Could anyone give me any information on where to park in southern france south of macon, st-etitnne area that is open weekend. Any info would be much appreciated.
where are you heading for, and how far south can you reach?
tipping st-etienne monday
It realy depends what your looking for!
It was possible to park along the riverside to the south of Lyon (near to oil refinery) but you might be stuck for ‘facilitys’ 
Plenty to see and do there though.
Otherwise, I dont know if ‘Le Pub’ is still open at Bourg en Bresse but I’m sure someone will let us know, maybe a bit far away to 
the nearest truck parking that I know is open for the weekend in The Mistral, but that is nearly 200km away, on the N6 above Macon, but I would do as Zebadee says, Lyon is a great night out, and good for siteseeing as well, last time I was there I parked near the Market and got a tram and metro into the centre of town, if you go there on Saturday morning you can get free maps from the tourist info office HERE ask about the English bar, Australian bar and Irish bars, they will mark them on the map for you, just get a shower before you get into town.
THANKS zebadee and jim . what do i follow in lyon to find the parking areas ? are there toilets ?
where I parked there were no toilets, but I did have a bar/Cafe just round the corner that was open most of the time, they had no problems with me using their facilities, you would just have to look around for what looks ok to you, but j3 on the a7 from the south will get you to the area I was parked at. look out for F1 hotels, they have showers and don’t notice who are coming and going
Lmao jimti, that was gonna be my next suggestion, a cheapo hotel, at least for the Sat night! 
When you get towards Lyon, dont take the ‘normal’ ring road but head the old way, through the centre and it should bring you out along the river side. You’ll know when you’ve gone to far out of town when you pass the oil refinery. Alternativly, take the ring road and head back into Lyon from the South!
Good luck & have a good weekend!
jimti:
I parked near the Market and got a tram and metro into the centre of town,
now that is the place to stop if you are fancy a wander around Lyon, nice and central easy to get to and from
any directions for bourg en bresse so i can have a look on way down for future refrence ?
cheers chaps your doing a good job
it is just north of junc 7 on the A40 look here La pub an IDS site
it is a bit off route for you though,
jimti:
look out for F1 hotels, they have showers and don’t notice who are coming and going
Do they have communal showers in these hotels then?
chrisgoddard:
jimti:
look out for F1 hotels, they have showers and don’t notice who are coming and goingDo they have communal showers in these hotels then?
they have a shower room on each floor, the bigger ones are best as they have no idea who is coming or going, the showers are like the ones at Habay, sort of self contained plastic boxes, and in my experience are always clean
Sounds good, I start my new job monday which is driving over to France so this is handy to know…