I’m just glad I’m only being accused of talking to them
Oh, and by the way… I’m back!
I had a fantastic time, and I’m pleased to say the car made it back home this time I guess there’s something in this S2 thing after all
I’ll maybe write a little something about the trip and post some photos if there’s any interest, but I’ve got to do some work now.
Let’s just say it was an exhausting and exhilirating 2440 miles with some great roads, great views, and some good food
Welcome back and it’d be rude not to write something after all that input.
Ian
yep
come on matey get the typing finger out
Sorry, just not enough hours in the day. Bear with me a little longer
…leave the man alone…he’sbeen delivering parts to me today! thanks again Brenda! Take a week off!
LOL…
Oi! Who are you calling Brenda?
LOL…ooops sorry darling!
I’ll let you off just this once sweetheart
Ok, I’ve had a little time to start writing about the trip. Hope it’s of some interest.
Overview:
This is the second time I’ve done a driving holiday around Europe with my Mate Paul. The last time was around Easter time just over 3 years ago. I travelled with my wife in the Exige, and Paul took his then heavily pregnant missus, Marie in his SL.
The plan was to get to the south of France ASAP. We took an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre, giving us a fresh start in the morning to get us a good run down to Annecy in one day.
The following day was a nice run over some twisty passes down to the Cote D’Azure.
However this time Paul said he couldn’t get the overnight ferry, so he booked an 8:15 crossing from Dover to Calais…
Day 1
4 o’clock in the morning! 4:00 am! Not a nice time to be setting off on a long drive, but that’s what we did. Blasted down towards Dover with a plan to meet up with Paul somewhere south of the M25.
We made really good time, so we stopped at the services on the M20 for breakfast, and to wait for Paul to meet us. This time, Paul was with a no-longer expectant Marie, and his 3 year old son Erik.
While waiting for Paul, I went to fill my car up. Thing got a little worrying at this point; the machine at the petrol station couldn’t read my credit card. I then tried my old Barclays card which I’d brought along as a backup. Bollox! The PIN number doesn’t work! I swear I’d changed it to the same code as my other card. I paid in cash, and walked away somwhat worried.
I remebered the old Barclays TV ads where they would rush cash and/or a replacement card to people who were stuck abroad as I phoned them for assistance. “We can post the PIN number to you home address, Sir”, they said. Great
Tried my other card in a cash machine and it worked perfectly. OK, maybe this will be alright.
By this time, Paul had arrived, eaten breakfast, and realized we needed to really rush to catch the ferry!
Made it with two minutes to spare despite being held up for a while by a Ferrari 308.
We made really good progress on the Autoroutes in France. The tolls are a bit pricey, but it’s worth it if you want to cover ground quickly. They’re very lightly trafficked, and most of the drivers are very good at not hogging the overtaking lanes.
There were a LOT of road works going on, but they didn’t slow us down too much. By 3:00, we had been on the go for 11 hours. Both me and Paul were getting very tired so we stopped at one of the many “Aires” (rest areas).
We had an hour of dozing on the grass to recover a bit before coninuing. By 6:00 we had had enough, so we found a hotel in Beaune.
It’s a lovely old house which is slowly being converted to a hotel. Obviously not finished, but the guy running the place was so nice and friendly it really didn’t matter too much.
The centre of Beaune is a very beautiful old town. I had a really good Pizza served by a really miserable waitress. A bottle of C�te de Beaune was an obvious choice to accompany it.
Miles so far, 600 ish.
Day 2
A much easier run today. Started at a more reasonable hour! Blasted down the motorway, but got off a couple of junctions before we need to just so we could enjoy some decent roads. Wow! What a relief to get away from the monotony of those dead-straight Autoroutes.
Arrived at Port Grimaud, our fist official stopping point for the holiday. See here for more info http://www.grimaud-provence.com/english/
Port Grimaud is a marina/town built in the 60s. It sort of looks old, but new. If you’ve seen a Disneyland, or Las Vegas recreation of an old town, you’ll know what I mean!
We were staying in the camp site just outside the town; keeping the cost of the holiday down thanks to Paul arranging carvans at 10 euros per night! I know, I’m a bloody pikey
It might be cheap, but the caravan makes a decent base camp for travelling around the area, and it offers good access to a nice beach with a decent beach bar for talking shite into the evening.
Day 3
A quick run into St Tropez to do all the usual touristy stuff. It really is a beautiful harbour with some amazing yachts. I was suprised to see a car transported in the port carpark full of the latest BMWs. My first chance to look at the new M6 and the 3 series coupe.
