french roads Forums

lugnutt

hi ..im just back from 6 weeks in france and found it hard driving a 30 foot rv.most of the towns have chicanes to slow down traffic and had to slow almost to a crawl to negosheate them,also found the camber of the roads had me tilting one way then the other and the added danger of a ditch on both sides of the road ,bit scary when sat nav sends ya down country lanes .anyone else had this prob? maybe i should downsize to a dolly

loddy

Yes I found the chicanes difficult, had one wheel on the curb most of the time, will not use Uncle Tom anymore because of the difficult situations he has put me in.

:Loddy

asprn

Having had this happen to us when we had the (relatively smaller) 8.2m 6-wheel Kontiki in the UK, I decided after we upgraded to the RV last year to examine any possibly-contentious route on the TomTom before setting off. We've done one Spanish and one French trip this year with the new van whilst towing the car on a trailer, and I know I've saved myself at least one difficult situation like you describe.

We also generally use Autoroutes - or at least "N" routes - but I accept this detracts from wandering around enjoying the essence of the country's atmosphere. Just a limitation of having a big vehicle though.

Dougie.

vanessa7

I have to agree that the only sensible option is to check the satnav route before setting off. Even in our large car (a Kia Sedona), many roads are "too small", so I dread to think what tight spots you could get in with a large RV.

I'd add to this that, when you find yourself in an uncomfortably tight situation, make a note of where it is. That way, next time you're in France, and passing by the same way again, you can avoid that particular "squeeze".

hydecolt

hi Lugnut,
yes we often have the same problem, we have been touring France in our 36 ft RV towing an car for the past 5 months, have never used the autoroutes and peages, but do plan our journeys as carefully as possible using the autoroute on the laptop with gps and a good old fashioned road atlas.
Anna and Colin

ScotJimland

Yes, been there done that, France is a steep learning curve re routes with an RV.. but still a fabulous country if you plan well and use good old paper maps.. ditch the sat nav..

Jim

billym

Sat Nav in my opinion turns many people into brain dead morons who have little idea of where they are going and very little idea of where they have been.

We have said to so many people " where have you come from ? " or " Which wa did you get here ? " only to get the blank face , shrug of the shulders and the standard reply " We followed Sat Nav "

Use a map and a bit of common sense.

And WHY do people have this aversion to going on the motorways. I will never understand.

ivys

We generally use SatNav when in large towns and to make sure we get to places with deadlines (eg ferries) ... but totally agree with the use of maps. It's much more fun.

Rog

takeaflight

I use sat nav wouldn't be with out it. However like most gadgets put cr*p in, get cr*p out. I also agree that they can make you brain dead when it comes to map reading. Two things, one, regardless of what Tom says if I don't like the look of a road, then I don't go down it. Two I always look at a map first, then create a route using Tom to suite. Oh one last thing if there is signage, unsuitable for HGV's or a weight limit again I don't go there.

Only guessing but when the majority of roads here and in France where laid, I bet they didn't have vehicles that was designed for the big open spaces of North America in mind.

ScotJimland