# Spain to France



## DJMotorhomer (Apr 15, 2010)

Hi All


In a week or so we will be leaving Spain and crossing the border into France heading for the area of Perpignan. Is there any route I should avoid etc i.e mountainous ranges. After Perpignan (where I used to play Rugby League) we want to head for Carcassonne but want the scenic route. Looking at the map we would probably head for Quillan then Limoux onto Carcassonne. Anyone driven this route before ?

Cheers

DJM


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Yes. We went down to Perpignan in 2010 and beyond into Spain toward Barecelona. You can either go straight down the main drag between Barecelona and Perpignan (no idea of the road name) and its very straight forward and not very high or you can hug the coast road and there are some nice seaside towns and some great pull ins on the cliffs over the sea but it takes forever. Very twisty and windy.

We then headed inland towards Quillan and its a lovely route. We turned off before Quillan though and headed up to the Aire at Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse which is stunning. Its a bit of a climb but nothing huge but worth it. The aire, village and surroundings are superb.

We kept heading west after Quillan though further into the Pyrenees and deeper into the Mountains stoping at various Aires including Gavarnie and Cauterets which were out of this world before ending up in Biarritz.


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

http://www.gaiagi.com/driving-simulator/-- Some kind member put this link on a while ago, it works and it's great for what you are looking for ie a quick look at what's on the route from A to B. As you will see, you input the destinations press 'create' then 'start', then a little car (or motorhome if you prefer) drives the whole route which via split screens you can see as a google Earth view, camera view and map view. You can slow down/speed up or stop whenever. I put it on the route you suggested ie Perpignon to Quillan and was able to see that the road was wide and good, first part of the journey a bit boring with flat landscapes but the latter part through mountains was very scenic and included a short tunnel (no height problem) - and I never left my armchair.


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## mr2 (Feb 26, 2009)

Gretchibald said:


> http://www.gaiagi.com/driving-simulator/-- Some kind member put this link on a while ago, it works and it's great for what you are looking for ie a quick look at what's on the route from A to B. As you will see, you input the destinations press 'create' then 'start', then a little car (or motorhome if you prefer) drives the whole route which via split screens you can see as a google Earth view, camera view and map view. You can slow down/speed up or stop whenever. I put it on the route you suggested ie Perpignon to Quillan and was able to see that the road was wide and good, first part of the journey a bit boring with flat landscapes but the latter part through mountains was very scenic and included a short tunnel (no height problem) - and I never left my armchair.


Hi
Tried the link but got a 404 error - any idea why?:

Barry


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## eurajohn (May 9, 2005)

404 error for me too.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Try this one. Great fun

http://earth-api-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/demos/drive-simulator/index.html

EDIT: You can give it GPS co-ordinates as well. Goes a bit mental with tunnels and drives over the top but gives you a general idea.

I often combine it with streetview as well as we tend to take ourselves up all sorts of narrow and steep tracks.


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

http://www.gaiagi.com/driving-simulator/

Sorry , the two dashes shouldn't have been on the end of the link.


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

Barryd, unless you can get street view on the same screen ( I can't) , it's not as good as the gaiagi.com version for seeing what's really there, try it.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

DJM, follow the Canal Du Midi up and then the Canal du Lateral. some nice places to be found


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Gretchibald said:


> Barryd, unless you can get street view on the same screen ( I can't) , it's not as good as the gaiagi.com version for seeing what's really there, try it.


I just tried. Put in the start and end towns and it calculates the route but I dont see a start button to see the simulation?


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

What- the buttons are right beside where you put the locations in ie

Driver
Start 
Pause
Reset 
Speed

PS For added fun, to get the MH , go into config and select it from the list of vehicles.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The Gaiagi one does not work for me either - even with the new link, it comes up with an American route and cannot be started, changed or anything, there is an overlay of the same route over the top .......

Is it me or is it spannered.....?

Dave


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

Well, would like you to be able to use this as it really is a good tool, so asked my son ( computer expert) to help , unfortunately he said that the link is correct and that possible reasons for it not to be working for you is that you either have not got Google Earth installed, or you are not waiting long enough for it to load ( takes about 10-15 seconds on mine), or your computer is too full, not powerful enough, or the host site is not functioning correctly at the moment.
What should happen is that the window opens with most of the views and the default American towns but with a loading symbol spinning in the google earth window ( top left), when that loads , the control buttons appear beside it. I also accessed it with no problems from a normal google search.
Perhaps some other members could try it and revert, it really is worth the effort.

