Report on trip to Nice
Discussion
Well, I've finally got a few minutes to write a brief synopsys of our trip.
Things were abit tight in getting the car ready as Precision Racing noticed some fibreglass issues whilst doing a pre-trip check. These were the typical 4.3 exhaust location problems that I thought had been fixed by a previous specialist when they replaced the heat shields. So there we are on Sunday morning with Steve trying to re-fibreglass the areas in time for me to go and play cricket Sunday afternoon. This was the last chance of having the required time for the glass to go off. That was done but I still had to go back on Monday evening to collect the new "EU" plates that hadn't arrived. He also fitted a chin "spoiler" to help with cooling. My Griff had never had one until now. Steve also lifted the rear suspension as the new Nitrons had "sagged" slightly.
Luckily eveything got done in time and I was only slightly late for the start of my cricket game.
Finally Wedneday arrived and we departed on time to check-in for the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre. All went well with loading and unloading etc (except for being picked for a customs check). Even with the car being on the top deck there were no problems of ground clearance.
The weather was pretty grotty as we left and it didn't improve overnight so the first day in France was roof on. The rain finally cleared about 100 miles from Lyon but I was pushing on to try to make our first stop in Grenoble before it got too late in the day. Made Grenoble in plenty of time but then spent over an hour in almost stationary traffic after missing the Autoroute turn off to our Hotel. The car was fine, and although it was about 30C outside the engine never got too hot. Finally reached the Hotel and I didn't even make Dinner I was so tired - 500+ miles completed.
Next day dawned bright a sunny so the roof came off and the purpose of our detour via Grenoble beckond. The "Route Napolean" had been recommended by a number of people so here we were at the start of it in 30+ heat and the roof off. All I can say is WOW. The 240-ish miles to Nice took nearly 5 hours up and down the edge of the Alps with plenty of switchbacks and hairpins. Interspersed with Caravans, Campervans and Artic's trying to get round them. Luckily the French caravans etc help you to overtake by pulling as far to the right as possilble and even pulling off the road every so often to let the queue past. Not that we needed much help
. We saw one thermometer reading 34 degrees as we went through Gap 
. The only time I was getting nervous about the car was trying to get passed an artic up one very twisty road after we joined a queue of about 7 cars, most of which also were trying to overtake it. The gauge was nudging the red by the time I finally got passed. I had been very close to stopping to let it cool down. Once passed the gauge came down quickly though.
Coming down out of the mountains towards Nice was fantastic with some tight twisties and some nice flowing roads that kept me pretty much below the speed limits but were still challenging at those speeds. I think I upset a few locals who thought they should be able to out drive me in their Clio's and Saxo's etc.
Got to Nice and eventually found the Hotel (another hour or nearly stationary traffic followed by finding all the one way streets went the wrong way
). Parked the car in an underground car park and left if for the next 2 days whilst we went around on public transport with the family we met down their. Did Monaco by train and foot so decided against taking the car later (I had originally planned to) as it was a long way to our next stop.
Well the next stop was supposed to be Chamonix via the Monte Blanc tunnel but it turned out to be alot further than MS Autoroute had said. I was also not in the mood for really long drive as I had found the car had been damaged in Nice. That morning I had taken one load of bags to the car and done all the oil and water checks etc. Everything seemed fine. we said goodbye to the family and loaded the last few bags into the car and left. Just short of Turin we stopped for lunch and I noticed something wrong with the car. The nearside headlamp cover was cracked. On closer inspection it was split in two pieces and the headlamp pod inside was pushed about 2-3 inches out of place. Also, the fibreglass on the wing around the pod was cracked and the paint heavliy scuffed. So I was abit depressed during the afternoon.
So we stopped in Aosta. A lovely little town full of character. I had to have a Pizza, being in Italy.
Te following day we finished the trip to Chamonix. Lovely roads but some roadworks and a huge delay at the tunnel meant we got there for lunchtime. The queue for the Aguile de Midi was so big we decided to skip that and go for the train to the Mer de Glace instead. I've been there in winter but it's just as stunning in summer - and Juliette had never been to the Alps before.
