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Motorail France - Anyone tried it?

JonathanT

JonathanT

Not normal for Norfolk
Messages
1,332
Location
Wymondham Norfolk
Hello everyone

I'm tempted to take a holiday in France. Probably the Dordogne
Or near the Pyranees

Who loads/drives your precious R4 on and off?
Would you be allowed to fit a cover on the car ?
Is it securely strapped on and if so by what where?

Maybe I'm just a bit precious about my 4 ;)
 
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In order to join the Motorail train you have to drive to Paris Bercy station, next to the Gare De Lyon, i.e. on the south-east side of Paris. I've driven my LHD R4 through Piccadilly Circus but the idea of driving a 4 round the Boulevard Périphérique scares me stiff. And from the UK Paris is two-thirds of the way to the Dordogne anyway.

Here is a link with all the details. You will see that you not only have to hand your car over to the staff but then you travel by separate train! And then you turn up at your destination station on Day 2 to find that your car has been routed to Zagreb or somewhere, or the local friendly staff have been flummoxed by the R4 gearchange, mistaken 1st gear for reverse and driven it off the end of the truck into the path of a passing TGV. "Oh Great Heck" you say.

I'd allow another couple of days each way, take the ferry from Southampton and drift pleasantly down France along non-motorway roads. The best way of seeing the country.
 
Brilliant Benchseat! Yes all my fears rolled into one ok will think on . Thank you
 
No no no no no.

Half the fun of driving in France is staying off the autoroutes and seeing the scenery. Doing it in a Renault 4 makes it more of an experience.

Overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo or Caen then a leisurely drive from there.
 
St. Malo saves about 70 miles, but the countryside is pretty dull until you get to about Angers. If you're going to do it the leisurely way I'd suggest Caen or Le Havre as it is not very long before you're into La France profonde.
 
I've driven around the Peripherique a few times and the first time it was scary, and that was because I was keeping up with the mad French traffic. Next time I stuck to the speed limit and let everybody overtake me. Much more relaxed, OK NOT relaxed but doable, and keep out of the 'Slow' lane as that's where the traffic will be leaving the Peripherique for the next junction. And when the wife/kids start shouting "We can see the Eiffel Tower!!!!!" ignore them and keep your eyes on the road. I think the scariest thing, it still is, is approached the Peripherique from the south west, driving out of sunlight into a dark tunnel then suddenly seeing a sharp bend ahead of you! After that, pretty plain sailing.
 
Driven round the Peripherique a few times and it's fine. More fun is the Champs Elysse!

On a related note, old cars are banned from Paris in the daytime now. But that's based on cars registered in France. If, say, someone was planning on driving a UK registered F6 into the centre of Paris on the way back from a large R4 meeting this summer, would they get away with it?

Obviously this is theoretical and I know of nobody who might do this....... *whistles*
 
This is all good reading chaps.
Yes a leisurely and romantic excursion through rural France sounds brilliant. I hope my girlfriend thinks so too :scared:
 
The ban applies to foriegn cars on first of April ,8 till 8 Monday to Friday,you need to have windscreen sticker to show how polluting your car is ,you should be able to buy it on line .
68 euro fine if not shown,this also applies to Lyon and Grenoble.No doubt it will spread!!!
 
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