
Quite how we'll get back to Calais tomorrow, we're not sure, but I'll report on our progress tomorrow or Thursday!
Good Heavens, Val, sounds absolutely awful. We're off to France next Sunday, and hopefully the situation will have improved, but must be a nightmare for all caught up in the floods.
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, Well done Val,,,that's just how C,T is good for info' !!0 -
Take care Valda for the rest of your trip. Meteo France are showing Seine-et-Marne and Loiret areas as red which is severe weather conditions and flooding as you say, some surrounding areas are orange which is the next level down. We have had rain here
near Cahor in the Lot but not as much as up north, local weather showing improvement from Saturday onwards but possible storms next week as temperatures rise. Local paper says May has been a month of extreme weather conditions.0 -
Thanks for the warning Val. We are heading South tomorrow morning and were going that way but think we will now head down on the other side via Reims unless we hear anything else. We haven't booked any sites only the Tunnel crossing so we will just see
how we get on. Fingers crossed. I'm annoyed with myself that i forgot to order my ACSI card too!0 -
We set off from the tunnel on Tuesday and stopped at Guignicourt near Reims. Last night at Chagny near Beaune. There has clearly been a lot of rain but we have seen little - although it's raining now! The Dutch told us to avoid the damp pitches at the Chagny
site, apparently they had to get a tractor to tow out a motorhome on Tuesday!0 -
The A10 south of Orleans taken last Tuesday 31st May by Maxime Berthelot.
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We left Eurotunnel at 9 am on Tuesday and had rain all the way to about 10 miles north of Orleans. Then stuck for 90 minutes thanks to a convoi exceptionel blocking the road and tailback of lorries trying to get on autoroute which by then had flooded. fin
ished up exasperated in a municipal site in a tiny village when I began to realise there wastotal gridlock. lorries were abandoned everywhere. next morning (Wednesday) the local gendarmerie man who collected site fees told us autoroute south was shut and Orleans
impassable. Go on a detour via Blois he said, kindly me showing the route on his big map. So crossed many flooded rivers including the Loire and got here at Camping de la Glane at St Junian after more rain! Drizzled all day today and ground like most sites
is sodden. rivers in Limousin do not look as bad and hoping Dordogne river has remained at its normal level. We head for Beaulieu tomorrow hoping for sunshine and an end to the rain. Met a motorhomer yesterday on our site who just got off the site at Salbris
before the floods came. we had planned to stay there first night!!0 -
It was a terrifying experience - the fact that all the roads were closed, and there was just nowhere to go and no high ground to take refuge. The water on the roads was very deep, much deeper than we would normally dare to drive through but there was no
option. On Wednesday morning we set off, having been told that the road was open again, but found that wasn't the case, and we had a twenty mile circular trip before returning back to the village where we'd set off, and then heading west to find a route across
the Loire further south and west from Orleans.The area affected seems to be from Vierzon to Orleans and east of there, including some parts or Paris. We heard that the Seine had risen so much above normal that boats were unable to get under some of the bridges in Paris!
We consider we were lucky, though, in that several people have lost their lives.
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Hi we went into Cahor today in the Lot department and the river was the highest we have ever seen it could not see where the weirs were and a very dirty brown and still more water to come down from the higher regions in the Lot. Not as bad as the North which
we have see on french tv. Actually not raining now and supposed to be getting better and warmer. Take care all the folks on their way down or up the country. Redkite.0 -
Driven down from Calais today to Chateau L'Eperviere. It has rained the whole way down and is still raining. It is apparently been their worst year in memory. The lower half of this site is closed and unusable due to flooding for the 3rd time this year.
We are on the top half and they are coping very well under current conditions.We thought that there are definitely fewer caravans
on the roads in France this year but I would suggest people check availability if they haven't booked as sites in central France may be flooded or part flooded and not be able to offer the same amount of accommodation.
We are heading South tomorrow so hoping the weather will be much better.
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Hi
We are not in France at the moment, having postponed our usual trip to late August, but I have been monitoring the local press in the areas we normally visit. The north Burgundy area in the Yonne valley and along the Canal du Nivernais has been badly affected.
L'Yonne Republicaine reported yesterday that our favourite campsite at Chatel Censoir had been evacuated and pictures showed it fully flooded.Cheers
Paul R T
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Driven down from Calais today to Chateau L'Eperviere. It has rained the whole way down and is still raining. It is apparently been their worst year in memory. The lower half of this site is closed and unusable due to flooding for the 3rd time this year.
We are on the top half and they are coping very well under current conditions.We thought that there are definitely fewer caravans
on the roads in France this year but I would suggest people check availability if they haven't booked as sites in central France may be flooded or part flooded and not be able to offer the same amount of accommodation.
