The way I come down here is to avoid Paris altogether heading instead for Arras, Reims (A26), then Troyes (great little mediaeval town for a stop) then onto Dijon where the main route south to Lyon is joined by the Paris traffic and gets that much busier. The northern part of the autoroute I've described has been empty when I've been on it, though it is very flat and not terribly scenic. Once you get to Lyon, depending on time, final destination, your mate could either continue on the Autoroute to Avignon, Marseilles etc, or if he's got time, jump over to Grenoble, and take the N85 all the way down to Grasse then the coast. It's not that much slower, but it's a peach of a route, with superb scenery, well surfaced fast bends and cheaper than the southern Autoroute (A8) which is one of the dearest in France...
Bon route.../Franco
p.s don't worry about the stories you hear about "timing" journeys on the Autoroutes so they can calculate whether or not you've been speeding....they do actually have the technology, but to get the law passed in France....ha ha...libertie, etc etc.
