I'm going to cheat and post a review I did on Trip Advisor - I'm a bit pressed for time...
La Garenne, Hesdin
If you are passing, it's definitely worth a detour
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Exit Checks
Oh dear, Oh dear
They want to check us outgoing from the UK. Check out this report from the BBC.
You know what that means.
In France they have about 12 booths, maybe more, and there are still queues at busy times when the Borders Agency checks our passports inbound to the UK.
Outbound from the UK there is currently one booth, two lanes, where they could check passports. At the time I travel - usually around 2130 on a Friday evening - the Brits have almost always gone home, and if the douaniers are still there, they wearily wave me through without so much as glancing at my passport.
This is not good news...
Thursday, 5 March 2015
Barcode Scans
They scanned my barcode on the way over to France this weekend. A curiously pointless exercise I thought, given that I was already aboard. They can't stop the train and chuck me off until we reach France, by which time it's a bit too late.
So I asked the bloke doing it. Dogs, it seems. He scans my ticket, and if I have already crumpled it up and added it to the mess on the floor of the back seat, he can type in my licence plate. If I have paid for my doggy, a little paw print illuminates on his handset. But if not, and the back of the car is full of sleeping canines, then what?
Well, he doesn't confiscate Rommel the Rottweiler. Nor does he check my trouserlegs for ferrets. He ticks something on his app, and HQ is alerted to send me a stroppy email.
I can see why Eurotunnel might want to check up - they charge £16 per dog per crossing. So if you are crossing at an offpeak time in February, with two dogs in the back, you are pretty much doubling the crossing fee.
This seems a bit unfair on the dog owner. Not that I am one, I'm more a cat person myself. But I could take six big hefty rugby playing mates to France in the back of my Espace at no extra charge, whereas if I was taking Wee Jock the Highland terrier, Eurotunnel would stick me for 32 quid.
Doesn't seem fair.
So I asked the bloke doing it. Dogs, it seems. He scans my ticket, and if I have already crumpled it up and added it to the mess on the floor of the back seat, he can type in my licence plate. If I have paid for my doggy, a little paw print illuminates on his handset. But if not, and the back of the car is full of sleeping canines, then what?
Well, he doesn't confiscate Rommel the Rottweiler. Nor does he check my trouserlegs for ferrets. He ticks something on his app, and HQ is alerted to send me a stroppy email.
I can see why Eurotunnel might want to check up - they charge £16 per dog per crossing. So if you are crossing at an offpeak time in February, with two dogs in the back, you are pretty much doubling the crossing fee.
This seems a bit unfair on the dog owner. Not that I am one, I'm more a cat person myself. But I could take six big hefty rugby playing mates to France in the back of my Espace at no extra charge, whereas if I was taking Wee Jock the Highland terrier, Eurotunnel would stick me for 32 quid.
Doesn't seem fair.
Friday, 28 November 2014
Website Update
Someone has been tinkering.
There's a new version of the booking procedure online - and I must say I rather like it!
A nice interface, I thought.
Only problem is, first time I tried it, it failed to find the Frequent Traveller Fares i.e. £0. It tried to charge me full whack prices! Boo!
Try upgrading your browser, said the man from Tech Support, when I emailed them. I'm on Internet Explorer 11, what more do you want?
OK, clear out your cache. Nope, not that either
I ring back - no answer.
I try the main number. "Can I help?" says the bloke who answers. I explain the problem. He talks me through the booking procedure. "Why do I need this, I've done it a hundred times before?" I ask myself. But he was right, and it worked.
The problem was that I was bypassing the front end, and going straight to My Eurotunnel, by clicking on the link on my address book for Eurotunnel. But I had the old address, and now there's a new address for the new version!
So well done, bloke on the helpdesk, and please accept my apologies for doubting you
There's a new version of the booking procedure online - and I must say I rather like it!
Only problem is, first time I tried it, it failed to find the Frequent Traveller Fares i.e. £0. It tried to charge me full whack prices! Boo!
Try upgrading your browser, said the man from Tech Support, when I emailed them. I'm on Internet Explorer 11, what more do you want?
OK, clear out your cache. Nope, not that either
I ring back - no answer.
I try the main number. "Can I help?" says the bloke who answers. I explain the problem. He talks me through the booking procedure. "Why do I need this, I've done it a hundred times before?" I ask myself. But he was right, and it worked.
The problem was that I was bypassing the front end, and going straight to My Eurotunnel, by clicking on the link on my address book for Eurotunnel. But I had the old address, and now there's a new address for the new version!
So well done, bloke on the helpdesk, and please accept my apologies for doubting you
Monday, 27 October 2014
How to Acquire a Dog
We nearly acquired a dog on our last trip to France. We were driving up the A16 motorway and came off at the service area Aire de L'Épitre for a quick pee. There was a dog running along the motorway and into the service area ahead of us. We parked up and got out and it ran straight up to us, and tried to get into the car, giving my son a severe dose of the habdabs (he doesn't like dogs).
