Driving an esprit to the south of france

[jimblob]

As above good idea bad idea? anyone done it? could you tell me roughly what it cost you to make the trip fuel/tolls etc. I have never done a drive like it and its something I always fancied just trying to convince the wife its better than flying .

[mdw]

Don't know on fuel but tolls are about 90 euros if you go down the eastern side via Reims, Troyes, Lyon , Dijon and slightly less on the western or they were 2-3 years ago. That's to Avignon.  Toll roads great even in hols time but snarls up in Lyon. Up and down the country easy peasy. Going across not on toll roads we found a nightmare.  If stopping off on route the B&B brand  room only hotels booked on line are basic but cheap. All are just off junctions on the toll roads. 

We are 1 hour from eurotunel so get the 5 am train 3-4 stops and there for 5-6ish in afternoon.  However that's hammering it down in a diesel Passat with the kids in the car. In the esprit I might decide to take 2-3 days and not go toll routes making the journey part of the holiday.  I would also skirt Paris if I could as that can clog up and as its only a couple of hours in knocks everything else back.

 

Oh the loos are getting better but in the picnic bench only type road stops it will still be just a ceramic  hole in the ground and some we have come across in the north east at fuel stops are unisex loos.  Very odd at 3 in the morning. You start to wonder if you should stop for a sleep and are seeing things!!

 

And it gets quite hooooooooooooot..  It always hits me first stop after Lyon. You have been in a airconditioned  car for 4-5 hours and then open the doors for a pitstop and  a wall of heat hits you.  Then I feel like I am on holiday.  Other than that brilliant hols. 

[bosbon_be]

You can use the web route planner from Michelin, calculates fuel and payage.

Edited May 18, 2014 by bosbon_be

[Advantage]

I've driven down to see Matt K when he was just outside Limoges in my old GT3 a few years back. I can't remember what the toll charges were, but they certainly weren't off-putting for a chance to use the efficient autoroutes as a way of simply getting there.

 

Limoges is around halfway down the middle of France and I landed at Caen which meant I used about a tank and a half of fuel each way. I was on my own so settled for a comfortable high speed cruise rather than anything touristy or setting new World Speed Records and the journey was around 4.5 - 5 hours. So double that for hitting the south coast.

 

Depending on where you're intending on heading, it can sometimes be better to land in Spain (Bilbao etc) and drive back up.

[mdw]

Some of the kent area elise owners are going via train from Holland to Italy. I seem to remember they were saying £300 which is about same as fuel and tolls would cost so might be worth investigating. 

[RODOLPHESPRIT]

The esprits are not allowed to take the train in France.

If you will be in the south of France contact me I m living in the suburb of saint tropez

[philip600]

Hi,

My Wife & I are thinking of doing this in a couple of years for my 50th with friends in their TVR Griffith but we're looking at taking a scenic route down ( maybe via Italy ) & auto-routes back. We drove to near Limoges in the X5 a few years ago but I can't remember the cost of the tolls, It is quite boring but as has been said it is the quickest way by far, once off the auto-routes the roads are quite rural, great if you aren't in a hurry. I just remember being surprised how big France is & even on the auto-routes it took us a good 5 or 6 hours from Bruges.

We flew down to South of France last year & stayed near St Tropez & we absolutely loved it so I can't wait to have a trip down in the Esprit. Hoping to visit again in September but we will be flying down again as we've only got a week off work.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards, Phil.

[Loose Cannon]

Sounds a dream trip Phil, just make sure the TVR is in front, as their wayward handling non-ABS cars may try and slide into you in an emergency braking situation (ask my Chimaera owning mate how he knows this)

[Eglise]

I've been driving to southern France for 25 years. Get some decent maps and plan a route that uses a mix of autoroutes and D roads. Even in high summer the D roads in central France are deserted and you will enjoy the drive far more than if went autoroutes all the way. 

A tele -tag for the tolls means you never need to stop at the peage and you don't get billed until the following month. Fuel costs similar to UK.

 

I'm going to Normandy next month and in August to the Toulouse area in the Elise, went last year and can't wait to go again. If you are not sure if it's your thing try a 4 day trip to northern France first,

[redshift]

Eurotunnel to home was around 80 euro and one fill up en route.

BUT do yourself a favour and get a transponder for the péages:

 

https://www.bipandgo.com/en/nos-offres/comparatif?gclid=CPqdtKOSuL4CFUfLtAod_CAATA

 

You only pay for the months when you use it. Great fun but be aware that les flics seem to like coming out of their hiding places beside the autoroute when they something like an Esprit go past and then follow you. Did that to me twice - each time I saw them and thought 'bet they are going to pull out and follow' and sure enough they did.

