Geneva road trip & tour of JLC Manufacture
Discussion
yeti said:
Off the top of my head...
Day 1: Calais -> Beaune
Early train, arrive Calais 9:00am (lose an hour - fortunatly my Reverso has a GMT function...).
Calais -> Reims fast on A26, arrive Reims pits at 12:00hrs. 30mins up and down the straight, few photos. Lunch here http://www.restaurant-garenne.com/ which is at the end of the straight, have eaten there before and it's lovely!
Depart Reims at 14:30 for Beaune. D396 (backroad) to Chaumont and then A31 (fast) to Beaune, arrive 18:30, either at Mercure or elsewhere of groupe choosing. Other choice is drive fast to Beaune and arrive earlier and have a stroll around the town?
Dinner... plenty of recommendations, to be refined nearer the time. Nick and I drink Montrachet, Nick names his other two kids after me after the third bottle.
Day 2: Beaune -> Geneva
Depart 10am, N73 to Lons le Saumier, D52/D678 to somewhere like Lacs de Clairvaux, lunch at La Chamiere du Lac?
Then we hit the Jura Mountains; N5 to La Cure and then the D1005
through Gex into Geneva, couple of hours of pure driving pleasure. Mind your brakes, you will need to keep them cool, it's hairpin-tastic 
Departure:
Geneva -> Calais. Those who need to get back in a single day, A26 all the way home. 7hrs of driving, easily split up though. Suggest an evening train backk to Blighty!
Those who can take 2 days go back...
Day 1: Geneva -> Trier and overnight for sausages and beer. 7hrs driving on a mix of autoroutes and backroads Set satnav for 'fastest route' to stay on big roads, 'shortest' to reveal some amazing sweeping empty roads with no traffic. There's no trick to it, it's that simple!
Day 2: Trier - > Calais perhaps lunch in Lieges? Only 4hrs driving. Might be worth balancing the driving over the two days by staying in Saarbrucken or similar, arther than Trier. Trier is stunning though.
Late train home
Day 1: Calais -> Beaune
Early train, arrive Calais 9:00am (lose an hour - fortunatly my Reverso has a GMT function...).
Calais -> Reims fast on A26, arrive Reims pits at 12:00hrs. 30mins up and down the straight, few photos. Lunch here http://www.restaurant-garenne.com/ which is at the end of the straight, have eaten there before and it's lovely!
Depart Reims at 14:30 for Beaune. D396 (backroad) to Chaumont and then A31 (fast) to Beaune, arrive 18:30, either at Mercure or elsewhere of groupe choosing. Other choice is drive fast to Beaune and arrive earlier and have a stroll around the town?
Dinner... plenty of recommendations, to be refined nearer the time. Nick and I drink Montrachet, Nick names his other two kids after me after the third bottle.
Day 2: Beaune -> Geneva
Depart 10am, N73 to Lons le Saumier, D52/D678 to somewhere like Lacs de Clairvaux, lunch at La Chamiere du Lac?
Then we hit the Jura Mountains; N5 to La Cure and then the D1005
through Gex into Geneva, couple of hours of pure driving pleasure. Mind your brakes, you will need to keep them cool, it's hairpin-tastic Departure:
Geneva -> Calais. Those who need to get back in a single day, A26 all the way home. 7hrs of driving, easily split up though. Suggest an evening train backk to Blighty!
Those who can take 2 days go back...
Day 1: Geneva -> Trier and overnight for sausages and beer. 7hrs driving on a mix of autoroutes and backroads
Set satnav for 'fastest route' to stay on big roads, 'shortest' to reveal some amazing sweeping empty roads with no traffic. There's no trick to it, it's that simple!Day 2: Trier - > Calais perhaps lunch in Lieges? Only 4hrs driving. Might be worth balancing the driving over the two days by staying in Saarbrucken or similar, arther than Trier. Trier is stunning though.
Late train home
Molly GT said:
Whilst happy to go with the flow I would say that we stayed at the Mercure Offenburg in the summer with Petrolhead Nirvana for our first night and they looked after our group well, there were no problems with car parking, there was a Shell fuel station just across the road and it was much better than the Mercure we stayed at in the UK before crossing the Channel.
Looking forward to hearing the outcome of your meeting on Friday Woollie
Thanks Molly. Always good to have recommendations about places for overnights. As Jonby said, it is just a place to sleep and shower so I am happy with the Mercure. If I was away for a romatic weekend with my wife then Le Cep or the Abbaye would be the first choice.Looking forward to hearing the outcome of your meeting on Friday Woollie
That said, Nick may appear more attractive after a couple of bottles of Montrachet so the seductive qualities of Le Cep may not be wasted
jonby said:
My attitude is that as the main cost of the trip (other than food & drink) is fuel & the two stays en route, because of JLC's generosity whilst we are in Geneva, I'm happy to go with the more expensive options
However I'll happily go with the consensus if it's for more modest options - these are of course only stopovers to rest our heads & shower in the morning
My thoughts also. I'll be taking the GF and I know where her preferences will lie but I'll be quite happy as long as we're not camping.However I'll happily go with the consensus if it's for more modest options - these are of course only stopovers to rest our heads & shower in the morning
Spoke to a very helpful lady called Dorothy at the Mercure Hotel in Beaune. They currently can accommodate the numbers for
9 April and have secure gated parking which are shut from 9pm until 8am, in addition it is covered by manned security.
Furthermore, I asked the question about discount for a group booking, which she is willing to consider once she has the full details.
My thoughts are, it could better all round if we go for the cheaper option particularly for the guys who are riding solo. This will give
us the freedom to pre- book a restaurant in the town, which is easy walking distance and use the money we have saved on the accommodation
to push the boat out on the evening meal with extra Puligny- Montrachet all round.
9 April and have secure gated parking which are shut from 9pm until 8am, in addition it is covered by manned security.
Furthermore, I asked the question about discount for a group booking, which she is willing to consider once she has the full details.
My thoughts are, it could better all round if we go for the cheaper option particularly for the guys who are riding solo. This will give
us the freedom to pre- book a restaurant in the town, which is easy walking distance and use the money we have saved on the accommodation
to push the boat out on the evening meal with extra Puligny- Montrachet all round.
V8 PLL said:
Spoke to a very helpful lady called Dorothy at the Mercure Hotel in Beaune. They currently can accommodate the numbers for
9 April and have secure gated parking which are shut from 9pm until 8am, in addition it is covered by manned security.
Furthermore, I asked the question about discount for a group booking, which she is willing to consider once she has the full details.
My thoughts are, it could better all round if we go for the cheaper option particularly for the guys who are riding solo. This will give
us the freedom to pre- book a restaurant in the town, which is easy walking distance and use the money we have saved on the accommodation
to push the boat out on the evening meal with extra Puligny- Montrachet all round.
Works for me 9 April and have secure gated parking which are shut from 9pm until 8am, in addition it is covered by manned security.
Furthermore, I asked the question about discount for a group booking, which she is willing to consider once she has the full details.
My thoughts are, it could better all round if we go for the cheaper option particularly for the guys who are riding solo. This will give
us the freedom to pre- book a restaurant in the town, which is easy walking distance and use the money we have saved on the accommodation
to push the boat out on the evening meal with extra Puligny- Montrachet all round.
Personally the hotel is where I'll sleep so I'm happy with the Mercure and I'll buy the first bottle of Montrachet 
Hopefully being a larger hotel there will be more flexibility in giving final numbers a bit later on. I suggest that after my meeting with JLC on Friday I feedback information regarding the Geneva leg and then ask for some firm commitments in order to start booking hotels and parking.
Mercure sounds good to me - better spend money on great wine and food...that said, if the general opinion swings towards more romantic option then happy to go with that...but will need to bring a friend...
BTW: Woolie I may be bringing + 1 but not for the tour- I assume that's no problem and I'll add when confirmed
Very much looking forward to it all indeed...
BTW: Woolie I may be bringing + 1 but not for the tour- I assume that's no problem and I'll add when confirmed
Very much looking forward to it all indeed...
DavidV12V said:
Mercure sounds good to me - better spend money on great wine and food...that said, if the general opinion swings towards more romantic option then happy to go with that...but will need to bring a friend...
BTW: Woolie I may be bringing + 1 but not for the tour- I assume that's no problem and I'll add when confirmed
Very much looking forward to it all indeed...
Plus one is absolutely fine. BTW: Woolie I may be bringing + 1 but not for the tour- I assume that's no problem and I'll add when confirmed
Very much looking forward to it all indeed...
I'm thinking the Mercure seems like a good option with more choice of rooms at less unit cost. I'll have my eyes closed whilst in it (unless I get lucky!) so it's fine for me.
Edited by v8woollie on Wednesday 24th October 09:47
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