When and where buddy?
Well after speaking with Allen, I think it’s going to be the ferry from Dover at around midday on Thursday, meet up with Fred in northern France, stop over night somewhere around the Bourges area (about 4-5 hours from the ferry) then the following morning, drive the rest of the journey via Milau viaduct for a mini photoshoot for the magazine and then on to Agde for Friday afternoon.
Beers, sun, food, beers, sleep, then the meet starts at 10am Saturday.
That’s what we’re working with at the moment but if we have to adjust things so you and Chooch can travel in convoy then that’s what we’ll do.
Ilana and me are staying there until Wednesday morning now 
I should be fine working with that mate! just keep me up to speed if anything changes bud
[quote]Well after speaking with Allen, I think it’s going to be the ferry from Dover at around midday on Thursday, meet up with Fred in northern France, stop over night somewhere around the Bourges area (about 4-5 hours from the ferry) then the following morning, drive the rest of the journey via Milau viaduct for a mini photoshoot for the magazine and then on to Agde for Friday afternoon.
Beers, sun, food, beers, sleep, then the meet starts at 10am Saturday.
That’s what we’re working with at the moment but if we have to adjust things so you and Chooch can travel in convoy then that’s what we’ll do.
Ilana and me are staying there until Wednesday morning now :)[/quote]
Ok this sounds ok… will just drive to Dover on Thursday morning… saves taking the Wednesday off work…
Cheers,
Ewan
Wow, that’s going to be quite a drive!! Great to have you on board though buddy
[quote]
[quote]Well after speaking with Allen, I think it’s going to be the ferry from Dover at around midday on Thursday, meet up with Fred in northern France, stop over night somewhere around the Bourges area (about 4-5 hours from the ferry) then the following morning, drive the rest of the journey via Milau viaduct for a mini photoshoot for the magazine and then on to Agde for Friday afternoon.
Beers, sun, food, beers, sleep, then the meet starts at 10am Saturday.
That’s what we’re working with at the moment but if we have to adjust things so you and Chooch can travel in convoy then that’s what we’ll do.
Ilana and me are staying there until Wednesday morning now :)[/quote]
Ok this sounds ok… will just drive to Dover on Thursday morning… saves taking the Wednesday off work…
Cheers,
Ewan[/quote]
That’s great Ewan. How long do you think it’ll take you to drive to Dover from Aberdeen in the early hours? We could always get the ferry around 2pm so you can at least have a few hours sleep before you leave Aberdeen. It would still give us plenty of time to reach Bourges.
Staff, have you had any thoughts of where we can stay in Bourges? So long as the parking is decent I’m not fussed. I didn’t want to start looking for suitable accomodation if you already have an idea.
Anyone from the ‘maybe’ list decided they can commit to this yet? It’s going to be a GREAT road trip even if the numbers from the UK aren’t huge. I’m really looking forward to it 
This is a http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=216991156010458085704.00049e8b30eb71d8cf93c&ll=47.100045,2.8125&spn=14.78373,43.022461&z=5 I propose. Click on it to have a look. It takes us through Paris around 8pm, so the traffic won’t be too taxing, around the Arc de Triomphe and past the Eiffel Tower before heading on down to Bourges for the night. Next day we cross the Milau Viaduct and on to Agde from there.
I remember driving to Duff street in the centre of Aberdeen from my house last year in bang on 10 hours. It’s a great drive and I’d love to do it again some time.
I’ve not really looked at any accommodation in Bourges, Ilana was looking into it yesterday. I’m going to see her tonight so I’ll find out what she’s got in mind. I’m pretty easy about where I stay to be honest as long as the parking is good like you say Al.
Is driving through Paris on your checklist for the trip? My plans were to go around it as whenever I’ve driven there (OK, only twice) the traffic has been horrific!! That said, it’s a beautiful city and to go around it means paying more tolls I believe. I don’t mind either way.
We’ve got 4 cars confirmed from GTOUK so far (plus Fred62 hopefully, just waiting for his reply) which is great, but I thought there would be a little more interest than this if I’m honest. Especially now we know the accommodation is so cheap. Oh well, it’s gonna be a BLAST!!!
Paris wasn’t originally something I considered, but when I looked more closely at the route I realised we skim the south-east of it anyway. I guess it all depends on what time we hit it for the traffic jams. Its no issue if we skip it, I’ve seen it before, has everyone else?
I’ve just been looking at routes Allen and I think your proposed one is about the best way to be honest. Plus it goes straight through Fred62’s home town. I’m more than happy to go that way if everyone else is too…?
To be honest guys im happy which ever way yous decide to go
Where does Fred live? We can have paris as an option, depending on how tired people are when they hit the outskirts and how late it is to gauge how heavy the traffic might be.
I’ve just bought this to help the convoy communicate on the way…
http://www.maplin.co.uk/quad-pack-mt600-pmr-two-way-radios-217930
Nice one!! i was thinking along the same lines! :lol:
[quote]Where does Fred live? We can have paris as an option, depending on how tired people are when they hit the outskirts and how late it is to gauge how heavy the traffic might be.
I’ve just bought this to help the convoy communicate on the way…
http://www.maplin.co.uk/quad-pack-mt600-pmr-two-way-radios-217930[/quote]
YES!!! That really is the cherry on top No road trip would be complete without radio communication (simple things :oops: )
Fred lives in Bethune but he’s on holiday at the moment so not commenting much yet.
Leaving at 2pm would be better for me, but I’ll be leaving early or the previous day anyway. I’ve driven to Taunton quite a few times, which took 10hrs door to door, so I guess it would take around 11 hrs to Dover, my biggest problem is budgeting for traffic jams on the motorways as they seem to cause the biggest delays (usually going to JAE…).
Cheers,
Ewan
Leaving at 2 is fine with me. Maybe it would be worth getting the Eurotunnel rather than the ferry though, it’s 30 mins to Calais as apposed to an hour and half. It’s a tad more expensive though. £67 to cross instead of £40. I just think it would be a bit easier after a long drive for you guys, particularly Ewan.
might be better with the ferry staff, would give them a bit of a rest from behind the wheel, maybe even a quick snooze
Very good point. I’m good with either so whatever is easiest with everyone else
Stick with the Ferry Staff, it’s cheaper, will give people a break from driving and at least the kids will be able to wander around the boat rather than be stuck in a train carriage.
Did you manage to secure any discount on the crossing in the end? Calais or Dunkerque really isn’t that much difference in overall mileage when you look at the bigger picture, so which company we use is really down to who offers the cheapest crossing. From what I can tell our options are:-
Dover to Dunkerque - Norfolkline: Leave 14:00, 2hr trip.
Dover to Calais - P&O Ferries: Leave 14:10, 1½hr trip.
Dover to Calais - Seafrance: Leave 14:20, 1½hr trip.
Yeah, a 10% discount was offered by Seafrance. I’ll email the bloke again and check how we go about it.
Staff, I was just about to book up the accomodation at Agde and if my translation is right its says that you can only book for 2 nights minimum. Not a problem for most but I will only be staying the one night before meeting up with my parents on the Saturday night. Any chance you could speak to Yves and ask if he could try and negotiate a one night only deal for me?
I know it’s a bit cheeky to ask you, but I thought I’d try before having to resort to another location. :oops: