A good
planning and road map for the entire area is "Provence & French
Riviera" in the AA series Touring Map France (scale 1: 180.000; AA is the
British Automobile Association). Michelin also has a very good road
map No. 527 called Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur and covers the same area (scale:
1:200.000 or 1 cm equals 2 km).
French road
signs are mostly names of cities or villages, not road numbers (with the
exception for motorways). Road numbers are often not seen until after the
intersection or round about (on the side of the road), so use it as a
confirmation of having taken the right turn in the intersection. On
the motorway, it's more simple. Here you will find signs for the road numbers
and exit numbers that match the numbers on the map.
It is important
to note the difference between blue and green road signs. In the same
intersection, you often get 2 signs for the same town showing different
directions, one in blue (for motorway with payment) and the other sign in green
(for free motorway or the ordinary route).
ACCESS from Marseille airport
We prefer
to use MARSEILLE Airport, only 50 minutes drive from Cucuron. The
alternative is NICE Airport which is about 2 hours 15 min drive.
From the
airport in Marseille, follow the motorway signs for Aix-en-Provence and after
approx. 25 min. you will be approaching Aix. Follow the motorway past the
junctions to Aix Centre, and hold the right hand lane signposted towards Sisteron and
Digne and Pertuis, and after another 10 min., take Exit No. 15 to
PERTUIS.
Follow signs for Pertuis and you will quickly cross the river
Durance. Turn left at the first roundabout (signposted for La Tour
d'Aigues). Here begins a ring road around Pertuis. Follow for La Tour
d'Aigues until the 5th roundabout (you have now just passed the big shopping
centre Hupert U) and follow signs for Ansouis and Cucuron. When you come
to Ansouis, follow the sign for Cucuron, and take off for "Le
Village" in Cucuron.
ACCESS from Nice airport
Start by following blue signs for the A8 Motorway, then follow blue signs for Marseille and / or Aix-en-Provence. After approx. 1.5 hours you are approaching Aix, and you need to concentrate on the right turning, due to inconsistency in the use of road signs. But everything goes well if one follows the signs for Sisteron, Gap and / or Digne. All three towns are far north in the right direction for you, on the motorway A51, but the 4 lane road is not classified as motorway around Aix, so these three towns can be marked blue and green.
Just follow for one or more of these three towns around
Aix, and the road will go on to be named A51 Motorway just north of Aix by
Venelles.
From
Venelles, it takes approx. 25 minutes to Cucuron. Exit the motorway after
Venelles at exit 15, called Pertuis (not exit 14 marked Pertuis in
green).
Follow signs for Pertuis and you will quickly cross the river
Durance. Turn left at the first roundabout (signposted for La Tour
d'Aigues). Here begins a ring road around Pertuis. Follow for La Tour
d'Aigues until the 5th roundabout (you have now just passed the big shopping
centre Hupert U) and follow signs for Ansouis and Cucuron. When you come
to Ansouis, follow the sign for Cucuron, and take off for "Le
Village" in Cucuron.
Links to Maps
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