Car and Guitar solo road trip.
Discussion
Time for another one of these.
Link to a previous adventure:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=1&a...
These trips can be a bit hit and miss, last years one I did too much driving and was so knackered all the time I didn't really do much. This trip is much easier, all towns in the Loire Valley or Northern France, I'm too early for Le Mans but I will look out for any decent metal or odd occurrences and try to make it interesting. If it all seems a bit self indulgent feel free to slag me off!
This is the car this year:
The performance is insane so I'll be looking for some quiet country routes to have fun on!
And the Guitar:
A nice little American Standard Telecaster which I haven't had that much time on so looking forward to it.
Any requests for pics taken in unusual places or whatever I'm open to. Weather is looking good.
Link to a previous adventure:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=1&a...
These trips can be a bit hit and miss, last years one I did too much driving and was so knackered all the time I didn't really do much. This trip is much easier, all towns in the Loire Valley or Northern France, I'm too early for Le Mans but I will look out for any decent metal or odd occurrences and try to make it interesting. If it all seems a bit self indulgent feel free to slag me off!
This is the car this year:
The performance is insane so I'll be looking for some quiet country routes to have fun on!
And the Guitar:
A nice little American Standard Telecaster which I haven't had that much time on so looking forward to it.
Any requests for pics taken in unusual places or whatever I'm open to. Weather is looking good.
Ali_T said:
Sounds like my kind of road trip, but you should try the Suhr Classic T instead of a stock Fender... 
Just had a look at those Ali, is it a better instrument? Certainly looks nice. I normally play an acoustic, a Gretsch semi or an LP so I find the Tele ridiculously easy to play. The light strings and loads of fret room really spoils me.BorkFactor said:
Good choice of guitar, very similar to mine! Are you bringing an amp along too? Would love to do something like this one day.
Car isn't bad either
Enjoy!
Thanks Bork!Car isn't bad either
Enjoy!
No amp, no room for it, although the Mclaren is positively cavernous compared to my Lambo, just about get a fag paper in that! I've bought a Line 6 pod, looks like a little kidney, ideal for hotel rooms. Headphones in and crank it up, plenty of good sounds in it plus you can plug in your phone and have any track or yt as your backing. So I can really go for it without disturbing any one else.
Can't go wrong.
Thanks V8 will check that out.
Staying 2 nights this time in Tours at Chateaux Belmont, stayed there many times before, very nice place.
Just around the corner from the hotel is one of those strange little French bookies. I always go in and lose a fortune on horse racing becuase I never understand the odds.
But it's worth it to talk to the old guys drinking their Ricard.
Staying 2 nights this time in Tours at Chateaux Belmont, stayed there many times before, very nice place.
Just around the corner from the hotel is one of those strange little French bookies. I always go in and lose a fortune on horse racing becuase I never understand the odds.
But it's worth it to talk to the old guys drinking their Ricard.
The car spotting has been a bit quiet but that should pick up as le mans gets closer.
Saw these two beauties at the crossing:
Arrived at the first hotel which I only booked at the last minute, didn't really know what to expect, it was stunning, a Chateau in large grounds surrounded by woods.
It has been in the family of the Marquis and his wife the Marchioness for hundreds of years, they are well known locally and have opened 4 rooms to paying guests, you basically have the run of the house which is stuffed with antiques and paintings. They also do dinner which was very civilised with all the food and booze you could manage, the other guests were charming and it was great to able to go running through their own forest in the morning!
Life's a funny thing, I have no idea how I got here from a council estate in East London.
Visited a couple of Chateaus the next day, some pics, although they all tend to start looking alike after a while!
Can't turn this one:
To get to the first place I took the Forest Road, the D908. Roads like this are the reason I come here. Fantastic long straights and fast sweeping bends, any side roads are signposted ages before and absolutely nothing on the road early in the morning. In a fast car and if you're in the right mood you could get from A to B at a quite terrifying pace!
The Mclaren really is stunningly fast, hard to describe unless you drive it, it's so bloody tourqey it just keeps pulling and you have to really watch the speedo, it gets up there so quick and feels so planted its easy to get outside your comfort zone. It's this 0 to 100 mph in 5.7 seconds thing that you really notice, it just flies. The air brake is bouncing about behind you and you just lose yourself to it. I really don't think I want a faster car than this.
