Driving to Les 2 Alpes

I am going to Les 2 Alpes for new year, can anyone tell me what I have let
myself in for, driving down on the Saturday between new Christmas and the
new year?


--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:51:13 -0000, "MoonMan"
wrote:

I am going to Les 2 Alpes for new year, can anyone tell me what I have let
myself in for, driving down on the Saturday between new Christmas and the
new year?

What, apart from the worst road journey of your life, you mean?

Do it overnight, if you possibly can, is about all I can suggest.

--
Ace (bruce dot rogers at roche dot com)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

In , Ace typed:
On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:51:13 -0000, "MoonMan"
wrote:

I am going to Les 2 Alpes for new year, can anyone tell me what I
have let myself in for, driving down on the Saturday between new
Christmas and the new year?

What, apart from the worst road journey of your life, you mean?

Do it overnight, if you possibly can, is about all I can suggest.

That bad Huh, oh well.....


--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

"MoonMan" wrote in message
...
In , Ace typed:
On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:51:13 -0000, "MoonMan"
wrote:

I am going to Les 2 Alpes for new year, can anyone tell me what I
have let myself in for, driving down on the Saturday between new
Christmas and the new year?

What, apart from the worst road journey of your life, you mean?

Do it overnight, if you possibly can, is about all I can suggest.

That bad Huh, oh well.....


And avoid Grenoble during daylight hours, the 'rocade' (ring) is often one
long jam ...

If via Calais, best to get to France early evening and drive straight
through the night as Ace says, arriving for an early breakfast.

Pete

"MoonMan" wrote in message
...
I am going to Les 2 Alpes for new year, can anyone tell me what I have let
myself in for, driving down on the Saturday between new Christmas and the
new year?

Do you have someone to share the driving with?

I'm off to Val Cenis in january driving from Calais. I went to Biarritz in
the summer, again from Calais. A few tips gleaned from my experiences:

1. You won't get into your accomodation until after 2pm, right? Do NOT do
the drive in one hit unless you plan on spending the preceeding day in bed
and asleep. I tried to stay in bed the day before going to Biarritz...
didn't work. Couldn't sleep. I left Brum around half 7 in the evening, got
to Biarritz 2 the following afternoon so bloody tired that it screwed up the
first two days, despite having someone to share the drive with.

Moral.... on the way out, stop in a hotel half way! On the way back, do it
in one hit. You'll get home at around 3am, but you'll have left around the
same time you leave for work. Doable and it doesn't wreck you for several
days.

2. Avoid Paris like the plague!!! As someone on here pointed out, the A26
goes via Troyes and joins the South East bound motorways well after Paris.
Even the motorways around Paris are bad. We're talking M25 type bad!!

3. Stop every 2 hours or so. Grab a coffee or a bite. Take your time! If
you're stopping over, plan to stop after about 6 hours driving. Campaniles
are decent enough for a stop. You won't feel tired as much with regular
little stops.

4. French roads are pretty good. If you avoid Paris, the motorways are
usually pretty clear. Be careful of the nutters who think they're on German
autobahns doing well over a ton. They appear out of nowhere behind you
flashing their lights and leaning on their horns. But the roads usually free
most times of the day. Good thing about France is the service stops every 10
miles or so.

This coming trip, we're getting a 10:30am ferry from Dover to Calais, and
stopping about 6 in a hotel. Get to resort about 3 the next day, just taking
it easy. On the way back, we're leaving resort about 11am, getting to Calais
about 11pm and home about 3am. Sorted!

I have to say, as someone who spends far too much time every day on UK
motorways (M6, M1, and M42... a nasty combination!) the French motorways are
a joy. Just relax take it easy and enjoy it.

HTH

Schneck