Day 4
Went for a run to the Gorges Du Verdon. This is billed as France’s Grand Canyon. Not quite like the American one, but pretty amazing in it’s own right. It was around here that Clarkson raced a fast Audi of some kind against a couple of rock climbers.
I shot off ahead of Paul to have a really good blast around these awesome roads pausing occasionally to admire the view or wait for Paul to join us for lunch.
Seriously, if you’re in this part of France, you have got to search out this place
Day 5
Relaxing on the beach and enjoying some excellent meals
Day 6
We’re off again! Headed east towards Monaco. Decided to stick to the cost road which was lovely. We stopped in Cannes for a couple of hours. Julie did some shopping. All I remember is some awesome ice-cream!
Got stuck in traffic appoaching Nice, so we turned around and found yet another fantastic series of twisting mountain roads. God I love the south of France.
I have no idea what route we took, but it was a long time coming…Monaco at last! Now we had to make up a bit for the pikey caravan bit.
We stayed at the Vista Palace Hotel. It’s a mile or so from Monte-Carlo itself, but about half of that distance is vertical! It’s perched on a cliff overlooking the city with some fantastic views.
Paul and Marie had a view over the city, we were on the other side. Our view was just as nice if not so glamorous. On the other hand, there is a benefit from being on the far side of the hotel…About 5:00 in the morning, some fast cars and bikes may well be thrashing around the circuit making a lot of noise…more on that later!
While in Monte-Carlo, we did the usual touristy stuff; checking out the Palace and the harbour. Blimey! I thought there were some fantastic yachts in St. Tropez! Monaco is another world. I don’t know who owns “Lady Moura”, but I reckon he’s worth a quid or two.
Had a fantastic meal in the hotel on the first night. Erik was left with the hotel’s baby sitter. Lots of jokes about how I might like to be looked after by her for a couple of hours!
Paul, in a moment of uncommon honesty told the waiter “I don’t know much about wine, I’m more interested in quantity than quality”. We got a magnum of the house red.
I had the best duck foie-gras I’ve ever tasted, an awesome steak, really tastly truffles, and an absolutely perfect Cr�me Br�l�e. All of which went really well in combination with great company and that beautiful view over Monte-Carlo.
Day 7
My one little driving faux-pas of the holiday. Took a run into town from the hotel. I came to a junction with a couple of scooters in front of me. Ahead was a one-way street lined on both sides with parked cars. The lights changed, and the scooters shot off down the middle of this road, I followed.
I’d gone a few hundred yards down this road, passing 20 odd cars on both sides before I realized it wasn’t a one-way street at all! The cars on the left were parked, but the ones on the right were actually a queue waiting for some road-works ahead. I was passing them all on the wrong side of the road!
Fortunately, I found a gap on the left at the entrance to a garage and pulled in before all the oncoming traffic appeared. How embarrassing! Don’t tell anybody!
Explored a little further afield, checked out a showroom full of Ferraris including an F50. The Carrera GT was nice, too. Found a nice English Pub for some sausage egg and chips. Which was nice!
Day 8
4 o’clock in the morning! 4:00 am! (Well it was 4:30 this time, but who’s counting?). Got up early for a good reason this time. I wanted to do a few laps of the Grand-Prix circuit without all the daytime traffic.
Unfortunately, there was more traffic, especially gendarmes around than I would have liked. I did manage about 80-90 mph through the tunnel, and something similar on the main straight.
I also passed Michael Schumacher through the swimming pool complex. Actually, thinking about it, it just might have been a red Fiat Panda. Maybe my imagination was running away with me.
Set off at 9:00 am towards Zermatt.
I’m out of time, maybe I’ll finish the story later in anybody’s actually managed to stay awake this far…
Some photos HERE
Sorry they’re a bit crap. I spent too much time messing about with a video camera to get many decent snaps.
Very nice report
and found yet another fantastic series of twisting mountain roads. God I love the south of France.
This is why I live there
I know what you mean about the Lady Moura…
[image]http://campbellbaker.homeip.net/stuff/Photos/lady.jpg[/image]
![http://campbellbaker.homeip.net/stuff/Photos/lady.jpg[/image]](http://campbellbaker.homeip.net/stuff/Photos/lady.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}
Great write up by the way, sounds like you had a great trip ; only one question though, how did your friends manage to fit a 3 year old in an SL?
David
Oops. Forgot to say that Paul now has a BMW 650 cabrio.
Max, I hate you I must confess to a certain degree of envy
Max, I hate you I must confess to a certain degree of envy
Great write up & pics, Brendan, thanks
I hate you too, Max
Looking forward to the rest of the story
Tim.
Go on - That’s a block of flats really
excellent Brendan
well worth your effort and very enjoyable read