 Poster: A snowHead
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| Jonny996 wrote: |
| zikomo wrote: |
| Snow&skifan wrote: |
| zikomo wrote: |
| Fly on Thursday to Milan. Pick up hire car (9 seater) to fit 6 of us and skis/boots. Drive to Champoluc in time for pizza. |
Hi, do you let the schools know why your kids aren’t going in on the Thurs & Fri?
I never had the courage, instead I’d ring in that they were ill. About the time they were 10, much publicised, it became a statutory or criminal offence to keep kids out of school (or existing laws were used and headteachers lost their discretion). |
We have always just told the school, I agree with others that lying is not really worth it and I would not be comfortable doing it. The vast majority of the time I get a standard email saying the school does not condone absence etc. And a quiet word from the relevant teachers that given attendance and performance they were fine with it and we should enjoy our holiday. A couple of times the response was a bit more unpleasant, on those occasions I had a fairly robust conversation with the head explaining I am fully cognizant of the consequences and don’t appreciate the lack of respect in the communication. My kids are very, very rarely off school for any other reason, which cannot be said of their peers, so I have always been comfortable taking them out for skiing.
These days we only take them out for a day or two extra at the start of the holiday. When they were wee we would take them out for a week in January. |
With all due respect this answer masks a bigger difference, the attitude between private & state schools on this matter is night & day |
It depends. We live by three different education authorities. I made a big mistake in booking a week’s skiing in the HT chosen by our LEA and 90% of others. Not spotting that my son’s independent school had followed West Sussex in taking the next week for Feb HT. By email to the HT I humbly requested the earlier week off, explaining my mistake and that in every school year my son had 100% attendance.
He then effectively put my on trial by email, the tone as if I was 11. He reluctantly agreed in the end and let me know that they had a 100% policy of always reporting to the WSCC.
Separately, family and friends sent their kids to highly regarded independents schools. They said no one ever pulled their kids out of school for holidays, their theory is that £24k a year focuses the parents minds, they want value for it. You have to say that 18 weeks worth of school holidays is also a big plus in family holiday planning.
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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 don’t ask permission. I simply inform the school. If they want to be snarky about it I deal with that robustly. The idea that parents of kids in private schools don’t ever take them out for family stuff is just not true in my experience. I do for example. And I am not alone.
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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 used to tell the school we were taking them out for 2 days, by the end of the day there would be a letter in the book bag saying the governors had considered the request and on this occasion it would be allowed, but that the school would not provide any materials etc. to cover what was missed.
Excellent - the irony was that hubby was a governor, never once been consulted lol! - however, this was before the fines etc. were imposed - but we still would have paid the fines as the savings were huge going Thu-Thu or Thu-Sun if we were driving
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| turms2 wrote: |
| Layne wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
hi...i mean when i arrive at Chambery eg before 10.00 am will be less traffic ? or the traffic jam because of Half Term starts from really early?
Never been for Half Term in FR and i have no idea how the traffic goes during the day. |
IME (2022, others do it more often) the traffic was a little bit stop start at 10am but still OK. It gets worse as the day goes on. So yes, fingers crossed you will be alright. |
ok thanks. Now remains the question how i wake up the kids around 02.00 am and put them in the car  |
Why are you getting up at 2.00am? early tunnel?
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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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@skimummk, Good for you. Although in my case I don't do it for the savings, more for the skiing time. Not least as we have many years of kids being in exam years so the additional Easter break we used to get is no longer possible.
On school attendance the issue is the pretend sick whose parents are too lazy to send to school. I know quite a few like that. I have never felt the slightest guilt taking them out for an active and affirming experience because the rest of the time they don't take time off school.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| skimummk wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
| Layne wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
hi...i mean when i arrive at Chambery eg before 10.00 am will be less traffic ? or the traffic jam because of Half Term starts from really early?