It was a braque français , a pointer, and as we stood there we could hear the chasseurs' shotguns popping off in the fields behind the service area. We had been spotting them all the way - there is a fashion for French hunters to wear bright orange gear these days, ever since some poor bloke shot and killed his son by mistake while they were out hunting in more traditional green camo.
So this dog must have jumped the fence onto the motorway, and just kept on running. Luckily he was wearing a collar with a name and a phone number on it. Judging that the dog's name was Hugo, but that the phone number was that of his owner, I rang up and told the lady who answered where her missing dog was.
She turned up ten minutes later in a black car like mine, and she was petite and dark haired like my wife - which accounts for why Hugo the dog chose us!
It was a braque français , a pointer, and as we stood there we could hear the chasseurs' shotguns popping off in the fields behind the service area. We had been spotting them all the way - there is a fashion for French hunters to wear bright orange gear these days, ever since some poor bloke shot and killed his son by mistake while they were out hunting in more traditional green camo.
So this dog must have jumped the fence onto the motorway, and just kept on running. Luckily he was wearing a collar with a name and a phone number on it. Judging that the dog's name was Hugo, but that the phone number was that of his owner, I rang up and told the lady who answered where her missing dog was.
She turned up ten minutes later in a black car like mine, and she was petite and dark haired like my wife - which accounts for why Hugo the dog chose us!
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Bloody Starbucks
So, it's 1030 at night and pretty much everything is closed - except for Starbucks. I don't like Starbucks and its vile burnt coffee. I decide to try the hot chocolate and my wife orders the English Breakfast tea.
We pay, and go to the end of the counter to collect it. I can sort of understand why they want me out of the way while they take money from the guy behind me in the queue, but I would much rather they gave me my order. Other retailers - like Costa - can do it.
Anyway, my hot chocolate came, and hey! It's really nice! Silky, chocolatey, and generally delicious.
We went back to the car and headed off, through passport control, under the height barrier, and into the lane to wait for the train. My wife took a sip of her tea and pulled a face - no milk.
Bloody Starbucks!
We pay, and go to the end of the counter to collect it. I can sort of understand why they want me out of the way while they take money from the guy behind me in the queue, but I would much rather they gave me my order. Other retailers - like Costa - can do it.
Anyway, my hot chocolate came, and hey! It's really nice! Silky, chocolatey, and generally delicious.
We went back to the car and headed off, through passport control, under the height barrier, and into the lane to wait for the train. My wife took a sip of her tea and pulled a face - no milk.
Bloody Starbucks!
Monday, 18 August 2014
Flexiplus
Ever wondered what Flexiplus is? As you approach the terminal, you see the signs - essentially it's a way of getting on the train whenever it suits you.
The usual deal is that you book a crossing for (let's say) 1230. But suppose you don't know what time you are going to be getting back (maybe you are driving up from the south of France in peak holiday season). With a regular ticket, if you are early, you wait; if you are late, they try to put you on a train with spaces, but maybe you wait a long time.
Pay for a Flexiplus ticket, though, and you get on the first train that suits you. There's a dedicated check in, a private lounge and priority boarding. You still have to go through the big delayer though - UK Border Control.
The private lounge is nice - one late evening they must have decided to give us a free upgrade, and directed us through the Flexiplus channel. The lounge had a very nice premium coffee machine - help yourself, no extra charge. The loo was nice, and you didn't have to trek across the car park to get to it. And a nice lady gave us a little picnic hamper.
So how much? It varies, depending on the usual supply and demand, but it's roughly an extra hundred quid. Is that worth it?
For me, it's rare that I would benefit. Outbound I usually set off after work and get there pretty late on when all the queues have gone. Homeward bound, coming from a village fairly close to the Channel, I usually arrive close to my scheduled departure time anyway, so it's no big deal.
But maybe - if I was that guy trekking across France, not sure what time I was going to get to Calais, car full of screaming kids, then £100 to get on the first train and miss the bank holiday crowds, - yes, I would be tempted.
The usual deal is that you book a crossing for (let's say) 1230. But suppose you don't know what time you are going to be getting back (maybe you are driving up from the south of France in peak holiday season). With a regular ticket, if you are early, you wait; if you are late, they try to put you on a train with spaces, but maybe you wait a long time.
Pay for a Flexiplus ticket, though, and you get on the first train that suits you. There's a dedicated check in, a private lounge and priority boarding. You still have to go through the big delayer though - UK Border Control.
The private lounge is nice - one late evening they must have decided to give us a free upgrade, and directed us through the Flexiplus channel. The lounge had a very nice premium coffee machine - help yourself, no extra charge. The loo was nice, and you didn't have to trek across the car park to get to it. And a nice lady gave us a little picnic hamper.
So how much? It varies, depending on the usual supply and demand, but it's roughly an extra hundred quid. Is that worth it?
For me, it's rare that I would benefit. Outbound I usually set off after work and get there pretty late on when all the queues have gone. Homeward bound, coming from a village fairly close to the Channel, I usually arrive close to my scheduled departure time anyway, so it's no big deal.
But maybe - if I was that guy trekking across France, not sure what time I was going to get to Calais, car full of screaming kids, then £100 to get on the first train and miss the bank holiday crowds, - yes, I would be tempted.
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