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GETTING HERE
There are many options for travelling to Le Haut Du Bourg in Saint Aubin de Terregatte
BY CAR
The routes from any of the ferry ports or airports are easy using the motorway system, we are 10 minutes from the A84, J33 or J34. Depending on where you are travelling from you may encounter toll booths, the easiest option for these is to use your debit or credit card.
BY FERRY
The nearest ferry port is St Malo at 66kms (approx. 1hr) away. Caen (Ouistreham) is 134kms (approx. 1hr 30mins). Le Havre is 213kms (approx. 2hrs 30mins). Roscoff is 238kms (approx. 2hrs 45mins). Dieppe is 307kms (approx. 3hrs 15mins).
BY PLANE
Flights and the airports that are currently used are constantly changing so it is better to research current offerings by air on the internet. Rennes airport is approx. an hour away and Nantes airport approx. 2 hours away.
BY TUNNEL
The Eurotunnel will take you from Folkestone to Calais in 35 minutes from platform to platform, you drive on in your car and off the other end. You can also get the ferry across from Dover to Calais. Calais is 470kms from us, journey time approx. 4hrs 20mins.
If you haven’t driven in France before, here are some helpful hints and tips which we have collated from our experiences of driving here. Please note that much of our driving has been in Normandy and Brittany so you need to take that into account as we wouldn’t know if there were any other differences the further south you travelled.
DRIVING ON THE RIGHT
The most obvious one is that you must drive on the right, this isn’t difficult if you remember that you are in France. On a couple of occasions, we have left a campsite in the car to go exploring and for a few moments have started off on the left. Fortunately, these were on quiet lanes and we quickly realised and continued our journey on the right.
Most of the motorways are dual carriageway and once you have overtaken you must move back over to the right. Be very aware of the speed limits on all roads as it is illegal to have any device on that warns you of speed traps. So, if you are using a satnav, make sure that this notification is turned off.
You might think roundabouts would be a problem, but these are easily navigated, just make sure you are looking to your left before you move onto it. It would be difficult to go the wrong way around as the lanes leading to the roundabout make you automatically point to the right.
There are a few things that you should have in the car when travelling in France:
• Proof of ID – usually a passport
• Insurance certificate
• Proof of ownership or a Vehicle on Hire Certificate
• A current, full UK driving licence – driver must be at least 18 years old in France
• A red warning triangle
• A high-vis reflective vest for each person in the car
• Headlamp adjusters
You will also need to display a UK sticker on the car and check that your breakdown insurance covers you for European travel.
There is also a “Give Way to the right” (priorité à droite) rule in France meaning that priority must be given to traffic approaching from the right unless there are road signs indicating otherwise or there is a solid white line to show that they have to stop before moving from the junction.
MOTORWAY SERVICES
The equivalent of our motorway services are called Aires in France. Many of them are basic and have the kind of toilet?? (hole in the floor) that you stand over, we tend to avoid these! The best advice we can offer is when you see the signs preceding the Aire one of them will have symbols showing what facilities they have which helps in deciding to stop there. Also, if they advertise that they sell fuel you will find that they have better toilet facilities that are situated inside the building and some will have a small café or will at least have a coffee machine.
The most obvious one is that you must drive on the right, this isn’t difficult if you remember that you are in France. On a couple of occasions, we have left a campsite in the car to go exploring and for a few moments have started off on the left. Fortunately, these were on quiet lanes and we quickly realised and continued our journey on the right.
Most of the motorways are dual carriageway and once you have overtaken you must move back over to the right. Be very aware of the speed limits on all roads as it is illegal to have any device on that warns you of speed traps. So, if you are using a satnav, make sure that this notification is turned off.
You might think roundabouts would be a problem, but these are easily navigated, just make sure you are looking to your left before you move onto it. It would be difficult to go the wrong way around as the lanes leading to the roundabout make you automatically point to the right.
There are a few things that you should have in the car when travelling in France:
• Proof of ID – usually a passport
• Insurance certificate
• Proof of ownership or a Vehicle on Hire Certificate
• A current, full UK driving licence – driver must be at least 18 years old in France
• A red warning triangle
• A high-vis reflective vest for each person in the car
• Headlamp adjusters
You will also need to display a UK sticker on the car and check that your breakdown insurance covers you for European travel.
There is also a “Give Way to the right” (priorité à droite) rule in France meaning that priority must be given to traffic approaching from the right unless there are road signs indicating otherwise or there is a solid white line to show that they have to stop before moving from the junction.
MOTORWAY SERVICES
The equivalent of our motorway services are called Aires in France. Many of them are basic and have the kind of toilet?? (hole in the floor) that you stand over, we tend to avoid these! The best advice we can offer is when you see the signs preceding the Aire one of them will have symbols showing what facilities they have which helps in deciding to stop there. Also, if they advertise that they sell fuel you will find that they have better toilet facilities that are situated inside the building and some will have a small café or will at least have a coffee machine.
TOLLS
Depending on where you travel from and to, you may encounter tolls, that is until you get into Brittany as they don’t have any. These vary in cost and sometimes you will just be required to take a ticket which you will insert into the toll booth slot when you leave the toll road, the cost will be determined on how far you have travelled on that particular road.
