 Poster: A snowHead
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There have been several posts recently regarding flying and car hire. We have found that driving to the Northern Alps is our preferred option. We leave around 8.00am on Friday catch mid morning Shuttle and drive to Dijon where we stay overnight. Then drive to resort fairly early on Saturday morning normally skiing by 11.30 am as we take our own gear and book lift passes in advance. On return we ski till about 3.00pm on Saturday then reverse trip arriving home Sunday Evening. This has worked very well for us travelling normally at Half Term as it gets us into and out of resort before/after the main change over day jams. As we are a family of four it generally works out cheaper (Company car means depreciation does not count) and allows us to take all the gear to keep us occupied Boots/ Skis/ Blades/ Toboggans.
The main advantage is that we get nearly eight full days skiing. Main disadvantages have to take Friday off work and pull kids out of school.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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kevinrhead, How does one shower at 3pm on a Saturday, or are you a smelly bunch 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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We stay smelly until we get to Hotel in Dijon worth putting up with for the extra day on the Piste!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Frosty the Snowman, That was a bit personal! kevinrhead, What resorts do you actually stay in?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Bernard Condon, Normally in Les Gets in the Portes de Soleil
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kevinrhead, I guess you're going to France but if you ever thought of Austria or Switzerland I would check out the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry. Hook of Holland is actually closer to Basel than Calais is and the journey is motorway all the way.
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neilswingler, but not much good if you live closer to dover than Harwich
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Bernard Condon, I'm only going by my standards, and after a day on the piste you would not want to be in a car with me or my ski gear. I am skiing w/c 27 march and am more than willing to post you my socks or undies if you wish verification of this point.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Frosty the Snowman, Bish junior once managed to upset a whole chalet at Les Arcs by not changing his ski socks all week - sounds as if you may have something in common!! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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D G Orf, absolutely correct. However, Kevin aparently lives in Norwich. Dover is nearly 3 times further.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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At least you guys don't have the 12 hour car journey that we have to take when driving to the Alps  ....but its part of the holiday and we love taking our dogs with us.
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Chris Brookes, I have to say that without breaking the speed limit (significantly) my last drive to the alps took 13.5 hours left at 5.30 am local time got to Lauterbrunnen at 8.00 pm local time
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You know it makes sense.
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Chris Brookes, God knows how long it will take us- 5.5hrs to Dover on a good day. 10 hrs to Serre Chevalier (also on a good day). Overnight stop around Reims on the way out, and Dijon on the way back. We to are hoping to take our dog this year, she has been crazy this past week or two when it snows.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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D G Orf, Thats exactly what we did in Dec 04. We normally ferry across to St Malo in the morning and drive to Besancon,France and arrive there around 7pm and do a night stop.Next morning drive To Lauterbrunnen and arrive mid morning.
The problem this time was the ferry company informed us they wouldnt be sailing in the morning due to bad weather coming in so they gave us the option of sailing the night before. We ferried over in the evening and did a night stop in St Malo. The next day we left at 6am and drove 1008km to Lauterbrunnen through heavy rain and snow. We finally got to Lauterbrunnen at 7.30ish unpacked two cars and 3 dogs and ran to the funnicular and guess what.....they changed there timetable !!, we had missed the last train by 15 minutes.
We had to drive to Stechleberg instead and the next day move the cars back to the Lauterbrunnen carpark. On a lovely note when we arrived at Stechleberg it was hammering it down with rain.On the way up on the cablecar it started to turn to snow and snowed for the next 2 days.
Helen Beaumont, Our dogs love it,we take them for good long walks in the morning before skiing and come back at lunch time to have lunch with them in the restaurants.We ski all afternoon, come back and give them another long walk and then they stay with us in the pub until the evening
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Poster: A snowHead
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Set out in the car about 6.00am from north London, 100minutes to the tunnel, so able to catch an earlier train: Arrived Meribel 5.00pm and drank a cup of tea as we watched the last skiers coming down and then a fine sunset.Going back we did more like kevinrhead but stopped in Bourge (at a Formule1), capital of Burgundy and foodie heaven: spending what we saved at the hotel on a splendid meal!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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driving to the alpes is a good option, it's pretty easy, I do it most days actually.....I'll get me coat....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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driving to the alpes is a good option, it's pretty easy,
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Not from Scotland takes forever
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Chris Brookes, ah the civilisation of the Europeans . Took our dog to our local (outdoor) out of town shopping mall on Saturday, she wasn;t even allowed in. There was a Frecnh market on too, amd she loves the sausage. We had to leave her in the car, although she did get a long walk beforehand.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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ise, you are so lucky
Helen Beaumont, I know,it makes me sick too.Our dogs are treated so well when we are there.The amount of fuss they get from everyone and its just the 'norm' to have your dog with you in situation that you couldn't even think of in the UK/Jersey.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Chris Brookes, Helen Beaumont, I like dogs a lot, and have one. There are places where they shouldn't be though, and shops and restaurants are in that category.
