Some driving to the Alps questions (morillon)

A snowHead

Hello, you have all been so wonderfully helpful during my quest to book this ski holiday (our first since having kids). So I thought that now I am a bit further on with my planning, I would ask some more specific questions.

We are leaving Cardiff late on Christmas day afternoon and staying in my husbands work flat about 2 hours from the tunnel. We are booked to cross about 9.30am on Boxing Day and have a cheap hotel booked in bourg-en-bresse (sp?) for Boxing Day night. This leaves us with about a 2 hour trip into morillon the next day. We plan to stop in a supermarket somewhere on this last leg before we get to the resort.

So, my questions:

1. How flexible are we able to be with our tunnel crossing? I read on their site that you can arrive within 2hrs either side of your booking and get on the next available crossing. Is Boxing Day morning very busy? Would we get on early if we were up and going?

2. Is it worth getting a doofer for the tolls at this time of year? I'm guessing it will be one of the busiest changover days?

3. Is there a guide to the aires on the way? I guess I'm looking for info on where they are? What facilities they have? Are any really good / bad?

4. Where would be the best place to stop at a supermarket between our overnight stop and the resort?

5. As we will be arriving on the Sunday, do we still need to aim to arrive in the resort early? Will it still be very busy with people arriving like the Saturday would?

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there will be many more questions as time goes on.

Thank you in advance for your replies.
X

A snowHead

First - the easy ones. The motorway aires are generally fine, no need to aim at any particular ones. Large aires with petrol, restaurant, etc are interspersed with smaller ones, with just toilets (sometimes squatty ones) but nice and quiet for kids to run around and sometimes with a play area. You'll never go far without finding a big aire - maybe 50 - 60 kms apart. Generally preferable to British ones, IME.

The tunnel might be quite busy on Boxing Day. You can't necessarily get on the next train unless you have paid the mega price. But with luck you shouldn't have to wait too long - and you only have to get to Bourg-en Bresse, so no need to stress.

Most French supermarkets are closed on Sunday. For example the big shopping centre at Annemasse, with a Migros which might otherwise be a good place to stop, will be completely closed. Nearer to Morillon something will be open as shops near ski resorts are an exception - somebody who knows that area well will advise.

Arriving on Sunday is a good idea, and I'd suspect you won't have huge traffic problems, whenever you arrive.

Make sure you've practised putting on snowchains, and pack them somewhere accessible. You will be hoping for heavy snow, after all!

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Thank you rjs, that website is just what I'm looking for. And great to hear that they are all good.

I hadn't even considered that the supermarkets wouldn't be open on a Sunday. We won't need too much so can pick it all up in resort if there is no where open.

Thank you for your reply!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We've done an early Boxing Day tunnel crossing quite a few times, but this year -it's a Saturday-"changeover day", so I guess it'll be busier than usual. There's no harm in arriving early and if you do, and there's space, the offer of an earlier crossing will come up at the entry barrier, even on the automatic ones. I don't think I'd take the risk of assuming that you would get such an offer for the next crossing if you are late though!
I travelled with my sister's family for last easter's trip. She had a doofer for the tolls and it was just a neat way to get through the tolls rather than cash or a credit card.
The distances to the next Aires with fuel and food rather than just a loo are well signposted.
As other have said, there is an obvious big supermarket (and MacDs for the kids) at Annemasse which is about 30 mins from Morillon, and there's a Carrefour in the middle of Cluses-even closer and which you have to drive through to get to Morillon. However, I think they will most likely be shut.
Which bit of a Morillon are you staying in? Up in Les Esserts my guess is there is probably only a small supermarket, though on googling it, there appears to to be nothing. Google also shows there's a decent sized Carrefour in Samoens which is just minutes away.
We load up with the basics in the Uk, and to tide us over, make and freeze a casserole, lasagne or spag bol to take with us for or the first nights grub. Nice and easy after a long journey. Though I know your journey is 2 days, my experience is that it takes ages to defrost and so you would be fine leaving it in the car overnight in B-en B.

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Thanks pam w! Great to know that the bigger aires are not too far apart. From everything I've read on here it sounds like all aspects of French driving are better than over here - apart from the weather maybe!

I'm liking your 'no need to stress' comment. That's exactly what I do! Very Happy

I am really surprised about the Sunday closing. I guess we get so used to the 24hr accessability over here.

Thank you for your reply!

