 Poster: A snowHead
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[quote="NickyJ"][quote="Shimmy Alcott"]
| Richard_Sideways wrote: |
The wording reminds me of Douglas Adams |
Is that "piste" or "pissed" at the end of the universe?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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EPILOGUE:
The final miles passed in a burst of frenetic activity. The gathering up of a days detritus amused and confounded those with miles more to go. The fates deal us a kind hand and we are first to disembark the iron horse. Dazed we emerge blinking into fresh alpine air. Carrying our luggage, we stagger away from the train toward our onward transport and our home from home for the next week. But as the train departs I cannot help but glance back with a wistful eye and remember those who remain.
We have survived, but no man can pass through the heart of darkness unscathed. What has been seen cannot be unseen and the baser visceral underbelly of humanity once stripped of all its veneers will always remain raw and exposed.
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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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God bless you sir.
Roll on the return trip feed
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Brilliant! I hope you have the excellent week's skiing that you deserve for having entertained everyone. I've been on both the day and night Eurostar, but neither drew me to such heights of eloquence.
I shudder to think what state I'm going to be in tomorrow evening after 12 hours in the car with my children...
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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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The horror...the horror....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Richard_Sideways, Nice one! Just spotted this and read the whole thread in one go. Wish I'd seen it yesterday and got it serialised. Happy skiing (oops.....boarding  )
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@Richard_Sideways, good skiing- and thanks.
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A great read for a wet sunday morning in the UK Made me chuckle 
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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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Richard_Sideways, i reckon you covered all the dastardly fates that can afflict when on the train - except one.
Have you discovered yet what you left behind . . . ?
(Eurostar have a large collection of iphones, iphone chargers, vibrators - see party carriage, etc.)
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Fab writing. Thank you.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Nicely put sir. Reminded me to get the champers on ice and blini's ready for next week's equivalent trip don'cha know.
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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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Thank you so much Richard_Sideways. I hope you have an amazing week. May all your nights be powdery and may all your days dawn blue!
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Excellent reading @Richard_Sideways, , thank you.
Maybe someone who shall remain nameless ( although changes it frequently ) could note how interesting some original material is, rather than endless reposting of boring links.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Richard_Sideways, You are Mary Shelly reincarnated.......gripping read  Made me LOL so much that I got told off.
@eblunt, whoever could you be referring to?
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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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@Richard_Sideways,
Hope you had a great weeks skiing but the important question is; What time does your train leave?
Looking forward to your return journey reports 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just seen this.
@Richard_Sideways, excellent!  Hope that you had great week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm outraged and in tears.
and I thought it was more than a holiday relationship. Just wait till Sideways Richard sees the photos we took whilst in the train toilet together.
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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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Wasn't going to do the return leg - always leave them wanting more.
We are standing in the rain outside Moutiers station queueing for the delayed Euro star. We'll have another delay at Lille as the xray scanners are busted here and everything will have to be taken off and scanned.
The queue is horrific. In front, a group of upper middle class teens are rapping about skiing. More annoyingly is the woman behind indulging in some passive aggressive whining about how this would NEVER APPEN IN YORKSHIRE.
The children are fractious and the wife is regretting last nights foray to the lower reaches of the chalets wine cellar.
An hour has now passed and we have boarded the train and underway. The children are pacified with crayons and cheese. We left La Tania to big fat flakes of snow, down in the valley the mist clings sullenly to the trees. The train has turned at Albertville and we are starting our journey proper away from the mountains.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Tue 7-04-15 9:57; edited 1 time in total
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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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Great reading.
Makes my 18 hour drive thru kamikaze kangaroo and wombat infested forestry zones to the Australian Alps seem utterly boring. Cant wait to hear next years trials and tribulations!
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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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| Quote: |
this would NEVER APPEN IN YORKSHIRE.
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It does. All t' time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Richard_Sideways, hope you guys got back without too much more delay.
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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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| jaksbak wrote: |
Great reading.
Makes my 18 hour drive thru kamikaze kangaroo and wombat infested forestry zones to the Australian Alps seem utterly boring. Cant wait to hear next years trials and tribulations! |
5 hours for me, but the sentiment is the same. Loved reading about your adventures, Richard_S.
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@Richard_Sideways - nicely done! Finally catching up with the important stuff, glad it's a bank-holiday as I'd never do such a thing in work of course...
Missing the snow though.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Richard_Sideways, if you feel a strange itch and rash develop then I might have something to tell you.
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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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My intention to document the return leg fell by the wayside alas - the journey itself, uneventful - the train eerily quiet as the party train more resembled a commuter route, tinged with wine and remorse. We did stop at Lille which was some kind of fresh hell. Everyone had to disembark with their luggage and traipse up to the scanners and queue and queue and queue again. Apparently this'll be a 'feature' of the new "Direct Service" to Marseilles that Eurostar will be offering this summer, along with a new definition of Direct Service.
Anyway, the upside of all this is that because of the accrued delay, we'll be entitled to a half price trip on the train next season... So we get to do this all again...
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If this is such an unpleasant experience, why don't you fly? Which at least gets the pain over with quicker, generally at less expense.
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You know it makes sense.
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@geoffers, we did - the night before we left, it was awesome!
@jd_evans, it was lovely skiing with you and your wife, we should try it again sometime! Hope you had a safe and uneventful journey back!
@dogwatch, from south London to the Tarentaise resorts, there's little in it timewise between flying and the train but not having 2 pewking pre-schoolers on a 2+hr coach transfer makes the train a lot less unpleasant!
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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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@always29 and @EveryoneElse: there is a better way.
The cheapest Eurostar Ski Train is £149 return. This is 2nd class all the way. 2nd class Eurostar is similar to an Easyjet/Ryanair seat.
Instead.
Cheapest 2nd class Eurostar to Paris is £69 return. But then you can get a 1st class French train, with wonderful luxurious space and powerpoint, all the way to Bourg/Moutiers and back for £80 (if you book early enough). Direct trains at weekends, change at Chambery on weekdays.
1. It is same price as Eurostar Direct.
2. You have 1st class seat for two thirds of journey
3. You get to break the journey in Paris - stretch your legs, see some sites, practice your French, and get lost in Gare de Lyon.
It is the only way 
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Jonpim, I think you are forgetting the small detail of the Paris station to station transfer. We have done the indirect train with kids, pushchair, skis etc but really it is more relaxing to stay on one train all the way. A table for four in second class is fine and the same in standard premier even better. I would not bother with the change in Paris unless I were travelling to a station not served by the direct train.
You would also be lucky to get the cheapest fares you quote during school holidays.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@always29 it was good to see you and for us to get some different company to a 6 yr-old too but just make sure that Monsieur Sideways keeps better control of his phone next time! We'll start keeping an eye out for next year's options. The journey back was fine in France, no traffic and a nice sunny day but was far more frantic back in the UK as always.
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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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@Richard_Sideways, Well written and amusing piece, thanks.
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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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Am hearing news that the line between Moutiers and Bourg is blocked by a landslide: bus replacments leaving the station about 30 mins earlier than original train time, and passengers expected to arrive 30 ins prior to that.
Suggest you check with your TO.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I cant believe "they" got you off to scan your baggage at Lille, you had already travelled half way across France with unscanned baggage so security issues have already gone out of the window -sheer stupidity!
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@Richard_Sideways, this has been great to read thank you
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@FFIRMIN, They are only really worried about security before you go into the tunnel where an 'event' would be catastrophic - I don't see scanning on any train in the UK.
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FAQ
) with the mile high club - but that's 