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richmond, why, what harm are they doing ? I can't see the harm a well behaved dog is in a restaurant and I'd rather ban children from supermarkets than dogs personally  Or am I just turning European ?
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richmond, in your mind,lol.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Anyone got a view on fat, smoking dogs in restaurants?
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Yup, dont ask them out again.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Frosty the Snowman, 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Frosty the Snowman,
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laundryman, Chris Brookes, You're too kind
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You know it makes sense.
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| laundryman wrote: |
| Anyone got a view on fat, smoking dogs in restaurants? |
Beagles are the worst, plus they're selfish too. I've seen pictures of them at there we more than 1 fag on the go at once but you never see them sharing.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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ise, no harm, I just don't think that shops are the right places for dogs. It's for the dogs benefit as much as anyone's. I have no problem with a well behaved and quiet dog curled up under a table in a restaurant, but since most people (Euros and Brits) seem to be incapable of training their dogs (or their kids) properly, no doubt the dogs would be wandering about, being fed titbits by their over indulgent owners and generally being a pain to one and all. And as for revolting little dogs sitting on their owner's lap ...
I too would ban kids from supermarkets, and most of them from restaurants. Given the chance, I'd ban myself from supermarkets and most other shops.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| richmond wrote: |
| I too would ban kids from supermarkets. |
They take up way too much shelf space.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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**********
New start
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thinking of this as an option as Dover is only a couple of hours away, and interested in comparing costs againsts flying.
What are the motorway costs for driving to one of the northern French resorts?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Ray Zorro, We drive all the time as its an easier option with 3 kids. We drove to LDA this summer, the ferry was around £100 (there are always various deals on the net). The tolls from Calais down to Grenoble were around 60Euros eachway. You have got your petrol costs on top. The petrol is a bit cheaper on the autoroutes, not alot though. The diesel is cheaper than over here. Hope this helps
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Having just driven to Morzine (Northern Alps) two weeks ago (BA flights cancelled due to strike). It cost us precisely £114.70 in tolls there and back - hope this helps
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks guys
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Ray Zorro,
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The petrol is a bit cheaper on the autoroutes, not alot though. The diesel is cheaper than over
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We always go down to the Alps by car and stop overnight at Beaune and fill up with Petrol etc at the Hypermarket. We drive straight back. Leaving resort at 7.30 we are usually back in North of Salisbury before 8.30pm. The drive down the mountain usually dictates our final arrival time.
If you can afford the time the overnight makes a relaxing start to the holiday plus we seldom queue to get into the resorts. Living in Hampshire you, of course also have the choice of several other channel crossings, we have always been tempted to go via Poole but for various reasons never made it!
The M25 does dictate the need for an early start to avoid the congestion and get to Kent without any hold ups.
I also have a selection of tyre chains for sale here
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As Eurotunnel offers cheaper travel at off-peak times we found last year that it was no more expensive to break our outward and return journeys overnight, staying a couple of hours outside Calais. This year we have a 2pm Eurotunnel departure on the way out and 10.30am on the way back, costing £98 for the return ticket. Even when you add a couple of nights accommodation at a cheap travel hotel the total cost is around the same as travelling at peak times on Eurotunnel, but you get a more relaxed drive down to the Alps. Although driving straight through is possible for us because we only live a couple of hours from Folkestone, if we have the time we prefer an overnight stop if we can.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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rob@rar.org.uk, Have you heard / read any more about the Channel Tunnel operating co's going into receivership in October?
I haven't bought our tickets yet because there is a slight risk that they won't be honoured?
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Ray Zorro, We are using Superferries.com tickets for this winter. We are taking two vehicles down in December one of which is "oversize" . Most ferry companys charge extra for large vehicles. The standard ticket at £50 only went up to £65 for our larger vehicle (over 5m in length and above 1.9m I think).
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FAQ
