Many people thing that all Autoroutes in France are toll roads, but that is not the case. The second map down in this LINK shows the free ones, marked in blue, and the toll ones marked in green. Hope this is of use.
Useful, thanks. I knew about Brittany being a Toll-free zone and I assume it's some sort of "regional aid" idea. The "Nombre de voies" map is an eye opener - it shows how with a population better dispersed across a much larger country you can get away without all the motorways having at least three lanes on each side, usually congested. It does seem mad though that a 130 kph limit can apply on some of the 2-lane sections in France (I think that's right?), and the limit does seem to be religiously observed these days, yet in the UK we are told that there's no question of the 70mph limit being raised.
top post, bonjourie et merci monsieure,,, ,,,,, but bth a little bittey late,,, just paid a small fortune crossing ( w coast ) of W la france , will put that in for next time ( if ever,,, really fed up with getting soaked !! ) ( ps,, did you see any of that bike race ,, passed throo Clermont area todAY )
Aren't toll free sections marked as such on Michelin maps? Pretty sure if you look at the key there's a difference.
Never been a problem in this area at all. All the fuel stations are fully stocked with no queues and that is how it has been all the time. Not sure about up in the north though. I understand from the BBC that the trains are not running and the bin men are on strike as well as the reported fuel problems. I can tell you that we have seen none of it around here, but the BBC are never going to report that everything is normal in 90% of France are they!
I I have often thought about the two lane three lane situation as Germany and France have mostly two lane and the UK three. I would say that the traffic volumes are lower over here than they are in the UK and that could be one reason that our motorways flow very freely. The other is that road works are completed at night or with constant minor repair here, keeping the roads flowing, the UK tends to cone off huge distances for long periods. Then you drive from London to Bristol on the M4 and realise that despite having three lanes, the traffic only uses the outer two anyway and white van man only uses the outer one! What people don't always realise is that there is quite often a decent road running parallel to any pay motorway for the locals who don't want to pay. A few years ago, when the wife and I had UK plated bikes, we managed the 550 miles from here to Calais in about 5hrs 40 minutes riding. The limit is 130 kmh (80 mph) on French motorways unless otherwise indicated, or 110 kmh (68mph) when the road surface is wet. People don't tend to go much faster as they can keep that speed up for hours without roadworks etc. so they make good progress.
That is correct. In fact on most printed maps the toll roads are marked, although on some maps the difference is quite subtle.
From chatting to my girlfriend in Nantes the recent issues did affect fuel supplies there and it was noticeable that there were fewer people in the city centre (where she works) as a result. They have also had several riots/unruly demonstrations this year where cars have been set on fire and shop/business windows smashed. These things have all been reported by the French and foreign media. I am unsure about the current refuse collection situation and railway issues there, but I'll ask. Outside of major cities there have been little or no issues. My girlfriend has relatives/friends in La Baule, Carpentras, Cognac, La Rochelle, Limoges, etc. who have not experienced what has been going on in a major city like Nantes. I suspect that protests are quite well organised to have maximum effect from minimum effort. Affecting services in a few major cities is all that is needed to get the necessary attention, whilst allowing 99% of France to go about its daily business unaffected.
Just got back earlier this week from a week in France. Only one fuel station we stopped at that was completely out of fuel was one on the outskirts of Le Mans. The next one down the road had fuel. Other than that we could fuel up as we pleased. Great country for riding bikes. Drivers are far more courteous than in the UK.
