Euro Cruising for Virgins

[Grumps]

I know what you are saying Bill, but individual breathalysers are around £5 and I'd prefer to be safe than sorry.

I've not taken the Zed abroad, but have driven both my Triumphs around France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Holland and in each country driving is a much more pleasurable experience than here. It is how I imagine it was in the UK many years ago. Whilst my wife has come with me on several occasions, she prefers the sun and a beach side holiday, so often my son has been my passenger and we have really enjoyed ourselves (memories that will stay with me forever) so don't be put off if your wives are not too keen.

What you spent a fiver!

 

[TR4man]

What you spent a fiver!

I was rarely that extravagant!

 

[t-tony]

We prebooked very few places and if we made a wrong turn just kept going to see what was along the way. Never having been there before it was always easy to find something of interest to us. We survived 4 trips of at least 28 days and up to six weeks and never got lost because we didn't have set plans!! Try it, you'll love it. JIM

We've done this driving around Florida Jim, there is always somewhere to stay and when we got tired we stopped, booked a room for the night and decided in the morning if we wanted to move on or book a 2nd night and have a look around.

Tony.

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

Saint Nazaire France
A nice port town with a lovely bridge. You can also visit the Submarine in the Harbour

We like to enter Vendeé over the bridge at St Nazaire, Billz and then drive down that part of the Atlantic Coast, it has it's own microclimate and in all the years we have been going in the Zeds, we not had bad weather yet!!! (Touch wood).

On the seafront at St Nazaire there is a monument to 'The Lancastria' a ship sent to rescue the troops around the time of the evacuation of Dunkirk. It was a direct hit from German bombers, my father was on board at the time, along with an estimated 9000 others. News of the sinking was suppressed by Churchill, because the number killed would affect the morale of the country. That hushed up tragedy remains the largest loss of life in Maritime history, even more than the Titanic and the Lusitania combined.
Alongside there is another monument, it is one of the guns of the 'Campbell Town' The destroyer that rammed and blew up the lock gates of the dry dock, rendering it useless and denying it's use to the Germans for the rest of the war.

Sandy

 

[Zedona]

We have a place in France and take the Z over regularly as well as our estate car. There is no penalty for not having breathalyzers. If you must have them buy in a French supermarket for less then half compared to the ferry prices. I bought some when the law first came in for €1.50 a set. After introducing this law the French government back tracked, this is easy to check if your research says otherwise it is well out of date.

 

[billz]

I have incorporated Millers and EnthuZiaZT information onto the front page of this thread

 

[Jose Magalhaes]

I'm not French billz but is covered in this link along with a couple of other things you could add to your list in future
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/compulsory_equipment.html

Good idea and write -up

I doubt that under freedom of circulation whithin the EU you can be fined for anything else but lack of mandatory equipment under the law of the country of registration of the car.

 

[Malcolm E Zed]

Kim was the same. We used to go on hols with 22kg luggage and she still had to put stuff in my case. Now she has just learnt to cut back on things like not taking 15 pairs of shoes for 2 weeks

That is where the Boxster is a winner.

2 boots. No need to compromise on luggage.

We did a blog of our trip to Italy in 2012 if anyone is interested. https://mrsbbinitaly.wordpress.com/ and we have driven to Italy or Spain every year since.

We go to Barcelona in the Boxster this year. Can't wait.

For all those umming and erring just get it done. You will never ever regret it.

 

[Malcolm E Zed]

Worth looking here too. https://www.tolltickets.com/default.aspx?lang=en-GB&mnu=c

I always get these for when we drive down to Italy or Spain. They may cost a couple of quid extra but the amount of time saved is huge.

Easily a glass of wine per toll.

 

[Malcolm E Zed]

That's the problem my other half is never spontaneous, everything has to be planned, booked, logged, checked in, written down, double booked and checked again and then ensured the dog is looked after as he always comes first! So now you can see I'd love to do it alone!!

I am like that. But the planning of routes, ferrys, hotels etc is half the fun of it.

 

[miller1098]

I am like that. But the planning of routes, ferrys, hotels etc is half the fun of it.

Half the fun is not knowing where you will end up.

 

[Malcolm E Zed]

Half the fun is not knowing where you will end up.

My OCD will never allow that.

 

[miller1098]

I say this so often " it's a good job were all diffrent" yet we can all come together because we enjoy the same car

 

[oldcarman]

My OCD will never allow that.

That's unfortunate, you miss out on the surprises but it is what it is and you seem to enjoy yourselves anyhow! JIM

 

[billz]

No one else got any routes i can add to the front page of this thread. This is a chance to make travelling to Europe less daunting for anyone who has not done it before but is wanting to travel through Europe

 

[Qplate]

Great write up. These type of holidays are superb. So much to see and great driving roads to be driven.

I am the type that likes to plan things in a fair amount of detail well in advance. In fact, that's part of the enjoyment for me.

A couple more really nice roads that I can highly recommend are:
The St Bernardino Pass in the Alps. There's a lake and a café at the top with plenty of parking.
The Col du Turini in France, just north of Monaco. Its a WRC stage and has superb views and super smooth tarmac. Again, there is a restaurant at the top.

A quick tip of you want to see Monaco. Its very expensive to stay within the principality. If you aim to stay in Menton to the East or down towards Nice in the West, its very much cheaper and a cheap train runs from either side straight into Monaco. Of course, you can drive in too and follow most of the F1 course

If you plan to drive somewhere you know will be busy, plan to do it at a quiet time. For example, The Arc de Triumphe in Paris. I managed to lead a convoy of 9 cars around it at 7am one Saturday morning. It was easy enough but I'm guessing that an hour later would have been a nightmare.

 

[Qplate]

The route from Epinal to Mulhouse that's mentioned in the first post, which route is better, the E512 or the D430?

We will be driving that in September I,m quite happy to add a few miles if the route is a better one.

 

[billz]

This is the way we are taking
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...93,8.35464&f=q&om=1&output=classic&dg=feature

 

[Mint]

Similar for us, but our day is from Saint-Quentin to Mulhouse:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...00,7.38016&f=q&om=1&output=classic&dg=feature

 

[Qplate]

That's great, thanks guys. On that day will be driving from Livange in Luxembourg to Sausheim near Mulhouse so that route from Epinal to Mulhouse is perfect.