Preparing for your French holiday 2012

[fairytooth]

Here is a very useful article I came across recently and thought it will be of assistance for anyone travelling to France this year, especially if it will be your first trip! And also in the light of conflicting reports about speed enforcement there.

Driving in France 2012 - Tips and vital information

 

[lebesset]

the link about the A75 and the millau viaduct has clearly been written by someone who has never been there ......it says it is easily blocked by snow in the winter due to the sections over 1000 metres

although there are some long climbs , there are no steep climbs

in reality it has never been blocked since the day it was opened ; on the other hand the low level routes like the rhone valley are regularly blocked

 

[n brown]

Good find for the updates! Excellent!
Strange, nothing was mentioned about breaking down on peage roads about the compulsory use of the dedicated breakdown service.
Some people are unaware of this rule.

You have to pay and then you claim it back from your own recovery service, provided you have taken one out.
This also applies in service area's and some dual carriageways that are not peage.

another reassuring point is that the peage breakdown is fixed price and the operators have to have a price list on display

 

[Stacetop]

another reassuring point is that the peage breakdown is fixed price and the operators have to have a price list on display

We experienced a breakdown on the A16 in France the company who towed us off claimed the money directly from our insurance which suprised me as they told me I would need to claim it back!! All worked out well for us.

 

[galian]

On the contrary

the link about the and the millau viaduct has clearly been written by someone who has never been there ......it says it is easily blocked by snow in the winter due to the sections over 1000 metres

although there are some long climbs , there are no steep climbs

in reality it has never been blocked since the day it was opened ; on the other hand the low level routes like the rhone valley are regularly blocked

Sorry to disappoint you lebesset, but the article about the A75 Millau Viaduct route you refer to was written by someone who uses the A75 across the top of the Massif Central about twenty-five times a year, in all seasons. For the benefit of other readers, it IS blocked from time to time most winters. It is rarely blocked for more than a day at a time, but in snowy times, the carriageways can remain white for several days, and closed to HGVs and/or traffic without snow tyres, in spite of the good work of the snow-plough teams. This is why, south of Clermont Ferrand, (shortly before exit 20, to be precise) you will see beside the road large signs saying: Montpellier OUVERT / FERMÉ (open or closed - one or the other) Saint Flour OUVERT / FERMÉ. And it does have some steep climbs (for a motorway), notably the Pas de l'Escalette, where speed is limited to 70 kph on the way down, and the climb out of the Lot valley.

 

[Sparks]

THE WORLD'S HIGHEST MOTORWAY BRIDGE .......
Not anymore unfortunately, but it is still the most beautiful.

World's tallest bridge hailed in Mexico