Blast through France 25-29 May 2006
11-27-2005, 02:40 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Blast through France 25-29 May 2006
Hi everyone 
Following on from a certain episode of Top Gear, a few of us had the idea of going to visit the Millau Viaduct. Well one thing lead to another and here we are with a 5 day mini tour of France. For those of you who are new to this thread the full details of what we will be doing are just below, and for those of you who are fully signed up members of the trip I'll be keeping this page up to date with any announcements as and when they happen.
There should be lots of good driving, the chance to see some great landmarks eg Millau Viaduct, le pont du Gard, le Pont d'Avignon and no doubt one or two sherrys in the evenings. Don't miss this opportunity to meet up with fellow enthusiasts as the driving promises to be great, but most of all it'll be a damn good laugh.
PLEASE READ
It has been brought to my attention that the title of this thread Blast Through France may be a little misleading and could give the impression that we are organising some sort of Gumball Rally/Wacky Races.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE. Although some of the days may be quite long, I have based all our trip calculations on published national speed limits with some contingency time built in. Speeding will not be tolerated nor will be necessary on this trip. I also wish to bring to your attention recent French law regarding speeding - If you are caught doing 50+ kmph over the limit then your vehicle will be confiscated by the authorities. The last thing we want is for the entire trip to be ruined for all in this manner.
If you were expecting to take part in some kind of Gumball Rally then this trip is not for you and I suggest that you look to go on a different trip as you will not be welcome in our party.
I hope that clears up any confusion.
This is what we are proposing thus far
Thursday 25 May, Calais - Troyes (Day 1)
Evening ferry (18.05) from Dover - Calais followed by 3 1/2 hour drive from Calais to Troyes via Reims (Avoiding Paris)
Over night stop in Troyes.
Total driving: 240 Miles, 3 1/2 hrs.
Friday 26 May, Troyes - Ales (Day 2)
This is the only real long drive on the trip, but it is necessary if we want to visit the Millau Viaduct. The drive will be mostly on motorways.
9 am start from Troyes, 3 hours of driving then we stop off for a 30 min lunch stop(Moulins area)
Hit the road again and continue drive down to Millau Viaduct (3 hours) arriving at 4pm approx.
I've allowed 1 1/2 hours for the stop at the bridge. This should give us plenty of time for exploring, taking photos etc.
On the road again at around 5.30pm for the 1 hour 20 minute twisty drive across to Ales.
Total driving: 470 miles, 8 hrs.
Saturday 27 May, Ales - St Etienne (Day 3)
Hopefully a reasonably early start again (9 am). A quick 30 min drive up to Nimes where we will pick up Orpheo from the French forum, followed by a 40 minute drive to the Pont du Gard Click me where we can take a brief stop for photos, quick coffee etc.
From Pont du Gard a quick drive (25 mins) up to Avignon arriving just after 11 am. 1 1/2 hours for a lunch stop and a trip down to the Pont d'Avignon images here.
Hit the road again at around 1 pm for our drive up through the Ardeche passing by the Pont d'Arc Click for images. Allowing for 1 hour of stop offs along the way we should arrive at St Etienne at around 6.30 pm.
We have a couple of option for this day. There is the possibility of an alternative plan where we would spend more time at the Pont du Gard, miss Avignon enitrely, but take a 1 hr lunch stop somewhere in the Ardeche Gorges.
This would allow us to arrive at St Etienne a little earlier, but it would mean missing Avignon. Let me know how you feel please.
Total driving: 245 miles, 6 hrs.
Sunday 28 May, St Etienne - Auxerre (Day 4)
Set off From St Etienne around 10 am. 3 hrs driving will take us to 'La Route des Grands Vins' where we can stop for lunch and spend time driving through the vinyards and visiting a few wine cellars information on wine route.
Hopefully with stop offs and lunch we'll be able to leave the wine route at around 3 pm for the 2 1/2 hout drive up to Auxerre, giving us plenty of time to explore Auxerre.
The route follows the N6 for most of the day, but this takes us right through the Medoc and Bugundy wine regions. The driving should be very scenic, but I've also been told that the roads are good and fairly empty.
We will be joining up with the French guys for the whole day (Hopefully around 15 French cars joining us) and will no doubt be having a bit of an end of trip Anglo-French knees up in the evening.
Total driving: 240 miles, 5 1/2 hrs.
Monday 29 May, Auxerre - Calais (Day 5)
I haven't planned anything specific yet for this day as it mainly consists of the drive back up to Calais to catch the ferry.
The drive to Calais is 300 miles (about a 5 hr drive). Take the 17.35 ferry back to the UK arriving at 17.50. Let me know if there is anything specific you would like to do on this day and I will try and plan that in. Also let me know how you feel about the ferry time.
Total driving: 300 miles, 5 hrs.
Let me know what you think. If there is anything you feel needs to be changed, added, omitted etc please post it up in the thread, all suggestions will be looked at.
To look at maps of the route click this link
Confirmed:
LTB (Paid)
Echo66 (paid)
MrMojo (Paid)
GrahamB (Paid)
JamieS2K (Paid)
TEE JAY (Paid)
Burnie (Paid)
AquilaEagle (Paid)
MissBabyCar (Paid)
Mikey K (Paid)
Following on from a certain episode of Top Gear, a few of us had the idea of going to visit the Millau Viaduct. Well one thing lead to another and here we are with a 5 day mini tour of France. For those of you who are new to this thread the full details of what we will be doing are just below, and for those of you who are fully signed up members of the trip I'll be keeping this page up to date with any announcements as and when they happen.
