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Post by bostonman on Sept 29, 2012 11:57:05 GMT
Not everyone gets lucky enough to travel over the channel in pursuit of French carp, I count myself very lucky in that the lovely Mrs Bostonman is flexible in that she is happy for me to go twice a year. And there are a good few on here who also manage to get across once, twice or in "Heritage's" case dozens of times a year ! For a new first time French carper it must seem mind boggling with the choice of waters, travel companies, and the humongous amount of planning that can go into a trip overseas. All that can be overcome with a little thought and common sense planning. But what about potential pitfalls ? The very alien idea of driving on the wrong side of the road ? Communication and verbal problems ? No hand pulled bitter or mild on tap ? The permatations for misshaps are never ending. There have been many threads on this section regarding a "first trip to France", and the recipient of the question gets a whole heap of usefull info from the regulars on here. Perhaps if this particular thread was made a "sticky", and then added to by the membership as and when, i'm sure it would be beneficial to all and save the same thing coming around again and again ? My own tip as a starter for this will be travelling in France, in particular the Sanef toll motorway system. What a winner the "Sanef" is, alright you have to pay to drive on it but you do get a fabulous smooth motorway with no English style pot holes ! You also get pretty quiet roads on the whole as a lot of the French drivers prefer not to pay and use the myriad selection of back roads. For the first timer there area couple of pitfalls using the "Sanef", firstly understanding the actual system and secondly rest areas... The system for initially using the Sanef involves taking out a ticket from a machine from a line of bizzare looking toll booths. Only bizzare because they are aimed at the French, but complex for us brits because of the choice of toll booths to drive into. When you reach the point where you wish to leave the motorway you will approach more toll booths. A mistake at this point can be very embarrasing, we drove into a season ticket lane by mistake once and had to get three dozen cars to back up so we could reverse out into a cash lane ! Here is what you will see at the end of the Sanef motorway system...... This was taken on a quiet early morning, hence the lack of traffic, even so you must have your wits about you as several lanes of traffic will be criss crossing in front of you to get into their desired lane. I would always go for the neon "euro" sign and avoid anything else, at this point pray there is a human in the booth to take your euros because if not its the dreaded automatic cash grabbing machine ! The French person in the booth will be chirpy and pleasant and may speak a bit of English, if not dont worry as the amount you pay is displayed on a little screen at eye level. If its the dreaded automatic cash grabbing machine then get ready for aggro ! There are several slots to push your notes into, make sure you stuff your euro note in the right one or nothing will happen. The barrier will stay down and your cash will have gone deep into the French economy system and stay there. You can press an emergency button and eventually a bored looking bloke will emerge from an office, wander over and attempt to sort the whole mess out. Thats after dozens of French drivers have blared their horns at you for several minutes......... Last year we got stuck behind a family car displaying Belgium plates who had made the mistake of forcing money into god knows what slot and the traffic backed up to Paris ! Aside from the booths the rest of your journey should be pleasant and enjoyable, and after a while you may feel the need to stop at one of the many rest areas along the route. These are called "aires" and are sign posted along the side of the motorway....... If you want all mod cons then I would suggest stopping at the larger service style places which usually have clean toliets and sometimes showers. If on the other hand you just fancy a quieter stop and your feeling brave then try the basic rest stop. I say "brave" because more often than not the toilet facilities can be a little basic. From the outside the bogs look very designer in their architecture........ But on the inside it can be a very different thing altogether as some of the toilets are still in the 1960's ! Sometimes you may come across a newer toliet block which are for men and woman to share, these are all chrome and smoked glass in appearance and look brand new. They also have western styled toliets and a chrome sink as opposed to a hole in the floor ! But even though you may think your in for a more modern experience there is a dark and sinister side to these "designer" bogs. I tried one last week to my misfortune and the automatic floor washing system got me big time ! Seems that a scanner within notes when a "customer" leaves the cubicle and two valves in the floor open pouring water out to clean the floor. However mine was out of sync because as I got into crouching position the valves opened and my trainers and kegs got soaked ! So my extra special tip is to wear welly's just in case This is all a bit tongue in cheek so dont be put off at all, and it all adds to the huge enjoyment of a trip to fantastic France......
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Post by heratige on Sept 29, 2012 12:10:22 GMT
The main and very major problem with driving on a toll road in France is YOUR BREAKDOWN COVER WILL NOT BE OF ANY USE TO YOU SHOULD YOU NEED IT !!!. You will have to get Sanef to tow you off there toll road systems before any and i do mean any break european cover companies can help you .The cover you take if at all you do take any is non existant on toll roads through out France !!!!!..If you breakdown you are paying big bucks just too get towed of the system.I for one think its the biggest swindle because its not explained to you when we take out policys and the other is why should we have to pay a toll ,,our cars are taxed ,,the French dont have to tax there cars to use our roads yet we have to be taxed and pay there tolls ,,which in some cases can cost well over £200 for me on some trips..just my thoughts ,,very good thread but im sure it will put people off driving rather in France.
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Post by bostonman on Sept 29, 2012 13:04:17 GMT
Top point from Heritage...... We have AA euro cover and I have no idea about the using of it on the "Sanef" system. One thing for sure we will have a study of the small print soonest.
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Post by heratige on Sept 29, 2012 15:35:50 GMT
we as a company have the top AA cover possible and i can confirm 100% they do not cover you on toll roads ,,no one does the french dont allow it ..
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Post by bostonman on Sept 30, 2012 13:12:48 GMT
Still on the subject of France and travelling special mention must go to returning home at the end of your week. After the usual chore of packing up and loading your car the reverse trip back to the ferry port has to be considered. Same scenario as before but generally the roads towards the midday ferry ports are busier. Not many tips for ferries unless your on the Dover - Calais route in that it pays to go straight to the restaurant from the car deck to avoid the lengthy queues from the hordes of sweaty starving carp anglers. And duty free has to be considered as your only on the ship for an hour and a half max and the tills close well before your destination no matter how many irate passengers are waving their money about ! Once back in England its all plain sailing, or is it On our French trip last week we drove out of Dover and headed towards London and the M25 as we alaways do, it was at this point that the "Wizzard" made an unusual announcement. "I think I would like to try the M11 to Cambridge" "Why's that" says I "I reckon it might shave a bit of the journey" "Fair enough, if you want" I said. So the "Wizzard" being a fanatic of all things gizmo proceeded to faff about with his "Tom tom" and instructed it to take us towards Cambridge pronto. An hour or so later I saw the familiar sign for the Dartford crossing and started to doze in the passenger seat. I sort of awoke and looked out of the side window at very unfamiliar scenery. "Sorry mate dozed off a bit there, where are we, near the Dartford tunnel ?" "Errrrmm not sure, think its the Tomtom's route to Cambridge". This didnt look at all right, rows and rows of industriual units lined the dual carriageway on both sides. "You sure you typed in Cambridge M11 ?" says I "Oh yes, I'm absolutely sure but I think Iv'e made a mistake in pushing on the button to avoid toll charges" says he. "Eh ? The Dartford tunnel IS a toll charge as well you know" Deathly silence then followed for a few more miles before the Wizzard pipes up with...... "Tom tom has never let us down before, its just finding us a route to Cambridge" "Really" says I "Can you see that sign coming up at the side of the road ? The one that says welcome to the borough of Lewisham ? We are going into London !" "No no, we are heading for Cambridge" "See that tall structure on the horizon" I said "thats the Shard, tallest building in europe and its in LONDON" At this point the Wizzard started to turn a sickly shade of grey as he started thumping and swearing at the innocent Tomtom. The traffic was by now very busy and we crawled along at 20 mph heading towards god knows what as the Tomtom told us to carry on Westwards. My pained expression was plain for the Wizzard to see as we then entered the outskirts of Peckham, and humming the theme tune to "Only fools and horses" didnt brighten the mood. A few miles later...... "Still think we are going towards Cambridge ?" says I The blank expression said it all as I pointed out the well known London landmarks on either side of the road. "Millenium dome and Canary Wharf, well done mate, I'll take some pics as nobody will believe this". And it wasn't long before the traffic came to a stop at one of Londons worst bottlenecks, the free to use Blackwall tunnel which is why the Tomtom had brought us all the way across London as its the next Thames cross over after the Dartford tunnel ! So we sat in the stationery traffic for half an hour and enjoyed the views of the dilapedated river wharfs and assorted drug addicts wandering about between the lanes of cars. Eventually though we went through the tunnel and came out next to the olympic park ! Then followed miles and miles of inner city ring road systems which wound there way through various boroughs of London before we eventually hit the north circular and headed on towards the M11 and Cambridge....... Only one hour and 33 minutes extra journey time, 13 quids worth of extra diesel and all to save a couple of quid at Dartford . Sooooo, if anyone ever fancies a day out round Londons docklands then visit www. WheldrakeWizzardcapitol tours.co.uk for up to date bookings and availabilities........
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Post by heratige on Sept 30, 2012 17:46:08 GMT
lol funny mate
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Post by Darren on Sept 30, 2012 21:11:36 GMT
I'd love to go carp fishing in France, I will make it one day!
I've been through the blackwall tunnel plenty of times with work and its a right pain to say the least, last time I went through it a foreign lorry driver was trying to get through and he caught his lorry on the stoppers, what a ball ache that was for everyone that was in the queue, seen it a few times in London actually delivery drivers going under bridges and what not getting stuck
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Post by cookiemonster on Sept 30, 2012 22:11:50 GMT
I went to France back in may carp fishing and was very impressed with the roads it was a doddle even compared to some city's here although we went through north sea ferries and drove through Belgium and into France and as I live in Hull cut our driving time down loads and gave us an extra chill out session on the ferry evennthoughni go a bit green
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Post by humhx on Oct 2, 2012 21:36:35 GMT
That was through the beer. ;D
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Post by grahamebuchanan on Oct 3, 2012 18:44:49 GMT
If your gonna go sounds to best with organised trips like heritage all in hand planned and stress free feet up and look forward to getting there
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Post by rcnjohn on Oct 3, 2012 22:04:40 GMT
Blimey gal! Looks like you got in a rite two an' eight!.
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Post by heratige on Oct 6, 2012 13:36:54 GMT
If your gonna go sounds to best with organised trips like heritage all in hand planned and stress free feet up and look forward to getting there that is a very good way to look at it mate
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Post by humhx on Oct 6, 2012 18:00:13 GMT
If your gonna go sounds to best with organised trips like heritage all in hand planned and stress free feet up and look forward to getting there Agree mate, from what i understand, mally picks you up in a big mini bus and does all the work for you.
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Post by heratige on Oct 8, 2012 10:18:21 GMT
If your gonna go sounds to best with organised trips like heritage all in hand planned and stress free feet up and look forward to getting there Agree mate, from what i understand, mally picks you up in a big mini bus and does all the work for you. thats exactly correct Martin i do and i organise every last bit of your trip as well ,,sit back and relax ,,its a holiday after all.
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Post by greenhorn on Nov 4, 2012 15:46:36 GMT
Just found this BM, hilarious ! You kept that unwanted tour of London under your cap at "Norman - tun" ;D
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Post by bostonman on Nov 18, 2012 17:38:33 GMT
On a serious note there are other pitfalls and one is picking the wrong water. I would say from personal experience that the owners of the French waters that I have fished so far have been bang on in their descriptions / stock / and other important factors. However I know a couple of people that have had a bad weeks fishing because they didnt research their intended water, and were well out of their depth when they got there. I'll explain - The advert for this particular water was the bog standard 16 acre lake for 8 anglers fishing. also offered were "meals available, hot showers, english toilets, bait to order", all the usual things you read time and time again on the net. However what the lakes advert failed to mention was the very peggy nature of the lake in that only three of the eight swims available produced a very high percentage of carp throughout the season, whilst the other five produced very little. That can happen over here, and I suppose thats the nature of the beast with carp fishing, but would you really want to spend up to a £1000 on a once a year trip to sit and twiddle your thumbs watching someone else bagging up ? I know of a group of lads from up here in the north who have visited a large pit in France several times over the years and at least half of them blank whilst the other half catch, but the advert for the water never mentions that, only the pics of the big carp that came out. Of course you might be sitting it out for a week just fishing for a 60lb+ lump but I'm aiming this at your average newbie French carp angler who wants to actually catch some carp. If a water has a "catch report" section [ and the good ones should, and do, ] then you can very quickly work out if the lake is peggy or not, and then you can make your decision based on that information. Angling Lines and CCFH both offer customer feedback on their waters and I can't say strongly enough that you should study and digest every entry as a pattern will emerge about that particular water. If its an independant stand alone water then trawl the carp forums because someone WILL know something that can help you. The Wizzard leaves it up to me to research a prospective French water we might fancy, and when I have done that I show him all the info I have managed to gather and we decide if its what we want, and then either book it or not. One thing I like to do is use Google earth or the French "Geoportail" and study the prospective lakes layout in terms of pegs and if there's any chance that the pegs are too close together or if there's any danger that other anglers can infringe on other pegs then its off the list. Also if there appears to be too many swims on the water for its size [ because some lake owners think its great to cram the bodies on ] then that too is off the list. And thats from personal experience as one very well known water caters for five but four should be the optimum number as the fifth angler has hardly any water to fish in but again thats not mentioned in the advert. Also you may not like fishing in weed, or have no confidence or desire to ? Well a lot of French waters can be very weedy and the owners can sometimes be a little economic with the truth in regards to just how weedy a water actually is. The mention in the advert saying "small amounts of weed" or " controlled weed beds" can often be so far from the truth its outrageous ! A newbie to carp fishing will struggle with weed presentation in this country never mind a grand down the drain going over the channel ! Other important factors for myself and the Wizzard whilst researching is if there's any mention of "bait boats" then its straight off the list as I wont have my trip ruined by inconsiderate noddies who think its ok to take the p**s by boating ever nearer to my hard worked for baited area because they are not catching. Suffered it in the past but NO more ! And there are MANY waters in France where thankfully bait boats are banned so if your like me then fear not there is salvation available over there This site is brilliant in terms of gathering info on waters, perhaps not French ones as its a mixed site catering for all aspects of fishing but there are people on here to ask like "Heritage" who has kindly supplied me with info in the past and has great respect from others on here who have gone on his very well known trips, and he knows plenty about many waters over there. But if there's one thing I can say again and again to help someone out then believe me a day spent on the internet researching a French water is time very well spent and could possibily make the difference between a succesfull trip and a waste of money.
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Post by bostonman on Dec 19, 2012 9:08:11 GMT
Fantastic now this thread is a permanent feature ! It could and should last for eons and see us all out, and leave much information for carp anglers to come So in response to Coxon's question....... Do you want a water to yourself ? Are you happy to share a water with strangers ? Do you want a 3, 5, 7, 12, 18, 26, 77+ acre size lake ? Average size carp or bigger ? Runs water or not ? Food option ? Drive yourself or organised trip by mini bus or coach ? How about flying their with tackle waiting for you ? There are many factors to consider and Coxon if you narrow down your requirements then there are plenty of anglers on here who can offer you REAL advice on waters that may suit you and your mates.....
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Post by tyke66 on Dec 19, 2012 9:26:53 GMT
I would say, for your first trip at least, go on an organised trip. I did my first French trip this year with my old mate Mally (Heratige) and had a fantastic time. Drop him a PM and have a chat, he's based in Hull and is a good lad with a vast knowledge of French carp angling.
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Post by BOF on Dec 19, 2012 12:43:58 GMT
I would go with an organized trip as well Coxon at least for your first few trips. After all you fish every week with folk you dont know, so that shouldnt be a problem, and everything on an organized trip should be taken care of, from advice about what you do or dont need to take with you, what you are likely to come across, to what are reasonable expectations of the venue, (the days of uncaught monsters and easy 30's and 40's are well behind us now, most venues are fished weekly year in and year out by some of the best in Europe as well as all the Brits). BOF
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Post by bostonman on Jan 21, 2013 21:05:12 GMT
Here's another sticky little subject in regards to French commercial venues - "Lake bait"......... There are large amounts of waters over there which now offer there own boilie which is marketed as the "in house" lake bait. In many cases the lakes which offer this service often use a bit of kid psychology in their adverts by stating that their particular brand of boilie catches 90% of all the carp caught. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with these baits at all as its in the owners interest for you to catch and therefore promote their water, but in some cases I'm not sure. I fell for it years back and used the slightly over priced lake bait for basically peace of mind, as being new to France at the time you dont really know whats best. And yes I caught on them but the bloke next to me caught more than anybody else using air dried Nutrabaits which were sneered at by the lakes regulars. There is the argument to take into account that you should jump on the bandwagon in terms of using what everyone else is catapulting in as you can reap the rewards of being on the regular carp feed boilie, and everyone else is baiting up for you. But on many occasions going in with an alternative bait can work wonders........ A few years back we fished a venue which was flying the flag for a certain ready made boilie and these baits were being fed in by the hundred weight as if nothing else should be used, again we used them and achieved moderate results. One bloke went in with a frozen fresh boilie that had never been used on the lake from a small ultra cult manufacturer and emptied the place ! Another venue in France states in its advert that "seed based boilies rarely produce, and that their fish meal types out fish everything else" ! Now thats a big statement, and is not true as I know someone who fished the place using Mainline's essential opal and strawberry ready mades which are seed based, and he caught boat loads ! So if your about to go in the near future and are a bit uncertain I would google the prospective venue name and click on the threads available about the venue written by punters and you should be able to break down the info about bait. Failing that if there's a bait freezer available then go with the big name brands that always do well and have a proven track record in France, as for me a frozen fresh bait either blast frozen or air dried is preferable than a shelf life. In fact in 2012 I used DNA's ocean x frozen boilies on two trips and was very happy with what I caught with carp up to 49lb. The only shelf life I would consider for myself is the Dynamite red fish which produced a disgracefully large amount of carp on every occasion I have used it. Why so good ? No idea, but there's some sort of trigger in them that really promotes feeding from the carp, and if there was not a bait freezer available and air dried wasn't an option then I wouldnt be worried about using the red fish. I'm not having a go at the various waters that promote a certain bait over the channel, but being a northern cynic I'm not totally convinced that the lake bait is the be all and end all and if you have a bait your mega confident in over here then I wouldnt be worried about taking it over there.
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Post by bostonman on Mar 9, 2013 13:51:55 GMT
Back on the France thing...... Theres a bloke at work who is a general angler for all species but is going over the channel for his first French carp trip. During the various discussions we have shared one of the most covered topics was cost and basically how extra costly it is for us northeners to make that long trip down to the south coast and beyond. I guess its a damn sight easier and cheaper for those southern "gals" who live virtually on the doorstep of the major ferry ports, and probably no wonder they often go more than four times a year ! I remember chatting to one southern type in the ships bar going over to France, and he was moaning about how tired he was driving down to Dover at midnight from Essex ! Try driving down from Yorkshire pal through the Friday night rush hour with no sleep ! Anyway this bloke at work was pricing up various options and showing me his findings and it got me thinking to how vast and differing the price of a trip to France can be. He is fishing an exclusive lake with cottage in the mayenne region in sort of the north west of France, and is doing the sailing from Portsmouth to Caen. You did have two options from Portsmouth at one time, the fast catamaran which was through the day and took about 4 hours or the overnight ferry which takes about 8 hours. The catamaran is history so its now only the overnight ferry, but that comes at a price - approx £300 return with a sleeper cabin on the outward sailing. You can go without a sleeper cabin to save cash, but trying to get some shut eye on a eight hour noisy ship can be trying at best, but thats up to the individual. Alternatively he could have gone via Dover and drove across the top of France from east to west as we once did, but its a hell of a long slog which was costly on fuel and time, especially travelling from Yorkshire. Me and the Wizzard have done both the above options in recent years and whilst the overnight ferry + cabin is costly it was the best, although it wasn't as expensive as it is now ! After this years coming May trip we have decided that we will no longer fish on that western side of France as it is becoming just too costly, and instead will only use the Dover / Calais sailings and fish within a max of four maybe five hours driving time from Calais. As an idea of price for anyone thinking of making that first French trip then we got a return trip with P&O on the Dover / Calais for £60 last September ! So that is something to consider very strongly when choosing a venue and which geographical side of France its situated in. So if your budgeting then think on.....
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Post by Jimmy Silverfish FULLA on Mar 9, 2013 20:32:24 GMT
I really fancy this France carp trip :-) would it not be cheaper to go across as a 4 crew in a van I've been Thailand few times in persuit of massive carp 150lb plus and giant catfish and Mekong last time there this jan I had 38 BIG FISH But fancy something a bit closer to home for my holiday fishing wise I also have the benefit or mrs silverfish FULLA allowing me to go anywhere anytime to fish :-) But none of my freinds really have the sorts of money to go away and to be able to afford these types of trips so what do you do if your a lonesome angler wishing to team up with a few peeps with same interest as fishing And I have heard lots of rumours tackle thefts and silly rules and so on how can you stay clear of this ? Jimmy
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Post by bostonman on Mar 10, 2013 16:57:07 GMT
You can save a lot of money with four in a van, as long as its got four legal seats, transits have three seats ? Anyway, Angling lines or CCFH have 70+ venues between them and can quote you on prices on line for however many anglers are going and what venue / ferry etc. Not to mention the 100's of stand alone waters that are not affiliated to travel companies. If your going on your own then to save you a fortune then contact Mally [ heritage on this site ], as he has his own carp travel company and will drive you over there and back with a small group of anglers. As far as tackle thefts go - Ive yet to come across it personally and Ive being going over since 1998, and I suspect would be no worse than here. Silly rules ? Each water lists its own on its web page and again is no real difference to over here........
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Post by bostonman on Mar 17, 2013 18:29:57 GMT
If you have several days to kill in regards to searching out French venues then this site can be fun. Click on the link and search by region or alphabetically,100's to go at...... www.frenchcarplakes.com
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Post by jdcalling on Mar 17, 2013 20:11:26 GMT
Just sorted my 80 quid return ticket for 3 adults 1 kid from Dover to Calais with caravan for july....Don't ask... The mississ sorted it Off down between tours and angers to a beautiful spot on the Loire where cats grow as big as me and barbel/carp just haven't read the uk rule book
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2013 20:32:32 GMT
Sounds good JD.
Mate of mine is in France at the moment. Had a fish just short of 40lbs so far i think.
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Post by tyke66 on Mar 17, 2013 22:25:31 GMT
Just sorted my 80 quid return ticket for 3 adults 1 kid from Dover to Calais with caravan for july....Don't ask... The mississ sorted it Off down between tours and angers to a beautiful spot on the Loire where cats grow as big as me and barbel/carp just haven't read the uk rule book Binner told me your only 2' 6" tall though JD
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Post by Spudgun on Mar 18, 2013 9:39:54 GMT
Last time we went we fell lucky transport wise, invited my brother to take up the 5th place on the trip as he has a car hire business. The result, a brand new 17 seater minibus delivered that week and straight into the workshop to have most of the seats removed, tons of space for us and the gear, ferry crossings booked through the business as freight and chauffeured there and back.
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Post by Jimmy Silverfish FULLA on Mar 18, 2013 9:50:00 GMT
Wish I had a brother like that :-) I struggle to get a birthday card never mind all that :-)
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Post by binner on Mar 18, 2013 10:10:57 GMT
Just sorted my 80 quid return ticket for 3 adults 1 kid from Dover to Calais with caravan for july....Don't ask... The mississ sorted it Off down between tours and angers to a beautiful spot on the Loire where cats grow as big as me and barbel/carp just haven't read the uk rule book Binner told me your only 2' 6" tall though JD im sure with your new found skills since your last visit that you'll have a ball
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