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We've done an early Boxing Day tunnel crossing quite a few times, but this year -it's a Saturday-"changeover day", so I guess it'll be busier than usual. There's no harm in arriving early and if you do, and there's space, the offer of an earlier crossing will come up at the entry barrier, even on the automatic ones. I don't think I'd take the risk of assuming that you would get such an offer for the next crossing if you are late though!
I travelled with my sister's family for last easter's trip. She had a doofer for the tolls and it was just a neat way to get through the tolls rather than cash or a credit card.
The distances to the next Aires with fuel and food rather than just a loo are well signposted.
As other have said, there is an obvious big supermarket (and MacDs for the kids) at Annemasse which is about 30 mins from Morillon, and there's a Carrefour in the middle of Cluses-even closer and which you have to drive through to get to Morillon. However, I think they will most likely be shut.
Which bit of a Morillon are you staying in? Up in Les Esserts my guess is there is probably only a small supermarket, though on googling it, there appears to to be nothing. Google also shows there's a decent sized Carrefour in Samoens.
We to load up with the basics in the Uk, and to tide us over, make and freeze a casserole, lasagne or spag bol to take with us for or the first nights grub. Though I know your journey is 2 days, my experience is that it takes ages to defrost and so you would be fine leaving it in the car overnight in B-en B.

After all it is free

@breeze11, my pleasure. We rented a place in Les Carroz for a couple of seasons and really liked the area. The long blue into Morillon Les Esserts is one of my fave runs in the Grand Massif- wide and mainly gentle. I'm not sure if the much loved green run Marvel with be open that early in the season. As you probably realise, the chances of the runs from Les Esserts down to Morillon village being open at that time of the season is probably nil to 1%.

Having not actually stayed in Les Esserts proper, I can't really comment about what is there other than piste side, but, though mainly modern apartments, it's attractive, convenient and family friendly. Fave restaurant just above the main lift is down that is L'Beu- crepes, omelettes and all served in a cute little old barn with a cow theme.

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There is definitely a supermarket in Les Esserts, and it was very well stocked last season. At that time of year it would be open on a Sunday for sure. Carrefour in Cluses is closed all day on Sundays generally, but they did open for selected 'holiday' Sundays last year - worth checking closer to the time.

In terms of what to make sure you bring from the UK, I would put herbs and spices high up the list. They cost a fortune up the mountain, and you really only need a teaspoon or two of things.

And it may sound a funny thing to say, but check if you have an oven before you do your menu planning, some apartments only have a hob.

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The new magland Super U is open on Sunday morning until 12. Get off M40 at Junction 19, head towards les carroz / flaine /sallanches which is right off the motorway and its at the first roundabout at the bottom of the road to Les Carroz and flaine, then just drive to Morillon via cluses. It also tends to have the cheapest fuel.

One thing to bear in mind with taking a weeks supply of food from the UK is will there be space in your car for it? In your situation I'd probably use the resort supermarket.
Sometimes it can be quite time consuming going round the large Cluses supermarket even if it is open that day.

I recommend the telepeage tag. I'd also recommend taking a flask and coffee/tea bags as the motorway service station drinks in France aren't like Costa Sad

. In my opinion the service stations are much of a muchness - just go for the ones that are service stations and not aires. We sometimes google for the ones with Paul bakeries as at least there you can get a decent Panini.

You know it makes sense.

breeze11The Carrefour Supermarket in Samoens opens on a Sunday morning and is not much of a diversion if you staying in Morillon. It's on the Samoens to Verchaix road, about 5 minutes drive from Morillon village. If you are staying in Les Esserts, it's worth visiting before you make the trip up there.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Definitely get the SANEF tag doofer. As for getting an earlier tunnel train if available, this is a possibility if there's room so worth arriving early - we managed this when travelling on Saturday during the Feb half term. Frozen food takes an age to defrost. We stayed at the F1 in Bourg en Bresse on the way to La Plagne and left the food overnight in the car - all stayed frozen. I think there is a thread on Snowheads that talks about useful things to take. Someone may come along to point you to it. Essential non food things for us are over the door hangers (available from places like Argos, Dunelm etc.) for coats, ski pants as there are never enough coat hooks and also a 4 gang extension lead so that you'll only need one french / UK adaptor for all the electronic gadgetry that will need charging.

A snowHead

A snowHead

@pam w, Depends what your idea of an acceptable coffee is. Toofy Grin

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Driving any distance in France get the Tag Doofer it saves hours on busy days

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@snowymum, yes, I guess so. But as good as anything I could make faffing around with flasks and coffee bags. Certainly as good as yer average Costa, IMO. Even the espresso out of the automatic machines where you pay for your petrol is drinkable at 0400.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'd endorse the value of having a SANEF tag: Even if the roads are empty you don't have to wake up a sleeping partner and there's none of the "Closer ... closer ... closer ...TOO CLOSE!" malarky that stresses everyone. If the tolls are busy then you save time and stress. And no chance of the "I thought you had the ticket?" ... "No, I thought you had the ticket?" .. "Where's the ****** ticket!!!!!?" scenario.

I'd always aim to turn up early at Ashford - you generally manage to get an earlier crossing and at worst you will make your designated time. I've not found this to be the case so much coming home at Coquelles though.

Make sure you have your washer fluid 100% concentrate right through to the nozzles. If it's really cold, it's the nozzles and associated tubes that are likely to freeze-up given the wind chill at sub-zero driving speeds. No point in unfrozen reservoir and frozen nozzles. Something you can work up to in the week before you go. Also have gloves, carpet square (to kneel on), torch and boots (for snow) handy, not packed under a ton of luggage, for when you fit chains.

Having a Thermos of coffee is a useful insurance - it means you can stop at an aire and have a drink when you feel like it, even if it's not got services. And we work on the assumption of as much self-sufficiency as possible: we take a coolbox and filled rolls etc. - again, so we can stop and snack without needing services. And it may snow en route, so useful insurance again.

If you're considering winter tyres for the UK winter, then driving down to the Alps might be the deciding factor in getting them. See other threads on this topic. Odds are that with winter tyres you won't ever need chains and will be able to handle mixed tarmac/snow conditions, for which chains are ill-suited. But I appreciate the cost/risk issues. Also, counter-intuitively, winter tyres aren't always available towards the end of winter - they are usually fitted around November when the temperature consistently falls below the magic 7°C so manufactures assume Oct-Dec is the peak period and manufacture to match.

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And a tip for snow chain practice - try it first using the spare wheel. It's much easier to understand how it should be fitted when the wheel isn't attached to a car! Once you see how it looks when it's properly fitted, you can move on to trying it on the car itself. You'll also have a chance to see how best to pack away the chains ready for them to be unpacked in the dark, in the snow, on some mountain lay-by.

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After all it is free

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This rings a bell - i.e. that 'wind chill' as a term only has a meaning applied to bodies. So overall, whatever the physics and mechanics of screenwash, dilution and nozzzle engineering, it seems worth using 100% concentrate for the trip and making sure the concentrate has reached the nozzles.

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while " wind chill" as a sensation only applies to living bodies that understand the term, evaporative cooling applies anywhere else...

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We're off to Samoens again new year but we've gone for the leave christmas day option, getting the tunnel in the afternoon and we've booked a nice hotel in Reims for the evening leaving us a steady drive on transfer day. As others have said there's plenty of places to stop on the drive down I'd get a tag as it saves faffing about at toll booths and can cut down on queuing time. Samoens is good for food shopping there's the supermarket on the outskirts and in the town you've got the usual bakeries (there's a great one right by the gondola station we often pick up something for lunch at). If you haven't bought chains yet I wouldn't bother get some Autosocks instead they're way easier to fit and Morillion village isn't that high anyway i've never needed chains or socks before going though there. The undiluted screenwash is definately worth doing and if you drive a diesel run the tank down on the drive down and fill it up once you're there, the supermarket in Samoens has a petrol station which if usually the cheapest in the area. The reason behind this if the alpine diesel has an additive to stop waxing and having a full tank you're less likely to have moisture in there.

If it's 0 deg outside the car, that's the temperature. The air can't/doesn't cool down when you travel through it can it?

You know it makes sense.

@francium., With the present security I guess a migrant invasion of the tunnel on Xmas Day is now unlikely. A few years back we ended up spending Xmas night in our caravan at the tunnel entrance because migrants had got into the tunnel, they could not send us to the ferries because they did not run on Xmas Day and nothing much was open in the tunnel reception area. We were ok because we had the caravan but many others spent an uncomfortable night. I would expect most facilities are now open at the tunnel on Xmas Day/night but it might be worth checking, or just making sure you have some basic food and drink to hand in case the tunnel closes for any reason.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Wind chill in the broader sense is caused by evaporation of liquid (sweat) that causes the surface (skin) to get colder due to the latent heat of evaporation removing energy from the surface and so only effects damp permeable objects like us. However, a moving impermeable object (washer hose and nozzle) is cooled more rapidly to air temperature than a static one (why we have radiator fans for example) but cannot possibly get colder than outside air temperature irrespective of speed.