[jimblob]

Thanks for all the input guys there is some good reading here and some stuff to think about   

[Bibs]

Just went to order a Bip&Go but it looks like they're not available to UK residents.

[dodge1979]

Myself and ian (palmergeddon) did this last june in our esprits..we stayed near saint Raphael and went into Monaco, cannes, st tropez etc..its a wonderful journey. We stayed over night on the way down in dijon. Take the eurostar instead of the ferry its only a half hour journey.

We used toll roads all the way there and back. .it would take far too long to get there or back using a roads. Cost wise its not bad. I think we spend about 80to90 quid on tolls at a guess. Fuel is crap over there. Always use the super unleaded dont bother with normal. Avoid underground or multistory car parks like the plague as youll have a high risk of damaging your car..

in terms of speed cameras police etc..we were never bothered by them. The further south you get the worse the locals are at driving. And whatever you do..avoid Paris!

Well be planning another trip next year for sure.

Oh..and for me it was 1000 miles from leamington spa to st Raphael. .so if you work out fuel cost on an average 24mpg on uk prices you wont be far off at all

[Kevin Wheeler]

Hi Jimi

 

I went to Nice in 2011 in my Elise and, after allowing for meeting up with some mates and some dallying around, I did 1,700 miles. I am not sure what mileage you would get in your GT3, but I should aim for those sort of miles.

 

That year we went on the peage. I cannot remember the cost in tolls, sorry.

 

The last two years, I have been with our club and we have tended to ignore the motorways and just used the D roads. They were nice and clear when we went (in September) and a much better drive than a tedious motorway. Just add a B&B stop or two and enjoy the small towns in France. There are some great (and crazy!) B&Bs you can use at very cheap prices or you can stay in some wonderful chateaux for about €100 per night.

 

We have ten cars going to the Dordogne this year and I will be using the Esprit (and wincing at the number of times I have to fill up, no doubt).

 

Have fun! It will be a great time!

 

Kevin

[Advantage]

Just went to order a Bip&Go but it looks like they're not available to UK residents.

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

[Bibs]

Ta 

[mdw]

You can use credit cards at  most of the toll booths but we quite often had to try a few until we found one their system liked.  However will  get a tag for convenience next time so thanks for the links.

[rotaryspeed]

Eurotunnel to home was around 80 euro and one fill up en route.

BUT do yourself a favour and get a transponder for the péages:

 

https://www.bipandgo.com/en/nos-offres/comparatif?gclid=CPqdtKOSuL4CFUfLtAod_CAATA

 

You only pay for the months when you use it. Great fun but be aware that les flics seem to like coming out of their hiding places beside the autoroute when they something like an Esprit go past and then follow you. Did that to me twice - each time I saw them and thought 'bet they are going to pull out and follow' and sure enough they did.

Curious on why they did pull you over ? 

[Advantage]

Curious on why they did pull you over ? 

C'est Français.  /shrug/

Beaucoup de l'argent s'il vous plait monsieur.

[rotaryspeed]

Hehe, bah bien sur

[ChrisJ]

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

 

Thanks for that.

 

I've just signed up for this as I'm off to France this weekend. 

 

Last year, got to a booth, put a 100 Euro note in, rejected, put another one in, rejected. Spent 5-10 minutes frantically searching for the smaller notes/coins to put in. We had enough by with 1 Euro or so left over. This was on the last Saturday in August, and the motorways were jammed. Hopefully this will be all behind me now 

[redshift]

Curious on why they did pull you over ? 

 

They never actually pulled me, they just followed at a discrete distance. No doubt expecting me to hoof it at some point. One even followed for 45 minutes or so!

[Bibs]

I paid them €750 for a minor infringement. They said something about a ban too but I binned any post from France

[Advantage]

Psstcchh! Les Rosbif.

[rotaryspeed]

Hehe, yeah they stopped me once too. Copper was overtaking me on his bike on the right (slow) lane ! I gave my colleage a push on his seat and said, "Hey look, what an idiot !" He then went in front of us and flashed the blue lights. Doh !

 

Well I followed him and turns out he charged me 90 € as we were apparently speeding ... There we were only swimming in traffic.

 

Next one, lend the car to a friend and he got flashed by a stationary radar. He was measured 96 kmh, allowed: 90 kmh. Minus 5 kmh tolerance they fined me again around 90 € for going 91 in a 90 kmh zone !