It's officially the first real weekend to go on vacation.
The youngest left the school benches earlier in the week on July 6.
The older ones obtained their patent and baccalaureate results.
The hour is now at rest.
Read alsoCharged summer on the road to vacation: tips from the pros to avoid traffic jams
For juillettists, this Saturday can therefore be synonymous with going on vacation.
But, Covid-19 requires, they will still be, like last year, very French.
Because if the restrictions are less severe than in 2020 in many countries, going abroad can lead to some unpleasant surprises.
Malta, for example, has just closed its borders to unvaccinated people and the government recommends avoiding going to Spain and Portugal, due to the Delta variant.
Many have therefore chosen to take advantage of what the French territory has to offer.
At the same time, the country has opened up to foreign tourists.
France in red
As a result, the roads are likely to be very busy this summer.
And this Saturday already illustrates this trend, since the entire country is classified red by Bison smart in the direction of departures.
Difficulties are particularly to be expected in the south of Ile-de-France as far as Orléans, near Bordeaux, in the South-West, in the Rhône valley and throughout the Mediterranean arc.
By mid-morning, the journey time between Lyon and Orange (Vaucluse) was already extended by around an hour on the A7, with a traffic jam spread over 74 kilometers between the Vienne toll and the south of Valence.
Slows are also reported on the A6 from Paris, in particular between Mâcon and Villefranche-sur-Saône north of Lyon, as well as on the A54 towards Nîmes, on the A10 around Orléans, as well as in the Paris region and in the agglomerations of Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Rennes mainly.
A little before noon, Bison futé announced more than 1,100 kilometers of traffic jams across France, which is much more than traffic considered "exceptional".
Alone, the A10 and A7 each had over 157 kilometers of traffic jams.
The peak is expected for noon.
It will therefore be necessary to be patient.
Traffic at 11h00: Map of travel times # A7 # A8 # A9 # A61 pic.twitter.com/I9TcD8Pww1
- A7 Motorway (@ A7Trafic) July 10, 2021
Since this is the real first weekend of vacation, there is no crossover.
Traffic will therefore be fluid this Saturday over the vast majority of the territory in the direction of returns.
Only the departments bordering the Mediterranean (Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Hérault, Gard, Bouche du Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes) as well as Lozère, Vaucluse, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes are classified in yellow, synonymous with difficult traffic, for returns this Saturday.
Sunday should be very calm according to Bison smart forecasts, since all of France will be in green in the direction of departures and returns.
But new difficulties are to be expected from next Friday, in the direction of departures.
And a new red Saturday is expected for next weekend.