Via Michelin routing via Paris
A question for those in the know...
We will travel from the Tunnel and our destination is south of Toulouse. The iPad Via Michelin App has been programmed with our tow car and caravan, yet the 1st routing is right through Paris, following the A1, A3, A6 and then south.
The 2nd routing is to head west and then south via Rouen, a rout I'm more familiar with! However, it is 1.5hrs more driving.
Considering we will be leaving the Tunnel at about 13:00hr on a Friday, is the Paris route crazy or might it be tolerable?? I plan to drive a total of about 7hrs of the total journey on day one and complete the journey on the Saturday morning.
Thanks in anticipation,
Rod
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We 'hit' the Paris Peripherique a few years ago in our car about the same time you're likely to be there and it was pleasant watching the motorbikes weaving about between the traffic, drivers in front of us changing lanes every few yards, admiring the slow moving skyline, stop/starting and travelling a car length occasionally and learning French obscenities and gestures at short intervals.
Perhaps we were unlucky in our timing but since then I'd suggest any route that misses Paris is better than the one we took.
Perhaps others have been more fortunate.
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If you are leaving the Tunnel at 13.00 on a Friday and head for Paris its a distance of about 170/180 miles which means you will be hitting Paris during the rush hour? With that in mind I suspect Rouen option might be more attractive?
David
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Interesting that the Paris route is around the Peripherique which I would avoid at anytime of day or night but there are "outer" routes which I am not familiar with. The alternative is via Le Mans which is a better and faster route than via Chartres and it's the way I would go.
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Hi Rod,as others have said my advice would be to avoid Paris. Aids such as viaMichelin are great to help planning but that is all and a difference of 1.5 hours sounds a lot but in reality its only one part of the 'planning' jigsaw.
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Thanks for the helpful replies. I will drive west, then south via Rouen and will skip Paris completely. As an aside, I travel the M25 a few times each week and feel well used to the stand-still or creeping traffic but didn't imagine the Paris route to be too much worse but I will willingly accept your advice!
I know there are lots of views about stopping overnight in aires but we have done so many times now and all without any issues. We only stop in those with 24hr services and never leave the van unattended. With this in mind, are there any particularly "nice" ones near Limoges, preferably south of? The plan is to bed-down for the night and then complete the remaining 5hrs in the morning.
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The problem with the Peripherique is getting off! It is multiple lanes, extremely busy and you need the near side lane to exit, however, the problem we found is that you need to know which signpost to look for because generally in France signs are for towns not road numbers. So, you might want Versailles or it could be signed as Marseilles. You don't get much time to react! Maybe a SatNav helps rather than OH sitting with a map on her lap as we used to do.
As for overnight stops, we would happily use a 24 hour Aire on the Autoroute and park in the caravan or Motorhome area which will invariably be well lit and close to the garage building.
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I last towed round the periphique 25 years ago. it was very hot and in those pre-aircon days we had all the windows open. My daughter was checking off the exits on the map but failed to keep a good hold and it blew out of the window so we then had to rely solely on the signs.
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