Calais to Motiers anything to lookout for

With 7 days to go the excitement of driving to the alps is increasing every
day.
We're doing the Calais, Dijon, Lyon, Albertville route.
What I'd like to know is....
Is there anything interesting to look out for on the way down.
We're doing Calais to Reims in the dark. The rest will be done on Saturday.
GPS waypoints would be great but anything of interest would be good.
Thanks in advance.

Obviously I meant Moutiers or rather La Plagne

"Team SJ" wrote in message
...
Obviously I meant Moutiers or rather La Plagne



There are a few nice towns en-route but some of them you will be passing in
the dark ! Laon and Troyes especially are both nice towns with historic
centres worth a passing visit in daylight. Dijon likewise but you wouldn't
want the detour on your way down.

From the road you will see the Champagne vineyards and those of Burgundy as
well. They were nice covered in snow 2 weeks ago.

Look out for speed cameras in the Chambery tunnel !

Have good journey.

All the best,

Edi

"Edi" wrote in message ...
"Team SJ" wrote in message
...
Obviously I meant Moutiers or rather La Plagne



There are a few nice towns en-route but some of them you will be passing in
the dark ! Laon and Troyes especially are both nice towns with historic
centres worth a passing visit in daylight. Dijon likewise but you wouldn't
want the detour on your way down.

From the road you will see the Champagne vineyards and those of Burgundy as
well. They were nice covered in snow 2 weeks ago.

Look out for speed cameras in the Chambery tunnel !

Have good journey.

All the best,

Edi

You're probably going to hit Lyons at a pretty busy time. I've found
the best bet is to take the A46 after J31 then the A42 and A432
following signs to Satolas (Lyons) airport. You go right into the
airport from the North leaving to the South heading for the A43.

If it is very busy I also try and miss the main tolls by leaving one
exit early and joining again at the next. You need to know where the
tolls are and whether the loop is short enough to make sense. Depends
on your maps.

Best of luck and don't forgot the sun cream - its going to get warm
next week!

GPS waypoints.

Don't know whether you are only looking for points of interest but, if you
refer to navigation, www.multimap.com yields very accurate coordinates ...
helpful if you are going to be doing it in the dark.


"Robin Sayce-Jones" wrote in message
...
With 7 days to go the excitement of driving to the alps is increasing
every
day.
We're doing the Calais, Dijon, Lyon, Albertville route.
What I'd like to know is....
Is there anything interesting to look out for on the way down.
We're doing Calais to Reims in the dark. The rest will be done on
Saturday.
GPS waypoints would be great but anything of interest would be good.
Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was wondering if there are any sculptures by
the side of the autoroutes. Just something for the kids to look out for.
We'll be using the GPS so waypoints would help to say "we're nearly by a
....." rather than "did you see that" ..
Thanks

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:07:54 -0000, "Team SJ"
wrote:

I was wondering if there are any sculptures by
the side of the autoroutes. Just something for the kids to look out for.
We'll be using the GPS so waypoints would help to say "we're nearly by a
...." rather than "did you see that" ..

I can't recall the exact locations (but I'm sure that they can be
found with a bit of googling) but here are some of the more memorable
features from a drive down in February:

1. Dry ski slope on RHS of autoroute driving south about an hour from
Calais
2. Champagne labels around Reims (plus the cathedral)
3. The watershed between the Atlantic and Mediterranean somewhere
around Dijon - marked by signs
4. Giant paperclip sculpture north of Lyon
5. Several elves, mushrooms, etc by RHS of autoroute north of Lyon
6. Spotting the wine growing villages placenames - from Reims all the
way southwards - check out the Oddbins pricelist for ideas


The autoroutes have plenty of the brown tourist information signs
pointing out attractions so why not get a Michelin guide for more
info?

Happy travelling and skiing.

ernest

All good stuff. I think the paper clip will be a good distraction.
Not sure I'll be too happy passing all those wine areas without stopping :-(
Thanks


"C.O.Jones" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:07:54 -0000, "Team SJ"
wrote:

I was wondering if there are any sculptures by
the side of the autoroutes. Just something for the kids to look out for.
We'll be using the GPS so waypoints would help to say "we're nearly by a
...." rather than "did you see that" ..

I can't recall the exact locations (but I'm sure that they can be
found with a bit of googling) but here are some of the more memorable
features from a drive down in February:

1. Dry ski slope on RHS of autoroute driving south about an hour from
Calais
2. Champagne labels around Reims (plus the cathedral)
3. The watershed between the Atlantic and Mediterranean somewhere
around Dijon - marked by signs
4. Giant paperclip sculpture north of Lyon
5. Several elves, mushrooms, etc by RHS of autoroute north of Lyon
6. Spotting the wine growing villages placenames - from Reims all the
way southwards - check out the Oddbins pricelist for ideas


The autoroutes have plenty of the brown tourist information signs
pointing out attractions so why not get a Michelin guide for more
info?

Happy travelling and skiing.

ernest

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:41:10 -0000, "Robin Sayce-Jones"
wrote:

With 7 days to go the excitement of driving to the alps is increasing every
day.
We're doing the Calais, Dijon, Lyon, Albertville route.

Not answering your original question, but personally I'd always
recommend the alternative route, dropping down on the a39 from Dole
and joining the A40 heading towards Geneva. Turn off at the Frangy
exit and follow signs for Annecy, thence Albertville.

This does involve a fair bit of non-autoroute driving, but IME is far
outweighed by the saving in distance and by avoiding some of the
busiest roads (at peak times) in France, particularly the stretch
north of Lyon.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

Ace wrote:
On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:41:10 -0000, "Robin Sayce-Jones"
wrote:


With 7 days to go the excitement of driving to the alps is increasing every
day.
We're doing the Calais, Dijon, Lyon, Albertville route.


Not answering your original question, but personally I'd always
recommend the alternative route, dropping down on the a39 from Dole
and joining the A40 heading towards Geneva. Turn off at the Frangy
exit and follow signs for Annecy, thence Albertville.

This does involve a fair bit of non-autoroute driving, but IME is far
outweighed by the saving in distance and by avoiding some of the
busiest roads (at peak times) in France, particularly the stretch
north of Lyon.


Yep, or if you want to stay on motorways yet away from the busy A6, take
the A39 as Ace suggested then head towards (but not into) Lyon on the
A42, bypass the city via its airport on the A432 to get back onto the
main A43 Lyon-Chambéry motorway.


John.

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