France... One for the travelers...

[hrh_dave]

Evening all...

Just starting planning a bit of a road trip down to the south of France near Carcassonne for a bit of a holiday, taking the 90.. Now has anyone any experience of taking a 90 Van style with roof rack on the autoroutes and what class they got charged in, as with the rack it puts it above 2m so its in the higher class according to the websites, so more than likely going to have to go on the national roads, is there anything on there apart from french drivers we should be watching for....

Cheers in advance..

Dave

[Bob696]

Done that trip a few times in our camper 110. Rate we were charged at I could not tell you just handed the card over. If I get a chance will look it up or Karen might know.

On the whole we have found long distance driving in france to be a breeze. Even though the french motorways are only 2 lanes they are driven properly and rest stops are frequent.

The best route is down the centre of france via Le Man, limoges and toulouse. Toll charges are kept to a minimum.

Things to watch out for are urban motorways, dutch caravan convoys and your passenger will need to be good at shoulder checks in a van :-)

[hodgei]

The other thing to note is that from 1st July you will be required to have an unused breath tester in the car or the local plods will add loads of euros to the cost of your trip :-(

[Bob696]

The other thing to note is that from 1st July you will be required to have an unused breath tester in the car or the local plods will add loads of euros to the cost of your trip :-(

Good point. On a similar note every passenger must have a fluorescent safety jacket of some sort and they MUST be able to reach it without getting out of the car. Easiest way of putting le plod off stopping you is to drape it over the back of the seat so they can see it without stopping you. You also need to carry a warning triangle and a spare set of bulbs.

TBH the only times Le Plod have spoken to use were to check we were OK and they pulled us over at St Malo to check identities as we tried to leave (so did french customs, british immigration also waved us over to the side as did the british police just after leaving the port and 2 days later I was followed for 2 miles by a patrol car ....they must have been looking for someone else in a purple land rover )

Oh and Karen seems to remember the total toll charges were in the region of

[hrh_dave]

Thanks all.. I had seen the something about the breath testers... I think its going to be try an autoroute and see what we get charged...

All good fun, cant wait to get on the road, have to keep reminding myself its not untill Sept! Got to get the motor through an MOT first, deep joy...

Dave