Never been for Half Term in FR and i have no idea how the traffic goes during the day. |
IME (2022, others do it more often) the traffic was a little bit stop start at 10am but still OK. It gets worse as the day goes on. So yes, fingers crossed you will be alright. |
ok thanks. Now remains the question how i wake up the kids around 02.00 am and put them in the car |
Why are you getting up at 2.00am? early tunnel? |
we live in Germany. From us till Chamrousse is approx. 7.30 hours , +/- something according to the traffic
If we wake up at 02.00 and leave around 03.00 a.m. i will pass through Chambery and head to Grenoble around 09.00 am
But all these theroretically, if there are no blocks from Farmers etc.
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| turms2 wrote: |
we live in Germany. From us till Chamrousse is approx. 7.30 hours , +/- something according to the traffic
If we wake up at 02.00 and leave around 03.00 a.m. i will pass through Chambery and head to Grenoble around 09.00 am
But all these theroretically, if there are no blocks from Farmers etc. |
That make sense - although if it were me I'd just set off asap and get to the resort or near it in the middle of the night/very early morning - e.g. book a cheap room at/near the resort or at Grenoble for one night that you can arrive at late/in the middle of the night - there are places you just check in with a key lock/code then you know you won't get stuck in traffic - wake up to a very short drive, ready to sort out skis etc and get some skiing in, for me the time waiting till 2am to leave would be "wasted" as I wouldn't sleep properly anyway, and I know I'd feel crap going from 2am - bedtime the next night.
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| James77 wrote: |
| @daveqpr, See you in Lanslevillard! First time for us too. |
Let us know how it goes. Val cenis was on our list this year, but waited too long and missed out on the apartment we wanted.
So this year we're off to La Tania.
First time there for us!
Taking the late ferry out Friday night, and driving straight through the night. Same on the way back (we usually stop in Troyes on return journey) so we'll see how it all goes!!!
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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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| turms2 wrote: |
For example i know that from South Germany heading to Austria in you are around Munich at 10.00 am , then you have to expect more than double time. If you pass Munich at 06.00 at morning then there nothing special until Austria |
Getting round München is nothing in comparison to hitting the French half term traffic.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Ah ha. It’s the 2024 half term thread on pg3 and I’m only now getting ready.
My kids were out of (private) school during term time infrequently and I’ve never had an issue. That said my daughter once went to state school when wife lived in Singapore and came with me often. State primary (reception to y2) was very understanding.
Daughter has just decided she wants lessons. I did try and book some earlier but given lack of interest from kids I gave up. Arrrgh.
We are 6pm(ish) Eurotunnel o/night at Chalons-en-champagne then sit in traffic for hours at 5-10mph until Val d’Isere.
Got to find the snow chains! I see snow forecast fr Sat/Sun.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Snowmadmum. Your schedule plan is amazing! Great idea on flipping to night time in advance. I tried to drive through the night once. As the sole driver I as to nap and it saved a couple of hours overall but was tougher.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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| skimummk wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
we live in Germany. From us till Chamrousse is approx. 7.30 hours , +/- something according to the traffic
If we wake up at 02.00 and leave around 03.00 a.m. i will pass through Chambery and head to Grenoble around 09.00 am
But all these theroretically, if there are no blocks from Farmers etc. |
That make sense - although if it were me I'd just set off asap and get to the resort or near it in the middle of the night/very early morning - e.g. book a cheap room at/near the resort or at Grenoble for one night that you can arrive at late/in the middle of the night - there are places you just check in with a key lock/code then you know you won't get stuck in traffic - wake up to a very short drive, ready to sort out skis etc and get some skiing in, for me the time waiting till 2am to leave would be "wasted" as I wouldn't sleep properly anyway, and I know I'd feel crap going from 2am - bedtime the next night. |
Based on your advice I changed my plan. Called ahead to our destination hotel and they actually have a room available so booked that and will just press on! Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We start the driving odyssey to Italy on Friday morning.
Children are young, so get pulled out of school for that day. Flying with young ones (now 3 and 5) and all our kit is hell on ski holidays. A two day road trip each way, Mrs F and I sharing the driving is something we all actually really enjoy.
