I went to Calais yesterday and have a few points to post to update the 'scene' there. Eurotunnel was £58 return and we used that as 2 x 90 minute ferries @ £30 return used too much of the day.
French check-in now uses touch screen self-help and we were early; machine offered me an earlier departure and I managed to touch the screen wrong and lose it. Bother! However, I was marshalled into what appeared to be a 'Standby Lane' and when loading was complete there were some spare spaces on board and I was put onto the one I had managed not to book. A result!
I had never been to Cite de Europe and late Saturday afternoon was probably not the best time to go! Vast Carrefour there and a Tesco drinks store and everything else you could and couldn't want.
Unleaded is abour Euro 1.22 per litre and I saw it as high as 1.39 on an autoroute. Even at today's exchange rate it is better to arrive in France with a full tank.
For those who care about these things it is not possible to buy tobacco products at and super or hyper market, only available thru local 'Tabac' shops in towns and cities. One lady declined to sell us any because it was Saturday, so far as my limited French goes but we got what we wanted 100 yards away so that was a mystery!
Nice uncrowded autoroutes, a few speed cameras and no visible police presence.
Hope this help people thinking of a trip before Xmas
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We stopped at the Auchan hypermarket in Dunkirk on our way to catch the Norfolkline ferry (excellent by the way !) and i was amazed that i could not see another UK registered car in the car park as last time we went there 3 years ago it was full of Brits.
However once inside virtually everything we looked at worked out nearly double the price we could buy it at over here, whilst this was mostly down the the pound/euro exchange rate i don't think they are the bargain places to shop they used to be.
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Hope you had a good time armitage ,price differences are not that big now pound nearly same as the euro.Still a good day out a change is as good as a rest.:)
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I went last Monday used tesco vouchers for the crossing have done this many times before, it appears since last time a camera picks up your registration and the check in was very quick, was able to choose another departure time that allowed us to get across a little earlier. I bought wine in both Carrefour and Tesco even at almost one to one on the exchange there are still considerable savings to be made ( you can look at both WEB sites before you go to plan) especially if you are preparing for a wedding, stayed the night in a very reasonably priced hotel in St Omer with an excellent dinner and wine. I did not spot a policeman, however, have spare bulbs, triangle, yellow jackets, I also take a copy of the the insurance and V5C. Return journey as good, again able to change departure time without any cost adjustment.
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When I go to Calais, I load the boot up with jars of Petite Pois, or Petite Pois and carrots. I also buy large tins of duck in their fat (makes lubberly roast spuds). I eat the Petite Pois by the spoonfull straight from the fridge.
Last time I went, I was stopped by Police on way into Cite Europe. They appeared to target Brits only. Turned my car inside out. However, one of the officers was female and stunning, especially in her semi military outfit. Sweet dreams are made of these!
Funny enough, on way back to Blighty, I was asked by an HMRC guy at check in how long I had owned my car, dealership I got it from, what i had paid for it, was it registered in my name, etc. Who knows what that was about?
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I paid E1.19/litre for diesel on the A26 yesterday on the way back up to the tunnel from Paris in the hope that the rate will make it marginally cheaper than over here at £1.09/litre?
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Just cheaper than UK but only just! You have the satisfaction of knowing that 0% of what you paid went to the British Government so that's a result!
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I agree with Richard abut the prices of wine at Tesco Calais - lots of big discounts on their normal range, some of our favourites were less than half the UK price. First time I've ventured in there and pleased I did.
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I like liddle abroad only because they do wines for a euro a bottle
last of the big spenders me
My local booze store is cheaper than PO for wines too s
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I tend to get my Calais wine at Sainsburys as one can order on line and, when you arrive, it is in a trolley ready to pay for and take away. Plus you get Nectar points for what they are worth! There is also a Majectic Wine store near the Auchan/Sainsburys at Coquelles. If you are going to the ferry theer is a big trading estate on the right as you head toward the coast and this also has some wine/beer outlets.
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Yes, AS, depriving our money-wasting incumbents was the other input in my calculation!
Edited by boxsterboy on 02/11/2009 at 10:59
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I tend to use the tunnel for the speed of the trip and, if it is just a pre-Christmas wine trip I buy enough to at least cover the cost of the tunnel trip itself.
I am not saying that everyone can do this, but I try to buy about 200 - 300 bottles of wine at a time. Majestic do a really nice Italian White that my wife loves and it is £1.99 a bottle at the moment as opposed to £3.99 in the UK. Wolf Blass red's at £3.99 instead of £7 too.
Lots of really good stuff at Sainsburys in the Auchan car park across the road too. Even with the poor exchange rate it is still considerably cheaper. 200 bottles at a saving of £2 plus a bottle is a lot of cash and it fills me with joy that our friend Mr. Brown isn't getting any tax money from me for our daily bottle of wine.
Last time I went specifically for booze we went to all the outlets. Tesco were not always much cheaper than in the UK, especially for beer. Sainsburys seemed to have the best deals, followed by the suprise of the trip which was Majestic. Very good prices and large range. Beer and spirits are often much cheaper in the UK, particularly when the supermarkets have a special promotion.
