Would anyone be interested in a minibus service going between midi-pyrénées and the uk? Given the constantly changing schedules, seasonality and the will they, won't they fly from there next month question I thought I would float the idea via SFN. I would envisage a once a month service dependent upon numbers which could run from the midi-pyrénées with pick up and drop off along tthe way.
Any takers?
I am owner of getU2 based near Tarbes.
I echo your concerns. Having taken two years to get the the DREAL in Toulouse to accept my UK CPC qualification, passing by both the French and UK transport ministries, french ombudsman, VOSA and eventually an EU legal body to knock heads together I am equally cheesed off by those who choose to ignore the regulations. If anyone needs advice on how to do it legally I will only to happy to give it!
No Robert I'm en retraite. I just get a bit cheesed off with Anglos who think they can do what they want without regard to rules and regulations here in France. Sadly they often turn to criticising the French for "lack of an enterprise culture". I like your website by the way. Very smart.
Thanks David. You are correct to have posed the question as I am well aware of many who carry out passenger transport without the necessary authorisations! Are you in the same business? I am always on the lookout for potential partners.
Well good luck to you then Robert!
Thanks for your response David. In fact I have an operator's licence passenger insurance and professional responsability insurance for my business in the south-west of France (the details of which are on my website) and am aware of driver's hours regs. The proposal is really to partially finance visits to see my daughters in the UK who live with their mother. In the sense of a non-profit making trip this is co-voiturage which is tolerated.
Without wishing to be a wet blanket Robert. Insurance? Permitted driving hours/number of drivers? What you are proposing is not the equivalent of a group of friends /co-workers clubbing together to share costs but rather more like offering a bus service without any form of operating licence. It's fine until something goes wrong and then the flics and the fisc can start asking awkward questions. At present you can do Toulouse Gatwick in March for 93euros return with Easyjet so 83euros one way sounds a little expensive.
Hi Yvonne
Did the trip last year at 83€ per seat (one-way). I don't have a fixed timescale. When is of interest to you and for how many people?
Can I ask please what you would charge from Toulouse to London? Also, would you be going this year? 2013?
Hi Liz....there is a Eurolines coach which leaves London Victoria every Friday and gets you to Limoges about Mid day Saturday.... it stops at all the Haute Vienne hotspots.
Hi Bartosz,
Anything is possible but will depend on where you wish to go, dates and times etc. Perhaps you can give me some more details.
Hi Robert! Are you still travelling from France to England, because I am very interested to "hire" you out, for a skiing trip. I have 4 - 6 people interested and we need some transport. Please let me know if you would be interested in this so that we can sort out some details and get a price sorted etc.
I am making a journey back to the UK next weekend (21/21 July) From Tarbes to Hatfield passing via Toulouse, Limoges, Orléans and Paris and by the Tunnel. I have posted the journey on covoiturage.fr and am full on the way back but if anyone wants to take a seat for the journey or part thereof let me know. Prices are Tarbes -Toulouse 10€, Toulouse-Limoges 19€, Limoges-Orléans 18€, Orléans-Paris, 9€, Paris-London 30€. Depart Tarbes 05:00. Calais at 20:00. Any interest?
Thanks to all for the response so far. At this stage I am looking to gauge the interest. I do not envisage having fixed stops but more to respond to the demand on each occasion, the principle being that the more seats taken, the lower the price for everyone. I appreciate the comments on the time and obviously this cannot compare with direct flights however this could be a door to door service which would take away the need for airport parking and getting to and from airports.
Baggage should be no problem.
Pam- As I am Scottish dropping off "up North" would present no problem.
yes, will you be going eurostar or ferry? which port and where to in the UK? we always use LD Lines/transmanche Dieppe/Newhaven as prices are good and ferry is long enough to have a 3-4 hour sleep.we are near Poitiers.
Plus depends on cost really, and whether or not you can bring a decent sized suitcase back with you.
Sue Atkins market stall in Mirande & Marciac (and others i'm not sure of) already does the parcels delivered to their container in England then brought down here once a month.
It sounds a good idea for people who are adverse to flying, otherwise i think it would take too long. Where in England would be the drop off point, there are some of us here from the North you know!?
I travel back and forth frequently for business, but wonder if the time it takes would be too much. However, I would be interested in perhaps a parcel type of service, especially of larger sized goods, where items could be shipped somewhere in the UK and brought down to the Midi-Pyrennes. Due to size of the region, perhaps not home delivery services, but a reasonable pick up location.
This is an interesting suggestion and something I had wondered why no-one had proposed before, but I wonder if on cost it could compete with the low cost airlines which most people use. You often see mini-buses and even coaches of Polish at Dover and the Tunnel going back and forth and I wonder why we dont do something similar. It also occurs to me that there are quite a few Brits where one party lives in France and the other still works in UK and commutes, much like I do.
It is however something I may be interested in if there were a stop off at Limoges. My husband is out in France pretty much full-time and I try to go out at least once a month for a long weekend and then all my work annual leave. Until recently I was flying in and out of Limoges but I have had to stop this as I am terrified of flying and it was making me ill. I was not getting the best out of my long weekend as I would spend all the time worried about flying back!
Now I am using eurostar and the TGV, the journey is double the time but I can work on the laptop during the journey. The cost is also somewhere between 2 and three times more than flying. A bit like the flights, if you get the booking early enough you can get some bargains. I tried researching coaches but could not find anything.