off on my first ride to that France

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brummy bloke

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Off to Normandy on Tuesday,staying at maison laudiere on the recommendation of some of the folk who have stayed there previously.Probably going to use the dover/Calais ferry as it is the cheapest route.I welcome any advice on a good route from Calais to Flers,south Normandy and any other pearls of wisdom as I've booked very last minute having got a few days off work unexpectedly.Going on me jack jones as i'm a sad barstool!
 
Coast road if you want to take your time, motorway and peage for quickness,
 
We've stopped with Carol and Nige before, lovely people. Assuming your from Birmingham why don't you get the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen then it's only 80 miles or so down to Maison Laudiere. There's a ferry leaves at 2:45 and gets you in at 9:30 then it's just a couple of hours down. If you email Nige he might have a code that will save you a couple of quid on the ferry.
 
thanks for that,booked ferry from dover to Calais,only because it cost 100 quid less.never used peage,riden on the right and don't speak any French,not many uk residents understand my blackcountry accent.Should be interesting!
 
Off to Normandy on Tuesday,staying at maison laudiere on the recommendation of some of the folk who have stayed there previously.Probably going to use the dover/Calais ferry as it is the cheapest route.I welcome any advice on a good route from Calais to Flers,south Normandy and any other pearls of wisdom as I've booked very last minute having got a few days off work unexpectedly.Going on me jack jones as i'm a sad barstool!

When riding in France it seems to be a lot bigger than it looks on a map, enjoy yourself :beerjug:
 
Have a great time, but look up priorite a droite before you go.
 
Go to the RiDE magazine's website. They may have a compete set of routes for you to download.

Have a look at lots of other threads on the subject on UKGSer. You ain't the first and you'll probably not be the last.

Calais direct to Flers is, according to Google, 410 kms (254 miles).

You have decided to tell us lots about why you are going, where you are staying, that you don't speak French, have never ridden there, that you're going to be on your own and departing on Tuesday, which - given that today is Monday and you booked last minute - may well be, tomorrow. Sadly, you have decided not to tell us:

1. What time you plan to roll off the ferry in Calais

2. What time you want to / have to arrive in Flers, though I guess it's the same day

The answer to those two secretive issues might possibly decide your all or part of your route for you.

3. Whether you think 250 miles is something that you usually knock off before breakfast or whether you think it's a fecking long way if you ride all the goat tracks and stop to gawp at every WW2 site along the way.

As time is possibly very short, here's what to do:

a. Fire up Google maps and ask it for Calais to Flers. That gives you the direct route, its direction, distance and direction of travel. If that alone is good enough for you, job done.

b. If not, fiddle with the Google map preference settings. Any good? Great.

c. Do the same in the free Via Michelin app, repeating as necessary, changing the preference settings. Happy? Fantastic **.

d. Then try something like https://kurviger.de/ and play about; you can't break it ***

..... And buy a map......



Over to you.....



PS If it's too late (and nobody else it seems has given you a specific route or routes) have fun. You'll be fine, I promise.
 
** I've just done just that.

The route offered up by viaMichelin (motorcycling, avoiding tolls, discovery settings) looks OK'ish (we don't have time to play about) and comes out at 241 miles.

*** I've just done that, too

The route suggested by Kurviger is maybe better? Though I haven't zoomed in on it. It's 243 miles

==============================================================

So all in all, whichever way you go, whether it's motorway or 'scenic' you are looking at about 250 miles give or take.


It's really easy, give it a go. You really cannot go too far wrong.... of it does you are still not a far from home and France is reasonably civilised. You'll be fine, I promise.
 
Have you gone?

PS Like an idiot, I forgot to suggest that you could perhaps ask the British owners of the B&B if they have any route suggestions between Calais and Flers. Chances are they've been asked before, so they may well have some ready to ping over to you.
 
Nigel has loads of great roads to suggest, if I remember they are the 112, 999 & 911, not kidding.

If you get time go to Motor museum at Loheac, unless its closed you won't be disappointed. http://www.manoir-automobile.fr/home/

Enjoy
 
With regards to the Peages, should you end up using any of them, very few (if any of them) seen to be manned these days.

As you approach the pay gates you will see some have an illuminated 't' above them and some have images of credit cards and cash (as well as the 't').
Avoid the lanes with just the 't' overhead, head for one of the others and pay in cash or with your credit card.
Make sure your credit card company know you're travelling to France and ideally use a card that doesn't charge commission on spending in foreign currencies.

When you insert the ticket at the pay booth check the screen to make sure you have been charged as a 'Moto'. If not press the help button and when they answer tell them you're on a bike, "Je suis en Moto" (je swee on Moto) should be enough and they should amend the amount you have been charged if appropriate.
Take a few moments to remind yourself to ride on the rhs each time you set off after stopping for food/fuel/fag/feaces. It is very easy to go back into auto mode and head off on the wrong lane of the carriageway (obviously not on motorways) as you become more relaxed.

Above all take care and enjoy yourself. France is a wonderful country and a terrific place to ride a motorbike.
I am very jealous.
 
My experience with Peages has been mixed, mainly trouble free, but I have had a few exceptions and llearned that keeping the ticket pristine and dry is paramount, next I have three methods of payment to hand, that being cash, MasterCard & Visa.

This year in Spain we used cash as it was an easy way to use up a load of change.

I have a Wunderlich handlebar bag, which is a great alternative to a tank bag. Keep the toll ticket in a small zip lock bag.
 
Thanks for your input folks,missed most of it as I had set off early doors.Loads of useful stuff for next time though! especially the peage stuff,got robbed by a couple of them,no interest or assistance from our garlic loving cousins.other than that no dramas,look forward to doing it again for a bit longer
 
Great that you made it there and back.

Next time you'll be an old hand at this touring malarkey.
 
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