J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

Thanks Lynn,
Arabba sounds like a great place, thanks for your report, and I'm looking forward to the photos. It sounds like you had a couple of lucky escapes - I'm glad you're okay :D

Ally

Caron,
No, I don't seem to possess that ability - you're quite right :D

Littleski,
The website tgv-europe.com says it will sell tickets to customers who live outside Europe, including Australia. They don't seem to have a helpline number but one can e-mail them. They have the same trains (not surprisingly) as the RailEurope.co.uk site, and the website is all in English and easy to use.

They have the couchette (sleeper) train from Paris Austerlitz to Chamonix leaving at 2302 on Monday 15th March, arriving at St Gervais at 0911, leaving at 10-32 for Chamonix and arriving at 11-12. The cost for two people seems to be only 103 euros, or 53 euros if you sit up all night in reclining seats.

Ally

Caron,
I'm entirely serious. It explains why the phone number I gave her the first time didn't work from Oz, as well. It must have a special lock on it so that it can only be accessed from the U.K.

Clearly that phone number and website are only for U.K. users. We are very lucky to have them, but it's a bit hard on Australians etc.

I wonder how she's getting on with the Oz website the Rail Europe man gave her (on the special phone number I got for her). I wouldn't be surprised if the Oz site doesn't have a phone number at all. In that case she'll have to get advice from our website and then book through the Australian one.

Ally

Ise,
It's perfectly true. I phoned Rail Europe myself, because I also found it hard to believe. They said that they couldn't sell Littleski train tickets because her credit card is registered outside the U.K. and it wouldn't pass their security check. They also said her credit card won't work on the internet either for the same reason!

Their final suggestion was that I buy her tickets myself, using my Visa card, and she refunds me. Well, I am prepared to do quite a lot to help her, but that's going a bit too far!

I also tried phoning SNCF (the French train operator), out of curiosity to see if they would accept non European credit cards, phone number 0033,892,353,535 but it was all in French. I am learning French, but it was a bit much for me, because it was one of those automatic option systems, where you have to choose an option, say the word in French (and pronounce it well enough for the computer to recognize) and then you get a whole load more options. I didn't manage to get through to a real person, and I'm ashamed to say I gave up :oops:

I don't know if the SNCF.com website accepts non European credit cards, and obviously I can't test it because I haven't got one. I would have thought it did, but I may be wrong.

Littleski,
Have you managed to get anywhere with the Oz website?

Ally

Well,
I will make an attempt to stick strictly to the subject matter of the thread, in future, and see if I can manage it :D

On this thread, for example, I would like to say 'well done Tony'. I have calculated that over the three years you've been a member on here you've averaged 5.5 messages per day, which is pretty good going :thumbup:

Ally

I'm glad you had a good time, Nelly, and the cakes made it worth travelling all that way :wink:

I have long thought that there should be another section in the forum index reserved for social matters, like threads about football, illness, near-death experiences etc. That way I reckon there would be less 'wibble' in the wrong place.

I don't see this website as a site solely devoted to technical matters to do with ski-ing. It is also a place to enjoy a laugh with fellow skiers, and somewhere to come to when one needs support. I think if the social side of it was lost it would be a much poorer website.

However, I do sympathise with the casual reader who simply wants to know something like where to buy a lift pass, and then has to trawl through a whole lot of misplaced humour etc.

I'd be quite happy to save all my 'wibble' for the new social section and be strictly serious in all the other sections.

Ally

Eggman wrote:Hi O/H is currently in St Gervais for a few weeks, she informed me that a 50 year old lady had been killed on the slopes by somebody running into her. Have not got any more news yet will speak to O/H today.

That is really terrible :shock:

How awful for her friends and family. I wonder who it was who ran her over. Some of the slopes do get awfully crowded, especially at the bottom and at the intersections.

Ally