Classic Europe 2014
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• Page 1 of 1
Post by: jimj » Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:59 pm
October 29th and we`re off on the 2014 Classic Europe with classiccarjourneys.co.uk. Now we`re excited.
Meeting up with all the others at the first night dinner, near Honfleur, it was great to recognise many familiar faces from previous trips. If only my memory for names was, like many things, what it once was. Steve McCullagh, routemeister, rally driver, and present day Billy Butlin, runs the company and his core business is foreign trips to very foreign places where you drive extremely foreign vehicles but every year he has a UK and a Europe trip where you take your own car, not necessarily a classic, but most are. There was a wide and varied selection, eclectic, to use an overused term. There`s no question which combination of car and couple impressed me the most: Ray and Theresa in their series 1 Land Rover. Coming from Lancashire, their round trip must have totalled nearly 1500 miles, and that`s horizontal. They must have added another 1000 miles vertical, bouncing up and down. Theresa was lovely and Ray was a mechanical whizz, eventually fixing the persistent misfire on a Healey 3000 which had defeated Nick and Andy who were providing mechanical support???and it was their flippin` car. At the other end of the spectrum was Peter and Anne in a Ferrari California. Unfortunately, half way through the trip, one of them, I can`t say which, clipped a kerb in a traffic calming area and wrecked 2 wheels and tyres. She was really cross with herself. The car was trucked off to Paris and they continued in a hire car. Pete still wore his Ferrari hat, Ferrari watch, and Ferrari underpants, though. When you see people at, say, the NEC Classic Car show, walking around in regalia advertising their preferred marque, I often wonder if these same people visit the Ideal Home Exhibition. Do they then sport a jacket emblazoned with the words ?Hotpoint? or ?Frigidaire?? There were 2 other couples with Lotus Elans but, sadly and inexcusably, they didn`t come in them but as they`re delightful people I`ll forgive them, even if one was called Alan.
Day 1 and we`re off, now we`re rallying. Given the recent 70th anniversary of D Day, Steve had researched the most iconic, and fascinating, locations to visit. I learnt more, and, more particularly, got more of a feel for, Operation Overlord that morning than previously in the rest of my whole life. The scale, the logistics, the horrors, came to life. This wasn`t Kelly`s Heroes, it was real people, many drowning, weighed down by their packs, others just blown apart. We did the nice things, visiting Pegasus bridge, having coffee at Madame Wotsername`s caf?, going to the beach at Arromamche, all that. The most disturbing thing was a 360 degree short film show of real events which should be compulsory viewing for everyone, especially today`s warmongers. These days we hear about appalling collateral damage, but during the 100 days it took to liberate Normandy, more than 18,000 French civilians were killed. On that first day the locals must have felt that the world was ending as all hell broke loose, yet they welcomed the Allies??or so we`re told. Moving, disturbing, but fascinating.
In the afternoon we had a lovely drive through what ?they? call Little Switzerland. It was delightful but who are ?they?? ?They? have, clearly, never been to Switzerland, it was more a ?little hilly? rising to no more more than 600 feet which is 25% lower than where we live in the Peak District. Perhaps ?they? would call ?here? ?Little Everest?. We stopped off to see the Bayeaux Tapestry, which, not having a great interest in needle point nor embroidery, and it being two dimensional, looked no more interesting than a two dimensional picture of it, to me anyway.
Day 2 started from our overnight stop in Bagnoles overlooking the lake which is a lovely spot. It was misty with the promise of a fabulous day, the hood came down where it stayed every day in fantastic late summer weather. We called at the Le Mans museum and drove part of the circuit, now we`re brrm, brrrrming. We`d left behind the camper vans that trundle along near the coast. I reckon they never clear up after breakfast and drive along so carefully so as not to tip the breakfast cereal packet off the table. We had a great drive on a well researched route to to this crazy bloke`s collection, Maurice Dufresne. Clearly he spent half his life looking in skips and the other half at auctions buying up old mechanical things, mostly agricultural. The world needs more Maurice Dufresnes. A bit of culture at Chateau Villandry and a tour to Tours for the night completed the day, the Elan running as sweetly as ever. Dare I say, of course?
If Leonardo da Vinci was a boy at school today, he`d have been classified with some syndrome and made to sit on the some-syndrome-step. He spent his last days at Clos Luce, Amboise and we looked around his house on Day 3 and, more particularly, in the basement, where there was a collection of models of things he`s invented. Clearly he was as mad as Maurice but in a creative way, sort of a 16th century Colin Chapman, amazing. A bit more culture at Chenonceau, like a foreign, fancy Chatsworth and a great drive south to Poitiers and a visit to Futurescope. No matter how much you`ve ever been amazed, and we already had, go there and visit Arthur`s Adventure in particular. We thought our amazed tank was already full but???.well???..amazinger! then there was the evening show which words can`t describe. Now we`re really amazed.
