Re: Centenary Celebrations

From: Theo
email: theo@gamma.fslife.co.uk
Date: 05 Mar 2006
Time: 14:34

Message

I've actually driven to Italy twice before, first in 1983 and then again ten years later in 1993. Both times I was going to Ivrea, which is just 30 miles north-eastish of Turin so close enough. Both times I drove the distance in one day. I was in Calais for 7:00am local time and was in Ivrea 12 hours later at 7:00pm. The drive obviously included several short coffee/comfort stops and a fairly long lunch stop. The European motorway network wasn't complete then, especially in 1983. I expect the drive now to be much easier with the new motorways that have been built. But I am not suggesting we do this in a day. I was much younger then! I think a single overnight stop is sufficient as long as we set off in the morning. If, as you suggest Ian we cross over to France on the Saturday evening, then we might need two stops although depending how far into France we venture on the Saturday we can have an early start on Sunday and do most or even all of the rest of the journey. But I've been looking at the French motorail option too. The cost is only slightly more than the LMC charter but it's main drawback is that it goes on Friday afternoon arriving in Nice on Saturday morning. That'll mean having to spend Saturday and Sunday nights somewhere before we get to the hotel in Turin for Monday afternoon. I thought it might be nice to drive from Nice to Monaco (just 14 miles away) on Saturday and stay one night in Monaco then drive the 30 miles to San Remo on Sunday and stay there for the night. On Monday we'll have to cover the 150-odd miles to Turin. Possibly a bit too much and the cost of hotels in Monaco and San Remo will add a fair bit to the overall cost. It would have been good to discuss options at our meeting but to get the Ferry discount bookings need to be done by the end of March.