Here are 5 simple things to bear in mind to keep your journey to your french fishing holiday as straight forward as possible.
1. Paris at rush hours – rush hour is normally 8:00-10:00 am & 5:00-8:00 pm. Your Sat Nav will often try to take you around the Paris Peripherique when travelling South. Depending on your time of travel it might be wise to plan a redirect via alternative motorways – we suggest Rouen and then down through to Evreux, Dreux, Chartre and onwards south.
2. Tolls – Can be expensive. Check out which route is best using www.viamichelin.com. This website can calculate tolls and fuel costs for your journey.
3. Drinking – France’s drink driving laws are fiercer than our own 0.5 mg per ml as opposed to 0.8 mg per ml UK
4. Speeding – On the spot fines are expensive but further problems and fines arrive if you don’t have you log book , insurance and licence documentation with you in the vehicle. In a 50kph area (our 30mph) you will be fined approximately 68e if caught doing less than 20kph over that limit. For more details check out this page explaining offences and penalties.
5. The French – Annual holidays of course!  Most of France and the Netherlands are on holiday between mid July to mid August each year (due to factory closures, huge numbers take 2 weeks off in this 4 week period) This is when motorways are at their absolute busiest.
Your Sat Nav very often will take you through Paris on the Peripherique when travelling South towards the Limoges region.
I have hit the Paris Peripherique when travelling South at all times of day and at different times of the year and been stuck in 2 hour traffic jams, that is clockwise and ant-clockwise. Even at 4am you can expect to be delayed around 1 hour. On the odd occasion. This is excellent advice! avoid Paris like the plague.
My advice if travelling from Calais towards the South would be to redirect via Rouen and then on to Evreux, Dreux, Chartre, then follow the N154 to the A10. Even during the French annual holidays this route is busy but you should keep moving. The French do seem to move on mass towards the warmer South.
Take the same route back after your fishing trip.
Paul