Note to self: If you work in an off licence the last thing you need to do is go to France and purchase more of the stuff!!
Ok reminder over, I have to keep telling, myself this otherwise I might just find myself eloping to France; not only for the cheap booze, but the relaxed life style to accompany this!
A couple of weeks ago I had the need to have a spending splurge and what better way than to get the neighbours together and the favourite family members and travel to France in a two car convoy, and filled the boots with copious amounts of alcohol, and enough cheese you could smell from Folkestone.
Having travelled on Eurotunnel on many occasions we decided this would be the easiest option as the children are all penned in like caged rats and could not escape, even though we lost our little darling in the hypermarket but that is another story.
We booked our tickets over the internet, and my husband being a little tight nearly passed a kidney when I booked the tickets, as we usually travel after 12.00 and return before midnight which is £39.00. Me being me I booked all the tickets for two cars to travel on the morning train which leaves Folkestone any time in the morning and returns at anytime at the price of £49.00, why did he nearly pass a kidney I used his card!! Oops forgot to tell him!
As a frequent traveller on Euro tunnel we took the option of paying an annual fee of £10.00 and joined their Points Plus scheme which not only gives you points when you travel and shop in certain stores in Folkestone Terminal but also in some of the shops in City de Europe. You also get a 10% discount when booking online so you can actually make the cards annual fee pay for itself after a couple of day trips.
The trains depart from Folkestone to Calais, 4 times and hour, 24 hours a day, on arriving at the ticket desks you will have supply the card you purchased your tickets with over the ticket attendant, who will then in return issue you with your tickets, you will be asked numerous questions one of which will be has your car been converted to LPG, if yes you will be given a variety of instructions.
The prices are as follows for day trips, obviously if you wish to travel for longer the prices can vary dramatically. Check out online and make your £2.00 saving, they sometimes do special return fare deals to entice you over to spend some money. All the information can be found at www.eurotunnel.com
*Day trip*
All times £49.00
(we used this one for the all day shopping trip, which when you discount the £2.00 and take a further 10% off for the Points Plus scheme, the ticket works out to be just over £42.00 which is really good considering the next ticket price is £39.00 leaving after 12 mid day)
*Afternoon*
Mon-Sat After 12.00 – Return before midnight £39.00
*Later Afternoon*
Mon-Sat After 15.00 – Return before 1.00 am £29.00
*Evening*
Mon- Sat after 18.00 – Return before 2.00 am £19.00
You can also pre book your beers, wines, spirits and cigarettes on line and collect at the French terminal before you travel home. You can make a small saving buy doing this on some items but not on all, as it is best to shop around and I found the French hypermarkets a lot cheaper for wine, spirits and fresh cheese, do not forget the washing powder you can make a real saving on this along with dishwasher tablets!
The Folkestone terminal is on the M20 at Junction 11 clearly signposted, at the terminal you have numerous stores, not brilliant but enough to pass the time. You have a Dixon’s, WHsmiths, small Boots, Perfume shop and the usual Burger King and Costa’s Coffee. Plenty of cash machines and a bureau de change so you can cash in all that lovely wonger you need to spend.
On entering the terminal you have to wait for you letter to be called which never seems to take long unless there is a delay which can happen, so never rule out an hour or two delays due to asylum seekers on the trains. But in general boarding takes place 30 minutes before departure time.
When it comes to boarding you have a considerable drive to get to the train, the trains are extremely long and some have two storeys and others are single decks, the trains themselves are very clean and well ventilated.
When driving onto the train you are asked to drive as far along as possible to the next available carriage there you are asked to park the car and select 1st gear apply the hand brake and open you windows slightly, when in position the parking atttendant will activate the fire screens and safety doors which give you that added sense of security. You are only ever maximum of 3 - 4 four cars per carriage.
You can have the added benefit of listening to the local radio station which you can tune into to hear the latest travel news for your destination and general info. The toilets are situated in every other carriage which means you never have far to walk when the need calls.
We went recently with my brother and it was his first time so you could call him a Euro Virgin and he was surprised how quiet and smooth the train actually was. The journey time is just under 35 minutes from Folkestone to Calais which is brilliant as just think of all that shopping time you have saved!
On exiting the other side it is a case of just driving off the train and it can seem that the train is extremely long when you have to drive off, when out on the other side remember to drive on the other side of the road, you are then out on to the A16 the main motorway which either runs directly to Paris or to Belgium.
My tip if going early and you want some where nice to go for lunch I suggest Le Touquet which is just under an hours drive from Calais, there you have some fantastic shops and great French restaurants. And a beach that is out of this world! I recommend Café de Leffe the Moulles mariners are to die for! And all for just under £6.00. you have to go through 2 toll both one on the way there and one on the way back at a small cost of 5 euros so make sure that you have some currency on you.
Tip:
When shopping in the hypermarkets especially (Auchan at Coquelle) and you have not got a coin for the trolley ask at the information desk they will happily give you a token to keep for the trolley, handy when you are a regular visitor and do not carry any small change! All the shops take major credit and debit card like switch, visa etc if you pay this way you are likely to get a better rate of exchange as we found out we got 1.79 euros to the pound, unlike our cash which was 1.50 euros to the pound.
If you are after cigarettes why not do as we do and travel the short distance to Dunkirk to Cigarette Road, the first junction over the border, here you will find numerous cigarette shops selling all brands at a reasonable £18-20.00, for 200. You can make a real saving on these, and there is also a Belgium chocolate shop where you can buy lots of yummy chocolate.
On your return trip you will have to go through the regular security checks, passport control and a quick car search by some armed burley French police men. And remember, if you turn up early they will charge you a £10.00 fee for adjusting your ticket time so plan you trip well to avoid making your day trip a little more expensive.
Did you know that the tunnel is only 40 metres below the sea bed! Wish I never found that piece out, but feel a little bit better sharing that with you all! An estimated 2.5 million cars travel through the tunnel each year and roughly 57 million passengers have travelled on Eurostar since they first started operating in 1994
Bon Voyage!
Cheers
Zoe
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Speed of trains
Very fast
Safety of trains
Very safe
How extensive is their Rail Network?
Average
How well does it cater for disabled people?
Satisfactorily
Ticketing System
Excellent
Value for Money
Excellent
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