Lacking Enthusiasm...
Discussion
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I’m a serial Fast Ford and Lotus lover but there’s certainly something special about the 2CV. Our friends had a holiday home in France for many years and he had a left hooker 2CV over there. It was great fun buzzing around the country roads in it.
My cousin in West Yorkshire has one and often when he’s out in it people leave messages under the wiper blade asking if he wants to sell it.
My cousin in West Yorkshire has one and often when he’s out in it people leave messages under the wiper blade asking if he wants to sell it.
In time to come, that sounds like a lovely holiday. Mrs L & I are still of the 800 miles in 2 days train of thought, to get down to Sarlat quickly - but I can definitely see the attraction. You miss a lot on the autoroutes.
Before I sold my Europa - presumably we are talking the 1970s type rather than the 2000s one - I took it for a 600 mile round trip to Northumberland. Comfy seats, as well as the other attributes. (which would not include luggage capacity...)
Before I sold my Europa - presumably we are talking the 1970s type rather than the 2000s one - I took it for a 600 mile round trip to Northumberland. Comfy seats, as well as the other attributes. (which would not include luggage capacity...)
21st Century Man said:
I used to love driving my 2CV on the continent. I miss it and think about getting another every now and then.
My dad had two. The first, a yellow one, was bought as a divorce rebound car and would probably now be regarded as a death trap. It was so rough it didn't have any keys: there were two switches on the side of the instrument pod. One switched it on, the other engaged the starter. We had to pretend to lock it when we parked it. The ball & socket joint on the back of the throttle pedal used to become disengaged, just as you were summoning maximum, err... power.The second was a beautiful. red & black Charleston which was everything the first one wasn't. He drove everywhere in that, only selling when he met his second wife who insisted it had to go.
Fast forward a few years and the now Mrs Banana wanted one when she was at university. I found her a decent-looking blue one for £390 (remember those days?). It succumbed to chassis rot and wasn't worth repairing, back then. It caught fire on the way to the scrappy as it didn't want to die - escargot flambé?
Turbobanana said:
My dad had two. The first, a yellow one, was bought as a divorce rebound car and would probably now be regarded as a death trap. It was so rough it didn't have any keys: there were two switches on the side of the instrument pod. One switched it on, the other engaged the starter. We had to pretend to lock it when we parked it. The ball & socket joint on the back of the throttle pedal used to become disengaged, just as you were summoning maximum, err... power.
The second was a beautiful. red & black Charleston which was everything the first one wasn't. He drove everywhere in that, only selling when he met his second wife who insisted it had to go.
Fast forward a few years and the now Mrs Banana wanted one when she was at university. I found her a decent-looking blue one for £390 (remember those days?). It succumbed to chassis rot and wasn't worth repairing, back then. It caught fire on the way to the scrappy as it didn't want to die - escargot flambé?
The second was a beautiful. red & black Charleston which was everything the first one wasn't. He drove everywhere in that, only selling when he met his second wife who insisted it had to go.
Fast forward a few years and the now Mrs Banana wanted one when she was at university. I found her a decent-looking blue one for £390 (remember those days?). It succumbed to chassis rot and wasn't worth repairing, back then. It caught fire on the way to the scrappy as it didn't want to die - escargot flambé?
Well I agree with everyone who thinks you're going to absolutely love this trip. There is nothing quite like pointing the nose of your car South and setting off on a significant road trip with nothing more to worry about than finding some decent roads, somewhere decent for lunch, a few coffees along the way and all the time knowing you have a good hotel and dinner waiting for you that evening.
You'll have a blast. I await further updates with keen interest, and not a little jealousy.
You'll have a blast. I await further updates with keen interest, and not a little jealousy.
9xxNick said:
Well I agree with everyone who thinks you're going to absolutely love this trip. There is nothing quite like pointing the nose of your car South and setting off on a significant road trip with nothing more to worry about than finding some decent roads, somewhere decent for lunch, a few coffees along the way and all the time knowing you have a good hotel and dinner waiting for you that evening.
You'll have a blast. I await further updates with keen interest, and not a little jealousy.
I used to quite often do 2-3 week trips around France and one of the delights was not booking anywhere to stay. Gentle days, see the sights and have lunch, cover a few miles here and there, then think to yourself "that's enough for today," and find somewhere nearby to stay. I have serendipitously found some lovely places this way. A couple of shockers (3ft square x 10ft high shower, carpeted walls above shoulder height?), but the variety and surprises are memorable. I recall spotting a tiny "Chambres d'hôte" sign in a village once which led some distance out into the hills to farm with table d'hôte dinner, and we had one of the best meals I've ever had in France, shared with our host and the other guests. You'll have a blast. I await further updates with keen interest, and not a little jealousy.
tog said:
I used to quite often do 2-3 week trips around France and one of the delights was not booking anywhere to stay. Gentle days, see the sights and have lunch, cover a few miles here and there, then think to yourself "that's enough for today," and find somewhere nearby to stay. I have serendipitously found some lovely places this way. A couple of shockers (3ft square x 10ft high shower, carpeted walls above shoulder height?), but the variety and surprises are memorable. I recall spotting a tiny "Chambres d'hôte" sign in a village once which led some distance out into the hills to farm with table d'hôte dinner, and we had one of the best meals I've ever had in France, shared with our host and the other guests.
Before the kids came along we used to do something similar, although apparently lower budget as we were camping. We called it "plot & bash". We'd aim to be in a certain area and then, at about 3-4pm, we'd start looking at what was around.That way we discovered a fabulous camp site with a great restaurant in the Beaujolais region, an even better one near Cannes and one in Switzerland whose showers were heated by thermal springs. The advent of t'internet has made the whole process easier, of course, but the trade-off is that the chambres d'hôtes tog refers to are usually all booked in advance now.
tog said:
I used to quite often do 2-3 week trips around France and one of the delights was not booking anywhere to stay. Gentle days, see the sights and have lunch, cover a few miles here and there, then think to yourself "that's enough for today," and find somewhere nearby to stay. I have serendipitously found some lovely places this way. A couple of shockers (3ft square x 10ft high shower, carpeted walls above shoulder height?), but the variety and surprises are memorable. I recall spotting a tiny "Chambres d'hôte" sign in a village once which led some distance out into the hills to farm with table d'hôte dinner, and we had one of the best meals I've ever had in France, shared with our host and the other guests.
This reminds me of our first Euro trip in my Elan+2 in 1978. We rather optimistically expected to get from Zeebrugge to my wife’s sister in Switzerland by early evening and finished up tired out in a French village near Strasbourg with still a couple of hours to go. A guy came out of his house and via sign language told us we could stay with them. They gave us the kids bedroom, gave us a brilliant evening meal and breakfast and didn’t want to take any money off us! In the end we persuaded them to take some money to treat the kids with.Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff