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[CrazyG]

Considering that Antwerp is close enough to be on the doorstep of the UK,
there is no real excuse why 'we Brits' should not be making a good
show of ourselves and our cars at this event.

However....the list of UK attendee's so far only consists of :-

CAR 1 - CrazyG         (me)
CAR 2 - LadyV together with her husband, Fox
CAR 3 - Mazziel who I am sure will be with hubbie..Magabicool
CAR 4 - J500 AND  (yeah I know it shud say J500 ANT, but it's his bruv's car, and
                              it will more than likely be parked up on the SmartClub stand.)

According to Cosmin there will be at least 10 cars making the
journey from Romania, much as they did to the SmartTimes 2011
that was held in Riccioné, Italy ! !
Now if those guys can do it, why can't we match them at least ?
So come on owners of ForFour's in the UK.....make a holiday of the event.
It's in the school summer holiday period, and it's also a chance
to get your hands on some Duty Free goods too.

You could even make a real holiday break of it and carry on into Holland.
It's a really nice place, and less than 70 miles from Antwerp
to the East is Eindhoven, less than 100 miles to the North is The Hague,
and close to that is the world famous model village of Madurodam.
(That would blow your mind if/when you see it).
And Amsterdam itself is only about 110 miles North.
Brussells is really close, being 20 or so miles South of Antwerp.

[cosminnedelcu]

I hope that number 10 to be exceeded

[LadyV]

Hey CrazyG and Cosmin,

Can't wait for Smart Times 2012 now having booked our hotel on Friday!!

I agree it would be lovely to see more ForFour owners - we are treating this as our summer holiday ( still deciding whether to drive to Amsterdam first or wait until after ).

G, have you purchased your EuroTunnel crossing fare yet? Do you think it's better to buy a day return ticket as its cheaper? Then just buy another day return or one way ticket to get back?

[CrazyG]

G, have you purchased your EuroTunnel crossing fare yet? Do you think it's better to buy a day return ticket as its cheaper? Then just buy another day return or one way ticket to get back?

Chatting with Fox yesterday (at the Ace Café meet) and hearing of all the options, my own
advice was that if the 1 day return was only £12 (so he said) and that any other return journey
was going to cost more than double that, was that I would buy 2x 1 day returns and just use
1/2 of one for the outbound and 1/2 of the other for the return. They can't do anything to make
you use the other half, or impose any restrictions if you don't turn up either.
If you are still concerned that the operators may try some form of 'barring' or excuse, then
each of you buy a ticket. One of you buys for the day you want to go over, and the other buys
one for the day you want to return. Schimples.

Me ? I've yet to book my crossing, but it was my intention to go on the ferry as I was told it
was £24 return from Dover to Calais....with dates of my choosing. I'll confirm that on Tuesday
or as soon as I know 100% for certain.

[LadyV]

Thanks! Didn't know if you had bought yours already- we were having a look and it seems to be more cost effective to book two day return tickets...!

[J500ANT]

We are taking the forfour and the Crossblade.


(list of ForFours [cars] amended accordingly)

[nomad8459]

The Dover to Dunkerque route run by Norfolk Line is very, very good and very, very cheap, also Dunkerque is a stones throw from the Belgium border, the crossing takes a wee bit longer, 1hr 20 mins, but the ship is soooo nice, great restaurant and a nice bar, have traveled with them several times and always loved every minute.

I wish I was going to Smart Times, I would definitely have tried to make it but for the car doing what it did!

[K3dge]

I would also like to attend, I'll see whether i can get a mate to come along as the misses hates being stuck in the car!

We jump across to Belgium regularly on the Dover-Dunkerque, usually stay in Brugge or Amsterdam.

I'm sure i can find a loophole somewhere so that the misses lets me out!

[CrazyG]

Worth checking out the prices...ferry v chunnel (to Calais)....
Chunnel can work out cheaper...and it's faster across. (35mins)

http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/home/

[LadyV]

We've looked at this and the prices are pretty much the same. There are loopholes as they won't let us book two day return tickets... We have to book a single or return.

[Fox]

After my in depth loophole search and adding up all the prices, on the tunnel you are best to book a return ticket, specifying your return day. Turns out that is the cheapest and best way. I have found that we can get cheaper crossings via ferries but I much prefer the chunnel.

[J500ANT]

No longer taking the forfour sorry, only the Crossblade and City-coupe!