 Poster: A snowHead
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Im thinking about driving this season, as I have a new car and thought it might be a good road trip!
I hope someone can help with some of theses questions. 
Can anybody give advice on doing this?
Whats the best way of crossing? (Dover to Calais?)
How far actually is it?
What resorts are closer when driving?
Any help would be great!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Do a wee bit of searching on the forum... thre are tons of posts about this... France or Austria or Switzerland....
There are also posts about snowchains, wintertyres and all kinds of info... have a little ferret around as I am sure all bases are covered!
Use google maps to find distances and routes...
Where you start from is often the best way of deciding where to cros th channel.
I drive back to the UK a few times a year... it is quite easy and not too taxing and about 1000 km
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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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Yes - if you laid all the posts on this topic end to end they'd reach the Alps.
I find that viamichelin.com is very good for giving you distances, driving times, toll costs and (if you give it the info on your fuel consumption) fuel costs too.
If there are just two of you, and the alternative is a fairly cheap flight, it will generally cost more to drive.
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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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Whats the best way of crossing? (Dover to Calais?) Yes
How far actually is it? about 850km minimum from Calais to the French Alpine resorts, 1000 km to Austria
What resorts are closer when driving? In general, any of those near Geneva, so check on J2ski
Any help would be great! After that, I would suggest as flangesax, says.
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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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ONE Golden Rule when doing the drive.
If you need to fill the car up everyone goes to the loo,
if you need to stop everyone goes to the loo and fill the car up.
Do not stop unless the Golden Rule above applies!
Best for overnight stops in France arrive late, leave early, so clean, en suite and near motorway and cheap is what counts. http://www.hotel-bb.com/
Chains essential practice putting them on etc. Unless you go more than 1 week/season winter tyres outrageously expensive, but if you are going to change your tyres quite often worth looking at. Carrying chains is a legal requirement for all French resorts.
Telepeage again waste of money unless in France regularly OR going in school hols. Use a credit card in the automatic machines on toll plazas instead.
Hi Vis vest and triangle are legally required now, vest must be within reach of driver. (I got vests in poundshop!)
Common sense checks on car before you go. ALWAYS make sure your washer bottle is full and with stronger than usual mixture.
Ideally NO roof box adds £££ to fuel cost but needs to be compared to ski hire cost/convenience don’t forget noise factor sitting near a low whistle for 10 hours is a bit tiring. Your call!
Worth investing in DVD player for back seat passengers (if not built in!)
Cushions from home always used by my lot to get cosy!
Have driven overnight once never again! The €40 for some hours in a hotel is worth every penny in comparison!
The route, see this thread
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1090692&highlight=route#1090692
Moneysavers
Take a packed lunch picnic. Don’t buy motorway food!
Don’t fill up on the motorway unless mid journey there are supermarkets near the motorway! (Tesco jct 10 nr Ashford for staters
Channel Tunnel frequent traveller tickets. Cost is for 5 basic return journeys, my Bruv in Law saves money with only 3 trips a year because peak dates are so expensive!
Some snowHeads swear by using Tesco vouchers.
Sometimes ferry is cheaper but the time spent on it you could be closer to the snow!
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 26-08-09 10:33; edited 3 times in total
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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 for the advice, all good! 
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My two pennorth:
The Tunnel is far more convenient than a ferry and worth every penny. Frequent traveller/tesco deals can also make it cheaper.
If overnighting the Troyes area is a reasonable mid point (for us travelling from the Midlands) with lots of cheap hotel options.
Talking books (Harry Potter!) in the CD/MP3 player are more interesting than movies and the driver can listen too.
If you run a Diesel, try to fill up near to the resort as local fuel will be less likely to freeze while the car is parked in sub zero conditions.
DO take chains (legal requirement, can be bought cheaply on line) and DO practice with them in the dry first. A bin liner to kneel on can save your legs from freezing while fitting them too.
DON'T trust a satnav that sends you up a 'short cut' when climbing up the mountains to the resort. Some of the side roads can be very narrow, very steep and not cleared of snow!
Usually takes us about 14 hours to get to the French Alps from Leicester.
Telepeage is IMHO worth having, it costs 30 Euros one off deposit then peanuts when you use it, and at busy times means you can jump the queues. This can save over half an hour at the busiest tolls. available here
HTH
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I'm with Axsman on the tunnel front - much more convenient and super efficient. They can put you on a different crossing time if you are early or late (they don't necessarily advertise this but they have always been pretty accomodating).
Have friends that head out to Chatel each year and 14hrs seems about right. We are off to Austria on Friday (near flangesax land) and reckon on fairly similar timings from the midlands.
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If you need to fill the car up everyone goes to the loo,
if you need to stop everyone goes to the loo and fill the car up.
Do not stop unless the Golden Rule above applies!
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words to live by!
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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: |
Ideally NO roof box adds £££ to fuel cost but needs to be compared to ski hire cost/convenience don’t forget noise factor sitting near a low whistle for 10 hours is a bit tiring. Your call!
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Plus you may not be able to use automated CC tolls due to height restrictions - depending on your car.
Personally we always take roofbox and never heard it whistle - nor noticed a significant drop in fuel consumption? Still get 42+mpg in Sharan TDI.
Audio Books can be better if anyone gets travel sick as DVDs tend to make sickness worse for some
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One tip:
SEARCH FUNCTION!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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How to cross the channel:
Tunnel - more expensive, and more flexible
Ferry - (We use SeaFrance), half the price, not quite as flexible.
Tunnel is quicker, but as we use the Ferry as a meal stop as well there is no overall saving.
We have no problem with roofbox - can't hear it at all.
French resorts are closer, but since you have to pay loads in tolls it is cheaper/just as cheap to go to via Belgium/Germany to Austria or the Dolomites.
We can leave Norwich (175 miles to Dover) Friday afternoon and be pretty much anywhere in the alps ready for first lift Saturday.
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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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Any trouble if the car is an automatic (does not stay in a high/low gear) when driving in snow/ice conditions ?
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my two cents worth.
Eurotunnel- save up your tesco clubcard vouchers, convert them into Clubcard deals, and use them for your crossing. If we don't have enough, we use Seafrance (Dover-Calais) or Norfolkline (Dover-Dunkerque) .
Overnight stops for use are around Reims/Epernay, but we do have a longer trip in the UK . Info on hotels we have used are here
Roofbox is fine, and we use lots of audio books too, even now we are all grown up.
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You know it makes sense.
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For anyone wishing to drive the best way to plan the route is by Google as it now has maps throughout the world. You can enter two locations and click to find out the distance. Absolutely bomb proof as the information proves 99% accurate when comparing with other two Sat Nav systems I tested.
For SH living in Nott the ferry alernative can be attractive as you virtually stay overnight in the ferry and start the journey fresh in the morning at the continental side. You can also take the kitchen sink along and in the retun journey load up 60 bottles of red wine per person.
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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 have been doing some calculations, feel free to point out if im wrong!
Fuel: (Midlands to Tunnel 200 miles, Tunnel to France Resorts 600 miles - round trip 1600 miles approx) Lets say an average of 45mpg which is 35.5 gallons of diesel, around 161 litres x £1.02 per liitre = £164 approx
Tyre Chains around £40
Tunnel Cost return trip around £100
Food and drink on the way £50
Driving to the alps........priceless 
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Poster: A snowHead
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loffers, Plus Motorway tolls about £95.00
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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loffers, French Autoroute tolls. And I think your food are a bit on the low side. Are you planning an overnight stop? Uf so, aAdd on cost of dinners and hotel rooms. I calculated cost (before fuel increases) to be around £650 return.
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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: |
Plus Motorway tolls about £95.00
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Really that much!?
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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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no more, just checked, and these are last years prices!
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To be precise
A26 Calais to Reims 267.2K € 18.90
A26 Reims to Villefranche limas 381.0k €26.90
A4 Reims to APRR 105.7k €8.60
A43 St Quentin F. Barriere to Chambery Nord 67k €9.80
A43 Chignin Barriere to Ste Helene Barriere 36.0K €4.70
Total as at August 2008 €68.90
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Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 26-08-09 13:13; edited 1 time in total
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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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£200 a year British road tax suddenly looks like a bit of a bargain.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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loffers, it is about 68€ for tolls from Calais to Grenoble,,
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My july trip total comes to €145 or £ 127.30 at todays dreadful forex rate.
Last year the French motorway tolls went up by a couple of Euros for each section from August.
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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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My july trip total comes to €145 or £ 127.30 at todays dreadful forex rate.
Last year the French motorway tolls went up by a couple of Euros for each section from August.
paulio, mines double that + a bit 
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Don't forget to add depreciation. You will be doing up to 15% of your annual mileage in a week
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We budget for £100 each. This covers 3 or 4 of us in an estate car or 4 or 5 in a people carrier. Tolls are pricey in France, but it's not far so you don't use so much diesel. Go to the Dolomites or Austria and tolls are less, just a vignette and few bits of toll. Other than that the channel crossing and the diesel other costs are optional - we have the luxury of one meal on the way.
Don't really see alot of point working it out to the last penny, as you don't know until you fill up how much the fuel is going to cost - it could £1 per litre, or could go up to £1.50 - who knows!
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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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Comparing prices to those of flights is irrelevant for us as we take our dog with us.
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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
| Comparing prices to those of flights is irrelevant for us as we take our dog with us. |
we have a dog, can you simply just take them with you? Or do they need certain injections etc
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You know it makes sense.
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loffers, first they need to be microchipped, then they will need a rabies vaccine. Once they have had that done, they then need a blood test to check the vaccine has worked. Then you have to wait 6 months before you can travel BACK to the UK with them. Before you return to the UK you need to visit a vet in France/country you are visiting and get them treated for ticks and tapeworms (this has to be times to be more than 24 hours and less than 48 hours before your ferry) . UK rabies vaccine lasts three years.
So not a totally simple process, but We go to France three or four times each year, so it is worth it for us.
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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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loffers, and dependent on your car and the speed you like to drive, you might find you get less than 45mpg. On our diesel the fuel penalty of driving at 80mpg instead of 65-70 is great.
Depending on your destination, you might have to budget for covered parking in the resort. In some places you will be able to find a parking space (but might have to dig the car out if you're lucky enough to have a big snowfall during your holiday) but in others (eg Val D'Isere) you might battle to park without spending money.
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, parking in Val thorens was about 12€ per day.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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loffers,
as per Helen B, we take our basset hound out with us in the summer. Rabies vaccine is just common sense (plenty of rabid snowheads on this site alone!) and lasts 3 years. Once set up with microchip and vaccine in the UK, the tick treatment before you head back to the UK is pretty straight forward and the vets have always understood what we needed to keep UK authorities happy. We always check where the nearest vet is and give them a call ahead of the trip to check they are around (ie not on holiday themselves). We have a passport for our pet (local vet in the UK can sort you out) which logs dates of vaccines etc.
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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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If going to French Alps (3 valleys, La Plagne, Les Arcs etc or any other resort past Moutiers certainly) during peak Feb weeks, expect long queues Albertville to the Moutiers bottleneck on Saturday mornings after about 7am - try to get as near to the resort as you can for an overnight stay and set off early the Sat morning, breakfasting in the resort!
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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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Just did a return trip from Norwich to Lofer in Austria last week. Spent just under £200 on diesel with no tolls. Always fill up in Luxembourg, only 86c a litre. 95% dual carriageway from Calais. Tunnel was just £63 return, but it was only a 3 day trip, it's more for a longer visit.
It should have taken about 11 hrs from Calais (cruising at 80 ish in my Grand espace) but had a couple of hold ups for crashes and road works. Road works are pretty extensive in Germany at the moment. Did it through the day both ways, but its definately better through the night!
Round trip door to door 1750 miles. Had to collect 2 members of GB ski team with 11 prs of skis, 2 large bags & 4 large ruck sacks - totallling about 190kgs of kit! Not bad for £130 each.
