Limousin

Each July the French get very excited about 180 or more professional cyclists who cover 3,500km over three weeks racing around France, including staggering climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees.

Tour de France 2009

With lots of razzamataz, commercial sponsorship, scandal and sporting achievement, it is a spectacle well worth seeing - especially as it is free. However, the downside is that the Tour can cause major disruption with roads closed for hours, hordes of people and traffic - and all hotel rooms along the route booked.
In 2009 the tour starts in Monaco on 4 July 2009, travels down the Mediterranean coast into Spain to Barcelona - then up through Andorra to the Pyrenees. With a skip to Central France the route heads east through northern Burgundy to Alsace, south the the Alpes and then heads for Paris and the final stage which finishes on the Champs Elysees on 26 July 2009.
Sat 4 July Monaco
Sun 5 July Monaco > Brignoles
Mon 6 July Marseille > La Grande-Motte
Tue 7 July Montpellier
Wed 8 July Le Cap d’Agde > Perpignan
Thu 9 July Gérona > Barcelona (Spain)
Fri 10 July Barcelona > Andorra
Sat 11 July Andorra> Saint-Girons
Sun 12 July Saint-Gaudens > Tarbes
Mon 13 July rest day - Limoges
Tue 14 July Limoges > Issoudun
Wed 15 July Vatan > Saint-Fargeau
Thu 16 July Tonnerre > Vittel
Fri 17 July Vittel > Colmar
Sat 18 July Colmar > Besançon
Sun 19 July Pontarlier > Verbier
Mon 20 July rest day - Verbier
Tue 21 July Martigny > Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Wed 22 July Bourg-Saint-Maurice > Le Grand-Bornand
Thu 23 July Annecy > Annecy
Fri 24 July Bourgoin-Jallieu > Aubenas
Sat 25 July Montélimar > Mont Ventoux
Sun 26 July Montereau-Fault-Yonne > Paris Champs-Élysées

For more info on the Tour de France see www.letour.fr

The Independent (2 Aug 08) has another of its “50 Best…” series, this time on Railway Journeys - and includes 2 French ones.

Clermont Ferrand-Beziers

The less well-used of the two lines from Clermont Ferrand through the Massif Central (the other goes to Nimes), this switchback route traverses some of the wildest country in France. Near St Flour the line crosses Eiffel’s Garabit Viaduct and follows the Lot and Tarn rivers to reach Millau and Norman Foster’s viaduct, the world’s highest road bridge.

The journey takes 5 hours and costs about €50. It has to be said that the road journey is pretty spectacular too, whether you opt for the new autoroute A75 or quieter side roads as the route crosses the Auvergne and the Causses before descending to the Languedoc (see www.frenchduck.co.uk/travel)

Eurostar London - Paris

Okay, most of the scenery between London and Paris or Brussels isn’t going to inspire a modern-day Edward Thomas, but the pleasure of using the magnificently restored station at St Pancras and the blissful ease of Eurostar makes it a great experience. Treat yourself to first class and enjoy champagne and a pretty respectable meal at 186mph.

Personally I would also recommend the route from Brive-la-Gaillarde to Montauban via Gourdon and Cahors - it cuts through the dramatic limestone landscapes and valleys of South West France offering unmatchable views of the countryside, the Lot River and the town of Cahors. Time: about 2 hrs, cost about €25.
With RailEurope you can book your rail journey to any destination within France, including Eurostar services, TGV and local trains

See the FrenchDuck article on Tourist Trains in France

Another French icon, the Solex motorised bicycle used to be a common sight throughout France - although in earlier times it was powered by a noisy smelly little 2-stroke petrol engine. Something like 80 million Solexs were produced as a cheap form of transport after the Second World War.The original production line closed at the end of the 1980s, but now it has been re-invented as the E-Solex an environmentally-friendly way of getting around town using battery high efficeincy power to boost your pedalling.

You can now enjoy a one of these very French machines by hiring one for a day or half-day in St Omer (62 Pas-de-Calais, Nord Pas-de-Calais).

Les Belles Echappees also hire out Citroen 2CVs, tandems and trikes and offer a number of packages which can include route suggestions, restaurant and hotel combinations etc.

Les Belles Echappées invite you to a journey off the beaten track in search of simple pleasures connected with emotion and collective memory.

You can find a video showing the 2CVs in action on You Tube Les Belles Echappees translates as a good time or break!

Les Belles Echappees, Chemin des murs, Ferme de l’Abbaye - 62500 CLAIRMARAIS
Tél : 03.21.98.11.72

There are other options for raking to the road “a la francaise” - e.g. the 2CV tours of Paris with 4 roues sous un Parapluie (4 wheels under 1 umbrella); Or hire a classic Citroen TA in the Loire Valley with Quart de Tours (37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre)

Further south Joffreny Tours offer classic and modern British cars (and others) for touring the French countryside from their base near Chalus (87 Haut Vienne, Limousin) - although helpfully they have an office in the UK

Lots to do and see - Hire a classic standard MGB Roadster, a V8 MGB Roadster, a BMW Z3 Roadster or a Triumph Stag (soft-top or hard-top) and take off on a sightseeing tour of the Limousin, Charente and Dordogne, in west central France, with all of its historic towns and picturesque chateaux, and sample some of the fine food and wine along the way. This is beautiful touring country and there are very few cars on the road…

