Anyone nipped to France for lunch ?
Discussion
Truth be known I have nipped to St Malo for lunch in a beech King air exec plane
The pilot was doing conversion training, which involved engine fails on take off, stalls, all sorts - great fun if a little vomit inducing
On the way back, once airborne the pilot handed me control and I flew it from St Malo back to Southampton for him to then land it.
I was 14 at the time!
The plane was G-ROW owned by Execair (I think?)
The pilot was doing conversion training, which involved engine fails on take off, stalls, all sorts - great fun if a little vomit inducing
On the way back, once airborne the pilot handed me control and I flew it from St Malo back to Southampton for him to then land it.
I was 14 at the time!
The plane was G-ROW owned by Execair (I think?)
My neighbour and I do this every six months or so. We live maybe 1 1/4 hours from the Eurotunnel terminal near Folkstone. Over the years we've lunched in Calais, Bolougne, Dunkirk, Le Touquet, Wimmereaux, Montreuil-sur-Mer, and Audresselles, all good.
We also fill up with wine before we return.....
R.
We also fill up with wine before we return.....
R.
Desvres - Cafe de Agriculture.
Proper rustic village and cafe. Have the dish of the day and a 1/2 caraffe (between 2!) of the plonk de Maison.
Might not be the place to take someone to impress them, but sure as heck great food, most of the locals seem to eat there, good parking and you can drive there/back down some very nice roads.
All the other places are nice but as a rule of thumb head West from Calais and you'll be fine - yet to find somewhere worthy between there and Belgium which is a git as the smokes are cheaper over there than in France, although there is only one speed camera in each direction.
Proper rustic village and cafe. Have the dish of the day and a 1/2 caraffe (between 2!) of the plonk de Maison.
Might not be the place to take someone to impress them, but sure as heck great food, most of the locals seem to eat there, good parking and you can drive there/back down some very nice roads.
All the other places are nice but as a rule of thumb head West from Calais and you'll be fine - yet to find somewhere worthy between there and Belgium which is a git as the smokes are cheaper over there than in France, although there is only one speed camera in each direction.
Edited by Rude-boy on Tuesday 27th August 18:11
I do this a fair bit. Folkestone - Calais and then just pick a random direction and head for the nearest big town (Lille, Amiens, Abbeville etc.). Park. Go for a nice walk, maybe visit the local museum/gallery/cathedral. Take a long lunch. Look around some more. Head back and stop off at Carrefour. Buy wine, cheese and anything else that looks good. Return.
I book a day or two beforehand to get a last minute deal. Never had trouble with availability, having said that I tend to avoid the school holiday rush.
I book a day or two beforehand to get a last minute deal. Never had trouble with availability, having said that I tend to avoid the school holiday rush.
Every three or four months.Home to Dover about 2 hours, ferry crossing 90 min, Calais to Boulogne or Le Touquet for lunch or maybe a picnic on the beach, load up a few hundred Euros worth of beer and wine and pump as much diesel as I can squeeze in the tank.
Pleasant stroll along one of the lovely Pas de Calais beaches or amble back to Calais along the D940 coast road. Snooze on the ferry back to the UK and home in time for a beer or two.
Search around and you'll get a return crossing for £19 or so - out of peak season you'll usually get a few bottles of wine thrown in too.
This is one of the things that makes me spew - I wouldn't want to live darn saaarf for all the tea in China, however being able to hop on the tunnel after a short drive is something I'd love; I've so many people and places to visit over there, and from Lancs it's a major trek (I allow ten hours for the 320 mile trip to allow for traffic). Hull is only an hour and a half away but you're looking at £350 for a car + 2 bods 
^^^
It's about 175 miles for us to Dover but we try to do it at least 4 times a year if not more. If you smoke you can cover most of the fuel costs in what you save on smokes and certainly can get much better wines for your money.
We tend to book a few weeks or so ahead when we can see a weekend we aren't racing or seeing people. If you get on the P&O website and register they send you e-mails of all their promos and usually have a £24 for Car and pax + 6 bottles of cooking wine (great for risottos). The only issue is that it is a day trip ticket and to stay over costs about another £40 at times on the ferry before you have booked you hotel. Again there are Premier Inns and so on very near (and in) Dover so combine a £29 room with a trip and you can break the trip up if you want. We often tend to go over on the Saturday before a meet at Lydden
Once you have done it a few times you get to know the sort of things that are cheaper over there as a rule and also the things you can’t get over here unless you want to pay through the nose and drive 50 odd miles anyway for an inferior product. There are also lots to little niknak shops about for the Mrs so she can get something different to the Ikea stuff all her mates have. (They also have lots of shoe shops).
All in you can easily make it cost neutral unless you live in Scotland or drive an RX8.
It's about 175 miles for us to Dover but we try to do it at least 4 times a year if not more. If you smoke you can cover most of the fuel costs in what you save on smokes and certainly can get much better wines for your money.
We tend to book a few weeks or so ahead when we can see a weekend we aren't racing or seeing people. If you get on the P&O website and register they send you e-mails of all their promos and usually have a £24 for Car and pax + 6 bottles of cooking wine (great for risottos). The only issue is that it is a day trip ticket and to stay over costs about another £40 at times on the ferry before you have booked you hotel. Again there are Premier Inns and so on very near (and in) Dover so combine a £29 room with a trip and you can break the trip up if you want. We often tend to go over on the Saturday before a meet at Lydden
Once you have done it a few times you get to know the sort of things that are cheaper over there as a rule and also the things you can’t get over here unless you want to pay through the nose and drive 50 odd miles anyway for an inferior product. There are also lots to little niknak shops about for the Mrs so she can get something different to the Ikea stuff all her mates have. (They also have lots of shoe shops).
All in you can easily make it cost neutral unless you live in Scotland or drive an RX8.
Rude-boy said:
^^^
It's about 175 miles for us to Dover but we try to do it at least 4 times a year if not more. If you smoke you can cover most of the fuel costs in what you save on smokes and certainly can get much better wines for your money.
We tend to book a few weeks or so ahead when we can see a weekend we aren't racing or seeing people. If you get on the P&O website and register they send you e-mails of all their promos and usually have a £24 for Car and pax + 6 bottles of cooking wine (great for risottos). The only issue is that it is a day trip ticket and to stay over costs about another £40 at times on the ferry before you have booked you hotel. Again there are Premier Inns and so on very near (and in) Dover so combine a £29 room with a trip and you can break the trip up if you want. We often tend to go over on the Saturday before a meet at Lydden
Once you have done it a few times you get to know the sort of things that are cheaper over there as a rule and also the things you can’t get over here unless you want to pay through the nose and drive 50 odd miles anyway for an inferior product. There are also lots to little niknak shops about for the Mrs so she can get something different to the Ikea stuff all her mates have. (They also have lots of shoe shops).
All in you can easily make it cost neutral unless you live in Scotland or drive an RX8.
90 miles for me It's about 175 miles for us to Dover but we try to do it at least 4 times a year if not more. If you smoke you can cover most of the fuel costs in what you save on smokes and certainly can get much better wines for your money.
We tend to book a few weeks or so ahead when we can see a weekend we aren't racing or seeing people. If you get on the P&O website and register they send you e-mails of all their promos and usually have a £24 for Car and pax + 6 bottles of cooking wine (great for risottos). The only issue is that it is a day trip ticket and to stay over costs about another £40 at times on the ferry before you have booked you hotel. Again there are Premier Inns and so on very near (and in) Dover so combine a £29 room with a trip and you can break the trip up if you want. We often tend to go over on the Saturday before a meet at Lydden
Once you have done it a few times you get to know the sort of things that are cheaper over there as a rule and also the things you can’t get over here unless you want to pay through the nose and drive 50 odd miles anyway for an inferior product. There are also lots to little niknak shops about for the Mrs so she can get something different to the Ikea stuff all her mates have. (They also have lots of shoe shops).
All in you can easily make it cost neutral unless you live in Scotland or drive an RX8.
It's way, way more than cost neutral. Any 2.5/3.5 Euro bottle of wine you pick up in France is equal to anything costing £10 and upwards in the UK. The everyday glugging stuff we buy in boxes works out at about 2.0 Euro a litre and is very acceptable. No amount of French wine ever gives me a vile hangover either - which is more than I can say about the adulterated muck supermarkets or wine clubs pass off as quality wine in the UK
Good quality beer is cheaper than the tastless supermarket own brand here too, we bring enough beer and wine and cigars to last till the next trip and buy anything else in bulk we want that's cheaper or better quality than the UK everytime we go.
Take a refrigerated coolbox and load up with cheese and fresh seafood from the Boulogne open air market half way up the high street. Smoked garlic, spices, pates and salamis are all
too.
Jaguar steve said:
Smoked garlic, spices, pates and salamis are all too.
Now you are talking. Smoked garlic is one of the things that is always on the list, even if we are fully stocked we have a list of people who have asked us to pick some up for them if we can, when we can. Planning a little trip over in October but taking the golf as we might buy a few large things too.Dog Star said:
This is one of the things that makes me spew - I wouldn't want to live darn saaarf for all the tea in China, however being able to hop on the tunnel after a short drive is something I'd love; I've so many people and places to visit over there, and from Lancs it's a major trek (I allow ten hours for the 320 mile trip to allow for traffic). Hull is only an hour and a half away but you're looking at £350 for a car + 2 bods
Oy, Oy yew - Geezah. Dahaaan Sraaarf? Wasser mattah wiv yew? Ain't nuuuffink ron wiv dahaaan sraaarf iz like well nice yeah? Jew wanner smaaak inner marrraf or summik, cos I tells yer wot, yew bleeding cum dahaaan ere an you'll faaakin aaav wun. 
jinkster said:
How about car servicing/ tires etc? Is that cheaper and beneficial too?
Dunno if it'd be worth a day trip for car maintainence or the possible grief if the work was delayed or f
ked up.Large supermarkets all stock consumables like oil, plugs, filters, pads and wiper blades for most French cars but they are much the same price, if not more in the case of engine oil as in the UK now.
You sometimes see roadside hoardings advertising tyres cheaply, but I'll guess they'll only have popular French car sizes and again probably not worth the hassle.
European driving is one of the reasons I run a old French shed as a daily though. I know if it goes bang anywhere in Euroland I can quickly get the parts I need anywhere or if I can't fix it myself in a layby then any nearby village garage can sort it.
A mate who lived in Kent used to pop over once a month and do his weekly shop over in France. He picked up cheap deals on the ferry crossing (sometomes these 'France for a fiver' things) and used to get a list of fags etc from his mates at work so he could pick them up cheaply.
He reckoned a large box of washing powder paid for the trip as it was so cheap over there compared to Blighty.
He reckoned a large box of washing powder paid for the trip as it was so cheap over there compared to Blighty.
Dog Star said:
This is one of the things that makes me spew - I wouldn't want to live darn saaarf for all the tea in China, however being able to hop on the tunnel after a short drive is something I'd love; I've so many people and places to visit over there, and from Lancs it's a major trek (I allow ten hours for the 320 mile trip to allow for traffic). Hull is only an hour and a half away but you're looking at £350 for a car + 2 bods
Hmm,having had a scan of your profile,pray tell what part of that North you speak of is Herts in?Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff