Black Saturday marks great French holiday change-over

Jul 30, 2011, 11:56 GMT

Paris - It's known as Black Saturday - the last Saturday in July when hordes of French holidaymakers make their way to the country's beaches to relieve a first group of returning vacationers, who between them cause hundreds of kilometres of traffic tailbacks.

The difficulties began Friday, as thousands of vacationers, thinking they were stealing a march on Saturday's chaos, piled into their cars and putt-putted towards the coast, or headed home, causing 430 kilometres of congestion.

Saturday was expected to be worse.

A map of France on a government website that maps traffic conditions nationwide was dotted with danger signs on roads from Paris heading south to the Cote d'Azur, west to Brittany and north towards the Channel.

By mid-morning, over 360 kilometres of tailbacks had been counted, with one traffic jam on the motorway south of Lyon stretching to over 90 kilometres.

The national traffic information centre said the volume of traffic was significantly down on the same time last year, reflecting the growing number of 'staycationers' - people spending their holidays at home to save money.

In a poll published recently by France Info radio, 45 per cent of people said they had no holiday travel plans.

To keep step with the electorate, most French politicians are also staying close to home this year.

President Nicolas Sarkozy will spend around three weeks in Cap Negre, a resort on the Mediterranean Coast near Toulon where the family of his pregnant wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has a home.

Sarkozy, who is expected to seek a second term in elections set for next April and May, will be taking some work with him, his office said.

Socialist Party presidential hopeful Martine Aubry has said she will spend her holidays with family in Brittany. She'll also be bring along some 'holiday homework,' according to her advisers.

Her main rival for the Socialist presidential nomination, François Hollande, who punts himself as 'Mr Normal' has said he will 'do as everyone else.'