Thunder77

Thought I get a thread started on this. Who's up for the annual pilgrimage to Le Mans this year?

I'll be bulk ordering the camping tickets again. Can those who are definitely coming bring £35 to the next Northants meet please so I can get the order in.

dashpig

Oh yeah - leave already booked - money will be supplied on Sunday

I'll let Dan know, given he has intermittent net access at the mo

Andy T

Count me in dude.

Gonna put some curtains up in the Wagon and turn it into a Camper

hivoo

Yeah count me in - Time booked off work and will bring the money on Sunday

Bigears

We'll bring the money tonight mate.

Craig.

hivoo

Return Wednesday, 13 Jun 2007
16:25 Arrive Coventry

Daniel.

dashpig

Been doing a bit of delving into this trip, not ever having been before, and wanting to share my thoughts and findings with those peeps who look like they may be coming down on Thursday 14th June

Looking at the routes available...

Portsmouth - Caen - crossing takes about 3hrs 45min, there's only 4 sailings 08:45, 15:15, 23:15 and 23:45 which seems a little odd and prices appear to be around £120ish or so per person. This option seems too constrictive timings wise, even though it's a much shorter drive once in France.

Dover - Calais - crossing takes about 1hr 30mins, there's sailings about every 45 minutes, best ones i were looking at were in the range 9:25, 10:05, 10:50, 11:30 - prices around £35 per person, but the drive is much longer - around 300 miles by the looks of things - but is that such a bad thing personally i think not...

So thoughts went like this...(pack plenty Red Bull!)

Leave Nothants around 6-7am
About 3hr drive (remember it includes the M25 folks!) (~150miles) to Dover
Catch ferry (~1.5hrs) to Calais
"gentle trundle" to Le Mans around 5hrs (~300 miles) including a few petrol stops !
Get there about 6pm or thereabouts

How does that seem to stack up ??

One question i've not seen an answer to is - how many of the petrol stations on the way down have super-unleaded in them ??

Thunder77

Hi
Its a long but enjoyable drive, however is demanding. Your mileage is spot on.

Depending on which ferry you getting you need to start about 4am latest to get to Le Mans for 5pm.
In theory it sounds good but you need to allow more time. On average the last two year travel time was about 13 hours door to door. You need to take into account waiting/break time. Waiting at ferry, 2-3 petrol stops on way down, 2 breaks about 30mins each. Sometimes there are queues at petrol stations easily taking 15-20mins to get to the pump plus waiting at the payment counter. It also depends how many drive down on the Thursday and if you have any Evos in your convoy then you need fuel more often . It also depends whether you want a leisurely drive or rush it.
Literally everyone as you are pretty much always on motorways or big roads all the way, no worries on that front. Quite a lot of shell stations too.

dashpig

Thanks very much for the reply Henrik - hmm i think - 4AM !!!

At least it confirms things for me now and gives me a better idea of actual timings from someone who knows

Just gotta convince Dan now

Thunder77

With Dan being back 16:25 he could make the evening ferry. Would have to be a quick turnaround though.

Thunder77

Camping tickets have been requested. I am now waiting for confirmation to be sent. Should hopefully come through by time of the next meet. Fingers crossed they haven't run out yet as their website says out of stock on all of them.

plum

Dover - Calais route is fine, and makes a nice drive. Leave at 4AM from Northants to get their for 5PM? Are you sure? We went from Banbury last year in a 6 litre Ford Funmover Motorhome and despite a very slow maximum speed and regular fuel stops (boy that thing was thirsty) we left at 4AM and were there for 4PM... In the past we've left at 6 and been down by 3 in a car...Top event!

scooby feltch

is it to late to invite myself ??? i have a tent

WRX TWIN TURBO

No i dont think so.... It would be good to see you there..
Jason....

hivoo

Thunder77

Good news! Camping ticket order confirmation came through today!

Thunder77

Thanks to all that came to the meet tonight. Here's a quick rundown of what was decided for everybodys benefit.

Outbound
Everybody is going on Thursday morning now. 10 cars, should be awesome
Meet at Junction 15a services (Time: TBC; approx. 2:30-3:00AM)
Ferry crossing Dover - Calais (Time: TBC; approx. 5:30-6:30AM)

Return
For those returning Sunday, Ferry - to be decided by those going Sunday
For those returning Monday, Ferry TBC

Camping
Tickets are confirmed and will be finalised tomorrow.
Scooby Feltch, as said I'll try and get another one for you.

Given the early ferry we hope to get there early/mid afternoon to get a good spot for all ten cars, tents, gazebo etc.

Next Meet
We usually have a pre trip meal about 2-4 weeks beforehand, to sort out who brings what, BBQs, tables, gazebo, generators etc.
Proposed dates are Monday night; 1st, 8th or 15th of May.

Costs
Ferries: TBC
Camping: £35 per car
Petrol: 900 miles roundtrip (about £180 for me last year at about 23mpg)
Circuit: €61 (£41) per person for the whole weekend
Euros for food, booze, eating out, French ASBOS etc

scooby feltch

can u make the meet on a sat or sun as i work nites in the week ? cheers

Bigears

We have searched all ferry routes (Caen, Cherbourg and Le Harve) to give a short drive on Monday but the only one's available are either 9.00 in the morning costing £260.00 or 5.00 in the afternoon costing £260.00 all other ferries are full!!!!!!

Looks like it will be a long drive and the ferry from Calais.

What do you think?

scooby feltch

i wanna *** bk on the sunday hope there isa frry sunday

scooby feltch

p and o ferry , just looked on there website, all sailings on Thursday 14 Jun 2007 Price guide Lower
Mid
Upper

alternative sailings available on date selected Departs Arrives Ship Price (outward)
02:10 04:40 Pride of Dover £30.00
03:20 05:50 Pride of Kent £30.00
04:30 07:00 Pride of Burgundy £30.00
05:30 08:00 Pride of Calais £30.00
06:25 08:55 Pride of Canterbury £50.00
07:55 10:25 Pride of Dover £50.00
08:40 11:10 Pride of Kent £45.00
09:25 11:55 Pride of Burgundy £35.00
10:05 12:35 Pride of Calais £45.00
10:50 13:20 Pride of Canterbury £45.00
12:15 14:45 Pride of Dover £30.00
13:00 15:30 Pride of Kent £30.00
13:45 16:15 Pride of Burgundy £30.00
14:25 16:55 Pride of Calais £30.00
15:10 17:40 Pride of Canterbury £30.00
16:35 19:05 Pride of Dover £30.00
17:20 19:50 Pride of Kent £30.00
18:05 20:35 Pride of Burgundy £30.00
18:45 21:15 Pride of Calais £30.00
19:30 22:00 Pride of Canterbury £30.00
20:55 23:25 Pride of Dover £30.00
21:40 00:10 Pride of Kent £30.00
22:25 00:55 Pride of Burgundy £30.00
23:10 01:40 Pride of Calais £30.00
23:59 02:29 Pride of Canterbury £30.00

Lite night service - reduced facilities onboard

scooby feltch

return journey for sunday 17th june
Lower
Mid
Upper

alternative sailings available on date selected Departs Arrives Ship Price (outward)
00:15 00:45 Pride of Dover £30.00
01:00 01:30 Pride of Kent £40.00
02:10 02:40 Pride of Burgundy £30.00
03:10 03:40 Pride of Calais £40.00
04:10 04:40 Pride of Canterbury £35.00
06:30 07:00 Pride of Dover £35.00
07:20 07:50 Pride of Kent £40.00
08:05 08:35 Pride of Burgundy £35.00
08:50 09:20 Pride of Calais £40.00
09:35 10:05 Pride of Canterbury £35.00
10:50 11:20 Pride of Dover £40.00
11:50 12:20 Pride of Kent £35.00
12:35 13:05 Pride of Burgundy £40.00
13:15 13:45 Pride of Calais £40.00
14:00 14:30 Pride of Canterbury £35.00
15:25 15:55 Pride of Dover £40.00
16:10 16:40 Pride of Kent £35.00
16:55 17:25 Pride of Burgundy £40.00
17:35 18:05 Pride of Calais £40.00
18:20 18:50 Pride of Canterbury £35.00
19:45 20:15 Pride of Dover £35.00
20:30 21:00 Pride of Kent £40.00
21:15 21:45 Pride of Burgundy £40.00
21:55 22:25 Pride of Calais £40.00
22:40 23:10 Pride of Canterbury £40.00

scooby feltch

this is what i fancy as im goin home on the sunday
Total price
£70.00
current booking selections Outward Dover - Calais Thu 14 Jun 2007 05:30 £30.00
Options None
Return Calais - Dover Sun 17 Jun 2007 21:55 £40.00
Options None
Includes 2 adults , Car

Thunder77

Looks like the 5:30 or 6:30 ferry is the one to be on.

If you want to catch the 21:55 on Sunday then you'll probably have to leave before the end of the race to get back up to Calais in time.

Thunder77

Ouch, bit steep.

There's a ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven at 1am getting to UK at 5:30 and one at 8am arriving at 11:00 for £69.50. Dieppe is about half way between Le Mans and Calais. Long-ish crossing though :S

We could also try:
Speed Ferries
18.6.2007 09:50 £25,00 Boulogne / Dover Fast Ferry
its not that far from Calais, but faster

Thunder77

How about we take the Eurotunnel. Way faster than ferries, we'd probably save an 60-90 mins on journey times.
Thur 14/6 Folkestone-Calais pre 6am is £44
Sun 17/6 Calais-Folkestone between 10pm and midnight is £44
Mon 18/6 Calais-Folkestone between 8am and 2pm is £57
Total for Sunday return: £88
Total for Monday return: £101

I really like the idea of this. Drive on, drive off and its only 35 mins to cross the Chunnel. Well worth an extra 30 quid over the ferry in my book.

Additionally the Eurotunnel departs at least every half hour. Less waiting around!

What do you think?

FX02

iTrader: (5)

If we book going on the eurostar we can each book our own tickets. I'm definately up for going that way (£101). It would mean getting up early on the Monday though.

Thunder77

Cool, who else is up for Eurotunnel then? If we wanted to go a little later, I think the 6am to 8am tickets for Thursday morning were £57, so an extra £13.

RB5 JIM

How about doin the trip cannon ball run stylie?

Everyone meets up as usual at 15a n leaves at same time, but we all plan our own routes n see who gets there first! add a bit of spice to it.

Thunder77

LOL you going to organise checkpoints then