La route du Soleil These images set out to show the original route between Paris and the South of France. Mythologized by the French and northern Europeans a like, as the escape route for the holiday period, These pictures look at the road and France as it is now on the eve of the roads disbandment. From The banlieue of Paris with its diversity of people and religions all massed around the city, to the more traditional tranquility of the south. The route now sees a slower pace of traffic and movement, as the travelers tend to be avoiding the chaos and charges during the holiday period on the autoroute. The Route Bleue has been a symbol of the road to the Mediterranean for more than 70 years. The name appears in the 1920’s, and became the official name in the 30’s when local towns on the route realised the opportunity of developing tourism in their areas. The aim was to direct a part of the RN 6 traffic towards the RN 7 in the northern part of the journey. Slightly shorter than the other routes, the Route Blue left the Nationale 7 after Roanne, then passed through St. Etienne and the hills of Pilat rejoining the RN 7 at Valance. Via Aurelia, the Route Royale, Route Imperiale No.8, Route Nationale 7, Route Paris-Cote d’Azur, dates back more than 2000 years, and its history has still a long way to go. Some historic landmarks were not superfluous to follow, knowing that each region has its own historic connection with the road. Routes for commercial use existed in Gallic times, but it was the Romans who systematically marked out the country, creating the first network of roads in France. The positioning of their towns created the future RN 7 as the first main road in France. A long period of upheaval and unrest followed the Gallic-Roman times. The isolation of the various regions and the absence of a central source of supply did nothing for the development and maintenance of the existing road network. It was Louis X1 who revived the system with the creation of Poste Royale. (Royal Mail). The need for a central administration for the roads led to the creation of the Department of Bridges and Roadways at the beginning of the C18th. Major work was undertaken on developing and maintaining the French roads. Napoleon 1st. followed the work of his predecessors and built the missing links in the network The future of the Route nationals looks to be changing with the announcement of a new plan for the French roads with the transfer of 20,000 kms of routes to local departments. The state will retain major roads, motorways of national and European use. The state has decided that on the whole most traffic use the Auto routes and Route Nationals cannot be justified. Therefore most of the roads will be duplicated by an Autoroute or will be reclassified as a local road. There will no longer be a Route Nationale between Paris and the Mediterranean from January 2006. Through the project I hoped to show France as it is today along its most historic routes on the eve of their demise.

These images set out to show the original route between Paris and the South of France. Mythologized by the French and northern Europeans a like, as the escape route for the holiday period, These pictures look at the road and France as it is now on the eve of the roads disbandment. From The banlieue of Paris with its diversity of people and religions all massed around the city, to the more traditional tranquility of the south. The route now sees a slower pace of traffic and movement, as the travelers tend to be avoiding the chaos and charges during the holiday period on the autoroute.

The Route Bleue has been a symbol of the road to the Mediterranean for more than 70 years. The name appears in the 1920’s, and became the official name in the 30’s when local towns on the route realised the opportunity of developing tourism in their areas.

The aim was to direct a part of the RN 6 traffic towards the RN 7 in the northern part of the journey. Slightly shorter than the other routes, the Route Blue left the Nationale 7 after Roanne, then passed through St. Etienne and the hills of Pilat rejoining the RN 7 at Valance.

Via Aurelia, the Route Royale, Route Imperiale No.8, Route Nationale 7, Route Paris-Cote d’Azur, dates back more than 2000 years, and its history has still a long way to go. Some historic landmarks were not superfluous to follow, knowing that each region has its own historic connection with the road.

Routes for commercial use existed in Gallic times, but it was the Romans who systematically marked out the country, creating the first network of roads in France. The positioning of their towns created the future RN 7 as the first main road in France.

A long period of upheaval and unrest followed the Gallic-Roman times. The isolation of the various regions and the absence of a central source of supply did nothing for the development and maintenance of the existing road network. It was Louis X1 who revived the system with the creation of Poste Royale. (Royal Mail).

The need for a central administration for the roads led to the creation of the Department of Bridges and Roadways at the beginning of the C18th. Major work was undertaken on developing and maintaining the French roads. Napoleon 1st. followed the work of his predecessors and built the missing links in the network

The future of the Route nationals looks to be changing with the announcement of a new plan for the French roads with the transfer of 20,000 kms of routes to local departments. The state will retain major roads, motorways of national and European use. The state has decided that on the whole most traffic use the Auto routes and Route Nationals cannot be justified. Therefore most of the roads will be duplicated by an Autoroute or will be reclassified as a local road. There will no longer be a Route Nationale between Paris and the Mediterranean from January 2006.

Through the project I hoped to show France as it is today along its most historic routes on the eve of their demise.