Club Arnage

we have been driving to Le Mans for the last 6 years and have always gone via Rouen.

is that the best way or is via Paris the better route?

after being stuck behind a horse box for 20 miles yesterday i am starting to wonder.

we will not be getting to Calais until about 3.30 on friday

i know when the new road opens all will be great but for this year i was thinking of giving it a go via Paris

Any help or advice will be much appreciated.

Does that mean you are on the thursday midnight from Dover?
If so, see you on it

Unfortunately not, we normaly travel on the thursday early morning but i have to wait for one of our team who does not finish until 10.am on friday  :-[ so i am aiming for the 13.15 from dover.

In my opinion the Rouen route is definitely the way to go, the Paris route is too unpredictable.

The Rouen route seems to get easier every year as the roads improve and even though Rouen itself can be a bit of a bottle neck it rarely holds you up for long.

I always make sure that I carry a french road atlas with me, that way when somebody stuffs their car on a single carriageway section (as they often do), I can take to the country lanes for a few miles and divert around the holdup.

Cheers Stuey

No contest. Avoid Paris at all costs that Friday afternoon - unless the French equivalent of the M25 at its worse appeals.  PM me if you need a good route from north of Rouen to LM, avoiding heavy traffic and radar traps. I live near Rouen.

I am considering the Partis route from Dunkerque next Sunday, and returning the same way. I am thinking that with the caravan I will make better progress, with lower fuel costs due to less stop/starting (at all those roundabouts beyond Rouen).

www.mappy.com says Rouen is 287 miles taking 5h 34, €41.80 fuel (I wish!) and €14.80 tolls. Paris is 312 miles in 5h 36, petrol €46.20 and tolls €41.90.

I guess the Paris route is more predictable on Sundays?



btw mappy also lists the fixed speed camers in it's routes.

You're worried about speed cameras when pulling the 'van????  

My 'van starts to get a bit twitchy over 65mph, in spite of the hitch stabiliser.

Del

I was contemplating this as well.  With the demise of the Hoverspeed Seacat to Dieppe I am now going Dover-Calais.  Right pain as I only live 25 mins from Newhaven.

Thinking of going Calais Rouen Le Mans, but on the way back we are not on a ferry until Monday afternoon.  Don;t fancy sharing the campsite with the pikeys on Sunday night.  So contemplating a stop at Chartres for bed and shower, then Paris to Calais.

Last year stopped at Evreux on the return leg to Dieppe.

Chris we are back Mon afternoon as well, staying in Rouen overnight on Sunday. Worth thinking about it is quite a place

Chris,
Come and join the party in the Paddy Pub in rouen!

I'll second that Nobby

I've been known to go a bit over 65 with the van on, yes :) I haven't bothered with the stabiliser for the last couple of years as the sheer weight of the contents seems to make it fairly stable without...

I know what you mean Smokie.  My old (smaller) van was very stable.  Trouble is, the new one at 20ft long and over 8ft wide is a little more unstable, even though it weighs 1600kgs.

Still, with SWMBO in the car most of the time (not at LM though), I have a built-in speed restrictor.

See you next week - I'll pop over and say hi when we get there (11.00am on wed).
Have a good trip.

Del

Avoid Paris at all cost. Definitely!

Even on a Sunday? I think it's only a little way on the Periphique...

The Paris area is by definition very unpredictable.

If it's sunny on Sunday, you can expect heavy traffic all around Paris.

If you like the M25, you'll LOVE Paris. Avoid it, unless you're adicted to stop, start, ad infinitum. PARTICULARLY on Sunday evenings after a warm weekend. Any daytime is a no-no really. Dead of night is no problem. Make sure you have a really good navigator and a decent map.
The N138 Alencon - Rouen road isn't much fun (although no lorries on a Sunday), but there is another route - 3 hours LM - Rouen leaving LM bang on 1600 Sunday (you won't do that with the van, but not far off it).
I'll be off line for 2 to 3 days, so Ill PM you the route.

Hi all, this is our first trip to LM and we are really looking forward to it. We have 2 issues, the first is we are travelling from chunnel to Calais on friday at 0800 and intend to go via Rouen route (following everyones advice) how long will it take me to a: get there and b: to get home. Ihave booked a 2230 train from calais is this going to be possible? Thanks in advance, and i wish you all asafe journey. :-\

see our directions on our web site and they are on CA site to, but go via Rouen NOT Paris.

on Friday morning it will most proberly take you just over 4 hours from Calais via Rouen but expect to get held up around the ring road in Le Mans and nearer the circuit.

to get back to the tunnel for the 22:30 crosssing is going to be difficult but you should just make it - you need to be at the tunnel a good 30 minutes before hand, so that's 2200 and leaving after the race finishes can take quite a long time to get from the circuit to Rouen, I would predict a 6hr+ journey back to calais.

Depends on how many speeding tickets you want to get ;D ;D ;D

Map software reckons about 5 1/2 hours, but depends on how long you want to stop for lunch.  Is your return on Sunday?  If so you may need to leave before the end of the race.

We're using the tunnel too, Thursday 0700, but returning on Monday.

There may be some regulars that return on Sunday who can advise....

See http://www.the-twats.com/ (http://www.the-twats.com/) for route and timings.

I got stopped for speeding the other weekend when going down to PQ's but on the M20 for 105mph - awaiting court appearance and removal of license >:( >:( >:(

 :) Hi thanks for the help, i really did not think that it would take me so long to get back to calais, we were looking at the travel times on various route finders and booked accordingly. Did not really want to miss the end of the race but it looks like that might be the way..oh well it is the first time and we were bound to make a few mistakes. Thanks again for your help.

You could always try amending your tunnel booking for a later return, they may want to charge you for it, unless you can get through to someone who's in a good mood and feels sorry for you!  Did you book via the website?

I usually book  my returns for a couple of hours later than I really want as the Calais-Dover ferries and trains are frequent enough and they usually stick you on the next one going if there is space.

the trouble is the next tunnel train is 01:47 because that is the one we are on - we are leaving shortly after the race 6-7pm but expect to get our train otherwise it is 04:47 :(