 Poster: A snowHead
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| Origen wrote: |
Having driven (but not at half term) back and forth a lot, often non stop sometimes overnight and many times on my own, I find it very difficult to predict when I'm going to get tired. A lot depends on weather. Rain is trying, and fog is lethal - I would always get off a foggy motorway. But a clear, starry, night is a glorious driving time - as long as you don't get those "long blinks"! And I stop for coffee every two hours quite religiously.
I have done some "power naps" (I used to have a CD, made by the Road Research Lab which talked you through it, but don't have the CD or a CD player any more!!) I found it very effective. A coffee, followed immediately by a nap, followed by a brisk walk around in the cold, then back on the road. But you can only do that once!
I think people's response to lack of a decent night's sleep is very variable. |
I used to drive after midnight when I was younger a lot. Until one day I woke up in a ditch. True story! I was damned lucky that I hit the ditch at an angle and the car followed the ditch to slow down rather than a bridge abutment. I know for sure that I wasn't feeling particularly tired, but as you say, it's impossible to predict once you're up that late.
Since then, I won't take long trips solo after, say, 11 p.m. I also have a middle-aged bulging disc so anything more than 5 hours in a car seat without a proper break is hell.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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What is your routine?
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When our son was in school we would leave more or less straight after work (about 18:00 on Maunday Thursday was a popular time), getting to the tunnel about 22:00 and to Calais about midnight. Then drive through the night. We would do 3 hour stints rotating between my wife and me. the non driver sleeping in the back, or in my case lying across the back seats. We'd get to the resort having had about 6 hours sleep each. Our son meanwhile slept all the way apart from paying tolls. On the return we would ski all the Saturday and drive home overnight after 8 days skiing.
Now having retired we drive during the day. For our next trip we will leave home about 3:30 on a Sunday aiming for a 8:00 crossing. then alternate the driving, the non driver sleeping. This will get us to getting to Les Arcs about 19:30. The first stint to the channel being regarded as the bad one taking 3:30 hours and worst traffic, the next driver goes to Châlons-en-Champagne then change again somewhere after Bourg en Bresse for the final stint to Les Arcs. One stop for fuel and some food and as required toilet stops.
For the return we leave about 11:00 on a Monday morning aiming to get home about 01:00 the next morning. We almost always drive midweek and never on a Saturday unless overnight on the Friday night. We did once stop overnight on the way because we fancied looking around Troyes, which was nice, but it just seemed to make the journey take forever.
I have on a couple times done the drive as the only driver and found that once tiredness approached I'd pull over and sleep. Walking about, drinking coffee etc made no difference but 40 winks meant I could continue safely.
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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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| Layne wrote: |
To summarise the options in no particular order:
1) Drive through the night solo (as mentioned depends how you can cope)
2) Get Sunday to Sunday accommodation (restricted options but definitely doable)
3) Fly (usual fly v drive pros/cons apply)
4) Train (restricted to where trains go and booking early to get best prices)
5) Go at Easter
We drive through the night (2 drivers who can sleep OK in a moving car) but we've only been HT once - usually go Christmas and Easter.
We have got off Sat-Sat accommodation a couple of times (but not HT).
Note: Easter just means when the schools break up which can be late March or early April. Easter w/e itself varies a lot.
Feb HT is as you mention mid-winter so theoritically excellent conditions where as Christmas/Easter is more 50/50. but tbh I think people often overstate the significance. |
May I add - 1b: For half term - Set off on Friday and stay the night, BUT at a place where you can be ahead of the Paris traffic, e.g. past Beaune by 6 to 6:30 AM?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
I think people's response to lack of a decent night's sleep is very variable.
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Yep - I'd be wiped out for the best part of the week
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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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| bbski wrote: |
| May I add - 1b: For half term - Set off on Friday and stay the night, BUT at a place where you can be ahead of the Paris traffic, e.g. past Beaune by 6 to 6:30 AM? |
You could but the OP kinda ruled that out as they can't get away early on Friday and then they had "Friday the 14th the M25 was awful got to Reims 0030 up and out 0700" but maybe I am missing the nuance of your suggestion.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Layne wrote: |
| bbski wrote: |
| May I add - 1b: For half term - Set off on Friday and stay the night, BUT at a place where you can be ahead of the Paris traffic, e.g. past Beaune by 6 to 6:30 AM? |
You could but the OP kinda ruled that out as they can't get away early on Friday and then they had "Friday the 14th the M25 was awful got to Reims 0030 up and out 0700" but maybe I am missing the nuance of your suggestion. |
Yes, I was responding more to lower's post leaving Dijon at 7:30 AM- I suspect leaving at 5:30-6AM would have avoided his problem. I do agree that staying the night at REIMS acheives very little (in HT) compared with just setting off early on the Saturday or doing an all nighter, because one would need to leave REIMS at about 4 to 5 AM to beat the Paris traffic.
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@bbski, ah right, yeah, you need to much closer/leave earlier to avoid the issues lower had.
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Some years ago I noted some large scale research that said most accidents caused by tiredness happened a bit after midnight or a bit after midday. They concluded it would be better to have a sleep 10pm-midnight and then start driving, rather than try to stay awake after a full day of activity. Something to do with the very basic levels of the human body and thus difficult to fight with caffeine etc.
I’ve heard of people on modafinil etc but as above personally I’ve never been good at fighting the sleep instinct, naturally or chemically, so I try to avoid it.
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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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@bbski, Agree Reims stop over does achieve very little being too far north to beat the traffic. We knew we'd be driving into it but after the Friday being awful just added to the stress of it.
We are 1.45 hours from the tunnel and considering a train between 0500-0600 on the Saturday which avoids Friday evening M25 misery and drive down in 1 day but accept we will be driving toward the traffic Saturday and we'll be caught in a lot of it.
The best of a bad situation probably is driving through the night for those that can stomach it.
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@James77, Or leave later and accept a late arrival on the Saturday once the rush has cleared?
@Orange200, Makes sense, I can sleep from 10pm to around 1am and be fine to drive, but no way on earth I could drive through that time
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Boris, the rush doesn't clear on a peak transfer day. Not until very late anyhow. When in the early evening after Christmas the queues stretch for many many miles.
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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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@Layne, yes appreciated, but one way to miss getting stuck is to arrive very late.
Otherwise it's a case of accept you'll crawl from Lyon probably, we messed up one HT and it took a good 5 hours from Lyon to Vallandry rather than the normal 2.5
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| bbski wrote: |
| Layne wrote: |
| bbski wrote: |
| May I add - 1b: For half term - Set off on Friday and stay the night, BUT at a place where you can be ahead of the Paris traffic, e.g. past Beaune by 6 to 6:30 AM? |
You could but the OP kinda ruled that out as they can't get away early on Friday and then they had "Friday the 14th the M25 was awful got to Reims 0030 up and out 0700" but maybe I am missing the nuance of your suggestion. |
Yes, I was responding more to lower's post leaving Dijon at 7:30 AM- I suspect leaving at 5:30-6AM would have avoided his problem. I do agree that staying the night at REIMS acheives very little (in HT) compared with just setting off early on the Saturday or doing an all nighter, because one would need to leave REIMS at about 4 to 5 AM to beat the Paris traffic. |
Agreed, leaving earlier on the Saturday morning from Dijon would have helped. From the traffic reports we heard, we have needed to be past Albertville by 10.00am to avoid the queues.
It would have needed to be a similarly early start on the way home on the following saturday. Traveling on the sunday made it a much easier journey.
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You know it makes sense.
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Finding Sun-Sun accommodation is a good option to consider too.
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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 am intrigued actually as to what time the N90 becomes free flowing again.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Layne wrote: |
| I am intrigued actually as to what time the N90 becomes free flowing again. |
20:46 hours heading to the resorts, on the busy Saturdays.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
Finding Sun-Sun accommodation is a good option to consider too.
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Indeed. Absolutely the best idea. This French fetish for Sat/Sat is difficult to understand. When French neighbours up the corridor from our apartment retired, they responded with great surprise to my suggestion that now they were retired AND had their own apartment, they no longer had to travel on a Saturday. Took them a while to get used to the idea - I always teased them about it! It always astonished me how the motorhomes on the site at Saisies used to arrive, and leave, on a Saturday. Inexplicable.....
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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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Even if going for ski school, it's usually possible to find classes starting for 5 days Monday - Friday. I used to tell our friends and relations that if they chose to arrive in GVA on a Saturday, they could organise their own transfers!
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Drive out with car, go skiing, leave car at airport and fly back. Fly back out with family hand luggage only on Friday evening (everything else is in car) pick up car and drive to bottom of resort. Drive back home on Sunday. Have done it a couple of times to avoid NYE traffic and get sneaky week in before Christmas.
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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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@brovert, what a good idea !
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yes! And if at Chambery airport the parking is (or at least was) free!
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| HilbertSpace wrote: |
| If I had to drive at half-term I'd be going to Switzerland. The route (to many of the closest resorts) leaves the A39 south of Dijon to cross the Jura mountains to Lausanne by Lake Geneva. I suspect you would avoid many of the holiday autoroute traffic jams this way. |
This! Done this both driving through the night and through the day. The small farm villages in the Jura can be a bit spooky looking at night but going round Lake Geneva in the day is stunning (and there’s a convenient motorway services with lake views). Bonus of going through the night is the run up to the resort while the sun is coming up is glorious. There’s also a convenient supermarket with maccies for a lunch/fuel combo in Champagnole for a final fill up before Seitzerland and you can take the scenic route to Vallorbe, or I think you could go through Besancon to stay on ‘big roads’ for longer depending on your driving enjoyment/wrong side of the road prowess. We do have our own place out there though so we can arrive at any time of day which helped (6am was fine, 11pm was fine etc (we were tied to HT and Xmas for a while as other half worked in a school, and tended to overnight Friday night and arrive early doors Saturday.) You could hotel around Dijon and do the Jura and the Swiss side the next day. It’s around 6hr from Calais. Troyes is the closer option by around 1-2hr.
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| Snow&skifan wrote: |
| Layne wrote: |
| I am intrigued actually as to what time the N90 becomes free flowing again. |
20:46 hours heading to the resorts, on the busy Saturdays. |
Sounds about right - from many evenings looking out over the valley in Vallandry from about 9pm the constant stream of headlights thins out and traffic is noticeably moving quicker
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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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We did the half term drive this year. We usually go at Easter, but a combination of things meant that we had to go at half term this year.
We go a Chunnel Crossing at around 5pm on the 14th; arrived in France at half 6pm and drive to Troyes and overnighted there arriving around half 10.
We left Troyes at half 8 and were at Lyon around 1pm, with an expected arrival into Tignes at around 4:30pm (well that is what Google Maps said).
We got into Tignes at 8pm......it was basically a crawl from just South of Lyon to Moutiers. Very frustrating!
Our only other half term experiences were Sunday transfers to Geneva.
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the only real way of making it tolerable without huge traffic queues is to go the Friday before and get as far as possible......we head to Albertville, then be up earlish the next day to do the last couple of hours to SF, and ski that Saturday which is quiet.
On the way home....no way of sugar coating it.....away by 5am latest
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Go at Easter and accept a later arrival time in resort on the Saturday. We stopped overnight in Auxerre on the Friday night (5 hours from Calais). We didn't leave until 11am on the Saturday and my husband (sole driver when abroad) wanted to sleep in. We watched the map clear as we drove along. We got into Les Arcs around 6pm (with lots of breaks between Auxerre and there).
I'd seen lots of people head out of Auxerre at 8am (I'm a lark so was up getting breakfast), but the sat nav then showed the pinch points around Albertville and Chambéry were all backed up. It was all clear by the time we got there and we sailed through.
Alternatively, go at Easter and go midweek to fully miss the traffic, spreading your trip across both weeks. Plus the bonus of having the quieter Saturday on the slopes.
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