PS Apologies to the OP for taking the thread off topic a bit.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Just tried it in Firefox rather than Internet Explorer and it works.

It is good as it shows you the streetview below at the same time whereas the one I linked to just shows the google earth simulator.

A really good use of technology for trip planning.

Thanks


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

come on Guys

he just wants the scenic route

he,ll be home before you sort it out :lol: :lol: 

ps have a fab trip

Aldra


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## Lennondayz (Sep 23, 2008)

We did the route from Spain via Foix last year at the end of February. beautiful views. The following is an extract from our log - might be of help: - 

From the payage we picked up the A9. which lead onto the D12 – which on our map was shown as a tiny white road, but has been improved. 

Anyway it was a glorious run – right through the valley with the Pyrenees on one side and the Montagne Le Fenouilledes on the other. At the beginning it was a new road – but this soon degenerated into a normal French rural road – but this one was carrying a lot of heavy lorries – seems that this is a popular road down into Spain. It goes through some villages that are in desperate need of a by-pass – and in actual fact if we had met with a lorry in some of these villages it would have been very uncomfortable. 

Through St Saint Paul de Fenouillet, Lapradelle de Fenoulliedes and on to Quillan, where snow began to appear on the mountain tops and indeed was still lying at the side of the road. 

We have seen some spectacular scenery and driven some interesting bends – well in a camper anyway. We stopped in a layby climbing out of Quillan – after a series of hairpins. The views were wonderful. 

After lunch we continued on to Foix – generally this route would be beautiful if everybody obeyed the rules of the road and kept to their own side and didn’t cut corners. Hard though it is to believe, HGVs use this route – impossible to imagine how they get through some of the medieval villages as the street appear barely wide enough to take them. 

From Foix we headed to via Pamiers toToulouse, there are a lot of new roads here, our atlas was virtually useless – had great fun finding our way around and out to the west and Gimont – our planned stopping place for the night. 

On arrival at the Aire we found it to be a beautiful location on the edge of a lake – unfortunately that was as good as it got. None of the facilities were in operation and the road was extremely busy – all through the night – with HGVs. 

Hope this helps.


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

... but some scenic routes are a bit too scenic , well for me anyway.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Gretchibald said:


> ... but some scenic routes are a bit too scenic , well for me anyway.


Nah!! I love a challange. Last year we went over the Col De Bonnette (The highest Alpine pass in Europe at 10000ft) last bit was a bit scary with a huge drop and no barriers and quite narrow. The rear wheels started smoking on the way down!










Had to breath in a bit here.


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Don't mind the passes but those canyons scare me Barry.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

bigtree said:


> Don't mind the passes but those canyons scare me Barry.


Looks much worse than it was. Tarn Gorges east to west. Got through no bother.


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Easier on the bike. :lol:


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Getting back to helping DJ,take the D117 west towards St Paul de Fenouillet.Plenty of Cathar castles along the way plus a Roman aquaduct near St Paul,turn north at Axat towards Quillan then Limoux.


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## babyrhino (Oct 19, 2006)

Hello DJ

Depends what sort of scenery / interest is best for you. I'd be heading up the cost road from Spain and stopping off at Collioure, Port Vendres, Banyuls etc. Then hit the fast road to Perpignan before heading inland as suggested by others towards Axat and Quillan. However, I'm with BarryD on Duilhac-sous- Peyrepertuse - fantastic spot and make sure you drive all the way up to the castle and climb up for the audio guided tour. How on earth did they build these things?

But the run down the gorge from Axat to Quillan is also very good so maybe a detour up to Peyrepertuse and back down to the main road?

Limoux is worth a stop although you have just missed the carnival and there are lots of good places around Carcassonne - its not just for La Cite. Try Lac de la Cavayere not far away for a nice lake, beach, walks etc, Chateaux de Lastours if you feel energetic (four ruined castles on different peaks all next to one another), the caves at Limousis or Cabrespine and take a trip to Minerve for a lovely village in a fantastic setting.

And, as others have said, do a Canal du Midi visit, particularly I would say on the Eastern side of Carcassonne with villages like Homps, Argens, Ventenac, Roubia etc. West of Carcassonne you get the Seuil de Nauruze, which is the watershed point for the canal and to the north the collecting channels and lakes such as theBassin de Ferriols where there is a very good Canal du Midi exhibition.

Plenty to do round here - and if you are in the Minervois vicinity at a weekend come and say hello - as a native of Halifax it's always good to meet up with rugby people.

Have a good trip

Brian


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