Having now returned from Morzine and having had an excellent holiday I can write and thank you most enthusiastically for offering it as a prize for the Sunday Times.

The trip went very smoothly – Eurotunnel got us across the channel with minimum fuss, including putting us on earlier trains as we arrived a little early, both ways.

We stayed a couple of nights in Troyes – fascinating, and well out of our usual travel area – and then arrived at L’Aiglon de Morzine in good time and a rainstorm!  However the latter was brief and virtually the only time we had other than hot clear weather.  Having not been there before we were not at all sure what to expect and arrived with several
books to keep us occupied in spare minutes: they remained largely unread – there is so much to do, even for those who not use a mountain bike!

The local way to travel

We used the extensive lifts almost every day to get to different places, combined of course with walking: probably the high point in more than one sense was to stand on a mountain top at about 6000 feet and look in one direction to see Mont Blanc and the other to see the Eiger while listening to the sound of cow bells drifting up from the valley beneath
- oh, and then walking a few yards to find oneself straying into Switzerland!

With a good enough imagination that is the Eiger!

We spent another day visiting Lake Léman and enjoyed a  visit to Evian ‘the water town’ while wishing we had more time to explore some more – on the deliberately ‘interesting’ route back, high up I even spotted a Golden Eagle.

Walking is always possible

The accommodation, of course was excellent – we were given Suite 5 which gave us a little extra space but clearly all the suites were very comfortable, providing plenty of space to relax and a more than adequate cooking facility should one require it: we particularly liked the proper coffee making machine!

Looking down from a ski-lift and listening to the cow bells

We returned home with a stop off at Reims – again a most interesting city – to complete an excellent, relaxing and of course quite unexpected holiday. Once again thank you and your team for organising it.

We’re off on our family holiday to Morzine. We have 2 children aged 9 and 6. The main reasons for driving are that we are fed up with airport delays, airport queues, lifting a multitude of bags on and off trolleys and can take more toys for the kids in the boot of the car. This is a log of our journey, from my perspective – the mum and passenger.
Got up at 3.30am at our home in Suffolk so I could prepare food for the journey. Really did wonder if this was a good idea after all.
Car looked liked a NASA station when we set off at 5am with DVD’s, ipods, DS’s etc. Stopped at garage to fill the car and buy 2 cans of redbull for the driver. I’d made 2 travel mugs of decaf – husband not impressed.
45mins into our journey I started to feel chilled, kids were happy watching DVDs and asking for breakfast already. Going to be difficult spacing out a day’s worth of food! Thinking driving actually might just be the right decision after all as I sit here with plenty of leg room, travel mugs and other creature comforts. Just not sure about the Homer Simpson voice over the sat nav.
Arrived at the Eurotunnel Folkestone terminal at 7am – ahead of schedule – and they put us on an earlier train than booked – part of the wonderful Eurotunnel FlexiPlus experience! Managed to delay the kids breakfast until the train. Looking forward to getting to France and listening to my audio book all in one go. How often do you get the chance to do that!
Husband not quite so fortunate but he does like being in control of his travel.
The kids are REALLY excited at this novel concept of driving onto a train. It’s even inspired them to pause the DVD’s.
Arrived in France and disembarked at 9.30am (local time). Sat Nav estimates arrival at destination 5.20pm
Motorway proves to be easy and SO quiet. Husband now very happy and relaxed at the prospect of empty, straight roads with no pot holes or road works.

The end is in sight!

We are all amazed at the frequency of toilet stops – which we take full advantage of at least hourly. Since they are all picnic spots they are quite pleasant places to have a stretch. Unfortunately sight of picnic benches are making the children think of food. Only down side – NO toilet paper in any of them. Take your own!
Had a lazy picnic lunch – sat nav now predicting arrival at 6.30pm since we’ve stopped SO many times. Children sleep for a couple of hours after lunch. I doze on and off and husband drinks the red bull.
After that back to hourly stops.
Finally arrive in Morzine 6.45pm. Ended the journey feeling quite relaxed and refreshed considering how long we have been travelling. We chose to make the journey a relaxing one rather than driving straight and this was most definitely the right one. Despite the time it took to get here my vote is still to drive since it has been stress free, the kids vote to drive and the driver? Well he still votes to drive since it has been really easy.
Door-to-door, it took us around 11 hours, including time on the Eurotunnel.
And the cost? Train 63, tolls 67.70E, diesel 109E

Our end destination! The lovely Aiglon de Morzine

We decided on a whim to self-drive to france for a meeting in Paris – so very nearly booked flights – and what a relief as it just happened to be the day iceland’s volcano caused complete havoc in the skies!