Day 4 was a free day with no planned stops but a lovely drive to La Baule on the west coast. We stayed in a smashing hotel overlooking the bay and had a very French dinner on the quay side. We were with our pals David and Hilary and we had to keep David well away from the edge, given his recent history. Now we`re being careful.
Day 5, the final day, end of term and we started the day at the submarine pens at St. Nazaire then an Airbus Tour. This wasn`t a trip on a passenger carrying Zeppellin but a factory tour. I didn`t think this was as interesting as it might have been but others really enjoyed it. The main thing of note was that 75% of the work(?)force seemed to be standing around chatting like a 1970`s British Leyland. The guide boasted of their improve productivity over the last 20 years. I could improve it in 20 minutes though the French unions might not be pleased. Anyway I was itching to go. The Elan was itching to go.Now we`re itching. Why? Because Steve had arranged exclusive use of a tight little circuit at Loheac for the whole afternoon. At the adjascent rallycross course were the World Championships this weekend. I`d like to think a few of the competitors strolled over for a few tips. Service compris. First we had lunch at the walled town of Guerande where that there shopping was available. Mindful of marital harmony some time was spent, yes, spent, invested you could say. There was another incredible museum at Loheac, not just endless cars but beautifully recreated scenes of cobbler`s shops, early 19th century bicycle repairers, all sorts, well worthy of a whole day, but not today. Today we`re itching.
The Elan was great, not the fastest but maybe the most fun. Well apart from maybe the series 1 Land Rover. Theresa took it out for a few laps, top bird tha` knows. There was just one short straight, the rest all curves and twists, marvellous. There were no prizes for dieing so I was braking from around 80 to 85 mph for the chicane then hairpin at the end. On just one lap I carried as much speed as possible approaching the straight then kept my foot down to the last possible moment and just nudged 90, though one of our number claimed to have seen 110 mph. I think the glass on his speedometer must have been rose-tinted.
That night we had a farewell dinner and said goodbye ready for the trip home. We`d had a great time with a great bunch of people. Not one, as far as I know, wore jazzy socks, a sure sign of a dullard desperately trying to be a bit wahey! As for jazzy waistcoats, well ! they`re only worn by blokes from Planet Boring, but there weren`t any.
Time to go?????? now we`re sad.
Jim
Meeting up with all the others at the first night dinner, near Honfleur, it was great to recognise many familiar faces from previous trips. If only my memory for names was, like many things, what it once was. Steve McCullagh, routemeister, rally driver, and present day Billy Butlin, runs the company and his core business is foreign trips to very foreign places where you drive extremely foreign vehicles but every year he has a UK and a Europe trip where you take your own car, not necessarily a classic, but most are. There was a wide and varied selection, eclectic, to use an overused term. There`s no question which combination of car and couple impressed me the most: Ray and Theresa in their series 1 Land Rover. Coming from Lancashire, their round trip must have totalled nearly 1500 miles, and that`s horizontal. They must have added another 1000 miles vertical, bouncing up and down. Theresa was lovely and Ray was a mechanical whizz, eventually fixing the persistent misfire on a Healey 3000 which had defeated Nick and Andy who were providing mechanical support???and it was their flippin` car. At the other end of the spectrum was Peter and Anne in a Ferrari California. Unfortunately, half way through the trip, one of them, I can`t say which, clipped a kerb in a traffic calming area and wrecked 2 wheels and tyres. She was really cross with herself. The car was trucked off to Paris and they continued in a hire car. Pete still wore his Ferrari hat, Ferrari watch, and Ferrari underpants, though. When you see people at, say, the NEC Classic Car show, walking around in regalia advertising their preferred marque, I often wonder if these same people visit the Ideal Home Exhibition. Do they then sport a jacket emblazoned with the words ?Hotpoint? or ?Frigidaire?? There were 2 other couples with Lotus Elans but, sadly and inexcusably, they didn`t come in them but as they`re delightful people I`ll forgive them, even if one was called Alan.
Day 1 and we`re off, now we`re rallying. Given the recent 70th anniversary of D Day, Steve had researched the most iconic, and fascinating, locations to visit. I learnt more, and, more particularly, got more of a feel for, Operation Overlord that morning than previously in the rest of my whole life. The scale, the logistics, the horrors, came to life. This wasn`t Kelly`s Heroes, it was real people, many drowning, weighed down by their packs, others just blown apart. We did the nice things, visiting Pegasus bridge, having coffee at Madame Wotsername`s caf?, going to the beach at Arromamche, all that. The most disturbing thing was a 360 degree short film show of real events which should be compulsory viewing for everyone, especially today`s warmongers. These days we hear about appalling collateral damage, but during the 100 days it took to liberate Normandy, more than 18,000 French civilians were killed. On that first day the locals must have felt that the world was ending as all hell broke loose, yet they welcomed the Allies??or so we`re told. Moving, disturbing, but fascinating.
