rich1068's European Tour '06 - Have Sat Nav, will travel.

We've finally settled on a holiday destination and it's a small apartment on the Cote d'Azur at a place called Biot just outside Nice. Most relevant to everyone here is that I've decided we're driving down A thousand miles near as damn it so the new motor should get a good workout.

So does anyone want to share their wisdom when it comes to driving abroad or ridiculous distances in general? It'll be the first time for me so I'm a little apprehensive. We'll be setting off Friday 4th August, stopping over somewhere around Rheims I reckon and then doing the final leg on the Saturday. The booking includes a ferry from Dover to Calais but if the times they give me aren't suitable I might still do the Eurotunnel/SpeedFerries thing.

This is actually carrying on a bit of a family tradition, we always used to drive to the south of France when I was younger. Car packed to the roof and arguing all the way down there. Oh happy days! I'm really looking forward to seeing Nice, St. Tropez and Monte Carlo again. There's something just so swish about the yachts, bars, cars and women down there even though you could never afford any of them.

Anyway, thoughts anyone?

god_thats_quick said:

In france also make sure you get petrol when you can as the petrol stations do not take UK cards so you either need one with real people (daylight) or you need cash to give to a friendly local who buys the petrol for you!

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What do you mean by 'UK cards'?

Well we got back Sunday, 978 miles door to door To be honest I enjoyed the drive, the French motorways are an absolute pleasure to drive on. Smooth as glass and not a sign of roadworks all the way down and all the way back. I was also really impressed with the driving standards over there. Obviously the towns take a bit of getting used to and I don't think there's a car in France without a dint in it but on the motorway it's a different matter. Proper lane discipline, none of that sitting in the middle lane stupidity that we see here.

Stats for the journey back: av. 58mph, av. 30.8 mpg, 16h 44m driving time.

I used the cruise control alot hence the mpg I reckon but to be honest I'm glad I opted for it now. Sat Nav was also a real advantage, it just takes so much hassle out of the journey, how my mum and dad used to do it with maps and not kill each other I'll never know. On the way down we stopped overnight at Troyes and on the way back overnight at Reims and I think we got the stages about right.

Just for Eeef...


Oh, by the way. Anyone know what the score is when you're flashed by a speed camera in France