Hughmer Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 We bought a new French Road Atlas this summer. I expected it to carry all the same info that I'd been used to in previous editions but I'm disappointed to see that there are at least two omissions that I used to find very useful. 1) The camp site logo no longer appears. This was a very quick way of spotting a site on a large scale which we used to cross ref with the Michelin campsite book. 2) the grayed rectangle over towns which had street maps in the red restaurant guide has also disappeared. Principle routes were marked 1,2,3,4 etc which was a handy method of locating oneself and finding a way in or out. I noticed there were other versions of the Michelin atlas available but none seemed to offer the above. Does anyone know if the info is printed in any version of the Michelin atlas OR would a device like Tom Tom overcome the absence of such info? Road numbering: Despite all the things the French could do to make navigating a lot easier, they have decided to renumber many roads, - (apparently without telling Michelin). This affects many Route Nationales which have been downgraded from RN to D status and had their number modified sometimes with a 1 or 6 prefix, - sometimes completely randomly generated. Judging by the chaotic approach the French normally take to constructing and repairing roads, such a task is likely to take several years. I'd be grateful to hear from any gps users who visited France this year. Did the renumbering affect you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 The Spanish did a similar complete road renumbering of all but the major roads about 7 years ago or so and of the major roads about 3 years ago. The Michelin maps (which I find the best for Spain) were at least 2 years behind the displayed road numer which made navigation without GPS extremely difficult. I would advise anyone with GPS to wait at least another 2 years before upgrading to fresh maps if they want the new French road numbers. For France, try the AA map books as an alternative to Michelin. They are prepared by the IGA (the French equivalent of our Ordnance Survey), and the graphics are much clearer. They also have one huge advantage over Michelin: they distinguich between toll and free Autoroutes. Mel E ==== Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Mel E - 2007-09-30 10:52 AM For France, try the AA map books as an alternative to Michelin. They are prepared by the IGA (the French equivalent of our Ordnance Survey), and the graphics are much clearer. They also have one huge advantage over Michelin: they distinguich between toll and free Autoroutes. Mel E ==== Sorry to disagree, but on a recent trip through France I used partly AA and partly Michelin maps and found the Michelins better by far. I took the AA map's word for it that a certain road was a free Autoroute and ended up paying a toll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 All map books are out of date to some extent. When the Fench build new autoroutes, they are often free of tolls until they join them up into a usable through route. I'm guessing that this is what happened to you. I have to say I've found the AA maps very accurate. And I believe the same IGN maps are the basic source fo the Michelin maps anyway. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ajd3 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I'm convinced the French are expecting an invasion, it doesn't matter if the numbers are correct on the map if there are no numbers on the road signs!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Our sat nav, (TomTom1) bought in March/April this year was ok whilst in France. The road numbers were in line with those on the signs on the roads. It differed from the Michelin map, which did confuse me for a while, but we got there in the end! It was spot on with peage roads where the map wasn't and only went wrong with some of the roads on the outskirts of some places. It seemed yo be running 50-100 metres to the carriageway. WE also had the usual sat nav problem of it mot being able to be set for the different sized vehicle. It thought it was in a Smart Car not a motorhome. But the MK.1 eyeball fitted in the driver sorted that out before we did any damage! In the end we got used to planning the route from town to town on the map the night before to decide destinations and distances, then programmed the SN with the street of the aire to get us there on thr trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avignon Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Mel E - 2007-09-30 5:52 AM They also have one huge advantage over Michelin: they distinguich between toll and free Autoroutes. Mel E ==== Mel E ==== IIRC, my Michelin Road Atlas distinguishes between toll & non-toll via different colouring for the mileage numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughmer Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 Thanks for the GPS info. No one has answered the other Q, which was about the missing campsite indicators and "greyed out" boxes over towns with plans in the red book. Did I pick up the wrong atlas? OR is it Michelin being stingy with the info they include? If the latter it's a shame and I think this may be the last Michelin Map I buy for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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