There should be lots of good driving, the chance to see some great landmarks eg Millau Viaduct, le pont du Gard, le Pont d'Avignon and no doubt one or two sherrys in the evenings. Don't miss this opportunity to meet up with fellow enthusiasts as the driving promises to be great, but most of all it'll be a damn good laugh.
PLEASE READ
It has been brought to my attention that the title of this thread Blast Through France may be a little misleading and could give the impression that we are organising some sort of Gumball Rally/Wacky Races.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE. Although some of the days may be quite long, I have based all our trip calculations on published national speed limits with some contingency time built in. Speeding will not be tolerated nor will be necessary on this trip. I also wish to bring to your attention recent French law regarding speeding - If you are caught doing 50+ kmph over the limit then your vehicle will be confiscated by the authorities. The last thing we want is for the entire trip to be ruined for all in this manner.
If you were expecting to take part in some kind of Gumball Rally then this trip is not for you and I suggest that you look to go on a different trip as you will not be welcome in our party.
I hope that clears up any confusion.
This is what we are proposing thus far
Thursday 25 May, Calais - Troyes (Day 1)
Evening ferry (18.05) from Dover - Calais followed by 3 1/2 hour drive from Calais to Troyes via Reims (Avoiding Paris)
Over night stop in Troyes.
Total driving: 240 Miles, 3 1/2 hrs.
Friday 26 May, Troyes - Ales (Day 2)
This is the only real long drive on the trip, but it is necessary if we want to visit the Millau Viaduct. The drive will be mostly on motorways.
9 am start from Troyes, 3 hours of driving then we stop off for a 30 min lunch stop(Moulins area)
Hit the road again and continue drive down to Millau Viaduct (3 hours) arriving at 4pm approx.
I've allowed 1 1/2 hours for the stop at the bridge. This should give us plenty of time for exploring, taking photos etc.
On the road again at around 5.30pm for the 1 hour 20 minute twisty drive across to Ales.
Total driving: 470 miles, 8 hrs.
Saturday 27 May, Ales - St Etienne (Day 3)
Hopefully a reasonably early start again (9 am). A quick 30 min drive up to Nimes where we will pick up Orpheo from the French forum, followed by a 40 minute drive to the Pont du Gard Click me where we can take a brief stop for photos, quick coffee etc.
From Pont du Gard a quick drive (25 mins) up to Avignon arriving just after 11 am. 1 1/2 hours for a lunch stop and a trip down to the Pont d'Avignon images here.
Hit the road again at around 1 pm for our drive up through the Ardeche passing by the Pont d'Arc Click for images. Allowing for 1 hour of stop offs along the way we should arrive at St Etienne at around 6.30 pm.
We have a couple of option for this day. There is the possibility of an alternative plan where we would spend more time at the Pont du Gard, miss Avignon enitrely, but take a 1 hr lunch stop somewhere in the Ardeche Gorges.
This would allow us to arrive at St Etienne a little earlier, but it would mean missing Avignon. Let me know how you feel please.
Total driving: 245 miles, 6 hrs.
Sunday 28 May, St Etienne - Auxerre (Day 4)
Set off From St Etienne around 10 am. 3 hrs driving will take us to 'La Route des Grands Vins' where we can stop for lunch and spend time driving through the vinyards and visiting a few wine cellars information on wine route.
Hopefully with stop offs and lunch we'll be able to leave the wine route at around 3 pm for the 2 1/2 hout drive up to Auxerre, giving us plenty of time to explore Auxerre.
The route follows the N6 for most of the day, but this takes us right through the Medoc and Bugundy wine regions. The driving should be very scenic, but I've also been told that the roads are good and fairly empty.
We will be joining up with the French guys for the whole day (Hopefully around 15 French cars joining us) and will no doubt be having a bit of an end of trip Anglo-French knees up in the evening.
Total driving: 240 miles, 5 1/2 hrs.
Monday 29 May, Auxerre - Calais (Day 5)
I haven't planned anything specific yet for this day as it mainly consists of the drive back up to Calais to catch the ferry.
The drive to Calais is 300 miles (about a 5 hr drive). Take the 17.35 ferry back to the UK arriving at 17.50. Let me know if there is anything specific you would like to do on this day and I will try and plan that in. Also let me know how you feel about the ferry time.
Total driving: 300 miles, 5 hrs.
Let me know what you think. If there is anything you feel needs to be changed, added, omitted etc please post it up in the thread, all suggestions will be looked at.
To look at maps of the route click this link
Confirmed:
LTB (Paid)
Echo66 (paid)
MrMojo (Paid)
GrahamB (Paid)
JamieS2K (Paid)
TEE JAY (Paid)
Burnie (Paid)
AquilaEagle (Paid)
MissBabyCar (Paid)
Mikey K (Paid)
11-27-2005, 11:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Tee Jay,Nov 28 2005, 08:28 AM
Very good idea depending on the date.
I'll take the Fezza. The rest of you can fight over the GT and the Zonda
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11-28-2005, 12:01 AM
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I'd love to go, depends on dates though. Weekend of 29th of April (BH weekend) I think would be a good one.
LTB
BURNIE
CIDERBOY
TEE JAY
BLURTER
Little Chris
LTB
BURNIE
CIDERBOY
TEE JAY
BLURTER
Little Chris
11-28-2005, 01:06 AM
#10
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Thread Starter
I'll open up discussion about dates when we get a few more interested, but so far so good.
Keep those names coming.
Interested:
LTB
BURNIE
CIDERBOY
TEE JAY
BLURTER
Little Chris
Echo 66
Keep those names coming.
Interested:
LTB
BURNIE
CIDERBOY
TEE JAY
BLURTER
Little Chris
Echo 66