Route nationale 10

Route nationale 10, or RN 10, is a trunk road (nationale) in France between Paris and frontier with Spain.

Reclassification

Unlike many other Route nationales the road retains its status along the majority of its route. However several sections have been down graded to the RD 810, RD 910 and RD 911.

Route

Paris-Chartres-Poitiers-Bordeaux-Spain

Paris to Chartres (0 km to 83 km)

The road begins at the Porte de Saint Cloud, south west of central Paris, as the Avenue du Général Leclerc. It passes the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt. The road crosses the river Seine. Through traffic then takes the RN 118 dual carriageway. The old RN 10 is now renamed the RD 910 and called Grande Rue through the suburb of Sèvres.

The road then passes Chaville between the Forêt de Fausses Reposses and Forêt de Meudon. It continues west as the Avenue de Paris to the town of Versailles and it's Palace as the RD 10. The road then turns south in the Square past the railway station before turning west again as the Avenue de la Division Leclerc skirting the estate of the Palace of Versailles.

The road crosses the RN 12 before becoming the RN 10 southbound with a junction onto the A 12. The road plunges into the Forêt de Rambouillet and then reaches the town of Rambouilet. At Ablis the road crosses the A 11 and turns West through flat countryside to the Cathedral city of Chartres.

Chartres to Poitiers (83 km to 320 km)

To the South of Chartres the road turns south west over gently rolling countryside now bypassing the old villages crossing the River Loir at Bonneval. The road next comes to Châteaudun. The road follows the Loir valley skirting the Forêt de Fréteval before entering Vendôme where the road leaves the valley and crosses the TGV Atlantique line before reaching Château Renault.

The countryside becomes more wooded as the road heads to Tours where it crosses the River Loire and Cher. The town is also on the Autoroutes A10 autoroute and A85 autoroute. The RN 10 heads south over a wooded ridge and then into the Indre river valley through rolling countryside.

The river crosses the River Creuse and then follows the valley of the Vienne to the town of Châtellerault. The road then follows the River Clair to the city of Poitiers. Here the RN 11 branches off West to La Rochelle and the Atlantic Coast.

Poitiers to Bordeaux (320 km to 546 km)

The RN 10 continues south following the River Clair as the countryside becomes increasingly hilly. The road then follows the River Charente, the old course of the road is now numbered the RD 911. The road passes through the Foret de Ruffec before crossing the Charente at Mansle. On the south bank the road crosses the Foret de Boixe before following the Charente again at the hill top town of Angoulême. After the town the road heads south west as the old RD 910 passing over the hills reaching a height of 142 m.

The road by-passes little towns such as Barbezieux St Helaire then through the Bois de Creusat into Wine country passing the village of Pouillac. The road meets the A 10 again at St André de Cubzac and crosses the river Dordogne. The old road passes through Ambarès et lagrave as Avenue de l'Aquitaine (as the RD 911). It becomes the Avenue Carnet and Avenue Thiers in Bordeaux City Centre. It then crosses the Garonne at the Pont de Pierre.

Bordeaux to Frontier with Spain (546 km to 749 km)

The road leaves Bordeaux to the south as the Corse Gambetta and crosses the A 630/E 70 at Réjouit and then into heavily wooded countryside of the Landes de Gascogne. There is a nuclear research station 4 km north of the village of Le Barb while the road continues to Belin-Beliet before converging with the A 63 (E 5, E 70). The road runs south with the old course now numbered the D 10e as the new road by-passes the town of Laboilege.

At the Adour river the A 63 starts again branching to the west. The RN 10 has a junction with the RN 124 going through Saint Vincent de Tyrosse then heads towards the coast entering Bayonne where it crosses to the south side of the River Ardour on the Pont H Gernet. The road continues south west past the airport and Biarritz.

The road reaches the coast here called the Côte Basque alongside Bidart Guéthary alongside the Plage de Parlementia before entering the town of Saint Jean de Luz and crossing the river on the Pont Charles De Gaulle into the village of Le Nivelle. The road then passes round Urrugne heading past the Parc Florónia at 133m and then falling spectacularly down into the valley below crossing the Bidasoa River and Spain where the road becomes the N-I.