The French supermarkets have the best range of French wine but I have picked too many not so good ones (at the £3-£5 mark) that means I now tend to frequent Majestic, Sainsburys and Oddbins (who have a vast range you can taste while you are there).
Majestic are offering a free ferry crossing, or £30 towards your tunnel trip of you order over £300 in advance on their website at the moment.
I will be there later this week for a top-up. Cheers!
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SFD - it certainly pays to do some research. I recently found Bombay Sapphire gin cheaper in Sainsburys Reading than in Sainsburys Calais, only by 50p. Also one needs to check the bottle size and proof. One can find 47.5% proof and at a keen price - much more fun than boring old 37.5% which is almost 2/3rds water if you think about it! Thanks for your thoughts on Majestic, I shall give them a try.
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Can you get 300 bottles in the boot of an XJS?
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Can you get 300 bottles in the boot of an XJS?
You also have to consider the axle limits. I seem to recall that a bottle of wine weighs 1.5Kg (half of that being the wine, the other half the bottle)
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Aha! The XJ-S is presently getting a bit of TLC before winter and therefore is away in a specialists garage for a bit. I have a 5 Series Estate as a company car / daily driver with the Jag coming out to play on days when I need my spirits lifting. The Beemer does the 'spirits-lifting' when it comes to bottles of the stuff.
The weight of 200 cases of wine is about the same as two average(ish) people so really getting 200-300 bottles in with then just me and one passenger and no other luggage is no real hardship for the car. Self levelling rear too.
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"The weight of 200 cases of wine is about the same as two average(ish) people"
Assuming you mean 200 bottles and not cases but even so
200 bottle @ 1.5 kilo per bottle = 350 kilos
350 kilos = 772 pounds
772 pounds = 55 stone
Are we talking average Texans here? :-)
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Well, they don't call me 'slightly fat' for nothing!!!
All joking aside I am not sure that a normal bottle of wine weighs 1.5kg, I would have guessed about 1/2 that. Have unloaded the car at home after me trip back last night and will have to check what weight is stamped on the cases over the weekend.
Loaded up with 220 bottles on Wednesday in Calais and pootled down to Germany with the car barely feeling the weight. With the seats folded this was just one layer of cases spread accross the load area.
Got there to find out I have three extra (total of 5) people to transport (with their luggage) from the Hotel to the factory yesterday morning.
Amazed myself at being able to fit all the wine (and a case of beer) into the boot of the car along with my case and business files into the boot area with the rear seats upright again (with the security net up into the roof to keep it all there) and then 5 guys, all with their bags on their laps crammed in for the 25 minute drive to the plant.
The car never has been so full, and to my amazement it shrugged the journey off as if we were barely carrying anything. I dare say that we might have been a tad over the maximum weight carrying capabilities of the car as set down in the manual, but it felt safe and the self leveling suspension kept the car riding well and at the right level. Even the 2.0 diesel engine was unstressed by the whole thing. Deeply impressed.
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"All joking aside I am not sure that a normal bottle of wine weighs 1.5kg, I would have guessed about 1/2 that."
Just weighed a bottle of Bordeaux. 1.32 kilos so my calcs not far out. So I imagine your car was considerably overloaded with 6 persons on board plus luggage plus that amount of wine.
I would not want to have performed an emergency braking with that lot on board.
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Amazed myself at being able to fit all the wine (and a case of beer) into the boot of the car along with my case and business files into the boot area with the rear seats upright again (with the security net up into the roof to keep it all there) and then 5 guys all with their bags on their laps crammed in for the 25 minute drive to the plant.
Hope you blew the tyres up to their max!
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Not mentioned so far is the value of "wine boxes" - I always bring a few (well, quite a lot actually!) of 5 litre Auchan Cabenet Sauvignon at 7.50 euros each. Perfectly good swigging wine for when you get home from work.
It also has the advantage that SWMBO can't tell how much you have drunk out of them - none of this "What??? Have you drunk half that bottle of wine already, it's only 5 pm"
Had a couple of glasses (!!) already!!.
Look out for stupid posts from me later!
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My sentiments exactly Phil, but Pidou is cheaper if you don't mind mixing it with the coach day trippers:)
Pat
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>with the security net up into the roof to keep it all there)
the security net will not keep 220 botttles of wine traveling at 30 mph "there"
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True. Although the bulk of the wine was behind the seat backs. The reality was of course that any prang or shunt would have been pretty unpleasant and the splashes of red inside after a nasty accident would not all have been Cabernet Sauvignon......
I drove like a saint with extra caution and all in the car were aware of the issue. Still no excuse though.
Having said that, getting 7 people into my old Fiat 127 (including in the boot and foot-wells) when I was 17 seemed and felt a hell of a lot more dangerous.
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Madux
Look at the majestic in France website and it shows you exactly how many bottles of whatever you require a family car will carry.
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