France Part 2 - Good Roads, Dodgy Parking!
Okay, so let’s start on part 2 of our French trip, and let’s see what has changed, if anything – and yes, things have. Such as I have gone to drive on the left, we’ve driven on a toll road, and maybe the French are better equipped for travelling vehicles, depending on how you like to live, but I’ll come onto that.
Let’s start with roads, as that is what we are here to do: drive around France, and since landing at Calais, with our detours and sightseeing, we have driven approximately 400 miles or more, and would you believe I have hardly seen any potholes? Sure, we have come across some, usually on the same stretch of road, often not for too long either, as in a few hundred yards. And in built-up areas, there seems to be an awful lot of drain covers, initially more than in the UK. We can obviously feel them when we drive over them, but I could probably cycle over them and not worry too much. And I reckon that as much as 98% of the drive has been pothole free; yep, that much.
It was one of the first things I noticed, as we seem to spend most of our time dodging them when we’re behind the wheel back home in the UK. If you have read more of my posts, you will know my own experience cost Shropshire Council about £850 when my wheel got damaged.
But France seems to have gotten it right, and I was thinking. After the war the UK and France must have gone through a massive rebuilding period, including roads. So how come the roads in France are good, bordering on very good, yet the ones in the UK are bordering on pathetic and falling apart? What is France able to do right that we can’t? I’m no engineer of any type, but is laying tarmac of any standard and making it last really that hard? Well, it must be if the evidence in the UK is anything to go by; France could surely teach us a lesson here!
We have travelled down from Calais to Boulogne-sur-Mer, to Camiers, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, to Toussaint, and on to Bayeux, taking in Honfleur, Fécamp, and the lovely little village of Veules-les-Roses, ending up in the lovely little village of Barfleur. Days 7 & 8 were spent driving around the Normandy D-Day beaches, which will be a separate post.
We tried to get into the small town of Etretat, as we had read it was a place that you shouldn’t miss, but as hard as we tried, we could not get parked. One of the things we have found is that there are many car parks available, but only to car drivers, as so many have low barriers that I am not arguing with in the motorhome.
However, I did think our luck was in when I saw parking spaces marked for buses and motorhomes; unfortunately, the park was full of cars, as all their drivers had the FOMO syndrome, and they needed somewhere to park. I say FOMO, but also laziness and inconsideration, because if they had driven ½ mile up the road, they would have been able to park where we couldn't. One of my pet hates is inconsideration and laziness, and combine that with the FOMO syndrome, and some of us don’t stand a chance!
We didn’t have the FOMO syndrome; we just had the MO part. As we gave up, there was nowhere to leave the motorhome safely, thanks to that lot!
But we did stop in Honfleur, a lovely little town on the coast and somewhere we could have stopped for a lot longer; unfortunately, we ran out of time as we had to be in Bayeux and onto the campsite by 6:00pm.
This is the problem with France: it is massive, and we cannot take in every town and village, or we would never get anywhere, but why the toll road? Again, I’ll come onto that, but we are travelling around the coastal route, and you would expect it to be flat, and it is, so the roads are often very straight, as you can see from the photos.
It is wonderful just taking your time and taking in the scenery and the views. Which, in this area, is mile after mile after mile of agricultural land, with a variety of crops and cereals planted in thousands and thousands of acres; it's absolutely fantastic; it’s a lovely drive on the main roads.
And so, to the toll road, normal roads would have been cutting it too fine, so we decided to break one of our rules within a few days, and we took to the A13 toll road, as it was 30 minutes quicker. And how quiet was that route compared to our busy motorways and dual carriageways – very quiet. And here is another observation: still having a soft spot for HGVs after all these years, I always find myself on the lookout for them, which can be quite sad at times. There are so few HGVs on the road compared to the number we get on the UK roads; don’t ask me how or why. I have not taken the time to research it, but it makes a difference to the drive!
Always something different and wondering what the tolls were like, we did not have to worry, as there were none. The A13 & 14 are the first two motorways to be toll-free in France, and unbeknown to us before we joined the road, so it's a win-win!
But it was what it was: straight, faster roads with no views or scenery and with high trees and verges on the side of the roads. Is this deliberate so that we are not distracted by views and scenery? I have no idea, but I believe it is.
It was also the same on a dual carriageway we used today getting from Sword to Omaha Beach. We used a road recommended for motorhome users. This is good advice, but choose carefully. Yes, it was simple driving for our little beastie, but similar to the toll road (or not, as the case was,) quite boring. Had we taken the coast road, there would hathose areve been a couple of advantages. It's more scenic and shorter and more fun with fuel cost being irrelevant.
But drivers in France are the same as in the UK, and they don’t realise that when they join a motorway or dual carriageway, you are supposed to give way; that’s what the white lines on the slip road actually mean. But we as humans seem to think by indicating it gives us the right to change lanes (do you sense another bugbear?) Drivers seem to be the same in France as in the UK?
So, things are kind of going to plan; my wife started to take an interest in where we were actually going, and now that is her job: telling me where to drive to. It’s not a problem; if I don’t want to go, then she’ll have to drive.
And what about Mary McHarg? She's doing okay, but at 26 mpg it’s a massive cost, but my wife is selling her jewellery when we get home; she just doesn’t know it yet!
Do I have any motorhome advice? Yes, and I will always try to help those of you that are interested, but when you are buying items for the motorhome, buy as many fold-away items as possible, including steps, buckets, dishes, clothes holders, a washing-up bowl, or anything that saves you space, because what I have found is that on a longer trip like this, more space is probably needed.
We have a foldaway table for our drinks and bits. We also have a strange box about 18” square that we use for storing towels and bedclothes. What we have found is that by keeping that in the living area and putting a solid plastic folder we have for paperwork on the top, we have a ready-made table. We have a set of very small fold-down steps that we sometimes use for exiting the motorhome, and that is our outside table. So who needs the bigger foldaway table – not us!
Driving to Stamford, we lost a hubcap attached with a cable tie each; the NS window blind clip has broken, and it won’t stay closed. However, another tip is to travel with cable ties, preferably reusable ones. I used one to secure the blind when in the closed position, put it through the window and round the door frame, and it works; it’s keeping it open (pushed back.) However, as the window doesn’t close completely, as in a mm or two, the window whistles when we drive at speed, and so another reason to use the side roads.
More to follow and thanks for reading
DJ