Shot down from there in the late afternoon (again wow to the roads) and found a little village Hotel between Geneva and Lyon which had an outdoor swimming pool and it was still atleast 30 degrees so we enjoyed a short dip before dinner.
We than started heading slowly(ish) North and West via the N and D routes. It was starting to look like rain so I bought some Duck tape to cover over the whole around the headlamp and I put the roof on for the first time since Grenoble. Passing through Nevers I spotted signs to Magny Cours so we had to detour slightly to have a look. The circuit was wide open and I wish I had been cheeky enough to find a way to get the car onto the track. As it was we just took some photo's from the main grandstand. It started to rain heavily as we left
We started looking at doing some shopping at this point and I noticed that the rear suspension had started to drop again. We persevered with the shopping but didn't load the car completely full. Although I had taken time out to stop at a "Carve" in the Cotes de Beaune.
Loading the car back onto the ferry we again ended up on the top deck and I was abit worried about the lowered back end. It was not a problem getting on but we did have problem getting off. I heard atleast three scrapes. One getting off the ferry was definately exhaust at the back, then two on a speed bump at passport control one from the middle of the car and one from exhaust at the back again. Having unloaded the car the rear suspension has definately sagged again and I am getting abit concerned about how much it has sagged on the new springs.
I have to echo some of Tonyrec's point about the looks and comments about the car. Nearly everyone stared as we went passed and the number of times I got worried about how close cars were tailgating me only to realise that both the driver and passenger were trying to read the name badge on the back of the car. Also, the number of people that overtook whilst looking sideways to try and work out what the car was.
A word about the French drivers who made room for me to overtake and even pulled into the gutter when they realised my car was right hand drive, so I could see past them better. Also, there never seemed to be any thought in their heads other than that I would overtake.
I didn't get any "thumbs up" for the Gendarmes but they always had a good long interested look at the car as it went passed. Not that we saw many anyway. In the 10 days I only saw 5 sets and 3 of those were already talking to someone and the fourth was a van full in town. The last was abit dodgy as I had just been doing high speed on the Autoroute when I saw cars ahead start to brake. Slowed down to legal speeds and saw them in a layby with binoculars.
All in all a great trip but I am fuming about the w@@ker who pranged my car and just left.
>>> Edited by icamm on Monday 4th August 18:03
Things were abit tight in getting the car ready as Precision Racing noticed some fibreglass issues whilst doing a pre-trip check. These were the typical 4.3 exhaust location problems that I thought had been fixed by a previous specialist when they replaced the heat shields. So there we are on Sunday morning with Steve trying to re-fibreglass the areas in time for me to go and play cricket Sunday afternoon. This was the last chance of having the required time for the glass to go off. That was done but I still had to go back on Monday evening to collect the new "EU" plates that hadn't arrived. He also fitted a chin "spoiler" to help with cooling. My Griff had never had one until now. Steve also lifted the rear suspension as the new Nitrons had "sagged" slightly.
Luckily eveything got done in time and I was only slightly late for the start of my cricket game.
Finally Wedneday arrived and we departed on time to check-in for the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre. All went well with loading and unloading etc (except for being picked for a customs check). Even with the car being on the top deck there were no problems of ground clearance.
The weather was pretty grotty as we left and it didn't improve overnight so the first day in France was roof on. The rain finally cleared about 100 miles from Lyon but I was pushing on to try to make our first stop in Grenoble before it got too late in the day. Made Grenoble in plenty of time but then spent over an hour in almost stationary traffic after missing the Autoroute turn off to our Hotel. The car was fine, and although it was about 30C outside the engine never got too hot. Finally reached the Hotel and I didn't even make Dinner I was so tired - 500+ miles completed.
