Michellin maps - France

[GSdude]

Chappies - off to France / Italy in July. Got my GPS etc etc. Want paper maps for tankbag holder so that Ive got a hard copy of the daily route in front of me each day. Right. Will any individual Michellin map give me all that I want in sufficient detail or will I Need more than 1 - and if so, which ones.
The route is 1) Calais to Troyes 2) Troyes to Annecy 3) Annect to Como
4) Como to Geneva 5) Geneva to Moussy 6) Moussy to Calais. ALL help accepted. Thanks again .........me ! :beerjug:

[Wapping]

Chappies - off to France / Italy in July. Got my GPS etc etc. Want paper maps for tankbag holder so that Ive got a hard copy of the daily route in front of me each day. Right. Will any individual Michellin map give me all that I want in sufficient detail or will I Need more than 1 - and if so, which ones.
The route is 1) Calais to Troyes 2) Troyes to Annecy 3) Annect to Como
4) Como to Geneva 5) Geneva to Moussy 6) Moussy to Calais. ALL help accepted. Thanks again .........me ! :beerjug:

Depends on what roads you intend to run down, surely? Motorway? National? D roads? A possible mixture of all three?

Those clever folk at Michelin have mapped France in just about as many scales and orientations of maps as you can shake a stick at, maybe more. These range from assorted, 'Whole of France' on one page (big scale obviously), to the country split in two, right down to very small scale local maps that will show you very minor roads. Inbetween Michelin offer assorted 'specialsit' maps showing 'Pretty villages'; Holiday routes and other maps of just about anything else you can imagine.

Cart yourself into any half decent bookshop or onto Amazon and take tour pick. If you want the cheapest way to do it and cover all your options in one hit, buy:

(A) The blue 'Holiday' routes map (I think it is 911 but can check if you like). This maps the whole of France on one sheet and is very clear for reading, being much less cluttered. The green 'Bis' 'holiday' routes, all on the map, are very good. They are always a mixture of N (Natioanl) and D (minor) routes and get you off the superslab motorways. They are well signposted (a specific yellow sign) and - by and large- run you parallel to motoways. So, if you lose time, you can always nip onto the super slab to slap in half an hour. You will find a great run of 'Bis' routes taking you right down from about Cambrai / Troyes, running parallel to the Rhone river to Lyon and onto the Alps / Med.

and

(B) A copy of the whole of France in the yellow ringbound book 1:200 000 scale. This is a very good scale and matches all but Michelin's (or GSN's) very local 'high detail' maps, which you probably will not need. It takes you right down to minor roads. My parents live just outside a tiny French village of a few houses in rural Provence; if that's in there it's good enough for most things, I guess. The great thing about having this book is that it saves you carrying multiple paper maps and works just as well if you want to go elsehwere in France next year or in 2009.

The book will not fit in a tankbag but will definitely slot rather well into a pannier or into a plasic bag strapped behind you (or you can rip the pages out and do a bit of folding).

Simply use the blue map to get a broad idea of you route, then write the specifics (from the map book)onto a route chart on A4 and stick it on your tankbag. I am still using the 2003 version (the road numbers have changed and a couple of motrways may have appeared) but a fresh Blue map fills in the gaps. I used this method to criss-cross France many times on D roads (Frog equivalent of our B or minor roads) N,S, E and West, well before GPS and it was 100% satisfactory for daily runs up to 400 miles even.

Michelin's maps of Italy (as they are proudly French) are good but not quite so good (less choice). I might suggest you have a look at others but Michelin are certainly good enough for most holiday type jaunts.

I, for instance, have an excellent one (can't remember who by, as I am at work, but it's certainly not Michelin) that cuts a broad swathe from the south east of France, across southern Germany, Austria and northern Italy all in one panorama type view. Not much good for Rome, of course, but you are only going down to Lake Como. It's in the loft but if you are desparate I can dig it out.

++++++++++

EDIT: It's 726 (not 911) and I see Amazon do a package of the two: http://www.amazon.co.uk/France-Route-Planning-Michelin-National/dp/2067122215/ref=sr_1_4/026-0473210-6343655?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177354765&sr=1-4 It's certainly the right Blue map and the right scale yellow map book but it may be the hard back copy. the ringbound version is better IMHO, but that's just me.

Amazon also have all the Italian maps - enter Italian maps on their website.

[Lord Snooty]

You need Michelin 735 Italy and 721 France - that will cover your whole trip including Geneva.

Happy touring, we are going over on June 22nd and will be visiting France, Monaco, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium in 16 days. :thumb2

[GSdude]

Mr Wapping (sir) ....How much can I thank you for the time and effort you have put into your reply. All I can say is a great big 'thanks'. You have clearly given me all that I need and Ive just ordered the blue map from Amazon. Im now gonna have a trip to a good old fashioned bookshop for the other. Also thanks to Snoots (again !) for his invaluable addition. :)

[Wapping]

The south of France / Northern Italy map wasn't in the loft.

It is an INSIGHT TRAVEL MAP - NORTHERN ITALY / FRENCH RIVIERA

It goes from Dijon, France (NW corner) to Marseille (SW corner) to Salzberg, Austria (NE corner) to Siena in Italy (SE corner) to Split in the West.

It would cover the area you are interested in for sure.

ISBN 981-4120-24-3

Good map.