Trip Schedule

Paris, Fri Sep 7
Notes:
Ricardo, Niki, Monica and Zé will leave Charles de Gaule airport and pick up Pedro, Claudia and Marlene.
Supermarket: buy wine glasses, gas for cooker, plates, etc.

Driving Paris to Sancerre: 3:00pm - 5:00pm (2Hours journey)
Sancerre, Fri Sep 7 - Sleep in camping (1 night)
Notes:
Visit Chateaux, Buy Cheese, Pouilly Fume, Loire Valley wine road
Driving Sancerre to Tours: 1:00pm - 4:00pm (3Hours journey)

Tours, Sat Sep 8
Notes:
Buy wine and Cheese-saint maure

Driving Tours to Poitiers: 7:00pm - 8:00pm (1 Hour journey)
Poitiers, Sat Sep 8 - Sleep @ Marlene's friends garden ;) (1 night)
Notes: Wake up early in the morning

Driving Poitiers-St. Emilion: 9:00am-12:00pm (3 Hours journey)
St. Emilion, Sun Sep 9
Notes:
Chateaux Grand Corbin - Les Anges and Chateaux in Pomerol

Bordeaux, Sun Sep 9 - Sleep in camping near Bordeaux (3 nights)
Notes:
Visit Palais Rohan, museums, wine shops

Driving Bordeaux to Toulouse: 9:00am-11.00am (2Hours journey)
Toulouse, Wed Sep 12
Notes:
Stop just for lunch and a quick look around

Driving Toulouse to Marseille: 14:00pm-18.00am (4Hours journey)
Marseille, Wed Sep 12 - Sleep in camping near Marseille (4 nights)
Notes:
Diving, visit wine region around, beach
(Marseille-Nice 2Hours journey)

Sun 16 Sep - most of us will have a plane to catch, either to London or Porto (Ricardo and Niki will take all of us to the airport)
Mon 17 Sep - Ricardo and Niki will catch a plane in Nice early in the morning

Van Hire?

Todos, here are some companies para aluger ok,

http://www.argusrentals.com/

http://www.auto-europe.co.uk/

http://www.discountcar-hire.co.uk/car8.html (Good One)

http://www.carjet.co.uk/common/directory/index.php?rf=999999&cl=CDG (Last Citroen).

Good luck! If i come will be a lastmin.com apperance i am afraid..... I never though the idea of a promotion could piss me off this much!!!!!

Ric, don't drink the valley dry, leave some for me....

Email from Pedro Campos_16.08.07

Hey everybody!Me and Cláudia are also confirmed; Cláudia's bought her ticketfor the 7th and my interrail ends in Paris on the 6th.The attached file is the recommendations my french flatmates gave me

Last updates_Important

Less than one month for our mitical journey and only 4 of us have commited and actually bought the plane tickets so far...

The tour will be done on the west side of France: bourdeaux, lanscapes etc... (Ricardo can give further information on this, and an updated map will be posted in the next few days)

Come on people! This will certainly be the journey of the year!

We have prices for car rental! and we think this will be the last week to rent them and decide who is coming along. Of course we could all meet there afterwords but you will have to do your own arranjements and gather a couple of people to share the car hire.

FIAT doblo (or similar) : 10 days = 229.98+22.42(additional driver) = 252.40GBP

optional navigational system=81.52 GBP (avoids getting lost and might be a very good option)

5 seats+5 luggage space and also air contioner (Rates include: Collision damage waiver, Theft protection, Third party liability insurance, tax (VAT), unlimited mileage and location/airport fees)

If there are more than 5 people coming we are better off just renting 2 cars as renting a 7 seat car can cost as much as 735.00GBP!

*Ricardo, Niki, Zé and Monica are very keen on the FIAT Doblo, although a very funny looking car it's quite spacious and it's blessed with air conditioner!

For those of us who already have a plane ticket to Paris*, we will be arriving on the 7th September @ 11h55. The car hire will start at the airport (Charles de Gaule) and we are thinking of sleeping near Paris that night in a cheap hotel:

"Premiere Classe Paris Ouest - Pont de Suresnes" just 2Km from the city center this 1 star hotel has a better rating than most of the 2star hotels in ryanair website (3 in 5).
So 1 double bedroom for 1 night = £29.00
For those who know Paris this hotel is right next to the Bois de Bologne!