Next day dawned bright a sunny so the roof came off and the purpose of our detour via Grenoble beckond. The "Route Napolean" had been recommended by a number of people so here we were at the start of it in 30+ heat and the roof off. All I can say is WOW. The 240-ish miles to Nice took nearly 5 hours up and down the edge of the Alps with plenty of switchbacks and hairpins. Interspersed with Caravans, Campervans and Artic's trying to get round them. Luckily the French caravans etc help you to overtake by pulling as far to the right as possilble and even pulling off the road every so often to let the queue past. Not that we needed much help
. We saw one thermometer reading 34 degrees as we went through Gap . The only time I was getting nervous about the car was trying to get passed an artic up one very twisty road after we joined a queue of about 7 cars, most of which also were trying to overtake it. The gauge was nudging the red by the time I finally got passed. I had been very close to stopping to let it cool down. Once passed the gauge came down quickly though. Coming down out of the mountains towards Nice was fantastic with some tight twisties and some nice flowing roads that kept me pretty much below the speed limits but were still challenging at those speeds. I think I upset a few locals who thought they should be able to out drive me in their Clio's and Saxo's etc
. Got to Nice and eventually found the Hotel (another hour or nearly stationary traffic followed by finding all the one way streets went the wrong way
). Parked the car in an underground car park and left if for the next 2 days whilst we went around on public transport with the family we met down their. Did Monaco by train and foot so decided against taking the car later (I had originally planned to) as it was a long way to our next stop. Well the next stop was supposed to be Chamonix via the Monte Blanc tunnel but it turned out to be alot further than MS Autoroute had said. I was also not in the mood for really long drive as I had found the car had been damaged in Nice. That morning I had taken one load of bags to the car and done all the oil and water checks etc. Everything seemed fine. we said goodbye to the family and loaded the last few bags into the car and left. Just short of Turin we stopped for lunch and I noticed something wrong with the car. The nearside headlamp cover was cracked. On closer inspection it was split in two pieces and the headlamp pod inside was pushed about 2-3 inches out of place. Also, the fibreglass on the wing around the pod was cracked and the paint heavliy scuffed. So I was abit depressed during the afternoon.
So we stopped in Aosta. A lovely little town full of character. I had to have a Pizza, being in Italy.
Te following day we finished the trip to Chamonix. Lovely roads but some roadworks and a huge delay at the tunnel meant we got there for lunchtime. The queue for the Aguile de Midi was so big we decided to skip that and go for the train to the Mer de Glace instead. I've been there in winter but it's just as stunning in summer - and Juliette had never been to the Alps before.
Shot down from there in the late afternoon (again wow to the roads) and found a little village Hotel between Geneva and Lyon which had an outdoor swimming pool and it was still atleast 30 degrees so we enjoyed a short dip before dinner
. We than started heading slowly(ish) North and West via the N and D routes. It was starting to look like rain so I bought some Duck tape to cover over the whole around the headlamp and I put the roof on for the first time since Grenoble. Passing through Nevers I spotted signs to Magny Cours so we had to detour slightly to have a look. The circuit was wide open and I wish I had been cheeky enough to find a way to get the car onto the track. As it was we just took some photo's from the main grandstand. It started to rain heavily as we left
We started looking at doing some shopping at this point and I noticed that the rear suspension had started to drop again. We persevered with the shopping but didn't load the car completely full. Although I had taken time out to stop at a "Carve" in the Cotes de Beaune
. Loading the car back onto the ferry we again ended up on the top deck and I was abit worried about the lowered back end. It was not a problem getting on but we did have problem getting off. I heard atleast three scrapes. One getting off the ferry was definately exhaust at the back, then two on a speed bump at passport control one from the middle of the car and one from exhaust at the back again. Having unloaded the car the rear suspension has definately sagged again and I am getting abit concerned about how much it has sagged on the new springs.
I have to echo some of Tonyrec's point about the looks and comments about the car. Nearly everyone stared as we went passed and the number of times I got worried about how close cars were tailgating me only to realise that both the driver and passenger were trying to read the name badge on the back of the car. Also, the number of people that overtook whilst looking sideways to try and work out what the car was
. A word about the French drivers who made room for me to overtake and even pulled into the gutter when they realised my car was right hand drive, so I could see past them better. Also, there never seemed to be any thought in their heads other than that I would overtake.
