 Poster: A snowHead
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Left Kent this morning at 7am. Snow on the ground but raining. Bumpy crossing on the ferry. Now heading south on the A26, windy and drizzle. Lots of roofboxes going north to Calais.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| breeze11 wrote: |
| @swoafs, yes! It took 2 hrs to leave the mountains at 6.30am. I’m looking forward to non school holiday trips in the future. X |
Even when tied to school holidays you can avoid the traffic by skiing on the last day, leaving resort at 3 or 4 and stopping overnight in the Dijon area. When we were tied to school holidays we skied at Christmas and or Easter which were cheaper and less busy than New Year/half term.
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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: |
Even when tied to school holidays you can avoid the traffic by skiing on the last day, leaving resort at 3 or 4 and stopping overnight in the Dijon area
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This! Leaving resort early in the morning guarantees delays. Skiing at Christmas and Easter also makes sense.
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Arrived at Eurotunnel and been queuing for about an hour and yet to go through U.K. passport control with almost every lane open. It’s seems the trains are running on schedule.
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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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How's the stretch of the M25 from Heathrow to the A3/M3 roadworks these days?
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@GeorgeVII, I haven’t been on that stretch recently but the section of M25 from M23 to Sevenoaks is slow both ways with 50mph roadworks.
My daughter also said that the A3m25 intersection is a bit confusing as the road layout has changed on the roundabout coming off the A3 turning on to the M25 towards Leatherhead.
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@snowymum, Thanks for the reply. I'll go the opposite way around (Dartford), as we're heading to Folkestone.
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Not running to schedule now…. 1.5 hours delays. Weather is horrid, peeing down and blowing a gale
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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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@breeze11, that would have finished me off. Traffic heading North through Burgundy region yesterday was horrific.
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@snowymum,
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A3m25 intersection is a bit confusing as the road layout has changed on the roundabout coming off the A3 turning on to the M25 towards
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The signage there is unbelievably confusing! And (admittedly in a not particularly recent experience) very poorly lit.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Bit of weather around stuttgart and Munich today, but the easiest drive to Flachau ever. Absolutely no delays whatsoever with hardly any traffic
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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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Home now!
So New Years week driving round-up for anyone interested.
Outbound:
Left Portsmouth Friday 27th December at 04:00 am.
Arrived in Beaune at 17:30 CET.
Left Beaune at 09:00 on 28th December. Arrived in L2A at 16:00.
Return:
Left L2A at 09:30 on 4th January.
Arrived in Reims at 19:00.
Left Reims at 09:00 on 5th January.
Arrived home in Portsmouth at 16:30.
Total distance travelled = 1470 miles
Total (Driving) time = 32 hours
Average speed = 45mph
Summary New Years week is very busy!!!
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Long day - left Troyes this morning at about 10am and arrived in SW London at 4:15pm. Over 8 hours which is quite slow averaging 38mph. Driving to Tunnel was fine covering 400kms in 3:00h non-stop. Crossing took 2:30h from reaching the checking queue to arriving in UK (with Flexipass which is slow) and 2:30h to reach home from Folkstone.
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You know it makes sense.
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We did Friday 27th Dec from West Kent, left at 0900 - checked LeShuttle website en route and saw that there were major issues and switched to a ferry. Due to arrive in Dijon around 1930 - got there about 2230 in time for a beer - freezing fog most of the way, but traffic was pretty fluid. Left before 0730 on Saturday to La Rosiere - heavy traffic from east of Lyon. Tried to do a back route from Albertville to Moutiers but got pushed back on to the N road by Gendarmes. Eventually got to La Rosiere about 1630. All this in an EV, apart from a small queue in Albertville, charging was pretty smooth.
The return on 4th Jan was my worst experience in an EV since I got it (nearly 3 years). Left La Rosiere at 0630, temp was -9c, and regen didn't work very well due to the cold, lots of traffic around Aime, then then Chambery, then Lyon. Charging was ok until we tried Chateauvillain - a motorway service stop between Dijon and Troyes. Huge queue and two separate banks of 6 chargers at 150kw - waited about 30 mins then charging took about 45 mins. Traffic again approaching Reims. Good charge at Reims, estimated charge on arrival at LeShuttle was 18%. Then hit heavy snow north of Arras, all the way into Calais - Couldn't see road markings and full beam made it impossible to see so had to keep it on low beam. Was driving around 90km/h most of the last 1 hour, and normally this would result in increased efficiency and a higher %, but perhaps battery was tired after a long day and it steadily dropped. Got to Eurotunnel at about 10% but passport queues (both French and UK) were long. Eventually got to Flexi lounge at 7% (my lowest ever!). Charger was pathetic, giving 17kw, so switched to the Engie which improved to 42kw, but by now (0030) there was only one train an hour, so we cut the charging short and literally drove straight on to the next train. Charged at j11 of M20 (Ionity - fabulous) in heavy rain. Wanted to have reserve if weather was bad near M25. Drove back on to M20, and it was closed ahead due to a crash. Waited 20 mins then it was a mad rush as we all charged forward into snow and slush as we went inland. Truck drivers were flashing cars, switching lanes, throwing up slush, spray, stones and mud. M20 was probably the worst driving conditions I have ever experienced. Lots of snow at top of Wrotham hill and then zero visibility thick fog! Eventually home at 0230 - 21 hours after departure.
I think the EV aspect probably added 3-4 hours to the journey with additional stops and queuing time (although a lot of petrol stations did have long queues as well), but the family was frazzled at the end! Next time, would leave the night before and stay somewhere like Beaune/Dijon to break the journey up. I am guessing this was one of the biggest return days of the year, but even so, it wasn't pleasant.
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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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That does sound grim, @The_Gate. I have no experience of EVs but even without that it would have been difficult, with that weather on top of a very busy day. I have driven back and forth to the Alps lots of times, but never on a new year peak day, and have several times decided just get off the road and find an overnight stop - for freezing fog (Dijon, heading south) and snow on the motorway (Bourg en Bresse, heading north). Not that it would have been easy to find beds on such a busy day.
If you're absolutely stuck with one of these horrendous peak weeks, you could leave resort the night before, but another option is to ski on Saturday, then get a few hours north. We did that at christmas - drove till 10pm and stopped in a pre-booked hotel in Troyes. But the traffic was nothing like as busy, and the weather was OK. You do have to book a hotel though, on either the Friday or Saturday, as so many people are stopping - car parks full of UK number plates!
The gendarmes ALWAYS stop people clogging up those back roads on a busy transfer day!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@The_Gate, sounds horrendous. I agree with @Origen, here that skiing on the Saturday is a good option. The slopes are a lot more quiet and the drive down and out much clearer. That is my experience Christmas week.
The other thing, and is not for everybody, is to drive through the night - it doesn't mean you won't have bad weather but the roads are less busy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@The_Gate - That doesn't sound nice - What car were you driving out of interest? As you say, even without an EV sounds like it would still have been a nightmare journey just not quite as bad. Bad weather + peak times is never a good mix but many of us can't avoid it.
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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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@Rob_Quads - A Tesla Model Y AWD LR, on the plus side, handling was excellent in the snow and slush (with M&S tyres).
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I've often driven to and from Alps to home (near Portsmouth, around 2.5 hours from the tunnel) in one hit. And solo. BUT..... I would never set out to do that on a peak holiday weekend where driving to the speed limit on the autoroute couldn't be guaranteed. I have sometimes set out with the intention of stopping overnight, then just decided to drive on, when conditions are good (clear starry skies!!). I have also set out with the intention of driving, only to change my mind, because of unexpected tiredness or bad road conditions (I won't drive on motorways in thick fog!!). Having that flexibility is easier at quiet times when finding a hotel isn't a problem. It's also easier when you don't have to discuss it with anybody else!
For those who had tough road journeys at New Year - I recommend reading some of the threads about all the problems with flights!!
There simply isn't an easy way - and taking the family skiing at New Year is a triumph of hope over expectation.
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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_Gate, That sounds grim and a good test of the EV charging network . My outbound was 14.5 hours from SW London to Chatel in a diesel which is an extra 3 - 2.5 hours than usual and it did test everyone's patience by the end.
My refuelling strategy has evolved to "splash and dash" to time the stops to smaller service centres or supermarkets near overnight stope to avoid the long service station queues which normally form around the bigger centres around Dijon and Reims.
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In a big diesel van at Christmas re-fuelling wasn't a big deal. One place had quite a queue, but so did the ladies loos and overall it wasn't more than 20 minutes or so. But from reading reports here New Year was vastly busier, both on the roads (complicated with some very nasty weather) and on the pistes. My daughter is already researching next Christmas - New Year is right out of the question.
We booked accommodation in advance - which driving alone, and on quiet days, I wouldn't do. It's good to be flexible, but difficult with family at busy times.
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@Origen, We have flexibility in terms of having our own place but we are dictated by schoold holidays. Family have asked me to take a leap of faith and fly for Feb half term especially as we dont need a car in Chatel - we are flying our on the Friday evening and coming back the Sunday evening a week later - at least we are avoiding Saturday travel but I am very sceptical aligned with your point above about the pitfalls of ski holiday travel.
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Oddly enough last NY (23/24) was fine on the return leg - there was heavy snow on forecast for the Friday evening and it seemed that half the resort left that afternoon to avoid it. As a result the Sat am was ok (the snow came but the ploughs had the roads clear by am).
After this year I will definitely not be doing that NY return again - either we will leave resort ridiculously early (like 4.30am early), or we'll go the night before or the Saturday 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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| Quote: |
we are dictated by schoold holidays.
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but at least you don't have to travel on Saturdays!
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Well after the horrendous drive down Friday 27th and Saturday 28th due to broken a train and biblical traffic at Chambery the drive home Saturday 4th was a joy in comparison. Left St Sorlin 0700 arrived at the tunnel 1645 it took an hour to get through passport control but to my amazement we still boarded our booked train 1836 with the hour given back arrived home 2000 with a 12 piece boneless family bucket via a local drive through. We had close to 30cm snow last Thursday night Friday was an epic powder day.
6 weeks and we do it again this time Val Cenis. We have to get an evening train on the outward leg this time due to school so decided to go Flexiplus. Homeward, I think I will leave Val Cenis c0500 try to gain an extra couple of hours. Always toy with leaving on the Friday and sleeping around Dijon but I think mentally I'd feel the holiday was over a day earlier so the best compromise (for us) is leave earlier on the homeward leg whilst kids are comatosed in the back we can make good progress before calls for endless snacks and comfort stops.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@The_Gate, I'm sure it will be on your 'radar', but there is a huge Tesla charging station just of the A6 near Macon, next to Hotel Le Vielle Ferme.
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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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@Hells_Bells - We had to avoid the Macon route due to an accident, but that was one of our scheduled stops.
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UK immigration at the tunnel seems to being operated by three blokes on a go slow. Cleared the French side in 30 seconds. Waited 20 minutes without moving so far. That hour and a half we gave ourselves to get the train is looking increasingly tight.
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You know it makes sense.
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I've been a big believer in driving through the night from the tunnel on the Friday and getting into the resort at around 8:30 on the Saturday morning.
Unfortunately, I'm on the wrong side of 30 and realise that I need my beauty sleep too much to be able to actually enjoy the skiing on the Saturday, especially if I haven't been on snow for a year.
With a heavy heart, for the first time we'll be doing the drive through the day on the Friday and spending the night in a budget hotel in Chambery to do the last hour or two early on the Saturday morning following a proper bed, a shower and a bit of breakfast. Will hopefully alleviate the first day wobbles!
With that in mind, for the first time we'll be needing lunch on the way down and could be tempted to pull into a town to find some as we won't be pushed for time. Does anyone who's done the trip have any recommendations?
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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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@PrinceJohn, the Cafe du Centre at Nuits-St-George is highly recommended. Three course lunch with all home-made food for less then 20€. Set menu of three starters (salad, charcuterie or the entrée du jour, three mains (Beouf Bourgignon, a poisson du jour, and a third option often poultry) and three desserts.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Hells Bells wrote: |
| @PrinceJohn, the Cafe du Centre at Nuits-St-George is highly recommended. Three course lunch with all home-made food for less then 20€. Set menu of three starters (salad, charcuterie or the entrée du jour, three mains (Beouf Bourgignon, a poisson du jour, and a third option often poultry) and three desserts. |
It sounds just the job but I'm not sure it will work out with the timings for us unfortunately with our crossing time being what it is. By my back or a ciggie pack calculations we'd probably be passing by at around 4pm so a little late for lunch.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Ozboy wrote: |
| @Origen, We have flexibility in terms of having our own place but we are dictated by schoold holidays. Family have asked me to take a leap of faith and fly for Feb half term especially as we dont need a car in Chatel - we are flying our on the Friday evening and coming back the Sunday evening a week later - at least we are avoiding Saturday travel but I am very sceptical aligned with your point above about the pitfalls of ski holiday travel. |
Did you find there were huge cost savings in choosing those flight times instead of Saturdays/Sunday daytime? Across the Alps, I find doing exactly the same can save us £ four figures on the returns. We have to take hold luggage, you might not, owning a property. With more days skiing.
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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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Who is driving down for half term Friday 14th February? Our second trip this year after disastrous trip on the 27th December when the tunnel broke apart from that we had a great week.
Kids used to have inset day before half term which was ideal sadly no more and wife works in a school so we have to leave after school on the 14th (expecting it to be manic). We are going flexiplus, hopefully eases some of the anxiety and stress of the situation which seems to affect me. Just as far as Reims hopefully be 2300 fingers crossed. Would love to keep going but really not interested in driving through the night and kids don't sleep in the car so also expecting a nasty journey on the Saturday through Chambery Paege and Albertville etc.
Looking forward to Val Cenis went last year and enjoyed it apartment right on the piste/sledging area in Lanslevillard.
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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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| Snow&skifan wrote: |
| Ozboy wrote: |
| @Origen, We have flexibility in terms of having our own place but we are dictated by schoold holidays. Family have asked me to take a leap of faith and fly for Feb half term especially as we dont need a car in Chatel - we are flying our on the Friday evening and coming back the Sunday evening a week later - at least we are avoiding Saturday travel but I am very sceptical aligned with your point above about the pitfalls of ski holiday travel. |
Did you find there were huge cost savings in choosing those flight times instead of Saturdays/Sunday daytime? Across the Alps, I find doing exactly the same can save us £ four figures on the returns. We have to take hold luggage, you might not, owning a property. With more days skiing. |
We pretty much always do this. Flights are often significantly cheaper. But the biggest benefit is a relaxed journey both ways. We always self-cater out of preference, and more often than not the apartment is free the week before and owner happy to rent it for the Friday night. Relaxed afternoon journey followed by a nice Italian dinner is a great way to start the holiday. On the last Saturday we sometimes ski, and sometimes just have a day out somewhere, followed by another relaxed Italian dinner and stay in a hotel relatively near the airport. End of the holiday is quite relaxed with a mid-morning flight, or another nice day out if the flight is later. I don't think we save anything overall, but probably does not cost any more either once you factor in flight savings for 6 people. We always hire a 9 seater van (there are 6 of us plus skis), which gives lots of flexibility.
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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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| zikomo wrote: |
| Snow&skifan wrote: |
| Ozboy wrote: |
| @Origen, We have flexibility in terms of having our own place but we are dictated by schoold holidays. Family have asked me to take a leap of faith and fly for Feb half term especially as we dont need a car in Chatel - we are flying our on the Friday evening and coming back the Sunday evening a week later - at least we are avoiding Saturday travel but I am very sceptical aligned with your point above about the pitfalls of ski holiday travel. |
Did you find there were huge cost savings in choosing those flight times instead of Saturdays/Sunday daytime? Across the Alps, I find doing exactly the same can save us £ four figures on the returns. We have to take hold luggage, you might not, owning a property. With more days skiing. |
We pretty much always do this. Flights are often significantly cheaper. But the biggest benefit is a relaxed journey both ways. We always self-cater out of preference, and more often than not the apartment is free the week before and owner happy to rent it for the Friday night. Relaxed afternoon journey followed by a nice Italian dinner is a great way to start the holiday. On the last Saturday we sometimes ski, and sometimes just have a day out somewhere, followed by another relaxed Italian dinner and stay in a hotel relatively near the airport. End of the holiday is quite relaxed with a mid-morning flight, or another nice day out if the flight is later. I don't think we save anything overall, but probably does not cost any more either once you factor in flight savings for 6 people. We always hire a 9 seater van (there are 6 of us plus skis), which gives lots of flexibility. |
Tail wagging dog? I've often worked around huge variances in flight costs, making the ski trip longer at both ends. The aggregate cost probably ends up in the same ball park, but we skied 8 days. I'd rather pay a hotel and lift pass company, than an airline.
This has been the case for an age, even 15 years ago it was easy to spend £1.6k to 2k on flights to/from airports near The Alps at peak weekends. There are 4 of us.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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If it wasnt for rugby fixtures i would always fly out the friday evening & fly home the monday , the monday is a in service day , so no school missed & flights were approx 50% of the saturday flights .
Thankfully last half term this year, then its goi gto be 3 weeks jan & 3 weeks march.
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| Jonny996 wrote: |
If it wasnt for rugby fixtures i would always fly out the friday evening & fly home the monday , the monday is a in service day , so no school missed & flights were approx 50% of the saturday flights .
Thankfully last half term this year, then its goi gto be 3 weeks jan & 3 weeks march. |
Very jealous! I still have three more half terms after this one to go. Can't wait for it all to be over....
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Arrived at Dover at 9am today and no queue at all for passports or check in. Waiting to board DFDS to Calais.
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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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@James77 We are in the same boat, have had an inset day most years but not this year. so we too will be doing the post school pickup run. Only from Guildford so I'm hoping we can be ahead of the worst of the traffic on M25. Am too tight to pay "that" much extra for Flexipass so it will be what it is. Have booked Reims too but just the Premiere class rather than a nice in town hotel which we have been able to do before with making a day / night in Reims. We will have to get up early and take the travel as it comes on Saturday. I'm sure it will be stressful! At least we are only going to Les Gets so it's easier at that end.
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@james77, do you have a doofer for the tolls? Chambery is so much better with one of them (admittedly never done it at half term but the tag lanes are 30).
Seems a no brainer to get one to me.
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FAQ