The easiest way to navigate the tolls is for the person in the passenger seat to have a debit or credit card at the ready to use in the machine. If you are travelling alone, don’t panic, it is obviously acceptable to get out and walk around the car to pay the toll.
If you find you are travelling to France on a regular basis it is worth investing in a toll tag, this means you can just pull up to the barrier and it once the tag has been automatically scanned the barrier will left and you can continue on your way.
PONT DE NORMANDIE
When we travel from Dieppe (Ferry) or Calais (Eurotunnel) to Brittany or Normandy my favourite part of the journey is going over the Pont de Normandie, it is an impressive sight as it spans over 2000 metres across the Seine. Amazingly, if you had the desire to, you could walk or cycle across it, something that Jeremy would never consider doing given he dislikes heights.
If you are passing that way around lunchtime, a lovely place to stop for something to eat is Honfleur. There are plenty of restaurants around the harbour and it’s a joy to sit outside and watch the world go by.
SOME FRENCH WORDS YOU SEE ON THE ROADS
Suivre - means follow. So, the sign may say, for “Place name” suivre “Town name”.
Cédez le passage – means that you need to Give Way at the upcoming junction.
Péage – is the Toll fee.
Rappel – is a reminder that you should not exceed the speed limit.
Ralentir travaux – is warning you to slow down as there will be roadworks ahead.
Arrêt – Stop!
Le Passage Piétons – Pedestrian crossing.
Chaussée deformer – this warns that the road is in bad condition.
Prochaine sortie – Next exit.
Route barre – Road closed.
Un bouchon / un embouteillage – Traffic jam.
Déviation – Detour.
Toutes directions – All directions.
Tomber en panne – Break down.
Ouvert – Open.
Fermé – Closed.
Gauche – Left.
Droite – Right.
TRAFFIC LIGHTS (FEU ROUGE)
The traffic light sequence differs in France from what you would be used to in the UK so it is good to familiarise yourself with this before travelling to France.
The lights will cycle in this order: Green, Orange, Red
Feux vert (green light): As long as the route is clear you can continue on the road ahead.
Feux orange (orange light): This will warn you to stop at the lights, unless you are already too close to the line that you are unable to safely come to a stop.
Feux rouge (red light): You must stop and must not cross the line.
If the traffic light flashes orange, then the priority to the right rule applies unless indicated otherwise.
Depending on where you travel from and to, you may encounter tolls, that is until you get into Brittany as they don’t have any. These vary in cost and sometimes you will just be required to take a ticket which you will insert into the toll booth slot when you leave the toll road, the cost will be determined on how far you have travelled on that particular road.
The easiest way to navigate the tolls is for the person in the passenger seat to have a debit or credit card at the ready to use in the machine. If you are travelling alone, don’t panic, it is obviously acceptable to get out and walk around the car to pay the toll.
If you find you are travelling to France on a regular basis it is worth investing in a toll tag, this means you can just pull up to the barrier and it once the tag has been automatically scanned the barrier will left and you can continue on your way.
PONT DE NORMANDIE
When we travel from Dieppe (Ferry) or Calais (Eurotunnel) to Brittany or Normandy my favourite part of the journey is going over the Pont de Normandie, it is an impressive sight as it spans over 2000 metres across the Seine. Amazingly, if you had the desire to, you could walk or cycle across it, something that Jeremy would never consider doing given he dislikes heights.
If you are passing that way around lunchtime, a lovely place to stop for something to eat is Honfleur. There are plenty of restaurants around the harbour and it’s a joy to sit outside and watch the world go by.
SOME FRENCH WORDS YOU SEE ON THE ROADS
Suivre - means follow. So, the sign may say, for “Place name” suivre “Town name”.
Cédez le passage – means that you need to Give Way at the upcoming junction.
Péage – is the Toll fee.
Rappel – is a reminder that you should not exceed the speed limit.
Ralentir travaux – is warning you to slow down as there will be roadworks ahead.
Arrêt – Stop!
Le Passage Piétons – Pedestrian crossing.
Chaussée deformer – this warns that the road is in bad condition.
Prochaine sortie – Next exit.
Route barre – Road closed.
Un bouchon / un embouteillage – Traffic jam.
Déviation – Detour.
Toutes directions – All directions.
Tomber en panne – Break down.
Ouvert – Open.
Fermé – Closed.
Gauche – Left.
Droite – Right.
TRAFFIC LIGHTS (FEU ROUGE)
The traffic light sequence differs in France from what you would be used to in the UK so it is good to familiarise yourself with this before travelling to France.
The lights will cycle in this order: Green, Orange, Red
Feux vert (green light): As long as the route is clear you can continue on the road ahead.
Feux orange (orange light): This will warn you to stop at the lights, unless you are already too close to the line that you are unable to safely come to a stop.
Feux rouge (red light): You must stop and must not cross the line.
If the traffic light flashes orange, then the priority to the right rule applies unless indicated otherwise.
CONTACT US
Reach us by phone or email regarding bookings or to ask any questions or you can complete the contact form below.
Email address:
lehautdubourg@gmail.com
Phone numbers:
English Mobile:
+44 (0) 7979296644
French Landline:
+33 (0) 2 33 48 24 48