For the rest of the journey the sleeping arranjements are going to be decided as they are needed...unless anyone has other ideas ;)
The main idea is to stay at bungalows or similar in camping parks. I hope there will be no need to sleep under a bridge but if we will come to that I'm sure no one will complaint.

Please answer quickly! Write your comments.

Rugby - anyone up for it?!

…. In September its Rugby World Cup and Portugal is it in for the first time in History!!! Amazing, rugby is mega different to Football, everyone drinks and sits together and so much more relaxed! Who would be up for a game or two whilst in France?

by Pedro Martins

Comments @ Google calendar

These are the last comments found @ Google calendar. Please write any comments in this Blog from now on. :)

Sat 20 May Monica Reis
It was John Maynard Keynes

Sat 12 May Ricardo Reis
"My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne."Who said this?

Sat 12 May Ricardo Reis
Hey cousin, glad you're considering it!

Sat 12 May Ricardo Reis
Yellow!!! It's getting serious boys and girls. Some of us have bought the plane tickets, so for the few ceptics around, yep, it's definitely going to happen, so get over it and book yours if you don't want to miss on the best deals. Don't forget to check on British Airways also, as they have very good deals as well. Dates to remember: 07/09/2007 - 16/09/2007

Sat 14 Apr "pedrojmartins@msn.com"
Sounds good... there is me thinking you were sending me junk mail Ric.... Only did i decide to read it recently and was like dam, impressive trip. Get solid dates and should be in! All for one, one for alll...... etc.. blah....

Fri 13 Apr Ricardo Reis
Hello friends! And yet another change. This one quite important: Due to work related problems we must move the dates of this journney 1 1/2 months to the 7th Setember until the 16th. hope it's cool with everyone and maybe some more people can come!

NOTES...

The amount of days we spend in the cities is not rigid. But the starting and ending dates are the ones set. 07/09/2007 to 16/09/2007.
The most important things to buy ASAP are the flights from London to Paris and Marseilles to London. Also the accommodation in the parks or hostels, apparently France sells out for places to sleep in the summer… the car can be booked slightly later cause the dates are set and there is an option to pay it later online (costing only a bit more).

by Ricardo @Google calendar

ACCOMODATION & ACTIVITIES

There are thousands of camping parks in France. I found just a few, some for bungalows and some for tents. They are just an example and taken from the same site France Camping.org. We will update if better deals are found and somebody decides to book. (It would be nice for everyone to book in the same place I guess…)
In Paris a 4 person bungalow with a great view of Paris can be booked for €22.00 pppn Les Campings d'Ile-de-France -
Near Reims and Dijon for €13.00 pp with tent - Camping du Tertre
In Lyon, camping with tent for €18.00 or bungalow for €35.00 - Camping Indigo
In Marseille we can spend 4/5 nights in bungalow for around €100.00 pp - Lou Soulei

ACTIVITIES
This bit everyone can suggest. I have a few ideas that I will post later on wine, cheese, diving and theatre (Avignon festival is at full steam in July!).

I think it would be a good idea for the one’s who know they are going, to start chatting about who wants bungalows (mobile homes…) and begin to think about booking accommodation and car hire (again, groups of 4 or 5).

by Ricardo @Google calendar

TRAVELLING AROUND

Flight from London Luton to Paris one way, £33.00 today with easyjet. Air German also makes some good deals.
For traveling between Paris and Marseille:
CAR HIRE- prices for car hire for 10 days picking the car in Paris and returning it to Marseille can be found at various sites, between £230.00 and £360.00 for cars like Ford Focus and Renault Scenic. Depending how many people are taken (max 5) the average is around £68.00 pp. Easycar / Europcar / Avis / Novacarhire

by Ricardo @Google calendar

WHAT WILL HAPPEN...

A change of plans has been made it simpler, cheaper and more fun. Basically, we will be going only to the east of France, instead of All France (a bit too ambitious that one). The only regions that have been left out are Bordeaux and Loire. We still have Champagne, Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Marseilles, Avignon, and Cote du Rhone…We have two options for travelling around once we arrive in Paris: train and car, or just car. The objective is to spend half of the trip travelling between Paris, Champagne region and the Burgundi region, and the other half in Marseille (where we can easily explore Cotes du Rhone, Avignon and Cote d’Azur).

By Ricardo @Google calendar