 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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| James77 wrote: |
| I can't be the only person who points where the SatNav tells me and adds fuel when it's required rather than having preferred stations/stops just off the motorway? |
If I'm driving somewhere new I tend to do that but once you've done a trip a few times I tend to have a customized version of the route because:
- While easy I find just sitting on cruise on the motorway boring. Getting off for even a little bit gives your brain something interesting to do.
- Unlike the satnav you know you always seem to hit traffic around X and it feel like you're making more progress doing 80kph on an 80kph road that 5kph on a 130kph one (even if overall quicker once you've cleared the traffic).
- You more or less know where you're going to need to fill up the car/fill and empty its occupants and relatize there's a big supermarket with cheaper petrol/better food just off the autoroute one junction after the motorway services you just used.
- You know Fussy Little Princess #2 will use the toilets in a supermarket but won't use the seatless stainless steel ones in the motorway restareas.
| James77 wrote: |
| I have not idea where I am other than in France and either driving south toward the alps or north on the way home the exact location and route are of no interest. |
A satnav doesn't always help with that, like when there's multiple places in France with the same name so you set of from the southbound lunch/shopping stop in Annecy blinkdly following the satnav north on the A41, towards the wrong one... 
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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're heading on the eurostar on the Friday night, about 8pm i think. Plan is to get to hotelF1 Cambrai and then up early on 11th and onwards to Morillon - was just going to follow the Sat Nav to be fair.
Tags query - can we get these tags for France if we are not resident, and is it worth it for 1 trip and year there and back?
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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Overnight Brittany Ferries Pompey to Caen Thursday 9th - few drinkies in the bar before a nice night's sleep
Leisurely drive to Annecy for Friday night hotel via quick stop for Pauls/McDs depending on taste near Auxerre.
Pizza and beers in Annecy Friday night
Early start Sat morning for dash to Les Menuires - to take advantage of quiet Saturday skiing.
Ski all day last Saturday, dinner somewhere near Chambery and hotel just north of Lyon
Sunday afternoon ferry back to Pompey - get home c.1am Monday morning
5 hrs later alarm goes off for work, school etc
I try not to think about the last bit
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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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thanks @jonathancarty
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Jealous as not doing it this time. We as a family of four have done it a few times to Morzine / Aosta a variety of routes. Think Eurotunnel + night after Troyes then Jura for some back road variation is the favourite. We've then skied for 7 days to get max value and home in one hit on the Sunday. Enjoyable quiet roads to scoot along in hte Jura but getting into switzerland is painful due to queues into Vallorbe then that horrendous frustrating 50kph for no apparent reason down the hill towards the lake. I can imagine the Jura get's a bit hairy if it's icy though.
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| Granv_ski wrote: |
we're heading on the eurostar on the Friday night, about 8pm i think. Plan is to get to hotelF1 Cambrai and then up early on 11th and onwards to Morillon - was just going to follow the Sat Nav to be fair.
Tags query - can we get these tags for France if we are not resident, and is it worth it for 1 trip and year there and back?
Thanks |
If you did the journey as a whole, then there's one section from outside calais to Reims (just two barriers in/out) then another after Reims and all the eay to Geneva, another two and that's all. So four barriers in total, you can just pay with credit card when needed after putting ticket into booth
Depends on your view, its not life changing but many prefer it. Also depending on que/traffic/timing as to how much it changes that view, free flowing and doesn't amount to much. If you leave the tolled route and come back on you only add two more barriers that's all.
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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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@Granv_ski, Toll tag is a personal thing some see the value some don't. Personally I love it just makes the journey a bit more slick. I have an emovis there are other suppliers too but order asap takes a little while to get delivered.
There is an initial purchase deposit and annual charge both not significant you don't save any money using them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Granv_ski wrote: |
| we're heading on the eurostar on the Friday night |
Point of order - you are using Eurotunnel, the car/freight service. Eurostar is the passenger train service 
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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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| Quote: |
you get to smugly cruise past the queing pay as you go cars!
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only when the queues are short. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Quick question for you frequent Eurotunnel travellers: how strictly enforced are the rules on taking foods across?
I panicked last year (combination of covid testing and first time long journey with the kids) and didn’t take anything that could be considered remotely unlawful, but regretted it when I ended up cooked every evening.
