Overnight Stop

Allowing that things might change, as things stand, when we enter France on our way home can we make an overnight stop or must we make the onward journey in one go? I can’t find anything definitive. I know what would make sense but then when does that come into Covid planning. It’s a long way from Calais to Limoux in The Aude!

If I recall correctly from when this sort of situation arose quite a while ago under previous restrictions…

an overnight stop was OK provided that one isolated… which presumably means you book into a hotel/whatever and arrange to have food delivered to your room (?) rather than go to the restaurant… ??? then head for home the following day… where you continue to isolate… (of course, this is if isolation is on the agenda…)

I’m sure someone will chime in …

I have been told from friends who recently travelled that the first place you stay overnight becomes your place of isolation. Therefore when you fill in the French passenger locator form to give detals of where you will be isolating, you enter the name of the hotel and you must self isolate there for at least 48 hours and test negative before you can leave and continue your journey. If the gendarmes carry out a check within 48 hours, they would expect to find you there.
That is what they were told when they enquired.

I was hoping it was Stells’s answer but feared it might be Sandcastle’s. We’ll make a decision next week but think we might just drive it and get home about 2am.

Are you able to share the driving ??? this isn’t really the weather to have folk shivering in the car while the only driver gets a nap…

and you’ll need nourishment…

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Yes we will be fine. Thank goodness for cruise control though!

As far as I know you can stop to pick up food so we won’t starve.

It will take about 12 hours to drive down. We’ve done it before but not for 5 years so that bit older.

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When we travelled down to midi-pyrenees in September I had an overnight stop booked in the Loire but I had booked the same night as our first in Aveyron. The situation was uncertain so that was our insurance. I wouldn’t have enjoyed doing the whole drive from Caen to Villefrance de Rouergue in one go. Whereas I can sleep almost anywhere, my wife cannot sleep in the car - at least not while we are on the move. It was my/our first time driving in France and a car new to us. I agree with the usefulness of cruise control. We used it a lot in 20kph zones too.

I agree that cruise control is a great tool for long distance, or any distance on our autoroutes but I sometimes wonder if it is wise to think that it is an aid to travel long distances when there is a risk of drowsiness as the cruise control doesn’t detect that!
I tend to alternate between cruise control and real driving ie manual.

Before we emigrated to France, I’d only switch on the cruise control once we were south of Brive and the autoroute was much less busy. Certainly don’t miss the onerous Groot Trek to and from the Aveyron to the Cumbrian coast, but am occasionally nostalgic for the poignancy of those journeys’ last wonderful but sad fish dinners in Calais. Nevertheless, it’s also important not to forget just how wonderful it is to be in France all the time!

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I use the cruise control most of the way from Glasgow to 6 miles from home, if I can get away with it, as it’s all motorway, 840 miles and 15/16 hours door to door.
I wouldn’t have a car without cruise or air conditioning.

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And heated seats? OH insisted on them again, and I’m so glad!

My current car (Skoda Karoq) is the first I ever owned with cruise control, and it gets used a lot as a way to help me not to speed. It IS nice to have, but certainly not essential, and nothing like as helpful as AC.

The wife’s beetle convertible had heated seats, but I was never really comfy with the sensation, and would never use them eve when the weather was frosty & the leather struck cold. I tend to prefer my in-car temps to be on the low side, with a max of 20’ under normal circumstances, and I’ll normally get into an unheated car wearing a shirt in cold weather for a long journey.

WARNING - THREAD DRIFT!

We’ve imported our most recent car from Germany, not simply because of OH’s desire for heated seats, but because we couldn’t find a small, older 4WD BM within 200 kms… We now have a very hi-spec vehicle, better than anything we’d found online in France and suggest, that if you want to buy a slightly special s/h German manufactured car, you might do well to look in Germany

I had assumed drift was OK because the OP got his question answered. :thinking:

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My car was bought in UK (as I like RHD) and we trundled it over here.
I was thrilled to find it came fitted with heated seats… yippee…

Nothing nicer on a winter’s day, in the chilly sunshine… the roof goes into the boot and I switch the heated seats ON… and away we go… hurrah.

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Global warmer!!! :grin: :grin: :grin:

Ha ha… not enough heat to warm the globe… just my btm and the small of my back… marvellous.

I’m being quite frugal… honestly.

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On the way south we used to stop for a meal, often fish, at l’Escale in Châteauroux. Coming south was never sad !

Totally agree… all is well if one can eat fabulous food… whichever direction one is travelling…

Just take things easy… and let us know once you’ve arrived safely home… :+1: :+1: :crossed_fingers: :crossed_fingers: