A new initiative - France, long weekend breaks

grantmac

grantmac

Commuting between NL & UK
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Was just reading this (https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/france-for-the-weekend.492295/) again and just reminds me why I really enjoy riding in France.

Was thinking about setting up a monthly France long weekend trip section. Sort of like the original “South East Meet Up’s” but then for long weekend trips to France😁😁

….and for this month's trip….. meet in Montreuil sur Mer, overnight at the xxxxx hotel. Day 2 a ride out to xxxxxx total trip mileage around 250 km. Overnight stay at xxxx hotel then back to Calais… via xxxx town.. total km - 250 km…..

It perfectly feasible…..if you were to arrive in france late on say a Friday night you could be back in Kent early on the Monday morning……having had two great days riding in France or if required a late afternoon train / Ferry even on the Sunday night if hotel costs were a concern….

Interesting idea…….

And before the usual suspects piss on it or think they have it all better and can monopolize it…its just a fekkin idea……

=======

I’ve cut’n’pasted it, in case bods don’t see and pick-up on the initiative in Trip Reports.

Richard
 
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It’s a good initiative for sure, not least as there are plenty of ‘good roads’ in the Pas de Calais region that put the lie to the oft spouted “It’s all shit, mate. Get on the motorway”. It will certainly suit anyone in the SE corner of England.

The only current downside is the inflated cost of a return crossing via the Chunnel or ferrry. But hey, for a good weekend away, it’s not a life changing expense.
 
Wapping said:
It’s a good initiative for sure, not least as there are plenty of ‘good roads’ in the Pas de Calais region that put the lie to the oft spouted “It’s all shit, mate. Get on the motorway”. It will certainly suit anyone in the SE corner of England.

The only current downside is the inflated cost of a return crossing via the Chunnel or ferrry. But hey, for a good weekend away, it’s not a life changing expense.
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it would be something I might incorporate into a longer trip away, much like I did with the group of 36 in Sedan recently for 2 nights, then another week messing about before coming home.
Being nearly 5 hours from the Tunnel, it's not something I am likely to consider just for the weekend. Too much riding in the UK as a proportion of the trip.
 
Wapping said:
It’s a good initiative for sure, not least as there are plenty of ‘good roads’ in the Pas de Calais region that put the lie to the oft spouted “It’s all shit, mate. Get on the motorway”. It will certainly suit anyone in the SE corner of England.

The only current downside is the inflated cost of a return crossing via the Chunnel or ferrry. But hey, for a good weekend away, it’s not a life changing expense.
Click to expand...

Brittany Ferries still have their 3 & 5 day offers available so a 3 day return is £80 odd with a bike. Don’t know if they go from Dover though saying that!

It’s what I used for this trip. Friday night out Monday afternoon back £70 odd return Portsmouth - Cain. Fantastic deal.
 
tjmouse said:
Don’t know if they (Brittany Ferries) go from Dover though saying that!
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Unfortunately, not.

The Dover / Folkestone crossings (the most popular to Calais) are a virtual oligopoly of Eurotunnel and P&O.

====

Edit…. Correction of the oligopoly operated by the Chunnel and P&O.

Richard
 
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Wapping said:
Unfortunately, not.

The Dover / Folkestone crossings (the most popular to Calais) are an oligopoly of Eurotunnel and P&O.
Click to expand...

DFDS and Irish Ferries also run from Dover.
 
Wapping said:
It’s a good initiative for sure, not least as there are plenty of ‘good roads’ in the Pas de Calais region that put the lie to the oft spouted “It’s all shit, mate. Get on the motorway”. It will certainly suit anyone in the SE corner of England.

The only current downside is the inflated cost of a return crossing via the Chunnel or ferrry. But hey, for a good weekend away, it’s not a life changing expense.
Click to expand...
Is Pas de Calais near Pas de Ketchup ? 🤔
 
grantmac said:
Was just reading this (https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/france-for-the-weekend.492295/) again and just reminds me why I really enjoy riding in France.

Was thinking about setting up a monthly France long weekend trip section. Sort of like the original “South East Meet Up’s” but then for long weekend trips to France😁😁

….and for this month's trip….. meet in Montreuil sur Mer, overnight at the xxxxx hotel. Day 2 a ride out to xxxxxx total trip mileage around 250 km. Overnight stay at xxxx hotel then back to Calais… via xxxx town.. total km - 250 km…..

It perfectly feasible…..if you were to arrive in france late on say a Friday night you could be back in Kent early on the Monday morning……having had two great days riding in France or if required a late afternoon train / Ferry even on the Sunday night if hotel costs were a concern….

Interesting idea…….

And before the usual suspects piss on it or think they have it all better and can monopolize it…its just a fekkin idea……

=======

I’ve cut’n’pasted it, in case bods don’t see and pick-up on the initiative in Trip Reports.

Richard
Click to expand...
I would absolutely be up for this, in a revived “Wapping’s Wanders” way.
 
Santa-2512 said:
Newhaven - Dieppe can oft be a source cheap crossings
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timings are a bit shit o'clock

Check-in closesDepartureArrivalDuration
07:4508:3013:454 hour and 15 minutes
16:1517:0022:004 hour
22:1523:0005:005 hour
 
ChasMill said:
I would absolutely be up for this, in a revived “Wapping’s Wanders” way.
Click to expand...
Its definitely not going to Wappings Wanderer's part 2 as I never had the pleasure in the first place….….lets see what the response is and I might put up a trial run…..
Note - I wont necessarily join each one as for me its also a good 4 hours from The Hague to the Calais area….More than happy to start and maybe others can jump in with their ideas….will have a think…
 
The idea can and has worked well in the past, helped if nothing else by London / the South East’s close proximity to the Chunnel and its relatively fast crossing times, though the hour time difference creates its own challenge sometimes.

What worked well?

A. A rendezvous at the Chunnel or sometimes at the petrol station (I hear it’s closed) close by the Chunnel exit in France. That said, we once had:

1. Someone who missed the train and we had to hang around for an hour or more, whilst they turned up.

2. Someone who just didn’t turn up at all, so we wasted time just hanging around.

B. If it’s to be an evening rendezvous at a hotel, then the location is within say 30 minutes (direct) of Calais, in an appropriate direction for a sensible departure the next day. There is little point in several bods rocking in at 22:00 and expecting to be fed.

C. Pre-made GPX routes, so that most bods could - in theory at least - see where we were going. This is now much easier than it was several years ago.

D. The marker drop off system, unadorned with with needless “We could do this”. In short, keep it very simple.

E. Everyone starting the day with a full tank of fuel. Differently sized tanks is not a problem, nor is the type or make of bike.

F. Some flexibility over lunch. Several times we took a packed lunch, which if nothing else saved looking for a cafe. Lunchtime for some is akin to the worry over the time to eat tea.

G. Some recognition that some bods go into a blind funk, if they are not sitting down for tea by 18:00 latest.

H. Sometimes doing / seeing something specific, rather than just riding around for the sake of it.

I. The ‘Beginners rides to France’. Of the lot, these to me at least were sometimes the most satisfying, helping bods to get the confidence to do it for themselves in the future.

:beerjug:
 
Hustler said:
Excellent reply young Wapping but a clarification for a lot of us is that when he mentions tea he really means dinner.
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:jes

I used the popular expression on these pages, simply for amusement.

Dinner, for some, is strictly at dinner time, just as it was when they were at school at around 12:30 to 13:00. What others (including myself) know as ‘lunch’.
 
G. ‘A blind funk.’

That’s a new one :)
 
Wapping said:
:jes

I used the popular expression on these pages, simply for amusement.

Dinner, for some, is strictly at dinner time, just as it was when they were at school at around 12:30 to 13:00. What others (including myself) know as ‘lunch’.
Click to expand...
Sometimes I have tea at dinner.
 
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