We are heading South tomorrow so hoping the weather will be much better.
How bad is the site I am due for a few days next week? I might have to continue heading south, I was planning to stay in the Burgundy area but I'm getting worried now.
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Driven down from Calais today to Chateau L'Eperviere. It has rained the whole way down and is still raining. It is apparently been their worst year in memory. The lower half of this site is closed and unusable due to flooding for the 3rd time this year. We are on the top half and they are coping very well under current conditions.
We thought that there are definitely fewer caravans
on the roads in France this year but I would suggest people check availability if they haven't booked as sites in central France may be flooded or part flooded and not be able to offer the same amount of accommodation.
We are heading South tomorrow so hoping the weather will be much better.
How bad is the site I am due for a few days next week? I might have to continue heading south, I was planning to stay in the Burgundy area but I'm getting worried now.
Leaving from Zeebrugge on Sunday morning planning to stop at Chalons-en -Champagne Sunday and Tournus Monday and Tuesday before heading for Vaucluse area on Wednesday. Does anyone have news of Tournus site re possible flooding. I spotted elsewhere on CT yesterday a site by the Saone was evacuated but that could have been 100 miles away?
I have been in touch with site at Tournus. They are affected to the extent that they have only 26 pitches and are not accepting Camping Cheques. I have bookewd and paid for 2 nights via their website using ACSI CC. Feel better but hope further rain doesn't reduce pitch numbers further and we get that far OK.
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We've got caught up in the floods over the last few days. On Tuesday we went to Camping Ste Claire at Neufchatel only to find the site flooded and closed to new arrivals. There were some people there already who had mostly been moved on to the higher part
of the site, although there were a few units still in the lower part in the water. People were wading through it up to their knees.So we carried on to St Remy sur Avre which was ok, although one MH got stuck on Wednesday morning, as the ground was soft. We'd arranged to meet friends at Moulin Fort at Chenonceaux on Wednesday which we did and arrived around 3.30pm. We were warned that
we may have to be evacuated though, and at 6pm, following a visit from the gendarmerie, were told to get awnings down and be ready to move off. At 7.30pm we were told that we had to move off the site by nightfall. By 9pm we were off the site and were taken
to the local cave co-operative about a mile away where we spent the night.We decided to head further south, as we were told about the closed motorways and other roads, and so we went to a site near the A20 near Argenton. The devastation we saw on our way from Chenonceaux was terrible, lots of sideroads closed and under water,
acres and acres of fields under water, and at Selles-sur-Cher the campsite was submerged almost completely.Never before have we seen such flooding and we are very lucky not to have been more affected. The weather seems to be improving now, so let's hope that things will improve.
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Sitting in warm sunshine at last! Sited at Camping des Iles at Beaulieu sur Dordogne watching the Dordogne river power through. The river level is well up but has gone down and they say it is dropping. Some outfits had to be moved this week because of slight
flooding but everything getting back to normal. Pitches mighty soft but the sun will soon dry them out. After our experiences around Orleans, hope those heading south do their homework on sites affected.0 -
Driven down from Calais today to Chateau L'Eperviere. It has rained the whole way down and is still raining. It is apparently been their worst year in memory. The lower half of this site is closed and unusable due to flooding for the 3rd time this year.
We are on the top half and they are coping very well under current conditions.We thought that there are definitely fewer caravans
on the roads in France this year but I would suggest people check availability if they haven't booked as sites in central France may be flooded or part flooded and not be able to offer the same amount of accommodation.
We are heading South tomorrow so hoping the weather will be much better.
How bad is the site I am due for a few days next week? I might have to continue heading south, I was planning to stay in the Burgundy area but I'm getting worried now.
Leaving from Zeebrugge on Sunday morning planning to stop at Chalons-en -Champagne Sunday and Tournus Monday and Tuesday before heading for Vaucluse area on Wednesday. Does anyone have news of Tournus site re possible flooding. I spotted elsewhere on CT
yesterday a site by the Saone was evacuated but that could have been 100 miles away?I have been in touch with site at Tournus. They are affected to the extent that they have only 26 pitches and are not accepting Camping Cheques. I have bookewd and paid for 2 nights via their website using ACSI CC. Feel better but hope further rain doesn't
reduce pitch numbers further and we get that far OK.We stayed in that area on the way down and there was no problem. Seems to have mainly been to the East of Paris not Rhone/Saone. Lots of sites around Chalon, Sennecy and Tournus. No need to book anywhere at this time of year, except maybe Med. Enjoy.
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We are heading to France on Monday intending to tour the Loire valley by car and caravan for a month. We were going to start our trip just outside Blois, then head to Azay Le Rideau or Chinon and then on towards Saumur. This is the first time we have
toured in France (or Europe for that matter) - we can't believe that the weather has caught us out. Would it be better to change our plans completely and head towards Brest stopping on the way or will the camp sites in the Centre be alright?Any advice would be gratefully received, we are travelling from Portsmouth to Caen arriving mid afternoon on Monday. If we have to change our plans, will need to look for alternative sites, we do have the ACSI card.
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Those over there are best to advise on details but from here looking at the TV footage then it is evident that even if the campsites of choice are viable the whole area is very much spoilt at the moment. With France being a big and mostly lovely place I would go further west this trip and save the undoubted pleasures of the Loire to be enjoyed as they deserve at a later date. I can't see the logic of going where we know things can't be other than "difficult" at the moment. Could spoil the whole impact this lovely country leaves given it is a first trip.
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I'd go elsewhere if I were you, Moatview. The area around Blois was one of the worst affected, the Loire burst its banks between Amboise and Blois. A couple arrived last night on the site we're on at the moment, and they'd left Blois yesterday. Normally
they only use main roads, not motorways, but they said that a lot of the roads south from Blois were closed due to flooding. We were on a site east of Tours, Moulin Fort at Chenonceaux, and had to be evacuated from that site on Wednesday evening due to the
river Cher rising. It's reportedly not due to open again until at least Monday. At Selles-sur-Cher we passed a municipal site almost completely submerged. Nearby towns such as Loches and Romorantin all had problems with flooding.The weather is set to improve, and things do dry out quite quickly, so it may be worthwhile to give your chosen site(s) a phonecall and check before travelling.
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In the next week or two I would go elsewhere too. I agree with Ina that even if the sites are open, there will be water damage everywhere, and people trying to cope with homes and businesses which have been flooded because the flooding was so extensive,
and sometimes miles away from any rivers. When we were driving north the first thing we noticed (apart from the rain) was that the land immediately south of Vierzon, and from there for miles and miles and miles north and east was just saturated everywhere,
and forests, gardens, and most roads were under standing water which gradually was getting deeper and deeper.I think I would also ring Tourist Information in wherever you decide upon, to make sure there was no local flooding. Some of the water from the land, has to run into the rivers and off to sea somewhere - and may well cause further damage in areas well away
from the original floods. The Loire runs into the Atlantic near Nantes, the Seine runs into the Channel at Le Havre. Both those river levels are several metres above normal and I've no idea if they are expecting
flooding downstream, but I would at least check first before heading almost anywhere in central France.0 -
We drove through on Wednesday, early afternoon, and it was fine. The Seine was high because they've also had a lot of rain, but not high enough to cause us to worry.
However, the Vigicrues website does indicate a 'Yellow' warning for the towards Rouen - which translated reads:
Yellow: flood risk generating overflows and localized damage or fast and dangerous rise in water, requiring special vigilance especially in the case of exposed and / or seasonal activities.
Towards Paris there is an 'Orange' alert which includes all of the above, plus a significan risk to property and people.
Anyone heading through or towards those areas in the next week or two would be well advised to check the website for river levels or phone Tourist Information for up to date information. You can click on any of the markers to see just what the current level is and whether it's rising or falling.
However, beware that this doesn't tell the whole picture. Orleans shows a 'green' river, but that area was subject to some of the worst flooding and such sudden rises in water that people had to be rescued from their cars on the autoroute.. As I said in earlier posts, it's the saturation of the ground which has caused a lot of the flooding - on ground many miles away from a river.
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Thanks Val, another site worth a look at is http://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/ but the real time traffic info doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Perhaps it has been overcome with all the problems?
peedee
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PeeDee - we noticed on Tuesday evening that BisonFute wasn't working either! We were trying to decide just whether to head for Rouen, or work out an alternative route!!! As we had a Calais ferry booked, and at the time were just south of Orleans (with
no access to the routes nearer to Paris because of the floods) it wasn't an easy choice so in the end we just went for it and headed towards Rouen. After a very shaky start and detours before we could cross the Loire, we didn't have any subsequent problems.0 -
Moatview, the weather maps on La Chaine Meteo are worth looking at. If I were arriving at Caen next Monday I would be heading towards La Rochelle and La Palmyre on the west coast - via Rennes and the high level bridge on the west side of Nantes. Riverside
sites on the Loire would be far from my mind. Let us know how things go. Good luck.0 -
Thank you for all that information we will alter plans and follow your idea Eurotraveller. Back to the guide books looking for sites, any suggestions at this late stage would be welcome. ValDa when we originally planned our trip it was one of your posts
listing sites around the Loire that we followed. We find then information on Club Together to be invaluable. This is our first whole year as members of CC and all sites and advice we have received has been great.0
