Hello essexcrd
We are off to central France tomorrow first thing!
We go every year as we have a holiday home there.
Difficult to say which is the best route since you don't say where in central France. We go to a village around one hour's drive west of Limoges.
Over the last 20+ years we have tried a few of them.
My preferred one is still going round the east periferie of Paris, mostly on the A86. We come down from Calais on the A26, then A1, then after Charles de Gaulle airport we follow the signs for Bordeaux. You then join the A10 south of Paris.
If that route is clear, it takes 35 minutes from the airport to the A10. Best time is on a Sunday morning before 10am.
Tomorrow we will try going round Paris the west side. Also mostly on the A86, but using the fairly new duplex tunnel (google A86 duplex). A piece of french engineering at it's best!! We did that route last year coming back. More expensive (the tunnel is around £10) and also not much quicker, but good fun (and no lorries or vans!).
The route we like least is the one via Rouen. Too many roundabouts and messy around Rouen, Evreux and Dreux.
One important thing: the clean air act (Crit'air)! Most major cities now require you to have a sticker on your windscreen which has the classification of your car on it.
My CRD being diesel, is no longer allowed into Paris at all ! (Or Rouen, or Bordeaux).
In a few year's time all french cities over 150000 inhabitants will be part of the Crit'air.
To get the sticker
Le site officiel de la vignette Crit'Air (certificat qualité de l'air) - Ministère de la Transition écologique .
You can select english language and costs under £5 sent to your address in the uk.
Oh, and watch out for the speed cameras! They send the fines to the uk! I got two. On one I was 1mph over the 5% tolerance!
Hope this all helps.