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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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Totally agree with Villz, we stay in the Annecy area on the way down. A long drive but worth it as we get a good nights sleep. Up early 6.30ish missing breakfast and the tail back at Albertville. At that time of the morning it took us les than an hour from Albertville to Tignes which made for two very happy bunnies. Wouldn't have wanted to be in the queue of traffic going the other way !!! Which is a point in itself, when ready to come home everyone seems to make a made dash between 7 & 8 in the morning IMO ... we waited and left resort about 3 no queues whatsoever and straight through to calais !!!! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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we waited and left resort about 3 no queues whatsoever and straight through to calais !!!!
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good advice - have half a day skiing on a quiet changeover day, then leave mid to late afternoon. No need to go all the way to Calais if you're tired. Equally, if you can't get up to resort for breakfast, wait till much later in the day.
Try to avoid Sat/Sat if possible.
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vman, our vet in Briancon is brilliant, but we had to find a vet in Grenoble when my hubby ended up in hospital there. He had to be told he was wrong about the timing of the tick and tapemworm treatment, as he wanted to do it less than 24 hours before our ferry. 
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loffers, Plenty of excellent advice above.
It's not cheaper than flying, but with increased baggage charges, its got to be close. I travel with GF and two kids, roof box and skis. Shoehorned in (don't underestimate the amount of luggage) but give the kids a DVD player, plenty of DVDs and we have peace.
I treat the journey as part of the holiday and try to make it as comfortable as possible.
IMHO, the following can help:-
DVD player and plenty of DVD for kids\rear passengers, also headphones!
Ipod or Talking books for other passengers
Sat Nav and a good map
Chains
Hi Viz vests
Winter tyres (if regular trips)
European car insurance
Car recovery insurance
Roof box, it does affect fuel consumption but frees space in car
Tele Peage Tag (for convenience) or an awake passenger to pay at booths
Prepare picnic lunch for the trip, dont buy on the Mway services
Lots of snacks, drinks
Minimise stops, Fuel stop = toilet stop
Leave a day earlier and overnight on way or near resort = full day in slopes day 1
Leave late on last day = extra skiing, and usually miss the queues
Have ski gear handy, not under all the baggage.
Fuel -Tesco Ashford on way out, remember it's closed (no self serve) on early Sunday mornings on the return.
Undercover parking in resort or be prepared to dig car out (it should be snowing!)
If diesel, also fuel near resort. That should have alpine additive to stop fuel 'jellyfying'
Tunnel saves travel time
Tesco Cubcard vouchers worth 4 times value on tunnel tickets
Be realistic about travel times, there can be a lot of delays on a 600mile+ road trip.
Expect more issues on roads in the UK than europe! Allow enough time to get to Dover. I've had an 8hour journey from Manchester once!
Stick to speed limits or take plenty of cash for on the spot fines
Ensure car well serviced and good antifreeze, inc washer bottle, check the spare wheel!
Pack a sense of humour!
Those that fly, 'should' have a shorter travel time. Just think, while the cattle are sat at an airport, wating to be hearded onto the planes, then onto the transfer buses, you can be in resort skiing! On the last day while most are kicked out of bed at an early hour you can have leisurely breakfast, and ski more!
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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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BMF_Skier, just to add, that there is a self serve 24hr Tesco fuel stop near tunnel check-in Having said that, fuel (diesel) was cheaper in France last week, more so further south. Carrefour at Cluses 99cents/litre.
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For what it's worth, wife rives down a fair bit and always uses the ferry as it's a good break and her and the kids have a meal in a restaurant and then go for it all the way down to the 3v folling the 'Golden Rules'.
PS - only drive to get a car down there for the season. Would never drive for a week on both cost and convenience grounds - always fly, book in advance (I've just booked for half term next year) and hire a car well in advance via www.travelsupermarket.com.
If you want to ski on the first day you go into accomodation, fly out the day before and stay at a hotel and hour from the resort. Might even et cheaper flights that pay for the hotel.
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FAQ
