French Strikes and Blockades 17th Nov

maz said:
Hi Jock. Yes, we can delay - indefinitely I suppose, when you think about it. But we’re both fed up with hanging around Chichester Marina as we’ve been here on and off for over a year now - the exception being our ill-fated foray in the boat for 3 months. If we do cross over to France in the next week or so, there is little point in heading off somewhere else in the UK in the meantime. However, if the protests drag on and on we’ll be wishing we had started a tour of the UK. And do we do that after another week or so, or do we still sit it out at Chichester Marina hoping maybe next week ..... ? :unsure:

My brain has been shooting off at a tangent and I’m wondering about the practicalities of still crossing over tomorrow as planned, but then promptly heading into Belgium and down through Germany as far as we can get. Then either heading for southern Italy for the winter instead, or maybe cutting across southeast France to Spain if the protests cease. However, from my vague recollections of threads, Germany might be a problem re winter tyres, Austria is also a problem for reasons I can’t remember, and Italy - who knows? Trying to research all of this at the last minute when we’re all geared up to drive through France is doing my head in!:(

I hope things are all sorted by the time you head off to France. (y)
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Thanks Marian. :)

You seem to have all the angles covered. (y)

It's because of the effort to avoid possible inclement weather further east, that we will be sticking to the western route as much as possible. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
Just got to Stella plage, had planned to stop at Montreuil but there is a fair in town and they got all the places.
Will go for a walk on the beach now and quiet meal tonight in MH.
Got through rouen ok one small hold up, about 10min, also a bit of roadworks.
The protesters were at the toll booth on route to Calais they were letting people through free so no holdup their, the police were the other side of the booth, when we went to pay they waved us through, asked them what was happening about paying, they said "free today" asked why they said " it's because the people are angry" so a bit of an upside to the protest
Tomorrow to the tunnel for the 11.50 train.
 
JockandRita said:
Thanks Marian. :)

You seem to have all the angles covered. (y)

It's because of the effort to avoid possible inclement weather further east, that we will be sticking to the western route as much as possible. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
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Hi again Jock. We have now changed the Eurotunnel booking to 6 Dec in the hope that things will have settled down in France by then. David also wants to travel via the western route - maybe we’ll see you on the way. :)
 
big map said:
We’ve got the tunnel booked for a short break this weekend we are going to make our final assessment on whether we go on Friday night.
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@big map can you not get a night crossing Andrea? Might be quieter through the night.

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On a more lighthearted note this was a link I found on the Campingcar-Infos forum:

 
A rather easier day today, held up for 40 minutes on the N10 south of Angouleme then allowed to proceed. Gendarmes on southbound carriageway had stopped all traffic, no sign of protesters, clocked the queue at 20 miles! Used the N10 again from Tours, protestors at a few of the traffic islands but friendly enough, sight of the high vis jacket created smiles and thumbs up.
 
sorry Frankie, i di not seem to have it. Must have got lost when changed my phone!

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yodeli said:
Did you get my PM all right?

@Munchie Ken , can you give my mobile number to Sandra please, I forgot to give it in the PM
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Hi Frankie. Just back from Chez Munchie (hic) received your pm thanks. Will digest the details shortly over coffee. Will reply with my phone number then if send me a text, I will have yours.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Sandra
 
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We had a terrible day yesterday, started at Port de Carro to head home. Around Fos-sur-Mer and Arles the yellow devils and the riot police were playing a cat and mouse game moving from roundabout to roundabout. When we got to Montpellier all was well, sailed straight through the town. The motorways A750 and A75 were clear save for about 5 miles near Millau. One guy doing 15mph and plod stopping anyone trying to get by.
What we already knew was shown to be true, it's only the riot police who will move them, normal plod see it as their duty to help the yellow devils in any way they can.
Eventually made it to La Canourgue before dark. Taking 8.5 hours for a journey the sat nav said would take 4.
Today we decided to throw money at the problem and used the toll motorway, over 300 miles clear driving then 1.5 hours stopped on the Chartres bypass. We then queued at the filling station to make sure we had more than enough fuel to get use to Calais.
Resting up now and not looking forward to tomorrow.
 
For those approaching Calais the road blocks are on both sides of the A 16 but just east of the exit to the tunnel at Coquelles so if you approach from the west you should be OK if it's as it was this morning, yesterday and the day before. We came up the A26, autoroute des anglais, and got caught as we had to go west on the A16 through the blockade. Hope this helps someone.
 
It looks like it is petering out now and the fuel stations I passed on Mole Patrol today were all open for business.

There is a school of thought that this will manifest itself in the centre of Paris at the weekend.