Stopped in a tiny bar in Bouce and was warned by the locals that the Police hide behind things with the radar guns these days. I nodded wisely.
When I got back the Marchioness is fussing about the place and geeing up the staff and she starts asking stuff, at one point she asks me about my Mum and I tell her my Mums name is Teresa. "Oooh" she goes "Teresa! You must come with me only for 5 minutes!"
So we both get in my car and drive into town, I'm not sure what to expect. She is on the phone on the way down nattering in French.
We arrive outside a Chapel, the Nuns come out and I'm whisked in. Turns out this is the birth place and shrine of Saint Therese, this is a big deal for the Marchioness who is very religious and has a lot of clout at this place. I'm not religious, at all and I let the Nuns know this in a very respectful way, feeling a bit awkward.
They don't care a bit, I'm given the full tour, they even wait for other people to leave because I'm being taken to places the public don't normally see. The Sister is working hard to get me into god bless her! I'm asking the right questions and nodding appreciatively but being non-committal obviously. The house was actually a fascinating place, it has been restored to the original when Theresa lived there as a girl. I'm given a picture of Theresa at the end which I thank them for. I ask if I can make a donation to the upkeep of the house and they accept that gladly.
Then the head Sister (Mother?) wants pictures with the car. This is in the middle of the town and I was getting some funny looks:
With that done we're off again, Jacquelin (The Marchioness) now has me drive to the massive Church in town to meet her brother who is the Priest. She tells me to stop on a tiny cobbled street in the town (the car is getting mobbed and people start blocking the street taking pictures) and she disappears up the road. Two Police officers arrive and tell me I can't leave it here, I'm going "Look sorry, I'll move it as soon as my friend comes back". Copper says "No, you'll move it now"
"Righto". Just then she reappears with the Priest in tow, she gives the coppers a proper barrage which makes me massively cringe and they apologies and back off!
This woman is not to be messed with!
Then we're off again, she is showing me stuff they own all over the place, we pull up here at one point:
This is another Chateau the family own. We then go to numerous friends houses and even her hairdresser. She is loving driving around the area showing off!
After a couple of hours of this I'm knackered and tell her I want to go back and grab a beer, which she takes in good grace and we return to her place.
It was a very odd afternoon. I'm probably making her sound like a bit of a battle axe but she was a really lovely lady who just happened to command a lot of respect from the people in the area, I suppose this is how it works in France.
Left there Saturday morning and am now in Orleans. Car is completely buried in admirers every where I go, a lot more than I got in the Lambo and Ferrari over here before. Don't know what it is, I think everyone thinks it is a P1. Stopping at a car wash brings a constant stream of well wishers and apart from a few dodgy looking young blokes it has been a real pleasure. Got lucky at this hotel, they gave me a room next to the car Park so I can keep an eye on it.
Went into town last night in a cab and got pissed watching the football and met some nice people.
Went back today, there just aren't any decent cars about here. Saw this in the underground place:
And one for the bad parking thread!
The underground car parks are tiny in France.
Lovely city Orleans, well worth a look, taxis are a rip off though.
Off to Tours tomorrow, I'm going to go car hunting to try and keep this relevant.
Saw these two beauties at the crossing:
Arrived at the first hotel which I only booked at the last minute, didn't really know what to expect, it was stunning, a Chateau in large grounds surrounded by woods.
It has been in the family of the Marquis and his wife the Marchioness for hundreds of years, they are well known locally and have opened 4 rooms to paying guests, you basically have the run of the house which is stuffed with antiques and paintings. They also do dinner which was very civilised with all the food and booze you could manage, the other guests were charming and it was great to able to go running through their own forest in the morning!
Life's a funny thing, I have no idea how I got here from a council estate in East London.
Visited a couple of Chateaus the next day, some pics, although they all tend to start looking alike after a while!