I didn't get any "thumbs up" for the Gendarmes but they always had a good long interested look at the car as it went passed. Not that we saw many anyway. In the 10 days I only saw 5 sets and 3 of those were already talking to someone and the fourth was a van full in town. The last was abit dodgy as I had just been doing high speed on the Autoroute when I saw cars ahead start to brake. Slowed down to legal speeds and saw them in a layby with binoculars.
All in all a great trip but I am fuming about the w@@ker who pranged my car and just left.
>>> Edited by icamm on Monday 4th August 18:03
Nice. (pardon the pun) I've taken the Chim down twice and had a great time with her. Made it to Maranello first time - parked outside th Cavalino at lunchtime, the looks were classic!
You should drive to Monte Carlo next time though - worth it just to do a couple of laps of the circuit and make some noise through the tunnel...
And I'd double echo the comments about looks from the locals - superb! Ferrari's don't get a look in as the're far too common
You should drive to Monte Carlo next time though - worth it just to do a couple of laps of the circuit and make some noise through the tunnel...
And I'd double echo the comments about looks from the locals - superb! Ferrari's don't get a look in as the're far too common
Hi Bob, I found most of the out of town motels had carpaks which are locked at night (Premiere Class, Formula 1, Companile etc) and I was fairly happy with them. My problem occured in a public car park that was near the hotel in Nice (discount for hotel guests). So I would suggest you try and find hotels with their own carparks, although none will be 100% safe from numpties.
Most of the chains mentioned above have their units based on the ring roads of major towns. Fairly cheap rates as well.
Most of the chains mentioned above have their units based on the ring roads of major towns. Fairly cheap rates as well.
Ian....
Sorry about the car and hope that you get it all sorted soon.
Pleased that you had a great time, and thanks for the report,its nice to read of other peoples experiences.
Chamonix is one of my favourite places and the roads
around there are superb as you say. We went up the 'Mer De Glace' last year and its well worth the experience on a very hot day for anyone thats never seen it.
When i go to France again in a couple of weeks we will be staying in the Ibis chain of hotels.
They are very nice and well worth the £50 average for a room.Most of them have swimming pools and they are all over the place...worth recommending.
Sorry about the car and hope that you get it all sorted soon.
Pleased that you had a great time, and thanks for the report,its nice to read of other peoples experiences.
Chamonix is one of my favourite places and the roads
around there are superb as you say. We went up the 'Mer De Glace' last year and its well worth the experience on a very hot day for anyone thats never seen it.
When i go to France again in a couple of weeks we will be staying in the Ibis chain of hotels.
They are very nice and well worth the £50 average for a room.Most of them have swimming pools and they are all over the place...worth recommending.
Cool report Ian... shame about the numpty.
I can't believe that it's only 3 more days to go before I set off for Spain
- all my tools and various spare hoses/fuses/connectors/belts/thermostats etc are laid out on the garage floor ready for packing - it's like a bloody military exercise this!
Did you use headlamp deflectors? I tried fitting a set onto the headlight cowls but then decided they looked crap! So I took em off again!!
I have however fitted both my PH badge and window sticker so all's well with the world
Tony - do Ibis have places in most French towns, I'm thinking of stopping over the first night in Pau or Lourdes.
al
I can't believe that it's only 3 more days to go before I set off for Spain
- all my tools and various spare hoses/fuses/connectors/belts/thermostats etc are laid out on the garage floor ready for packing - it's like a bloody military exercise this! Did you use headlamp deflectors? I tried fitting a set onto the headlight cowls but then decided they looked crap! So I took em off again!!
I have however fitted both my PH badge and window sticker so all's well with the world
Tony - do Ibis have places in most French towns, I'm thinking of stopping over the first night in Pau or Lourdes.
al
burriana500 said:Thanks Al.
Cool report Ian... shame about the numpty.
burriana500 said:I didn't bother but I didn't drive after dark so it was no problem for me.
Did you use headlamp deflectors? I tried fitting a set onto the headlight cowls but then decided they looked crap! So I took em off again!!
Sorry for the late reply I've been away again working at the Great British Beer Festival in London. Going to bed soon as I am completely kna**ered.
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