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
you get to smugly cruise past the queing pay as you go cars!
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only when the queues are short. |
Definitely, arriving at the out peage outskirts of Geneva at the wrong time one trip to a 7km que. Everyone there the same until last 100mtrs.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Skimiss, Never been searched for food, before or after COVID or Brexit. We do 4-5 trips per year.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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| Quote: |
S'pose you may need to avoid "bangers" in your recipes
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Bidum Tish!
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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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| Skimiss wrote: |
Quick question for you frequent Eurotunnel travellers: how strictly enforced are the rules on taking foods across?
I panicked last year (combination of covid testing and first time long journey with the kids) and didn’t take anything that could be considered remotely unlawful, but regretted it when I ended up cooked every evening. |
Never had a problem at Xmas and we did get stopped for a sweep. Had a cool box full of bacon and sausages.
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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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We took three months of dog food for the summer and no issues. Must admit I was a tad anxious they might have reverted to sniffer dogs instead of the usual explosive swabs.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Having a chat with Mr Always about the increase in toll prices over the years - we always do the most straightforward motorway routes down and with a teledoof, usually overnight in Reims out and Maçon back.
Am guessing the best comparable are the resorts near Geneva - in Feb 19, La Clusaz was €165, Mar 20 Les Contamines €172 and Flaine just before this Christmas €180 so 9% in 5 seasons isn't bad.
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For The Three Valleys, from Dijon, my sat nav takes me down towards Lyon past Mâcon (A31) rather than Bourg-en-Bresse (A39).The two different routes have about a two minute time difference between them according to Apple Maps. So far I’ve only ever done the Mâcon route but don’t know if I’m missing a trick.
For those who have tried both routes; is there a winner in your eyes or is it all much of a muchness as the sat nav suggests?
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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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PrinceJohn
i find the A39 route quieter than A6/A31 which is where all the Paris traffic tends to go
but other than that all much of a muchness
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
i find the A39 route quieter than A6/A31 which is where all the Paris traffic tends to go
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Yes. And though I've not done it for ages, th A6 tended to have loads more HGVs - naturally enough, I suppose, being the direct route between Paris and Lyon.
Weather, of course, is the huge factor which can't easily be planned for. I have done trips where HGVs have been ordered off the road and into parking areas because of heavy snow, hours north of the Alps. With snowy outside lanes and not even French drivers going at anything like 110 kph. Plans which assume a pre-determined ETA might have to be abandoned. I once decided to come off the motorway in scarily heavy freezing fog and spend an unscheduled night in Dijon. Never had to contend with emergency accommodation in sports halls near Bourg St Maurice, but it happens!
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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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And when weather things go wrong for self-drivers they go wrong for package tour flights and transfers too - but it's up to you to sort it out. Personally I'm OK with that, as an adult, but I've not self-driven with kids, and not at half term. No way would I go anywhere in France at half term, TBH. When my kids were small we took holidays in cheap January weeks and either flew or went by coach, on packages. DIY holidays weren't so much of a thing then. It can be an adventure - and adventures can be uncomfortable. I can't imagine just setting a satnav to take me somewhere across a continent and not paying any attention to where I am, and what's around me. That's why I like maps. You see motorway signs to places like Lille, or Strasbourg, or Clermant-Ferrand and it's good to have an idea of your surroundings! There are always big maps showing where you are at the motorway service aires, which are worth a look, to see how many inches you've done since the last coffee stop.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
No way would I go anywhere in France at half term, TBH. When my kids were small we took holidays in cheap January weeks
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Ahhhh!
The halcyon days before being fined for taking your kids out of school. We had some amazing January weeks before our local Education Authority cracked down.
Can open - worms all over the place 
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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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I grew up being taken out of school for summer holidays - it was ingrained in me. We always got the school's permission.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We were fined once - I was happy to pay as the fine didn't even come close to the difference in cost of the holiday out of holiday.
Unfortunately the next year when I booked and told the school we were going, they explained I could only be fined once so if we went it would be straight to court.
Mental
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Of all the things schools need to fix, attendance is just one and not necessarily most important. My grand-daughter, in year 8 in local comp, year group of over 200 kids was top academic performer in year 7, over-conscientious, autistic, socially awkward. She was off with Covid and her mother had a fight with the school about allowing her back when she tested positive (the school insisted on longer than the prescribed time) and they split the difference. Otherwise she'd only had time off for agreed medical appointments etc. At the end of the month she got a really fierce communication with red "cross faces" because of her poor attendance, with warning of scary implications for her future learning, and was terribly upset. My daughter remonstrated with the school because the child's only absences had been for Covid and agreed medical things. Daughter is an experienced secondary school teacher who now works as a Grade 7 civil servant in the Dept for Education. She does know the rules. She asked the school to tone down their attendance stuff, pointing out that many vulnerable kids who missed school did so for all kinds of reasons, not just sheer idleness or wickedness, particularly post-lockdown, and that punitive messages weren't likely to help. "Attendance" is just a convenient and measurable metric for mindless box ticking.
Those January holidays were great...... when we had a French apartment we were never there at half term, and did "swaps" with other apartment owners for weeks in school term time. No money changed hands.
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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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This thread is making me feel a bit excited. I'm taking my 2 boys to Les Arcs, wife has decided skiing is no longer for her, they have a inset day on the Friday so we are going to leave home and take euro tunnel on the Thursday night then drive onto Reims and stay in the Novotel in Tinqueux, we'll fill up with fuel there too and have a McD's for tea. Then next day onto BSM, we just go via Lyon and Chamberry its easier. We do have a toll tag and I think it is definitely worth the 10 euro annual fee. All being well we'll be on the slopes for 10am Saturday morning. At the end of the week we will ski on the last Saturday and then head to Macon for an overnight before driving home on the Sunday. The Sunday does worry me a bit but worst case scenario the kids will miss the first Monday back, would be handy if that was a strike day.
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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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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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Hi All,
Driven many time to the Alps in the summer but this will be our 2nd time in the winter. 1st time we went Chamonix, which was a easy drive.
On Friday 10th we have an insert day so lucky we can leave early, we planning to stay near Annecy.
On Sat morning, we are heading towards Les Arcs. What time would you suggest leaving. I heard about the traffic around Albertville/Moutiers is bad. I'm looking to get to Les Arcs around noon so we can get a couple hours on the slopes. Before our apartment is ready and when the rest of the other groups arrive late Sat evening.
Thank you
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Usually you'd need to be passing Moutiers by 8:30am to decently avoid significant traffic buildup from there to Bourg St Maurice. They have been improving the road immediately after Moutiers, but the further stretch and emmisions control of traffic through a tunnel a little further along plays havoc at busy times.
Much after that time and IF there's big snow, it can que from Albertville to Moutiers before you even get into Tarantaise valley location.
Certainly not to be alarmist, but if you get stuck in it you'll definitely wish you hadn't.
Later travel and it may clear out by mid afternoon.
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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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@DM118, There is a French Autoroute traffic predictor here : https://www.autoroutes.fr/en/traffic-forecast.htm . Put in 11th Feb and 8am and watch the sea of red appear on the A420 towards Albertville. The predictor doesn't work for the N90, but all that traffic on the A420 is heading that way, so it doesn't take much imagination to work out what it likely to happen.
As Ski3 says the two big holdups (even in good weather) are usually between Albertville and Moutiers (where the dual carrageway ends), and then again between Moutiers and Aime (into the Tunnel du Siaix). There are traffic flow control lights at both places, and you can queue for hours here.
If you can, plan to be past Moutiers by 8am. That'll put you an hour ahead of the incoming mayhem.
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@DM118, We usually go Christmas and Easter but last year did HT to Les Coches. Drove through the night (as we normally do) and I think we got past Lyon around 7. Definitely glitchier than normal from there on in but not catastrophic and probably a tad better than I'd expected. As we normally do we stopped to get fuel and do a supermarket stop in Albertville. Left there around 10:15 I think and it took an hour to do the last 25 miles. So no real sweat. Bear in mind though the weather was very good.
It gets worse as the day goes on. When we drive out after Christmas (New Year is a peak week) and when we drove out from HT (next week is still French school holidays) at 5/6 in the evening the traffic is/was horrendous.
For me and IME your plan is good.
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FAQ
obviously a sensible precaution given the agenda of some nefarious fanatics.