Buy at AllPosters.com

Information on domestic flights in France is not easy to come by, one reason being that Air France has such a dominant position in France and already have flights on most internal routes.
Plus the French market is not as competitive. The French Railway system between major cities is both fast and competitive, especially if starting from Paris.
I have only been able to uncover a couple of airlines which offer domestic flights in France:-
http://www.easyjet.com/ - Toulouse to Lyon, Paris, Nice to Paris; Lyon to Biarritz, Bordeaux; Biarritz to Paris

http://www.twinjet.net/
Toulouse (32 Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse, Brest; Marseille to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse; Paris - Perigueux, Cherbourg

http://www.airlinair.fr/ Brest,(29 Finistere, Brittany) Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine), Agen (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes), Poitiers (86 Vienne, Poitou-Charentes), Brive (19 Correze, Limousin) Beziers (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) etc

http://www.ryanair.com/ now also has links from Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) to Lille (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) and Brest (29 Finistere, Brittany)

You can try sites like http://www.expedia.fr/ but even a price comparison site like http://www.baisse-de-prix.com/voyages.php seems to offer little new – it looks like Air France have cornered the market with little opportunity for discounting.

Our list of toll-free autoroutes raised some interesting questions - what was the rationale for making some stretches of autoroute free, whilst others are charged.
It appears that there can be several reasons:-

• where the autoroute acts as a city by-pass allieviating traffic in the already congested city centre - so the A16 from Boulogne to the French Border would be a good example

or

• where the autoroute has effectively replaced the main N road leaving no realistic alternative - eg. large stretches of the A75 Meridienne south from Clermont-Ferrand

or

• where there is an economic reason where it is hoped that the autoroute will generate the local economy in an underdeveloped region - e.g the A77 (Autoroute de l’Arbre (trees)) from Pouilly to Nevers

However, word has it that the other significant factor has been the family connections of the President - both Chirac’s grandparents come from the Correze in the Limousin, which may explain why the A20 autoroute (L’Occitane) is toll free from Vierzon to Brive-la-Gaillarde. Given that the Lot département (46) in the Midi-Pyrenees is one of the poorest economic regions in France, it does seem strange that the toll section only starts south of Brive-la-Gaillarde (down to Montauban and Toulouse).

However, who are we to complain when in recent years the A28, A20 and A75 autoroutes have given us much better, safer and faster access to the south and southwest.

The toll-free element can make some difference to your budget - e.g. Calais-Montpellier using the A71 and A75 from Paris costs €58.50 in tolls, compared to the journey from Calais- Cavaillon (Provence), which is exactly the same distance where the toll charge is €71.00.

Current Fuel prices in France
The other thing you need to factor in to your calculations for a trip to France by car is the cost of fuel and the exchange rate.

Effective fuel prices have risen by about 6p a litre since the Spring caused in part by an increase in French fuel prices and a less favourable exchange rate (tourist rates currently about €1.36=£1 at Sept 07).

Unleaded (sans plomb 95) € 1.3190 = £0.97 per litre
Super unleaded (sans plomb 98 € 1.2690 = £0.93 per litre
Diesel (gazole) € 1.0490 = £0.77 per litre

These are best prices at a Hypermarket - you will pay significantly more at autoroute service areas and many branded petrol stations - the difference can be up to €0.10 per litre or more - or 7p a litre - so it is worth shopping around if you are filling the tank. Many local supermarkets (Intermarche, Champion etc) can often offer good prices - but not always!!

Most French autoroutes between major towns and cities are toll motorways, which whilst often offering fast and uncrowded dual-carriageways, can nevertheless add significantly to the cost of a trip through France - e.g over €90 (over £60) on a one-way trip from Calais to Nice (1226km of motorway driving about 760 miles).

However there are significant sections of autoroute which are toll free - most often these are around major towns and Cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon etc).

In the North, the A16 is toll-free from Boulogne (J29) to the Belgian border (J36) via Calais and Dunkerque. The A25 from Dunkerque (J20) to Lille is free, so you can reach Lille from the main Channel ports without paying a toll!. Also all routes from Lille to the Belgian border.
The following autoroutes are toll free (as at September 2007)
A16 (part of the Autoroute des Estuaires (estuaries)) from Boulogne-sur-Mer (J29) to the Belgian border(J36)
A20 (L’Occitane) from Vierzon (J6 junction with A71) to Brive-la-Gaillarde (J53) via Chateauroux, Argenton and Limoges
A25 from Dunkerque (J20 with A16) to Lille
A28 from Abbeville (J1) to Rouen (J14)
A30/A31 (Autoroute de la Vallée de la Fensch) from Thionville (J1) to Toul (J12) via Metz and Nancy
A38 from Dijon (J33) to Pouilly-sur-Auxois (J24 and the junction with the A6)
A63 (Autoroute de la Cote Basque) from Bordeaux to Bellin-Bellet (J20)
A64 (la Pyreneenne) from St Martory (J20) to Muret (J25)
A68 (la Tarnaise) from Monastruc (J3 NE of Toulouse) to Albi (J11) via Gaillac
A75 (la Meridienne) from Clermont-Ferrand (J15) to Pezenas (J59) (except for the Millau Bridge) via Issoire
A77 (Autoroute de l’Arbre (trees)) from Pouilly (J26) to Nevers (J37)
A84 from Caen (J46) to Rennes (J25) via Avranches