We did buy a big car for family holidays, which helps. The children behave, given the threat that if they don't, one gets relegated to the third row of seats at the back (they actually like each other at this point in time so this currently works - it won't forever).
Actually taking the ferry this time, for the first time as the girls were excited about going on a ship. Two day trip to resort with an overnight means the extra time feels like it will be OK and add to the relaxed way in which we try to do this.
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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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| skimummk wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
we live in Germany. From us till Chamrousse is approx. 7.30 hours , +/- something according to the traffic
If we wake up at 02.00 and leave around 03.00 a.m. i will pass through Chambery and head to Grenoble around 09.00 am
But all these theroretically, if there are no blocks from Farmers etc. |
That make sense - although if it were me I'd just set off asap and get to the resort or near it in the middle of the night/very early morning - e.g. book a cheap room at/near the resort or at Grenoble for one night that you can arrive at late/in the middle of the night - there are places you just check in with a key lock/code then you know you won't get stuck in traffic - wake up to a very short drive, ready to sort out skis etc and get some skiing in, for me the time waiting till 2am to leave would be "wasted" as I wouldn't sleep properly anyway, and I know I'd feel crap going from 2am - bedtime the next night. |
thought it also, but it is not possible because of some things to do at Friday afternoon.
In order to do so i have to leave around 17.00-18.00 pm from Germany and i dont think i will manage so.
I will check it once again
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We live 2 hours from the tunnel in NE Hampshire and as usual booked an early tunnel for this Friday morning. Later on last year I decided I'd see what it was like driving to tunnel Thursday evening (staying over at Premier Inn Folkestone) and catching the early tunnel on Friday. Feeling is it'll make the journey feel far longer then it needs to be particularly as we drive home in a single day. However, each time we leave early there's always M25 closures etc so thought it'll relieve some early morning Friday stress. If we did the same in future we'd probably go across on the Thursday although wife has got a new job at a school so likely irrelevant as we'll have to go after school on the Friday in future.
Interested to know what cars people us for the jaunt? Our main car is a 2021 Volvo XC60 petrol AWD I really like it fantastically comfortable place to relax and dead quiet inside downside is being a relatively heavy barn door shaped car and the petrol range is limited to max 450 miles a tank and I tend to fill at just over 1 quarter to be on the safe side. If I changed I'd probably go for something lower but I still don't need a diesel as my commute is non-existent and main journeys are local so diesel isn't the fuel for me plus with oil dilution issues on modern diesels I'd be in the garage regularly getting it sorted. Probably end up with something Audi A4/6 petrol which would probably excellent on a long run although I'd hate myself to buying into the brand 
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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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| Baron von chippy wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
For example i know that from South Germany heading to Austria in you are around Munich at 10.00 am , then you have to expect more than double time. If you pass Munich at 06.00 at morning then there nothing special until Austria |
Getting round München is nothing in comparison to hitting the French half term traffic. |
nope...getting round München is nothing special, but if you arrive e.g. near Zillertal around 13.00pm the situation is something like Albertville heading to Terantaise etc
Or if you go from Fernpass this Saturday from 10 am and later...
in 2014 from Stuttgat until Kaunertal (usually 4 hours of driving) it took us 14 hours.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| James77 wrote: |
Interested to know what cars people us for the jaunt? Our main car is a 2021 Volvo XC60 petrol AWD I really like it fantastically comfortable place to relax and dead quiet inside downside is being a relatively heavy barn door shaped car and the petrol range is limited to max 450 miles a tank and I tend to fill at just over 1 quarter to be on the safe side. If I changed I'd probably go for something lower but I still don't need a diesel as my commute is non-existent and main journeys are local so diesel isn't the fuel for me plus with oil dilution issues on modern diesels I'd be in the garage regularly getting it sorted. Probably end up with something Audi A4/6 petrol which would probably excellent on a long run although I'd hate myself to buying into the brand |
Well you'd hate our car then! It's an Audi SQ7, which is a large, modern diesel engine, in a car made by the brand of choice for young urban narcotics salesmen.
Thing is, Lady F specified a 7 seater for ferrying ageing parents around, which limits choice. Frankly, i would have preferred a fast estate car to an SUV. If SUV, I wanted diesel as the car is only ever used for long trips, due to us using a Nissan Leaf day to day (fantastic little thing, by the way - totally reliable cheap to run).
Tried a Volvo XC90, but didn't like their 2.0 litre diesel in such a big car. Range Rover Sport has useless third row seats. Discovery 5 is better - but I once owned a Range Rover Vogue and it was so unreliable and the dealer so awful to deal with, that I won't go near the brand again.
The Audi is very comfortable, beautifully built, has all the driver assistance stuff to make the journey painless, has a 650 mile range, will do 40mpg on the trip, has an interesting and decently powerful engine and is a very nice place to be for those hours. Its great in the snow on winter tyres (Bridgestone Blizzak). The fact that it has a pretty dodgy image, and makes me look like a drug dealer, is an unfortunate, but accepted, side effect.
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| James77 wrote: |
| Interested to know what cars people us for the jaunt? |
An old Japanese people carrier.
It's noisy inside which makes long-distance driving tiring, and has poor mpg which means a range of only 300 miles.
But... it swallows all our cr4p, never goes wrong (touch wood), and best of all costs us nothing and allows us to afford an extra ski holiday each year 
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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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@Harry Flashman, Agree with you on Volvo decision to go with 4 pots on heavy car 5 as a minimum.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lexus RX450h, so comfortable but utterly useless range, sometime sub 300 miles & the fuel light comes on with 30 miles warning, so useless as well.
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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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We use my wife's car, a Skoda Superb estate for the trip to Les Arcs and I think the car is huge, espetially in the rear seats and boot, but when parked up in the line of cars at the tunnel it looks tiny compared to the other cars around it, which TBH are as big as Transit vans. It's a great car for ski trips. Takes 3 in comfort with everything inside and below seat height including 3 pairs of skis. If we carry 4, the skis, sadly, have to go on the roof. It cruises nicely at 130 with adaptive cruise control and lane following doing 6.2 l/100km (45mpg). The range is 650miles so we get to Bourg en Bresse before needing to refuel, just stopping a couple times to swap drivers.
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| johnE wrote: |
| We use my wife's car, a Skoda Superb estate for the trip to Les Arcs and I think the car is huge, espetially in the rear seats and boot, but when parked up in the line of cars at the tunnel it looks tiny compared to the other cars around it, which TBH are as big as Transit vans. It's a great car for ski trips. Takes 3 in comfort with everything inside and below seat height including 3 pairs of skis. If we carry 4, the skis, sadly, have to go on the roof. |
Surprising to hear that you can't get 4 pairs of skis in with 4 passengers. We've always managed to get 2 double ski bags down the middle of every car we've ever had - including many Corsa or Fiesta hire cars
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Surprising to hear that you can't get 4 pairs of skis in with 4 passengers.
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I did it with a fiat 500 XL once, but I'm not happy with the skis resting on top of the back seat. The so called "ski hatch" is too small to be of any use and the main design fault of the car is that the rear seats split 1/3 2/3 instead of 1/3, 1/3, 1/3.
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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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Guardian in campaigning against cars shocker.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Harry Flashman, Audi owner in boasting about his car shock
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Harry Flashman, yes the rise in the number of very big private passenger vehicles is shocking. You cannot call them cars.
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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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| Harry Flashman wrote: |
Guardian in campaigning against cars shocker. |
No shock at all, of course. Although the article is actually about big cars, not cars. So what do big car owners actually have to say about the points raised in that article?
