Michelin Benelux map

In the letter “GPS Travails in Belgium” (Nov. ’13, pg. 17), a subscriber wrote, “At the tourist office (in Aalst), we explained that we would like to travel some of the ‘gray’ (secondary) roads shown on the maps. I was told that with the introduction of GPS and mobile phones with map apps, maps were not being printed anymore!”

In March ’13, I purchased Michelin’s 2012 map No. 714 of the Benelux countries online from Barnes & Noble. There are lots of “gray roads” on it and town names; however, many routes do not show highway numbers. Although the map does not have a cities index, I easily found Aalst between Brussels and Ghent. 

In October ’13, four of us drove through some of Belgium plus the Netherlands and France. My son David did the driving and my daughter and I were the navigators. She used her iPhone and I used my Garmin GPS with the data card for France and Benelux. 

We also used the printed Michelin maps, which are wonderful for planning your itinerary, deciding which routes to use and whenever you have to leave a main route.

In France, highway numbers are not always shown on road signs or along the roads. Drivers are routed from town to town primarily by destination. 

By the way, my French friends tell me that some highway numbers are being changed. I don’t know the details, but I believe it’s about the Departmental “D” yellow roads going to four numbers. So my older Michelin France maps soon may be out of date.

SUZIE SCHRADLE

Mahtomedi, MN