Thanks Jim, yes, lucky I managed to get it sorted. Cost €250 all-in for the flexi, including fitting which took less than 30 minutes. Very obliging chaps at the local place, always ready to help. I couldn't really tell how bad it was with the car just jacked up, nor exactly where the blow was, but dead simple on a 4-point hoist! Should be enjoying a high speed drive across Germany this time tomorrow 
Ha! The trip to the UK was fine, but the return was a journey not to be repeated. Had a puncture on the M4 heading towards Reading services, managed to get there safely but had to call out the RAC. Had driven a fair distance on the flat tyre so had to faff around getting a new one fitted. The only winter tyre available in Reading was only in a 91 load rating, so I had to have it at £105 - but of course I now have to buy another now I'm home in a 94
We'd have missed our channel shuttle anyway, but heavy traffic on the M25 and delays to the shuttle meant that we didn't hit France until 5:30pm instead of 2pm, with 360 miles still to go for our overnight stop. Then, as we approached Brussels we hit snow....got to our beds at half past midnight. Next day, what is normally a 6 hour journey took us 10 hours thanks to bad weather and road works on the autobahn near Stuttgart (BBC reported a 16 mile/25km tailback). We were dogged by freezing washer jets and I had to stop a few times to de-ice them. Now safely home and glad of it! There are normally just the two of us, but sod's law meant that this time we had our son and daughter-in-law with us, plus their luggage and our christmas presents, and she hates car travel. Luckily our son shared some of the driving, and they both took it in good part - bit of a Dunkirk spirit really!
Hope everyone else had an uneventful christmas car-wise.
