WDB
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 8:10:40 GMT
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Post by WDB on May 20, 2024 8:10:40 GMT
…and can you still pay with Tesco vouchers? Or don’t you get those at Lidl? 😈
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 8:24:59 GMT
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Post by dixinormus on May 20, 2024 8:24:59 GMT
I used to live about 30 miles south of Carcassonne Al! Loads to see/do. Haven’t been back since around 2010. Whereabouts are you going to?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2024 8:30:40 GMT
Booked a villa in a village called Caunes-Minervois. Expect we'll have a few days out sightseeing and beach lounging.
I used up all my Tesco vouchers on petrol recently. The Mrs is now collecting Lidl points and getting free stuff form them.
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 8:31:24 GMT
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Post by Humph on May 20, 2024 8:31:24 GMT
We had a day in Carcassonne last year. Nice place. Medieval walls etc. Tunnel was £360 return for what we wanted. Ferry would be about half that, but there are people on ferries…
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WDB
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 8:40:13 GMT
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Post by WDB on May 20, 2024 8:40:13 GMT
Nice corner of France. Carcassonne itself is a 19th century theme park, but a picturesque one. And Narbonne has good stuff to see. And there’s wine. And olives. So, a proper holiday spot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2024 8:45:30 GMT
Tunnel £360?  Bloody hell. EDIT: £323 for my dates/times. Gah. Used to be £150 before *waves at everything*. MORE EDIT: Dover - Dunkirk and Dover - Calais ferries both £196, Newhaven - Dieppe £377. Do I not like ferries. |
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:07:22 GMT
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Post by Humph on May 20, 2024 9:07:22 GMT
Aye and petrol nigh on €2.00 a litre in France now. Even diesel isn’t cheap.
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WDB
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:17:09 GMT
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Post by WDB on May 20, 2024 9:17:09 GMT
I like slow ferries. Fast ones are horrible. Tunnel is excellent but connects the wrong part of England to the wrong part of France. (Handy for getting to Belgium, though.)
Top right to bottom left is not much fun unless you’re including an overnight stop and taking a wide arc around Paris. I remember doing Coquelles-Royan in one go on a summer Saturday in 2012, which wasn’t fun and ended well after dark in a thundery downpour. Wouldn’t want to do it again.
Is a western Channel ferry not an option? The Atlantic coast motorways are so much nicer — feel like part of the holiday rather than something to be endured.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2024 9:20:24 GMT
Lat time I looked those longer western ferries are over £800. Not happening.
I'm OK with an early morning ferry/tunnel and an evening arrival. Done it plenty of times before. Might even let the female Juha Kankkunen do some of the driving.
EDIT: I was mistaken, it's not £800 any more. It's £910.
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:23:13 GMT
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Post by Humph on May 20, 2024 9:23:13 GMT
We don’t mind the long drive. Just take turns, one drives while the other dozes/sleeps. Soon goes.
We’re heading for the riviera this time, so it’ll be Calais-Troyes-Lyon etc
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:50:22 GMT
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Post by dixinormus on May 20, 2024 9:50:22 GMT
I used to leave Limoux (20 miles south of Carcassonne) around 2pm, get round the Toulouse ring road around 3.30pm, and be hitting Paris around 9pm, thus missing the rush hour in both cities. Calais by midnight.
Bet French motorway tolls ain’t cheap now either ☹️
Humph is very brave going in June. That’s the month when the French usually go on strike and block everything…
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:52:02 GMT
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Post by Humph on May 20, 2024 9:52:02 GMT
Can’t think what could possibly go wrong…
😬
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WDB
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:52:43 GMT
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Post by WDB on May 20, 2024 9:52:43 GMT
They may save themselves this summer for the Olympics.
Just checked and my diagonal route was 300km shorter that Vić’s. We did hit motorway roadworks, as I recall, and were diverted through a small Upper Normandy town on market day. That took a while.
Overnight stops in small French towns are one of life’s small delights. Should I be able to compile a decent retirement income before my faculties fail, I’d like to do a lot of fairly aimless tootling about in rural France, just for the sake of it.
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:54:03 GMT
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Post by Humph on May 20, 2024 9:54:03 GMT
It’s ok, we’ve got some yellow hi-viz vests. We’ll just blend in.
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Holidays!
May 20, 2024 9:56:57 GMT
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Post by dixinormus on May 20, 2024 9:56:57 GMT
Ryanair used to run flights to Carcassonne and Perpignan every day. Yes it’s Yuk, but possibly cheaper than tunnelling and driving these days?
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Bloody hell.