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Abacist said:
For those approaching Calais the road blocks are on both sides of the A 16 but just east of the exit to the tunnel at Coquelles so if you approach from the west you should be OK if it's as it was this morning, yesterday and the day before. We came up the A26, autoroute des anglais, and got caught as we had to go west on the A16 through the blockade. Hope this helps someone.
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I wrote this for somebody returning to UK. Clearly if you are arriving you need to head west to avoid the blockage

I should also add that the Calais Gilets Jaunes are well organised in large numbers and appear to operate across 24 hours in a shift system. There were already big tailbacks visible this morning before 7 am on our way to the tunnel and after 8 pm when we got caught by them on Tuesday night.
 
maz said:
David also wants to travel via the western route - maybe we’ll see you on the way. :)
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Hopefully Marian, then I'd get to give my favourite collie some gravy bones. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
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Rumour has it that the next couple of days are going to be a bit quieter and ramping up their efforts at the weekend.

We plan to make Toulouse today and then the Somport Tunnel tomorrow. If all goes according to plan we are then out of here! Watch this space.
 
Armytwowheels said:
Rumour has it that the next couple of days are going to be a bit quieter and ramping up their efforts at the weekend.

We plan to make Toulouse today and then the Somport Tunnel tomorrow. If all goes according to plan we are then out of here! Watch this space.
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Good luck with the great escape! (y)
 
We decided Bordeaux was out of the question, so we have come South to Brantome, about 2 hours from home. Very nice place, as I'm sure many of you know. A Belgian couple were here last night on their way home from Spain, also avoiding Bordeaux.

Encountered one instance of Gilets Jaunes, at a roundabout in St Junien, but they were friendly and not causing any problems or delays.

Carrying on south to Monbazillac today then going southwest to the border. As much as I like France, I'll be much happier when we're in Spain on this occasion.

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Change of route again, after seeing Toulouse with delays and hold ups on Google maps we decided to avoid and go on N21 towards Perigueux. Ran straight into a blockade in Thiviers, been held up 20 minutes so far.

Edit, 45 minutes now. The vigilantes are letting two vehicles at a time out of a 5 road junction.
 
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Pilote87 said:
That must be the roundabout to the north of the town centre, I think. Is is? First turning off to go to Brantome?

J
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Yes. Town at a stand still. At least there wasn't anyone being aggressive, although I felt like it.
 
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Armytwowheels said:
Rumour has it that the next couple of days are going to be a bit quieter and ramping up their efforts at the weekend.

We plan to make Toulouse today and then the Somport Tunnel tomorrow. If all goes according to plan we are then out of here! Watch this space.
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You can't leave France:eek:. You're our roving reporter(y)​
 
Direct action where the public suffer never sits well with me. I'm sure with a bit of lateral thinking they might come up with ways of stuffing the Government rather than inconveniencing their neighbours and fellow citizens.

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Jim said:
Direct action where the public suffer never sits well with me. I'm sure with a bit of lateral thinking they might come up with ways of stuffing the Government rather than inconveniencing their neighbours and fellow citizens.
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Totally agree on this!
 
As an update on our travels home, we stayed overnight ar Courville-sur-Eure one of our favourite. This morning we decided decided to head cross country north to Nonancourt avoiding Dreux and the Chartres bypass. The roundabout at Nonancourt at the end of the N154 was a candidate for the yellow devils and so it was. However while three roads to the were blocked the one from Nonancourt itself was completely clear so we drove straight over onto the N154.
Clear run to Rouen but shortly after leaving the motorway at Oissel got in a queue which, according to Mrs Else was a 24 minute delay. I considered using the 3.5 ton route through Oissel but decided against it. It may have saved a bit of time but its very ackeward. Then it was a clear run to Citie Europe, we used the toll motorway from Abbeyville to Boulogne as we thought it was worth it.
Just need to get to the tunnel tomorrow.
Good luck to anyone currently travelling in France, tell the yellow people "Its your problem not ours".
 
Now in Monbazillac with very little delays. Quite a few roundabouts had protesters, but at only one of them, near Bergerac, were they actually holding up traffic - but only for a couple of minutes at a time. All very good natured and haven't felt at all threatened. I keep giving cheery waves and tooting my horn, and I have our yellow jackets on the dash. Not that I agree with what they are doing!
 
SomeoneElse said:
"Its your problem not ours".
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Be careful with this sort of little killing words , some ARE violent . Just give a gentle nod and a smile.... It'll be some sort of ointment on their wounds more like . Many gilets jaunes are more Desperate than Devils . Even though I'm not happy with the way they are doing all this. I'm afraid I could reply to this, "it's your problem if you decide to come to France". My dad who lies in his bed waiting for the end sees his nurses with at least an hour delay in the morning and in the evening. To me THIS is a problem!!!
 
Got home ok today, no hold ups.
Stayed by the sand dunes at Stella plage last night, very quiet, only MH there.
Was expecting something close to Calais but no protesters around, easy journey up the motorway to the eutrotunnel.
Just a shame we had to do the UK bit to get home.

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