Anyone driven to/or in Paris?
 

I have booked a P&O ferry from Dover to Calais which is set to leave at 7:30PM, I aim to be in Paris by about 2am, realistic? Will be following all speed limits as dont want to pay a hefty fine to French police! I have a budget of £400 for V Power, I reckon I will be doing about 900 miles max with a car full of five lads and luggage. Anyone got any advice, things to do/places to see? Parking in the city centre, whats that like? Might leave the car at the hotel and just use the metro if its really bad. How much are the toll roads? Any advice much appreciated. BTW a special thanks to Ian for letting me borrow his France navigation disc for my S8, if it wasn't for you, I would have had to take the Bimmer :o +++

The only time I've driven to Paris (long before the days of satnav), we ended up in Versailles, which is (or was) apparently a common occurence. But you should have no problems with the satnav, and congratulations to Ian for making sure you travel in the best car! +++

Driving and parking in Paris is a nightmare, just like central London but worse, although the French have a strange rule that between the hours of 12:00 and 14:00 you can park just about anywhere, pedestrian crossings included! (something to do with lunchtime). So your idea of parking at the hotel and using the Metro is a top one!

The Dover to Calais ferry takes about an hour. The drive from Calais to Paris at that time, and within the speed limits, could take at least 4 hours. So allowing for getting off the ferry and a brief stop, I think 2am (local time) could be a little optimistic ETA in central Paris.

As for places to visit and things to do, there's so much, again just like London. The Palace of Versailles (not by mistake!) is well worth a visit as is the Louvre, Moulin Rouge, Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame Cathedral, boat trip down the River Seine, depends what your tastes and interests are really.

Can't remember what the autoroute tolls cost but they're not cheap and at that time of night you could probably cover the journey in the same time on the N roads (these are the equivalent of our A roads - the French A roads are autoroutes/motorways).

oh, and Bon Voyage!

Been there... Thought I took the chunnel.. a bit of a surreal experience, but pretty smooth.

The motorway is pretty good to Paris, but the French do take no prisoners on the road, so keep a close eye in your mirrors when changing lanes.

Paris is MENTAL! I dropped my car in the car park at the hotel and just used the trains to go around, it's faster and much less chance of having your car trashed (trying to get the French to pay up on insurance is a joke).

Enjoy it though.. If you've never been, Paris is a great place to go. If you're doing the tower, don't take the lift to the second floor, walk up, it's stunning.

Thanks for the advice guys, I went when I was about 7 and cant remember much. I have booked a really nice villa on the outskirts of Paris with good public transport, I will drive into Paris city centre at 4-5AM, this is the time I am estimating arrival. Check ins not untill 11AM so need to find something to do in the city from 4-5am-11am! Driving a green S8 around Paris just screams Ronin :D

ahem! :tuttut:

Oh yes, definitely! Make sure you get some good footage +++

I worked there a few times on and off for Stolt (now Acergy).

Their office was near a roundabout only thery don't have centre bits so watching the traffic at busy times was excellent!

The lunitic kids on mopeds really cut things up and there is always a horn beeping someplace or other.

Just push in, they all do it and nobody takes offence like in the UK. In Franceshire watch for 'Priorite a droit' signs - that means let them in and they won't wait, so be prepared to let cars onto the main from a side road without any warning!

There's a super video of someone horsing a V8 through Paris but whether it's real or not..... prolly on Youtube somewhere....

I love Paris, my sis lived on the outskirts for a few years so often went to visit ( she also lived on the Cote D'Azur for a while as well. now unfortunately she has settled in Brittany.... :( )

Use the public transport, its the only real way to get around. Walking is good as well but can be knackering! get a pass for the metro, similar to london it works on zones and you can also jump on buses with it. saves messing about with tickets here there and everywhere.

The Mona Lisa is tiny and usually surrounded by japanese! :D


when eating in restaurants either stick to the daily special menu ( fixed price) or even better go down to teh Latin quarter ( near Notre Dame) and go a few streets back from teh River. This is a student area so food is dead cheap but still really good on teh whole.

be aware of different prices to sit outside and inside.... sometimes its significantly higher!!!

If taking teh missus (not sure if you have a significant other) get some cheeses, french bread, grapes, saucisson etc and a bottle of pink bubbly and sit near the tower for a picnic.... cost ~ 10 quid, brownie points - priceless!!!!! ( Mine still mentions that picnic 10 years on.... )


Also, take your camera as you will see loads of 'nice' different old cars like DS's renault 4's facel vegas and the like. usually they are bashed and battered from life on teh streets but it always makes me smile when I see something a bit different being used


a ride on teh Bateaux Mouche is a good way to see teh city especially at night when its all lit up but watch for gobby merkins. I nearly ended up planting one whilst I was Queuing........

BTW, watch it if you decide to go to Sacre Coeur. where you get off teh metro is a BIG pickpocket and Red light area........... if you go round teh back there is a famous square where artists will paint your piccy and just further back is Jim Morrisons grave.

