They are the 706 thro' 709 range, which between them divide France into four useful equal quarters, broadly speaking:
- 706 NW France, from roughly Amiens, due south to Clermont Ferrand / Limoges, embracing the whole of Normandy and Brittany.
- 707 NE France, from roughly Calais / Lille / Strasbourg south as far as Dijon / Besancon, then west to roughly Rouen / Orleans.
- 708 SW France, roughly Poitiers southwards, to embrace Clermont Ferrand, Montpellier and east as far as Pau.
- 709 SE France, from Dijon / Besancon, south to Nice and westwards as far as Clermont Ferrand / Rodez / Montpellier.
They are at a useful scale of 1:500,000 with pretty good detail, right down to all but the smallest roads and villages; certainly more than good enough for any amount of imaginative planning and more detailed than Michelin's traditional 724 and 725 maps which split France into two halves north and south along the horizontal axis Nantes / Dijon, at a 1:1,000,000 scale.
Why are they good? Few people ever need a really detailed map for the whole of France for each trip they take. Where these maps do score is where bods really only want say the NE corner, as far south as Dijon and say maybe the SE corner to get themselves to the Med or French Alps, not needing to touch Brittany or the Pyraneees at all. Back them up with one of Michelin's very detailed 5 series maps for when you are at your destination and the job's as good as done.
Price £5.99 from any half decent map sellers or bookshop; so not much more than a pint of nasty lager and they'll last you longer, too. I bought mine from the ever fantastic Daunt's bookshop in Marylebone High Street, W1. If anyone ever needs books for their travels, it is THE place to go. Easy parking in the area on Sundays, too.