Anyone know how easy or otherwise it is to drive via Paris

on a saturday night or sunday morning,
traveling from Calais to Tours (Loire valley),
2 aa routes take me via paris (outskirts) but a michelin route takes me via rouen and le mans (not all motorway)
any suggestions/experiences greatfully received

 

Motorways around Paris were OK when we went albeit 9 years ago! Avoid the usual rush-hour times and that'll be ok. You go past Asterix World (or whatever its called) if you go that way.

 

Ditto, Paris is ok outside of rush hour

 

cheers lads

is it less busy than the m25 then?

 

RE: Sat Night Sun Morning should be OK

try asking the question on a forum for petrol heads.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/index.htm is a very good one.

You may get more people who can give you good detailed answers.

 

Did the same journey to the Loire (Blois) in June. Roads were brilliant, no jams, no road works! Best route is A1 to Paris, go round the 'periphique'(we went the clockwise way A3/A6) to the A10 and it takes you straight there.
(pint)

 

cheers lads

thats a real help, it does confirm that we will be doing the ai aio route,
weve already booked the ferry, the route to Caen would have been our preferred crossing but the difference in price didnt justify the longer drive, especially as their roads are easier than ours

 

drove on the peripherique when going to Spain around 6 years ago and vowed never to do it again - hundreds of lanes and no markers..!!!

Drove back through Le Mans and had no problems

 

Avoid Dreux!!

Just got back from the Loire Valley this weekend. Went via Le Havre and down the new dual carriageway via Dreux and Chartres. SatNav was telling me not to go this route and I chose to ignore it at considerable cost. The new dual carriageway is sublimely traffic-free until you get to Nonancourt near Dreux. This is a) where the dual carriageway ends and b) where at least three other major routes meet and c) where there are three consecutive sets of uncoordinated traffic lights. It took over an hour to move five miles!
On the way back, I followed Sat Nav via the autoroutes past Orleans and through Paris. Amazingly it kept moving right through, I got super views of Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower and we knocked the best part of an hour from the journey time.
Go Paris - if you don't have SatNav, you'd better be good at map-reading, though.

 

RE: Avoid Dreux!!

Forgot to say - you'll need plenty of Euros for the payage if you go autoroute. The Paris-Orleans stretch cost us over 12 E alone and I think we racked up about E18 by the time we were back at Le Havre. Excellent views of the cathedral at Orleans from the autoroute. It's on your left on the way down.

 

It shouldnt be too bad getting round Paris ,finding the right exit is your biggest problem

 

Driving down to St Trop.on Thursday.

Have a good holiday mate.