Ski Trip from hell!

Ace wrote:

[...]
Where some confusion arises (inc. Simon's friend, I imagine) is that
it's not unheard of for mobile radar traps to be used on the section
just preceeding the péage station, with the flics pulling people over
after they've paid their tolls. Hence the belief, especially in
less-than-perfect-French speakers, that they've actually been timed
from the last one.

This is the event which creates the illusion. Catching the auto
caught on the radar is a big problem. Chasing them down with a
motorbike is fraught with danger and not easy. Much easier to station
a flic at the peage. He can also check tachometers on the trucks.

If you keep your eyes open you can see the flics loitering on the
other side and swing to the toll gate furthest away.

clears throat ..a friend of a friend of mine. And one of there
friends, were coming up from the Riviera to Paris in a 'two fast
cars'. A third friend followed in a car of lesser marque but which was
more than capable of giving a good account of itself. They thundered
north at around 260/280 km/h. One of the cars (the lead car) must have
set off a radar trap but a this point the third car of lessor marque
had to stop for gas. A rapid pit-stop and a smokey exit later they are
thrashing the motor north attempting to catch the first two when ahead
of them in the outside lane they are rapidly approaching a blue
motorbike with a rider hunched down behind the instruments. They brake
hard and flash emphatically to get the goon out of the way but he does
not move. He raises himself and checks his mirrors at which point they
observe he is a .... flic.

He is, of course, chasing the first two cars but does not yet know he
is beaten. He flags down the car behind him and is only able to
administer a fine relating to "flashing headlights" or something
minor.



Other news:


+ The French have put out their first crop of GATSOs but the
population in a completely un-French like response have not turned
themselves in en masse at the police station but have hit back with
everything , including deer rifles, and vandalised the cameras.
Unfortunately a mechanised system of law enforcement circumvents the
protection provided to the populace and transient foreigners by the
incredible laziness and inefficiency of the French police force.

+ EU cross-border enforcement of judgements is almost upon us, which
means one may be chased for the fine once one has left the country.
Interconnection of vehicle registration systems, I presume, would
follow with an un-EU like swiftness. (Anyone have any confirmed dates
for these ?)

None of this affects the drug-runners making radio-co-ordinated
Gumball-like runs from the Spanish ports all the way to the ghettos of
Paris in stolen Audis and Mercedes-Benz.

+ There seem to have been some changes in the structure of French
speeding fines recently but I have no details.


Previous NATOPS entry for driving in France was:

After dark: No limits
In daylight: Stay with the draft unless confident of evading detection


With the advent of speed cameras which will operate day or night, and
cross-border enforcement then one of the new rearward-firing jammers
is required for a paperwork-free journey.




- funk - 'We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert
when the drugs began to take hold' - raum

"funkraum" wrote in message
news
Ace wrote:

[...]
Where some confusion arises (inc. Simon's friend, I imagine) is that
it's not unheard of for mobile radar traps to be used on the section
just preceeding the péage station, with the flics pulling people over
after they've paid their tolls. Hence the belief, especially in
less-than-perfect-French speakers, that they've actually been timed
from the last one.

This is the event which creates the illusion. Catching the auto
caught on the radar is a big problem. Chasing them down with a
motorbike is fraught with danger and not easy. Much easier to station
a flic at the peage. He can also check tachometers on the trucks.

..../...

The flics are so poorly equipped in France today (I remember the motorway
police having Renault Alpines at one time) that the drug runners latest way
of getting through the country is in a high speed convoy of Porsches etc, a
decoy vehicle up front, but if chased they just smash through the tollgates
happy in the knowledge that the flics can't get even get close.

Pete

funkraum wrote:
Ace wrote:

With the advent of speed cameras which will operate day or night, and
cross-border enforcement then one of the new rearward-firing jammers
is required for a paperwork-free journey.
[...]

I omitted to mention there is a fine for use of radar detection
equipment in France and it is the maximum they can fine you on the
spot without recourse to a court, which used to be 5000FF.

Keep it out of sight.

"John Elgy" wrote in message
.. .
helloblondie wrote:
Hi all

Taking family skiing this yr. Looking forward except 4 trip - i decided
to
drive! I enjoy driving so it seemed like a good idea at time. Now i am
wondering a) r my young family up 2 it ? b) can i cope with the
inevitable
quarrelling and crying (me!) and c) can my 2 wheel drive car cope? time
will
tell.

Anyone have some good, useful tips on how to survive a 1k Km road trip
from
Kingston, SW London to Meribel, France with 2 children who love each
others
company provide its for no longer than 5 mins, a wife who gets travel
sick
looking at a car and in a car which coped badly with a little London
snow
last year.

Seriously though any seasoned alpine nomads with advice on taking family
skiing, pass on some of ur (positive) experiences plz.

Bash



We have driven to the Tarrentaise (and once to Serre Chevalier) about
half a dozen times from Birmingham and when our son was very young it
was without doubt the easiest way to do it. Load up the car after work
on a Friday, drive down to Folkestone (the hardest part of the journey)
then drive overnight on almost deserted French motorways and get to the
resort the next morning. Our son would usually be asleep somewhere after
Oxford and not wake up untill Albertville. My wife and I would share the
driving and the sleep. No hanging around in airports, loading trains
throught the windows and carrying tons of luggage from airport car
parks. Oh, and you get 8 days skiing.

Even in January we never needed snow chains, though on one occaision it
probably would have been quicker to fit them than crawl down the pass
from Biancon to Grenoble. A 2 wheel drive car will cope fine. If London
snow is like Birmingham then 1cm brings the whole city to a standstill

I would reccomend it. My tip would be to take plenty of talking books to
releive the monotony.

John

Its easy,........ just plan your route. The michelin maps show where the
toll bariers are, then use the 'net' to look for interesting distractions
along the route!
Buy the snowchains at a French supermarket or autostore (can be sold for a
profit back it the UK).
Even allow an extra day each way for sightseeing, stay at a cheap motel and
suddenly an eight day holiday seems like two weeks.
With no aggravation at the airports, no worrying about lost luggage,
transfer buses etc.
French motorways are "snooker table smooth" and remember the longer you stay
on the motorway the cheaper it is per mile (back to the first statement,
plan your route, fuel up off the motorway) Driving is easy and the driving
standards are generally better than in the UK especially when it comes to
lane discipline!
I usually stop every 3 hours, even if it is just to get out of the car to
stretch the legs, essential if you are not used to driving long journeys (I
usually stick about 50,000 miles a year on a car, most of it motorway or
fast A road) So if you are not used to long journeys stop every two hours,
grab a coffee.
I have done Italy, Switzerland and next year I think we wil hit Austria
unless the bargain flight people come up with some silly deals to Salzburg!

Enjoy.


Deano

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 00:11:37 +0000 (UTC), "Dean Kellett"
wrote:


"John Elgy" wrote in message
. ..
snip

Even in January we never needed snow chains, though on one occaision it
probably would have been quicker to fit them than crawl down the pass
from Biancon to Grenoble. A 2 wheel drive car will cope fine. If London
snow is like Birmingham then 1cm brings the whole city to a standstill

Don't be tempted to forget about them, however. There are many roads
in the French Alps where you are legally required to have them during
the winter months. If there is heavy snow the police often set up road
blocks where they insist that chains are fitted (even if you have
winter tyres). If you don't have any, you'll be turned around and sent
back down the mountain.

Its easy,........ just plan your route. The michelin maps show where the
toll bariers are, then use the 'net' to look for interesting distractions
along the route!

What possible advantage is there in knowing where they are? You can't
avoid paying by coming off a junction earlier, you know.

Buy the snowchains at a French supermarket or autostore (can be sold for a
profit back it the UK).

If you want cheapo, make-you-legal chains that may take an age to fit
then yes. Otherwise I'd recommend getting a decent set in the UK and
practising fitting them before leaving home.

Even allow an extra day each way for sightseeing,

Why? Most skiers/boarders that I know would much prefer to maximise
time on the slopes, rather than wasting it sightseeing en-route.

stay at a cheap motel and
suddenly an eight day holiday seems like two weeks.

What is this 'holiday' of which you speak? I thought we were talking
about a ski trip.

--
Ace (bruce dot rogers at roche dot com)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

On http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news...er/327161.html you can read
about a dim-Brit being done for 246 kph on the French motorway, it's in
German.

Serves him right IMHO, also it confirms what others have said: the
government of Paris is having a crackdown on causing accidents.

Simon Brown
www.hb9drv.ch

"PG" wrote in message
...


I was wondering about that. More and more people are getting the automatic
'telepéage' badge, with a monthly statement. Haven't had my first bill
yet,
but if the times are also registered it would be a simple task for the
flics
to check average speeds direct from the autoroute company concerned (

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 15:39:37 +0100, "Simon Brown"
wrote:

On http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news...er/327161.html you can read
about a dim-Brit being done for 246 kph on the French motorway, it's in
German.

Serves him right IMHO, also it confirms what others have said: the
government of Paris is having a crackdown on causing accidents.

No, they're having a crackdown on people driving over the speed limit.
Not the same thing at all.

--
Ace (bruce dot rogers at roche dot com)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 15:57:57 +0100, Ace wrote:

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 15:39:37 +0100, "Simon Brown"
wrote:

On http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news...er/327161.html you can read
about a dim-Brit being done for 246 kph on the French motorway, it's in
German.

Serves him right IMHO, also it confirms what others have said: the
government of Paris is having a crackdown on causing accidents.

No, they're having a crackdown on people driving over the speed limit.
Not the same thing at all.

And anyway, it's not even as if he was going that fast...

--
Ace (bruce dot rogers at roche dot com)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

"Simon Brown" wrote:

On http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news...er/327161.html you can read
about a dim-Brit being done for 246 kph on the French motorway, it's in
German.


This guy was unlucky as I think his speed is still in the FFR5000
band, which starts at 200kph. (But as I mentioned the other day I
think the rules have changed).


Serves him right IMHO, also it confirms what others have said: the
government of Paris is having a crackdown on causing accidents.


The crack-down is on speeding. "Causing accidents" is being left
un-touched. They do not have cameras which catch the French
tail-gating habit which causes all their shunts and pile-ups. All of
which happen at any speed.

"Dean Kellett" wrote:

[...]
transfer buses etc.
French motorways are "snooker table smooth" and remember the longer you stay
on the motorway the cheaper it is per mile (back to the first statement,
plan your route, fuel up off the motorway) Driving is easy and the driving
standards are generally better than in the UK especially when it comes to
lane discipline!
[...]

- 'lane discipline'

This is due to French autoroutes (especially the ones used by skiers)
being quieter than English, and the fact that lane-hogging on a
half-empty autoroute will receive and aggressive headlight-flashing
approach from a French driver speeding up behind.