BXagon Team thread

[Mike E (uk)]

I am booking the Hotels now.

It is worth knowing that you can book Etaps and Formule 1s 250 days in advance, but if the weather is good enough to camp and you find a suitable campsite, you can cancel the hotel before 7pm on the arrival day and its costs you nothing.

Having said that, as it will be late October- I do not want to sleep outside.
Also camping equipment filling the car will reduce my payload for wine etc.

With 2 in a room, and sharing fuel, the overall costs will be reasonable.
A petrol BX can get 40mpg on a run, so those in turboDs should be running very cheaply indeed.

Mike

[Philip Chidlow]

I'll be doing the same in the next day or two... but I thought we were still over 250 days off? Must recalculate!

[Mike E (uk)]

Today it is possible to book all accomodation on Phil's list up to
and including Thur 22nd Oct online.

Mike

[Philip Chidlow]

Can I just advise the following.

I booked rooms for Phil B (Kermit) and I at the Ibis Car Ferry, and in order to get the best rate had to pay now.

Others might not want to do this.

As for the following I have had no real problems as they are Etap/Formule 1 and you can book and cancel without penalty (up until the day before if need be!) and only secure the room(s) with a card rather than pay for it/them up front.

HOWEVER precipitated by this booking 'count-down' I have important news.
In discussions with Mat, the change to an overnight at Albertville as opposed to the much smaller St. Jean-de-Maurienne, night of the 20th October has been settled upon. This of course doesn't mean an individual team couldn't decide to go with the original stop-over, it's just there's a lot more choice at Albertville.

This Albertville stop-over change got me thinking.

Albertville to Digne-les-Bains is 168 miles and given the terrain, will take approximately three and a half to nearly four hours.

However, although there is a Hotel at Digne-les-Bains (DLB) it's a Campanile and not as cheap as a Formule 1 or an Etap (It's looking now like it might be at least €58 plus per room so pricier than an Ibis too!). I was happy to keep the plan as it stands as we are making savings elsewhere... but if there is a viable alternative with a wider selection of accommodation available then we should consider it.

Unfortunately there is little choice in the immediate vicinity of DLB, without us shortening the stage further by stopping at Gap. So I looked into Nice as our stop-over on the 21st Oct. However, taking the N202/D6202 at that point in the stage might be asking too much. It's a tricky route and it'll be late in the day too.

So, I looked at having Grasse/Cannes as our over-nighter.

This means, from DLB we take the N85 (a far more direct and well-travelled route by the look of things) to Grasse and on into Cannes for the night.

Note the N85 DLB to Grasse was cited as one of the best driver's roads in Europe in Top Gear.

So: The route from Albertville, via St. Jean-de-Maurienne, Serre Chavalier, Embrun, Seyne, Digne-les-Bains, Castellane, Grasse to Cannes it could be: 250 miles in hopefully under 6 hours.

Do-able it would seem.

And accommodation is better:
My choice would be:
Etap Hotel Cannes centre ville
hotel code : 5493
Number of rooms : 102

3, rue Mozart
(Angle 46 boulevard Carnot)
06400 CANNES
FRANCE

Tel : (+33)892681297
Fax : (+33)493382020

There's underground parking too.

And it's €42 per night.

Then the next stage would obviously be Cannes to Montpellier.

I'm going to recommend this. Please wait for confirmation as I need to talk with Mat.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN we are changing it all around. The rest of the route is as planned!

[Philip Chidlow]

In addition to the important update above, I have just got confirmation from the Holiday Inn Folkestone (http://www.hiexfolkestone.com) that we can rendezvous for our 'scrutineering' in their car park. We will aim to have an are dedicated to the BXagon and - although the Hotel doesn't do lunches - it was offered that catering could be made available if there were enough wanting it. I'm not sure this is viable, but if 24 people were there at lunchtime, it might not be a bad idea: especially if it's raining...

To confirm:
UK RENDEZVOUS: In the car park of the Holiday Inn Express at Folkstone (as it's off the M20/A20 access to both Folkstone and Dover is good) and conduct final briefing/ 'scrutineering' there, between 10:30 am and 3:30 pm on Saturday 17th October.

[Mike E (uk)]

Cannes Centre ville is fully booked for the 21st.

The other 3 etaps still have rooms.

I have booked Etap Cannes Mougins because it is the nearest to the Centre ville.

Mike

[Philip Chidlow]

The decision to switch from DLB to Cannes/Nice is still to be agreed. And it seems problematical - so hang fire. There are issues over IF the favoured route is closed to us due to weather (snmow/ice/rain) what the alternatives are. Mat, Jaba and I are going to be looking at this asap.

(I was considering
Etap Hotel Cannes Mouans Sartoux
139, Montée Iseppi
ZI Tiragon
06370 MOUANS SARTOUX, FRANCE
Tel : (+33)892683207
Fax : (+33)493751438
- It's on the way into Cannes from Grasse - the way we would be approaching...)

[mat_fenwick]

OK, we have (finally!) settles on the route...

1. Calais-Saverne
2. Saverne- Pontalier
3. Pontalier – Albertville
4. Albertville - Digne-les-Bains
5. Digne-les-Bains - Montpellier
6. Montpellier-Alaigne
7. Alaigne-Pau
8. Pau-La Rochelle
9. La Rochelle-St Brieuc
10. St Brieuc-Dieppe
11. Dieppe-Calais

Phil is looking into details for more accomodation in Digne-les-Bains, so hopefully we will be able to keep the costs down.

Mat - The Routemaster...
Why does that title make me think of a big red bus???

[Philip Chidlow]

Great. Hallelujah.

Watch this space re: Hotels.

If anyone else finds anything in the meantime let us know!

[Mike E (uk)]

I have cancelled by reservation at the Campanile at Digne les bains,
for the night of 21st.

Should I rebook it?

and cancel my reservation at Cannes?

Mike

[Philip Chidlow]

Well, I would but it's not mandatory! If you think you can make Cannes alright on that day it's your call. Sorry you've been messed about. I trust no money changed hands As I said earlier it was a case of "Please wait for confirmation". BTW Mike how was booking the Campanile? Easy? Did you do it online?

Cheers

P

[Mike E (uk)]

All my bookings have been made/cancelled online.

It is very easy to do for Campanile, just like Etap & Formule 1

Not paid any money yet.

I want to do the best drives in the light when I am not too tired to enjoy the trip, so should I stop at DLB then?

Mike

[Philip Chidlow]

I'd say, Mike. The drive from DLB to Nice is supposed to be, well, nice.

I'm going to book my Campanile there tomorrow. Sorry, I mean later today

[Philip Chidlow]

Just done a quick calculation:
Accommodation (Hotels and B&B) for the BXagon will cost the Philibusters (@€1.1 to 1GBP) around £163 per week per head. (A total of £607 for the two of us - not always sharing a room - for the whole 13 nights). Add to that a consideration for Mike in Brittany and I'd say it was manageable.

And for that we will have, as a team, raised say £1,500 - hopefully a lot more - for Cancer Research UK.

[kermit the frog]

Update to all

Philibusters Green Hornet is being picked up tomorrow from Tim by Me and i will be calling in on Phil 1 on my way back to worthing.
All set for a very long day. (getting a lift to Burton upon Trent early tomorrow)
Good practice for the BXAGON.
I will be navigating the old fashioned way with a map.
none of those new fangled thingy's for me.
I will update when i get home with a mileage check and average fuel consumption.( i am hoping for 60+mpg )
If i am awake enough.

Regards Kermit ( Phil 2 in the philibusters team)