I just purchased a Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas, spiral bound. It's the 2009 edition and it says "the route nationale and route departementale road numbers are currently being changed in France". I had my local book store order it so didn't see this beforehand. Is this a problem? Will there be a 2011 edition that is up to date? I'm not sure whether to take this back and order a more current one or not. I'd assumed it would be up to date.

My little experience with this is when I go to a certain region of France, I buy the Michelin Green Guide to give me a good amount of info to the region, some recommended routes,etc. I then add the detialed Michelin maps for that region. I would find a book for France too bulky to carry around.

My 2008 edition says the same thing.

I didn't find a single case of a discrepancy between the road numbers in the atlas and the numbers on the actual roads a few weeks ago, apart from one or two small stretches of new motorway, where some trivial renumbering of access roads is always flagged on the roadsigns. I THINK I've been stumbling over this "cover your arse" comment in Mich atlases for decades: it's absolutely never been a problem.

Incidentally, assuming you're using this for driving, I simply can't begin to understand Michel Paris' points. The paper regional maps are hopeless for driving: the spiral atlas is close to perfect: allowing you both to plot big 800 miles a day sprints and to track down your chums' house on scarcely marked roads in the deepest bits of La France Profonde.

The national summaries of radar traps, motorway service stations, petrol stations on major roads etc are a model for the rest of the world. Just be aware of its one inadequacy: it doesn't flag hypermarket petrol stations near motorway junctions. Even the motorway aires operated by Carrefour and Leclerc sell petrol 10-15% dearer than their conventional stores 200 yards off the motorway. Developing a nose for turnoffs that'll have a hypermarket can save you tens, if not hundreds, of € in a two-week tour.

I think that edition has the new road numbers already, but was warning you that not all of the signs had been changed yet. (I think it is the same one I have.)

Basically, a lot of the national roads were turned over to the 'departments' thereby changing from 'red' roads to 'yellow' roads. Luckily, most of the department kept the memory of the national highway numbers in the new numbering of the departmental roads. For example, you might discover that the former N29 has become the D929. (In my experience, most of the former national highways have received departmental numbers in the 900's while keeping the rest of the original number.)

There are a few changes, but they are not much of a problem. For example, in the Dordogne what used to be N89 has become D6089 now that A89 is finished.

And I forgot to add that since in France one reads the road signs for the next town rather than the road number, the changes are often unnoticed.

There are always a few changes, but typically they are insignificant. The route number changes don't really affect me much at all, as I'm not even used to looking for signs with route numbers in France, but rather place-name signs.

My rule of thumb is to buy a new one every 5 years. And I completely agree that the atlas is ever so much easier to use than the huge maps that take up three-quarters of the car - though I do collect those, too, and use them for planning.

I feel I have been educated Santa will need to update my letter.

Frankly, I love unfolding the big maps on my hotel bed and planning the next day, even though my plans almost always change somewhere along the way.

I love the big maps and the atlas. I like maps the way others like books. On my recent numerous bike trips in the countryside around Paris I always notice several road numbers that have been changed from the 2007 edition map I have but as others have said, signage priority is given to place names rather than road numbers and the new numbers generally correspond to the previous numbers.

Just to to www.viamichelin.com and get the latest information plus a whole lot more. Map out a route and it will estimate time and costs.

Cool - thanks for all the tips, especially the cost savings tip regarding the gas stations. I'll check out the www.viamichelin.com website and keep the atlas, too.

A couple of years ago we ran into the discrepancy between our maps and the numbering of one of the roads we were trying to follow in the south of France. It took me a while before I figured out the number had changed. I figure it is probably taking several years to make the changeover complete, which is why the atlas continues to mention the possibility.

I spent 11 years in Europe with my poor wife trying to read a road atlas and me getting frustrated in the driver's seat. A few years ago, I bought a USA/Europe GPS on Amazon for about $150. Not sure if you or someone else is going to navigate, but it was about the best$150 I ever spent. It was really useful in the small towns and villages in Provence when some of the roads were barely wider than the car.

And don't forget that you can go around the roundabouts as many times as you want! I certainly do.

Shall we explain the rules of roundabouts or just let that be a surprise?

I think it's best to let it be a surprise, especially for the Dutch visitors in caravans.