Just arrived, went round the arc di trimph & have literally just parked up next to the eiffel tower. Cant get a good pic due to lighting but will wander around untill sunrise and try again!

Bienvenu!
 

So 3am local time, was a good estimate then.

Have a great time! +++

enjoy..i got back sunday eves took my GSX 1400 With the wifey...we went eurotunnel .early sat am .onto dunkirk then blatted down the toll roads very boring to Le Harve where we had a mercurie hotel for the night then onto caen to see the d day beaches then back to Le Harve for the ferrey,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,great two days and 700 miles....mind you wish i was in the audi...

Well 922 Miles and a couple of tanks of Super Unleaded later and i'm back home, it was a great drive and I did take the S8 into the city centre a few nights and drove out about 6-7am. Used the metro during the day. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, the only damage the car incurred was when a brick fell from the top a tall building onto my bonnet! The damage isn't that bad and I am just glad it didn't hit anyone on the head! Did get the S8 stuck on a beach in a village noone knew the name of! With a dead battery on all mobiles it didn't really matter if we knew where we were because we wouldn't have been able to tell someone where to actully come! It was so far out from any town and I thought maybe the only way we would be found is when someone reported us missing and the police activated the tracker on the S8, even more worrying was.. Was the tide coming in? It was also getting dark! We eventully managed to find some village people after a long walk who didn't speak english, they were great and tried to help bringing rakes and bits of wood to wedge under the tyres, eventully ( 2 hours later ) a farmer pulled up with a shotgun *ULP* after lining his pocket with a couple of euros he towed it out much to the appluse of the now big audience! Then a spirited blast to Calais and made the ferry in time, just!

All things considered I had a great time and would deffently do it again +++

P.S Pics of S8 stuck on beach to come.. :o

Wow!
 

What a story Amar! :eek2:

Quite an eventful trip - you don't do things by halves, do you?!!

Good to see you safely back. Did the brick do much damage. I imagine a brick falling from a great height would devestate the bonnet..... :eek:

Had the car on a ramp today and lukily no damage underneath.

The brick wasn't that big Mike, although it has caused two mini dents and took the paint off, its nothing worth losing sleep over and I will get it sorted soon. +++

Picture of the S8 stuck and some helpfull townspeople trying to dig it out..

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1245633321

Stranded...

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1245633889

that second pic is a "reggie perrin" type pic lol looks like the passenger has opened the door and walked into the sea!

I have done the run a few times now. Gone through and round paris sometime on the way to skiing.

The last time i did the run I went into paris for a weekend and then back to the UK and I was in a Diesel company mondeo. I filled up in Dover, and got to Paris, back to Dover and all the way to Swindon on a tank!

I doubt the 8 would let me do that!

The A roads are actually motorways in France. I did a mixture of motorway and non motorway driving to keep the costs down on the tolls and see a bit of the towns.

Im not sure you will get there for 2am keeping within the speed limits. Perhaps a little after. Try and get there nice and early for the ferry, remember normally first on is first off!

A lot of people hate driving in Paris. But I grew up and learnt to drive in East London and I have driven from Central London to Mongolia before and nothing compares to driving in the Ukraine! They are the worst drivers I have ever met! Just remember, that sometime when on a roundabout, you have to give way to vehicles coming onto the roundabout! That takes some getting used to! If you drive in Paris, driving round the arc de triumph is an experience! its pure free for all, as are many of the roundabouts! Dont expect a car to stop for you at a zebra cross, there just a place for you to cross, and dont have any give way to pedestrian relevance that I can figure out!

You must try garlic snails! But be careful not to burn yourself!

Le Cab is an ok club. Stay away from Le Queen unless your into that sort of thing if you know what I mean! I have heard about a place called Kong. Its set up in a sky scrapper. I like Le Duplex, loads of rooms to suit all tastes and the girls in there are well......... errrrm easy is the only way to put it i think!

Watch you speed. If they catch you they will either take your passport until you pay the fine or march you straight to a cash point.

Have fun!

Cheers E.LM.O but your about two weeks to late! I'm already back, wow. A diesel Mondeo sounds like just what I need. I filled the A8 up with premium fuel in Paris, I got to Dover an needed to fill up again, to be fair I was driving very hard, and on a completely deserted straight motorway I found my limiter doesn't work, didn't get any trouble from the police. Its interesting what you say about cars coming onto the Arc Di Triumph having priority. I was really confused when I saw a C Class come to wards me at speed when I went on the Arc Di Truimph. I only went to one club, Le Gibbs. The French weren't really that friendly, apart from a girl in Footlocker. She was really friendly, polished all our shoes and wouldn't take a penny, also helped us out with where to go etc..!

Opppps! that will teach me not to get impatient with my mobile broadband 3G stick! I was out and about having lunch, waiting for the page to load was taking ages so i posted without getting to read the whole thread! Sorry! Great story though! It makes me want to go back to Paris! I bet it would be a lot nicer driving the 8 than th crappy "Mundano!" It did give great mpg though! Even better with a work fuel card!