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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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| caughtanedge wrote: |
| Harry Flashman wrote: |
Guardian in campaigning against cars shocker. |
No shock at all, of course. Although the article is actually about big cars, not cars. So what do big car owners actually have to say about the points raised in that article? |
There are far too many of them is the simple answer. We have two 7 seat SUVs so are definitely part of the problem. But then we are an active family of 6, and I do a huge amount of off-road miles every year. So in that sense we really need them. But I would say more than 50% of the vehicles at my school drop off are SUVs, and I happen to know the average family at that school is 1.6 children. We are now looking into binning one of the SUVs and getting something much smaller and efficient for daily use as one of the kids has started university. I will still keep mine though as I frequently need to transport people and gear on tracks and off-road.
So in short what I say, as a "big car owner" is I feel somewhat guilty about it but have not really seen much option in our circumstances. Those with smaller families living in urban areas, though, really should have a long hard look at themselves. And perhaps the tax system (and perhaps also parking costs) should be used to give them a nudge in the right direction.
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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: |
Interested to know what cars people us for the jaunt?
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Land Rover Discovery (D4) - plenty of room for 5 of us and all associated skis, boards etc. Not the most economical of cars, but comfortable
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Interested to know what cars people us for the jaunt?
Range Rover Vogue - crap fuel economy but comfort and room hard to beat imho
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With a family of 6 you certainly need a big car but most people have no need of "off road" capability and a lot of SUVs have no off road capability. My beef with many of the "big cars" is that they take up a huge amount of space but don't seem to have any more room inside than many of the old family estates which used to be so common (Ford Cortina, for example - we had one of those for some years and it was capacious. We even went camping in Africa with it though it's off road capability was crap).
They can fit quite a lot of seats into "normal" size cars. We had a 7 seater Vauxhall Zafira which was a very "normal" size car which I passed on to my son and family. And many, many, years ago an uncle of mine had a big Peugeot which could do three rows of seats. The Fiat Multipla (older version) had 6 permanent full adult size seats and a decent luggage space. The issue seems to be partly fashion. People just like big beefy macho-looking cars. I find them ugly, but then I'm often behind the times with fashion. The Porsche Cayenne must be one of the ugliest cars on the road. I know the Fiat Multipla was ugly but it was cheap and highly functional, which you can't say about the Porsche!). One of my neighbours has a very old Audi estate which is a good looking car, to my eyes!
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| turms2 wrote: |
nope...getting round München is nothing special, but if you arrive e.g. near Zillertal around 13.00pm the situation is something like Albertville heading to Terantaise etc
Or if you go from Fernpass this Saturday from 10 am and later...
in 2014 from Stuttgat until Kaunertal (usually 4 hours of driving) it took us 14 hours. |
I wouldn't attempt getting in to the Zillertal after 8 in the morning on a school holiday week. Exactly like getting in to the tarrentaise valley.
What happened the 2014 year? we'll be in Kirchberg by 7.00 this Saturday morning I'm happy to let everyone else battle it out round München and Rosenheim later in the day
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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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Somebody up the thread said they would have a "2 hour transfer" from Geneva airport to Val Thorens. Even in your own car, being a very nippy driver and with no traffic, that would be a good time! No chance at all on a busy changeover day.
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| Baron von chippy wrote: |
| turms2 wrote: |
nope...getting round München is nothing special, but if you arrive e.g. near Zillertal around 13.00pm the situation is something like Albertville heading to Terantaise etc
Or if you go from Fernpass this Saturday from 10 am and later...
in 2014 from Stuttgat until Kaunertal (usually 4 hours of driving) it took us 14 hours. |
I wouldn't attempt getting in to the Zillertal after 8 in the morning on a school holiday week. Exactly like getting in to the tarrentaise valley.
What happened the 2014 year? we'll be in Kirchberg by 7.00 this Saturday morning I'm happy to let everyone else battle it out round München and Rosenheim later in the day |
at 2014 i had no idea what "Faschingswoche" means...(first year in Germany)
We started around 08.00 am from our place near Stutgart Airport, and we were stucked in traffic jam from Ehrwald in Tirol durch Fernpass almost until Kaunertal. Fernpass is a really bottleneck
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FAQ
️ hope you have a great time!
( I might just follow him 
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