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Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

Old Sep 4th 2005, 2:51 pm
  #1  
Andy
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Default Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

Has anyone here any experience of driving from Calais to the Carnac
area of Brittany? I'll be making that journey on Saturday and would
appreciate any practical info anyone can share from their own
experience.

For the record I am fairly familar with driving in France (at least in
the Nord Pas de Calais and Valence / Grenoble areas anyway) and also
in Belgium and Germany so it isn't my first trip away from the UK.
I've also used Autoroute and the ViaMichelin web site to get an idea
of the 420-mile journey.

I suppose things that would be of most interest would be:

How much of the route is dual-carriageway?

Major towns en route without by-passes where traffic congestion is
likely to be an issue. (Caen and Rennes seem likely trouble-spots?).

How long the journey is likely to take (not including stops) - both
Autoroute and ViaMichelin say about 6h15m at 'average' speeds but this
seems a bit ambitious to me?

Price of unleaded petrol and general frequency / likely opening times
of petrol stations en route. Any experiences of UK credit cards
working / not working at self-service (un-manned) stations, even the
new 'chip-and-pin' cards.

Thanks in anticipation,

Andy.


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Old Sep 4th 2005, 2:58 pm
  #2  
Jeremyrh Geo
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Default Re: Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

Andy wrote:
    > Has anyone here any experience of driving from Calais to the Carnac
    > area of Brittany? I'll be making that journey on Saturday and would
    > appreciate any practical info anyone can share from their own
    > experience.
    > For the record I am fairly familar with driving in France (at least in
    > the Nord Pas de Calais and Valence / Grenoble areas anyway) and also
    > in Belgium and Germany so it isn't my first trip away from the UK.
    > I've also used Autoroute and the ViaMichelin web site to get an idea
    > of the 420-mile journey.
    > I suppose things that would be of most interest would be:
    > How much of the route is dual-carriageway?
    > Major towns en route without by-passes where traffic congestion is
    > likely to be an issue. (Caen and Rennes seem likely trouble-spots?).
    > How long the journey is likely to take (not including stops) - both
    > Autoroute and ViaMichelin say about 6h15m at 'average' speeds but this
    > seems a bit ambitious to me?
    > Price of unleaded petrol and general frequency / likely opening times
    > of petrol stations en route. Any experiences of UK credit cards
    > working / not working at self-service (un-manned) stations, even the
    > new 'chip-and-pin' cards.
    > Thanks in anticipation,

It's pretty straightforward, and neither Caen nor Rennes need slow you
down unduly. However, I'd recommend considering the route via Mont St
Michel, if you haven't been there before.

I find the timings on mappy.fr to be reasonably accurate.

G;
 
Old Sep 4th 2005, 8:38 pm
  #3  
Runge
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Posts: n/a
Default Re: Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

If he does it in a day he won't have much time to see anything

<[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected] m...
    > Andy wrote:
    >> Has anyone here any experience of driving from Calais to the Carnac
    >> area of Brittany? I'll be making that journey on Saturday and would
    >> appreciate any practical info anyone can share from their own
    >> experience.
    >> For the record I am fairly familar with driving in France (at least in
    >> the Nord Pas de Calais and Valence / Grenoble areas anyway) and also
    >> in Belgium and Germany so it isn't my first trip away from the UK.
    >> I've also used Autoroute and the ViaMichelin web site to get an idea
    >> of the 420-mile journey.
    >> I suppose things that would be of most interest would be:
    >> How much of the route is dual-carriageway?
    >> Major towns en route without by-passes where traffic congestion is
    >> likely to be an issue. (Caen and Rennes seem likely trouble-spots?).
    >> How long the journey is likely to take (not including stops) - both
    >> Autoroute and ViaMichelin say about 6h15m at 'average' speeds but this
    >> seems a bit ambitious to me?
    >> Price of unleaded petrol and general frequency / likely opening times
    >> of petrol stations en route. Any experiences of UK credit cards
    >> working / not working at self-service (un-manned) stations, even the
    >> new 'chip-and-pin' cards.
    >> Thanks in anticipation,
    > It's pretty straightforward, and neither Caen nor Rennes need slow you
    > down unduly. However, I'd recommend considering the route via Mont St
    > Michel, if you haven't been there before.
    > I find the timings on mappy.fr to be reasonably accurate.
    > G;
    >
 
Old Sep 5th 2005, 12:17 pm
  #4  
Tom
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Default Re: Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

"Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Has anyone here any experience of driving from Calais to the Carnac
    > area of Brittany? I'll be making that journey on Saturday and would
    > appreciate any practical info anyone can share from their own
    > experience.
Yes, we crossed on a late ferry to Calais in July and stayed in a hotel in
Wimeraux (just down the coast from Calais) then set off at approx 9.30 am
to go South for Spain. We took the route A16-- A28 etc heading for Caen
where you hit the Caen bypass looking for the A84 for Avranche-- Rennes we
arrived at our Hotel in La Gacilly (approx 30 Km SE of Ploermel) at approx
4PM. If I remember rightly it's approx 85% (or may be higher) dual
carrigeway. We did not experience much traffic and the roads are well
signposted, we use a Michelin Atlas Routier which is invaluable (WHS). I
think we stopped a couple of times for a rest/snack break.
We've used that route many times and it's very fast and convenient. Ploermel
is approx 80Kms from Carrnac so if you subtract our 30Kms from 80kms you
would travel approx 50Kms further than us, plus the 30Kms between Calais and
Wimeraux of course. In my experience navigating your way around Caen and
Rennes is not a problem. We take cash (Euros) with us so fuel is not a
problem Hope that helps.

Good Luck
Tom
 
Old Sep 18th 2005, 8:43 pm
  #5  
Andy
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Default Re: Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

On 4 Sep 2005 07:58:06 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

    >Andy wrote:
    >> Has anyone here any experience of driving from Calais to the Carnac
    >> area of Brittany?
<snippety-snip>
    >It's pretty straightforward, and neither Caen nor Rennes need slow you
    >down unduly. However, I'd recommend considering the route via Mont St
    >Michel, if you haven't been there before.

It was - and neither did.

My priority for the outward journey was to cover the distance to La
Trinite sur Mer in as little time as possible but I did act on your
suggestion for our return journey yesterday and we spent several hours
at Mont St Michel.

Thank-you for your reply to my original enquiry :-)

A.

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Old Sep 18th 2005, 8:53 pm
  #6  
Andy
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Posts: n/a
Default Re: Driving a car from Calais to Carnac, Brittany?

On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 13:17:15 +0100, "Tom" <[email protected]>
wrote:
    >"Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected].. .
    >> Has anyone here any experience of driving from Calais to the Carnac
    >> area of Brittany?
<snipped>
    >If I remember rightly it's approx 85% (or may be higher) dual
    >carrigeway. We did not experience much traffic and the roads are well
    >signposted.
    >We've used that route many times and it's very fast and convenient.
    >In my experience navigating your way around Caen and
    >Rennes is not a problem. We take cash (Euros) with us so fuel is not a
    >problem.

Thank-you Tom - it turned out to be a straightforward journey in both
directions. As ever with a little preparation (in this case with
regard to the places I felt likely to appear on signposts en route)
the navigation wasn't a problem and the road signs were certainly
adequate.

I noted your comment with regard to having sufficient cash for fuel
purchases and thus avoided any potential problems by doing the same.

Thank-you for your reply to my original question :-)

A.

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