Souillac Country Club has GPS coordinates 44¤56´56 N 1¤27´27E .

Folkestone-Calais. Trains every 20-30 minutes, more often at peak times. Tax free shop at terminals on both sides. Journey takes 35 minutes. Check-in 30 minutes before departure.

If you arrive within 2 hours before or after your train, you can usually get the next available train.

Buy a pack of 10 single journeys for £390. Must be used within a year. Can be used any time. Fully flexible.

If you regularly take the ferry and would like to contribute to this section, please e-mail recommendations.

Via Paris: The quickest route from Calais to Souillac is usually via Paris using the A26, A1, A3, Peripherique, A6B, A10, A71 and A20.

Take the A20 all the way to exit 55 for Souillac. Or, save 15 minutes and a toll by leaving the A20 at exit 53; follow the old N20 (currently being renamed the D820) and cut through via Lacisque to the Gignac road just above the Club.

This journey is just under 500 miles (800 km) from Calais and takes between 6.5 and 7.5 hours (plus stops).

Via Rouen: An alternative is to head south from Calais to Rouen, then past Evreux, Dreux and Chartres to join the above route at the A10 just north of Orléans. This route is 2 or 3 miles further and seems to take 20 minutes or so longer!

Set your GPS to Souillac Country Club at the coordinates 44¤56´56 N 1¤27´27E and it will bring you through Germany via Eindhoven in Holland on to Belgium and finally into France.

The trip by car is 18 hours with a moderate average of 100 km/h and short stops. DVD monitors for the kids make the trip a piece of cake. The modern Garmin Nüvi GPS kindly advises about speed restrictions in the city areas unless you want your picture taken.

Kenneth Rafn-Larsen
(2008 SCCSCCC winner)

Carbeo.com lists prices for all types of automotive fuel throughout France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. You can set up a personal page with your favourite stops.

If your vehicle uses LPG (GPL) this site will tell you which stations along your route supply it.

The AA offers excellent advice for motoring in France and the rest of Europe. Click the AA icon to open a new window to their site.

The download offers further legal information and tips about driving in France.

Don't forget you must carry a warning triangle and reflective jacket in your car.

Speed traps near Souillac:

- Lamothe Timbergues
- Cazoulès
- at stop signs

A French driver will often warn you about speed traps or other police activity by flashing his lights. (Unlike in the UK, this is probably the only time anyone in France will flash their lights.)

Locally we have seen a speed trap when leaving Lamothe Timbergues in the direction of the Club, and one in Cazoulès. There are also random alcohol breath checks in the area, especially on public holidays.

It’s worth stopping at stop signs! The police frequently park just round the corner from their favourite stop signs and check that you came to a full halt, and while they are about it, whether you are wearing your seatbelts and so on. A particular favourite is on the back route to Leclerc where you join Rue Jean Jaurès just before the station.