A Handy Guide To Driving in France

Driving in France can be confusing and we get a lot of anglers ask us about French rules and regulations. We have put together a list of simple things you should be aware of before setting off on your carp fishing holiday.

Need A Hire Van For Your Carp Fishing Trip?

We get lots of anglers looking for van hire recommendations for their French carp fishing trip. Here are a few companies to check out… 1. Nationwide Hire 0500 053 899 You choose an address, they deliver and collect at a time you chose between 08:45 and 17:30 and European insurance is included. They deliver vans, minibuses […]

Driving Through Paris? You May Need A Sticker For That

Many of us find ourselves travelling through Paris on route to a French carp fishing holiday. However, if you plan on doing this it is important to note that you will now need to apply for a ‘pollution sticker’ beforehand. The sticker system indicates how green your vehicle is and will apply for vehicles travelling anywhere inside […]

5 things to avoid when driving in France

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 […]

Travelling To Venues and Keeping A Clear Head

Paul Cooper shares his advice to those of you travelling to venues located further down in to France… Travelling to France can be a tedious affair. Especially with venues further down the country, lakes such as Mas Bas or Holly Pools, where you enjoy the warmer southern climate. With a long tiring journey more often than not you […]

The Dartford Crossing

For many anglers crossing the QE2 Bridge at Dartford is an unavoidable part of their journey to France. From 30thNovember 2014 the way you pay the crossing charge will change when a new scheme called Dart Charge is introduced.  Dart Charge replaces cash payments at toll booths and the DART-Tag. Instead of stopping at a barrier to pay the […]

Top 5 Tips To Get The Cheapest Ferry Crossing

Here’s our top 5  tips on getting the best value out of your ferry crossing… It’s cheaper to take a car and trailer than 2 cars A minibus doesn’t cost much more than a car Booking additional height (above 1.7m) costs very little more.  But it must be booked in advance so if your bedchairs etc. will […]

Foreign drivers must pay fines

Foreign drivers can no longer escape having to pay fines for speeding and other motoring offences in France – which could mean a €15million bonus for the state’s coffers.  Senators have backed a move to bring France in line with an EU decree and it now goes for final parliamentary approval before coming into force […]

Major roadworks at ROUEN

The fire that caused the damage to the Mathilde Bridge in Rouen Hi All, Having just returned from the UK we discovered that there are major road works on ‘Pont Mathilde’ (Mathilde Bridge) in Rouen which is used by the majority of the Sat Nav systems.  Given that we didn’t know about this in advance, we […]

Is A Breathalyser A Legal Requirement in France?

Readers Question; Is it true the French Government have decided to postpone the need to have a breathalyser for now? Below is the information received from the ACF (Automobile Club de France):From the 1st July 2012 a new sanction was enforced, in France, obliging every driver to carry an unused breathalyser kit in their vehicles.Drivers that […]

Indefinite Delay on Breath Tests in France

Reproduced from the Connexion – France’s English Language Newspaper January 24, 2013 THE government has delayed the full introduction of the controversial breath-test law, which would have penalised them for not carrying an unused kit in their vehicle. Interior Minister Manuel Valls has postponed “sine die” – indefinitely – the start of €11 fines for […]

Breathalysers Arrive

From July 1st 2012 it is compulsory to carry a breathalyser kit in the car in France. We told you back in March that we’d try to get some of the kits into the UK so you could buy them from us if you wanted.  Well they’ve arrived and we’re happy to sell them at […]

A Cautionary Tale

Just last week one of our customers had a nightmare on the way home.  Their car broke down, so they had to hire a car from Le Mans to Calais, stay in a hotel overnight at Calais and then pick up another hire car at Dover to get home. They will then have to come […]

You Must Carry a Breathalyser

From July 1st 2012 it is compulsory to carry a breathalyser kit in the car in France. Two kits per car are advised (so if you use one you’re still able to stay legal) &  15 euro fines for non-compliance will be levied from November 1st 2012.  We have placed an order for 100 which […]

Deals on Wheels – van hire for abroad

We recently had this van hire company recommended by a client.  They hired a  Vauxhall Vivaro van for 10 days for £356 inc European pack included.  He did have to pay a £250 deposit…. refundable upon return. They thought it was a great deal … so we are passing the info on to you. National […]

Van hire for your French carp trip

We are often asked for a company that hire out vehicles suitable for carp anglers wanting to go on a French carp fishing trip. We’ve recently come across this company and for groups of up to 6 persons looking for transport this could solve a big problem.   Loughton Self Drive offer an extra long […]

Don’t just trust Sat Nav to find your carp lake!

Every year we get calls from anglers whose GPS systems have directed the many miles from their intended destinations.  Because of this we always recommend you take a good French road map & use it, together with the directions we provide, to at least check your Sat Nav is not taking you miles out of […]

Which ferry would suit me best?

Which Cross Channel Ferry would suit me best? – a question we get asked often.  Bridget Keep gives the Pros & Cons; There are so many options now for crossing to France so here is a comprehensive guide to the Pros and Cons of the various options; Dover to Calais ferries By far the cheapest […]

French weather to moon phases… some useful Websites

Here’s a list of the Websites we find ourselves recommending to people throughout the year; For French weather forecasts we recommend Metcheck … here’s the French page. Incredibly accurate even 10 days or so before. For route planning we recommend ViaMichelin Enter your start destination as the French ferry port you’re using & end destination […]