We didn’t need to think about limiting ourselves with our luggage and chucked everything randomly into the boot of the car – what bliss not having to squash things into suitcases only to be told we were overweight by some arrogant  airline.

Travelling FlexiPlus with Eurotunnel means you  get  directed down an empty lane for the first available crossing and you get to overtake hundreds of cars sitting waiting obediently for their appointed time. FlexiPlus signposts guide you past the bottle necks and you arrive at the wonderfully empty flexi lounge  exclusive to FlexiPlus clients – where you get to stuff your face with a limitless picnic including wine, wide variety of sandwiches and puddings, fruit, chocolate, crisps – and topped off with complimentary newspapers and comfy sofas.  Quick snooze on the train and you are all set for your journey!

WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE EUROTUNNEL CROSSING FOR YOUR NEXT SKI HOLIDAY?

Erna Low are delighted to have teamed up with the lovely people at Eurotunnel to offer you the opportunity to win a free crossing when you book your January ski holiday with us!
Eurotunnel is the fastest and most hassle free way to start your trip to the slopes, taking only 35 minutes to transport you from Folkestone to Calais.
The advantages of travelling by Eurotunnel are many; you can enjoy up to two extra days on the slopes, there is no wait to disembark in Calais, you can fill your car up with necessities for your holiday, you can avoid all the queues at the airports and still benefit from the great shops in the Eurotunnel terminal.  Erna Low can book overnight stays for you if you wish to take your time to drive down and you can also choose when you want to arrive in resort.

Book your apartment or hotel now and you could win a free standard Eurotunnel crossing.  This competition is open to all Eurotunnel inclusive bookings for the weeks commencing January 9th, 16th & 23rd 2010 made by Friday 28th August 2009 .  Please call us on 0845 863 0525 for further information, to check availability and to enter the competition.

All bookings will be entered in to a draw, winners will be advised by telephone on Monday 31st August.  Competition not open to Erna Low employees.  Conditions apply.

Never driven before? have a read of our self drive guide for some handy information, hints and tips on getting the best out of your drive!

THIS IS ON TOP OF ALL OUR USUAL EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNTS AND GREAT VALUE HOLIDAYS SO PLEASE CALL NOW ON 0845 863 0525.

It was with some trepidation that I set out on my ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Eurotunnel. I had vivid memories of the fire in the tunnel last year and the potentially drastic effects of it – though Eurotunnel had reacted very quickly and efficiently and it was a credit to their crisis management that there were no casualties and the news was contained without hysteria letting loose. 
Did you know that Eurotunnel actually has three tunnels, 2 running tunnels that are used by trains and the service tunnel – specifically designed as a “safe haven” for customers in the event of an emergency.   The service tunnel is also used for regular maintenance as well!
But did I really want to go down the service tunnel?  Normally no members of the public are allowed in there and I was a bit hesitant about making my trip down into the unknown.

It was a revelation to me that there was a whole team of people on standby in case there was an emergency situation. Their whole life geared up for a crisis, only to happen probably once in a life time.  It was mind boggling to drive deeper and deeper into the service tunnel riding in one of the specially adapted vehicles. We stopped at one of the Cross Passage Doors – this is the door linking the train tunnel to the service tunnel and can be used in the event of an evacuation.  It felt like I was tracing the steps where hundreds of passengers would potentially escape from …. It had that eerie feeling that you wouldn’t have been surprised if James Bond were to jump out at you from behind a security door! 

On leaving the service tunnel, we were taken to the “Nerve Centre” of the tunnel, a NASA inspired control room – a train spotter’s paradise – no windows and computers/electronic charts blinking everywhere with the longest and largest electronic chart showing every single movement of every train in the tunnel, or about to go into the tunnel.  We were treated to a fascinating lesson on how the trains were controlled by our Eurotunnel mentor, Paul, who lived and breathed the complexities of every train entering into the tunnel. 

One of the other aims of the day was to try for myself the whole experience of going by Eurotunnel.  I had been part of the privileged few to travel the tunnel when it opened in 1994- and even have the certificate to prove I was in the first 500 passengers – so it was great to re-visit it 15 years later.  This time I was “trying out” Flexiplus  *. Travelling using Flexiplus was an experience that way exceeded my expectations. If you have ever been to Disneyland and purchased fastpasses to beat the queue, you will appreciate Flexiplus – being one of the smug few travellers to jump all car queues and be loaded on first.  On top of that, Flexiplus allows you to stop at the exclusive lounge, where you are given a generous snack of sandwiches, fruit, wine, cakes and coffee, while picking up a newspaper and taking a break.  Check out www.ernalow.co.uk for further details of how to travel Flexiplus.

*Full Flexiplus service is open to vehicles under 1.85m