Depending on what time you will be starting your drive south, you might like to consider the Dijon/Beaune area which is actually on the motorway south. There are a good cluster of hotels at all prices from a Formula 1 to a Novotel at Beaune, and we often break our journey south here, having done 3 hours or so already from Alsace. An early start next day means that you can beat the A7 bottleneck between Macon and Lyon! However I would strongly suggest booking in advance, as you and I aren't the only ones with this idea!

thanks for your reply, we are arriving in calais at 12 noon approx I will have a look on the map and see where Dijon is and how long from Calais it will take to get there. Really grateful for your response.

Hi,

All medium towns and bigger will have loads of budget hotels.

Cheapest would be the Formule 1 chain. A triple room costs less that £30 a night. Add a few Euros more if you want breakfast. Next up is the Etap chain which is slightly more expensive but you get an en suite room. There are hundreds of these hotels, they are clean and easy to use.

Beaune would be a reasonable distance from Calais in a long afternoon of driving. I would recommend that you take the A26 and go via Reims and Troyes and then onto the A31 which avoids going round Paris. It is a slightly longer route but fast all the way and gets a lot less traffic than the A1 and A6.

The hotels above are part of the Accor group.

http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/home/index.shtml

Hi
We have stayed here quite a few times,its just outside Troyes and very near to the A5 autoroute for you.
http://www.le-val-moret.com/uk/

Mandy