 Poster: A snowHead
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morning!
we've got a plan - catch the Chunnel early on Good Friday morning, drive about 4 hours into france, spend the afternoon somewhere nice (troyes?), have a nice meal and stay in a cheapish hotel on Good Friday night, then get up early and head off to Les Menuires to hopefully get into resort for lunchtime ish on Saturday
so i've got 2 questions
can anyone recommend somewhere good to stop off on the way down and stay on Good Friday?
how does the telepeage thing work, can we buy the tranceivers in the UK before we travel?
we are a couple of families, both with kids aged about 7 and 5
thanks in advance for any replies 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Troyes is a very interesting town with many old timber framed buildings. There are also plenty of restaurants for all budgets. We stayed at the Ibis Styles and would highly recommend it - it is about 10 minutes walk from the historic town centre and has secure parking.
We love our telepeage tag. I think we bought it from the sanef tolling website and it was posted to our home within 24 hours. We drive to France at least twice a year for winter and summer holidays and have found it worth having.
If you stop in Troyes you would need to set off on the very early side to avoid traffic queues around Lyon and Chambery and reach Les Menuires for lunch.
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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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@JONR, there's a deal on the Sanef tolling webpage at the moment, if you're travelling with Eurotunnel you can get the toll tag for free and reduced ongoing charge. We find the tag useful.
I agree with @snowymum, you could get caught in the queues at Lyon or Chambery, maybe you want to go further on the Friday. That said, I recall people saying that the French don't go mad for Easter skiing so maybe there won't be queues.
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I don't know how the prices compare but the Mercure is pretty good and matches the Ibis for convenience and parking.
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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 IBIS budget is very cheap and central - but you'd need to book on a Friday night.
I don't think you'll find big traffic problems on that Saturday - the roads will probably be busy, but not ridiculous and you are unlikely to have big snows down on the main roads (count yourself lucky if you do!!)
Easter is low season for French skiing (e.g. renting apartments, ski lessons) - it's only flights from the UK which are stupid prices!
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From what I remember the Mercure, Ibis Budget and Ibis Styles are all in the same place with similar parking facilities. The bonus of the Ibis Styles is that some rooms have a pleasant outlook towards a stream. The room we had at the Ibis Styles was also extremely spacious with a dividing curtain between the adult and children's beds. We have found it is often cheaper to stay in a Novotel or Ibis Styles than Ibis/Ibis budget as the latter don't have rooms big enough for four so you have to pay for two rooms and the facilities not likely to be as good.
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Easter is nowhere near as busy as half term but the motorway will still grind to a halt after lyon and Albertville as the Morning gets going and the mountain climb becomes very slow. I would want to hit Moutiers by 9.00 am at the latest really.
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We ve always found dijon the perfect place for an overnighter. great place for a meal out and near enough to the alps to avoid the busy traffic the next 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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| Quote: |
I would want to hit Moutiers by 9.00 am at the latest really.
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an alternative is to make it a much more leisurely day and arrive in resort around 6 pm.
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thank you all, good advice there. sounds like we either need to get a bit further towards Dijon on the Friday, or expect the trip from Troyes to Les Menuires to take a bit longer on the saturday morning. realistically we don't need to get into resort until 4 or 5pm on the saturday so not killing ourselves on the run from Troyes would be ok.
anyone know of anywhere interesting near to Dijon to stay?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
anywhere interesting near to Dijon to stay
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interesting or cheap? Not that easy to find both - any of the Ibis budget hotels are fine, and cheap. F1 cheaper if you don't mind only having a wash basin in your room, and going out for loos/showers.
Not far from Dijon the town of Beaune is very beautiful.
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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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Why not stay even closer to Les Menuieres then get to the resort reasonably early on the Saturday, go skiing and then check in late afternoon.
Similar for the return journey, check out in the morning, go skiing, and then stay Saturday night within an hour or twos drive, completing your journey home on the Sunday.
We do this for most of our trips as it gives us 8 days skiing instead of the standard 6 which includes the two Saturdays which are usually the quietest days on the slopes
Currently Accor (Ibis, F1, Mercure etc.) give 5% if you are signed up to their loyalty program plus they regularly come up with promotions giving extra savings.
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I always use the Ibis at Lyon airport on the way down and way back from Tignes so I can get an extra 2 days skiing in.
Basic but with a good breakfast and a bar you can get a beer in if you get there before 11pm. Only an hour and a half if the traffic is right from most resorts in the tarentaise.
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You know it makes sense.
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| pam w wrote: |
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anywhere interesting near to Dijon to stay
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interesting or cheap? Not that easy to find both
Not far from Dijon the town of Beaune is very beautiful. |
interesting. not worried about it being cheap (within reason)
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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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We always stay near Troyes at le Val Moret, just 5 mins off the Autoroute. This is an up-market Logis motel, rooms are about €70-€100 a night. Nice restaurant but not pretentious and is child-friendly. The place has a nice indoor swimming pool which goes down well with the kids. See http://www.le-val-moret.com/en/
The Telepeage tag is great and even if the traffic isn't heavy, it's a lot easier. They're also transferable, so you can use them on any car and loan them to other family and friends (whom you trust to repay you!). Just be prepared - I got flamed on this site by a bunch of people who think it's a waste of money and anyone who gets one is stupid.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| msej449 wrote: |
We always stay near Troyes at le Val Moret, just 5 mins off the Autoroute. This is an up-market Logis motel, rooms are about €70-€100 a night. Nice restaurant but not pretentious and is child-friendly. The place has a nice indoor swimming pool which goes down well with the kids. See http://www.le-val-moret.com/en/
The Telepeage tag is great and even if the traffic isn't heavy, it's a lot easier. They're also transferable, so you can use them on any car and loan them to other family and friends (whom you trust to repay you!). Just be prepared - I got flamed on this site by a bunch of people who think it's a waste of money and anyone who gets one is stupid. |
As with most things in life, just because people shout loudly doesn't make it the truth. I like you have had the doofer for many years and it's one of my best ever purchases. Saves so much hassle.
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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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Like @msej449 I tend to use le Val Moret as it is just off the motorway, has nice food and it suits my timing.
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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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@msej449, I have never seen any flaming of people with telepeage badges on snowheads. Rather the reverse ; people are positively evangelical. Can you link to the flaming?
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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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Beaune it is then any family friendly restaurant suggestions?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@JONR, If you go the Beaune route, on the second day of your journey I'd recommend turning off the A6 at Macon and cutting across to Bourg en Bresse then down to Lyon Airport, Chambery etc.
We stayed at the Beaune Novotel once which was fine. We'd imagined pottering into Beaune for supper however by the time we got to the Novotel it was late afternoon, overcast and raining and the Novotel onsite restaurant seemed the best option as they have a nice kids menu and a puzzle sheet for them to fill in while they are waiting for their food.
Another thing to bear in mind is that with your car fully loaded for the holiday you will want to park it at a hotel with secure parking and not the public town car park for the restaurants. Therefore if you definitely want to see Beaune you might be best off finding a hotel in the town centre with parking.
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@snowymum, if you follow your suggestion of turning off at Macon onto the A40, do you then follow the D1504 to go direct to Chambery? What's that like as a road? As it's not an autoroute I wondered if it is slow.
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@andy1234, The time we went to Beaune we took the A6 to Macon, then A40 to just below Bourg en Bresse then the A42 /A432 to the east of Lyon. Then the A43 to Chambery. I don't think we have taken the road you mention above.
However on the whole we would tend not to go via Beaune at all. We take the A39 south from Dijon and then either A40 or A42 depending on whether we are going to the northern alps or Tarentaise/Maurienne valley. We think the A39 is less busy than the A6.
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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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@JONR, + 1 for @snowymum's suggestion, for ease with young kids you really can't beat Novotel, don't forget to ask for the kids free welcome gift too 
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| pam w wrote: |
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I would want to hit Moutiers by 9.00 am at the latest really.
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an alternative is to make it a much more leisurely day and arrive in resort around 6 pm. |
We generally get to Albertville at 10:30am and stop for a weekly shop there - drive through Moutiers around 1 or 2 and have never had an issue queuing at that time. Is picking up certainly but traffic is free flowing
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Boris, I would tend to agree, I don't find significant traffic problems at Easter, but then I'm not involved with the Tarentaise and somebody above suggested the motorways would be grinding to a halt!
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