In the afternoon we had a lovely drive through what ?they? call Little Switzerland. It was delightful but who are ?they?? ?They? have, clearly, never been to Switzerland, it was more a ?little hilly? rising to no more more than 600 feet which is 25% lower than where we live in the Peak District. Perhaps ?they? would call ?here? ?Little Everest?. We stopped off to see the Bayeaux Tapestry, which, not having a great interest in needle point nor embroidery, and it being two dimensional, looked no more interesting than a two dimensional picture of it, to me anyway.
Day 2 started from our overnight stop in Bagnoles overlooking the lake which is a lovely spot. It was misty with the promise of a fabulous day, the hood came down where it stayed every day in fantastic late summer weather. We called at the Le Mans museum and drove part of the circuit, now we`re brrm, brrrrming. We`d left behind the camper vans that trundle along near the coast. I reckon they never clear up after breakfast and drive along so carefully so as not to tip the breakfast cereal packet off the table. We had a great drive on a well researched route to to this crazy bloke`s collection, Maurice Dufresne. Clearly he spent half his life looking in skips and the other half at auctions buying up old mechanical things, mostly agricultural. The world needs more Maurice Dufresnes. A bit of culture at Chateau Villandry and a tour to Tours for the night completed the day, the Elan running as sweetly as ever. Dare I say, of course?
If Leonardo da Vinci was a boy at school today, he`d have been classified with some syndrome and made to sit on the some-syndrome-step. He spent his last days at Clos Luce, Amboise and we looked around his house on Day 3 and, more particularly, in the basement, where there was a collection of models of things he`s invented. Clearly he was as mad as Maurice but in a creative way, sort of a 16th century Colin Chapman, amazing. A bit more culture at Chenonceau, like a foreign, fancy Chatsworth and a great drive south to Poitiers and a visit to Futurescope. No matter how much you`ve ever been amazed, and we already had, go there and visit Arthur`s Adventure in particular. We thought our amazed tank was already full but???.well???..amazinger! then there was the evening show which words can`t describe. Now we`re really amazed.
Day 4 was a free day with no planned stops but a lovely drive to La Baule on the west coast. We stayed in a smashing hotel overlooking the bay and had a very French dinner on the quay side. We were with our pals David and Hilary and we had to keep David well away from the edge, given his recent history. Now we`re being careful.
Day 5, the final day, end of term and we started the day at the submarine pens at St. Nazaire then an Airbus Tour. This wasn`t a trip on a passenger carrying Zeppellin but a factory tour. I didn`t think this was as interesting as it might have been but others really enjoyed it. The main thing of note was that 75% of the work(?)force seemed to be standing around chatting like a 1970`s British Leyland. The guide boasted of their improve productivity over the last 20 years. I could improve it in 20 minutes though the French unions might not be pleased. Anyway I was itching to go. The Elan was itching to go.Now we`re itching. Why? Because Steve had arranged exclusive use of a tight little circuit at Loheac for the whole afternoon. At the adjascent rallycross course were the World Championships this weekend. I`d like to think a few of the competitors strolled over for a few tips. Service compris. First we had lunch at the walled town of Guerande where that there shopping was available. Mindful of marital harmony some time was spent, yes, spent, invested you could say. There was another incredible museum at Loheac, not just endless cars but beautifully recreated scenes of cobbler`s shops, early 19th century bicycle repairers, all sorts, well worthy of a whole day, but not today. Today we`re itching.
The Elan was great, not the fastest but maybe the most fun. Well apart from maybe the series 1 Land Rover. Theresa took it out for a few laps, top bird tha` knows. There was just one short straight, the rest all curves and twists, marvellous. There were no prizes for dieing so I was braking from around 80 to 85 mph for the chicane then hairpin at the end. On just one lap I carried as much speed as possible approaching the straight then kept my foot down to the last possible moment and just nudged 90, though one of our number claimed to have seen 110 mph. I think the glass on his speedometer must have been rose-tinted.
That night we had a farewell dinner and said goodbye ready for the trip home. We`d had a great time with a great bunch of people. Not one, as far as I know, wore jazzy socks, a sure sign of a dullard desperately trying to be a bit wahey! As for jazzy waistcoats, well ! they`re only worn by blokes from Planet Boring, but there weren`t any.
Time to go?????? now we`re sad.
Jim
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Post by: trw99 » Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:31 pm
Great story, in the usual top drawer vein; thank you Jim.
We've been to La Baule, charming spot, we do an annual racing regatta there and the locals are very hospitable. My missus is a Teresa too, though we don't have a Land Rover; got a Ford Explorer, though it's not in the same league! (17 mpg, 4500cc of Detroit muscle!).
Tim
We've been to La Baule, charming spot, we do an annual racing regatta there and the locals are very hospitable. My missus is a Teresa too, though we don't have a Land Rover; got a Ford Explorer, though it's not in the same league! (17 mpg, 4500cc of Detroit muscle!).
Tim
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