In some areas the majority of supermarché are open Sunday mornings but not so much around Cluses and therefore so long as you are not totally idle in getting going on the Sunday morning then you should be able to make Annemasse long before the shops shut. It is only 2 hours from B en B to Morillon so call it 1 1/2 hours to Annemasse. The Intermarches at Bonneville and Cluses do not open Sunday but the 2 in Annemasse do but not the Geant or Leclerc hypermarché. See link

https://www.intermarche.com/home.html

A snowHead

Unless things have suddenly changed the big shopping centre at Annemasse right beside the motorway will be completely shut all Sunday. The big Sallanches supermarket likewise. The local shops mentioned above are the best bet and resort shops will be open as usual

A snowHead

Lots of good info here. Like what @msej449 has to say.

If you are staying at Bourg en Bresse and come off A40 at J6 heading for the town you, after a couple of miles (ish), you will encounter a large retail park with a supermarket and 24 hour fuel (card payment). Whilst fuel already has an additive for cold weather (down to about -10C I think) I always add some of my own when I fill up near Bourg (allows it to mix and work through) to take it to -15/20 as a few years ago there were lower temps and many diesels were experiencing their fuel filters waxing up.

Never used Autosocks, only chains, but do not think you will get away with not taking either, it is not driving the roads (well it can be), it is usually navigating car parks, driveways and access roads. Any advice on winter tyres is good advice, except when advised you do not need them.

In Samoens, adjacent to cinema roundabout, there is a small supermarket which is open early till late every day.

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With regard to the tolls I personally would not bother with the tags. I drive over very frequently and have rarely lost any time at the tolls. And every time I go I seem to have to stop and pay less often (but paying proportionately more). The only place I've ever had to wait significant time at a toll was at Lyon, but last time I was passing there were no tolls there and we didn't pay up for that section of road until much later.

As everyone says the Aires are very good in France. With simple rest areas with just toilets in between bigger areas with fuel stations much like the UK service stations. One thing to watch out for is that sometimes they have a series of road side notices telling you the fuel prices at the next three or four aires allowing you to pick which one you might prefer to fill up at. The small rest areas are typically less than 20km apart. The larger areas (with fuel) seem to me (I've never done a proper quantitative check though) generally much closer than the 50-60km quoted above. I'd have said they are generally 40km or less apart.

One thing about the French motorways that is definitely inferior to the UK ones is the top dressing on the asphalt. All UK motorways use a top surface that is moderately effective at allowing water to drain off but is considerably more expensive that normal asphalt that has no absorption at all which is what the French seem to use. What this means, in my experience, is that in rain the water kicked up is far worse than in the UK.

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I guess whether the tags help you save very much time depends on when you go. With school age kids, we're always driving to and from the Alps on the really busy transfer days when there are large queues at the tolls and using the tags has definitely got us through the tolls quicker, particularly the "non stop" 30kph lanes. We go to Les Gets via Cluses, a similar route to the one the OP will be taking, and in the last stretch on the autoroute between Geneva and Cluses are a couple of really annoying little tolls where you have to put in about 1.50 a time, and which have big queues on busy days. Like @msej449 says, they also really save on the stress.. except for that last moment of doubt as you approach the barrier and wonder if the tag will beep and it will raise.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Over the drive to that Alps a few seconds putting my card in the a machine and it taking payment is really not significant (at least not to me). Very few people on the tolls now almost all are just put your card in the machine for payment. I agree over the holiday weeks Saturdays might get a little busy but even then I travelled out on Saturday mid February last season and toll delays were nothing compared to the general motorway traffic jams. Last season driving back from Chamonix to Calais I had to stop to pay at precisely 4 tolls at Sallanches (€7.20), Autoroute Blanche (€5.30), Reims (€126.10) and Calais (€46.40). Those rates are for a motorhome by the way. If the tag gave me reduced rates I would go for it but as it doesn't I don't Laughing

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Regarding the tool doofer I would second the advice above, that regardless of the time saved/not saved/possibly saved it avoids the need to wake the passenger, or to open the window which with kids in the back at minus-silly-degrees C and/or raining can be very handy.

We've had ours several years now and I think its great - How long do the batteries last any one know?

LR

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The benefit of the tag isn't necessarily the time saving but the benefit of saving the aggro caused by them... the whole;
- is this a take ticket or pay up toll,
- where's the ticket,
- have we got the change or do we need a card slot,
- left a bit, left a bit left a bit.....
- how long do you think my arms are???
- did she give me the right change?
- crunch how much does it cost to have your alloys redone???
- or even you get the sign to say you're 1km from the booth and everyone in the car has finally gone quiet as they're asleep!!

Whereas with a doofer you drive along, slow down drive through the centre of the lane and out the other side with just a re-assuring beeeep!

After all it is free

Can't you just screwdriver it open and change them?

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no screws, looks to be a sealed unit

Help!!

Some driving to the Alps questions (morillon)

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