Can't turn this one:
To get to the first place I took the Forest Road, the D908. Roads like this are the reason I come here. Fantastic long straights and fast sweeping bends, any side roads are signposted ages before and absolutely nothing on the road early in the morning. In a fast car and if you're in the right mood you could get from A to B at a quite terrifying pace!
The Mclaren really is stunningly fast, hard to describe unless you drive it, it's so bloody tourqey it just keeps pulling and you have to really watch the speedo, it gets up there so quick and feels so planted its easy to get outside your comfort zone. It's this 0 to 100 mph in 5.7 seconds thing that you really notice, it just flies. The air brake is bouncing about behind you and you just lose yourself to it. I really don't think I want a faster car than this.
Stopped in a tiny bar in Bouce and was warned by the locals that the Police hide behind things with the radar guns these days. I nodded wisely.
When I got back the Marchioness is fussing about the place and geeing up the staff and she starts asking stuff, at one point she asks me about my Mum and I tell her my Mums name is Teresa. "Oooh" she goes "Teresa! You must come with me only for 5 minutes!"
So we both get in my car and drive into town, I'm not sure what to expect. She is on the phone on the way down nattering in French.
We arrive outside a Chapel, the Nuns come out and I'm whisked in. Turns out this is the birth place and shrine of Saint Therese, this is a big deal for the Marchioness who is very religious and has a lot of clout at this place. I'm not religious, at all and I let the Nuns know this in a very respectful way, feeling a bit awkward.
They don't care a bit, I'm given the full tour, they even wait for other people to leave because I'm being taken to places the public don't normally see. The Sister is working hard to get me into god bless her! I'm asking the right questions and nodding appreciatively but being non-committal obviously. The house was actually a fascinating place, it has been restored to the original when Theresa lived there as a girl. I'm given a picture of Theresa at the end which I thank them for. I ask if I can make a donation to the upkeep of the house and they accept that gladly.
Then the head Sister (Mother?) wants pictures with the car. This is in the middle of the town and I was getting some funny looks:
With that done we're off again, Jacquelin (The Marchioness) now has me drive to the massive Church in town to meet her brother who is the Priest. She tells me to stop on a tiny cobbled street in the town (the car is getting mobbed and people start blocking the street taking pictures) and she disappears up the road. Two Police officers arrive and tell me I can't leave it here, I'm going "Look sorry, I'll move it as soon as my friend comes back". Copper says "No, you'll move it now"
"Righto". Just then she reappears with the Priest in tow, she gives the coppers a proper barrage which makes me massively cringe and they apologies and back off!
This woman is not to be messed with!
Then we're off again, she is showing me stuff they own all over the place, we pull up here at one point:
This is another Chateau the family own. We then go to numerous friends houses and even her hairdresser. She is loving driving around the area showing off!
After a couple of hours of this I'm knackered and tell her I want to go back and grab a beer, which she takes in good grace and we return to her place.
It was a very odd afternoon. I'm probably making her sound like a bit of a battle axe but she was a really lovely lady who just happened to command a lot of respect from the people in the area, I suppose this is how it works in France.
Left there Saturday morning and am now in Orleans. Car is completely buried in admirers every where I go, a lot more than I got in the Lambo and Ferrari over here before. Don't know what it is, I think everyone thinks it is a P1. Stopping at a car wash brings a constant stream of well wishers and apart from a few dodgy looking young blokes it has been a real pleasure. Got lucky at this hotel, they gave me a room next to the car Park so I can keep an eye on it.
Went into town last night in a cab and got pissed watching the football and met some nice people.
Went back today, there just aren't any decent cars about here. Saw this in the underground place:
And one for the bad parking thread!
The underground car parks are tiny in France.
Lovely city Orleans, well worth a look, taxis are a rip off though.
Off to Tours tomorrow, I'm going to go car hunting to try and keep this relevant.
7
Your tour sounds great, you have to do this stuff while you can, I spent many years not taking holidays and now wish I had.
There was a 2014 blog but it fizzled out, I did way too many miles and ended up too knackered to do anything interesting.
Found some lovely roads today, will update later when I reach the next hotel.
BenWRXSEi said:
Read through your 2013 thread on the train into London this morning - an excellent read, made more so by the funny looks from commuters as I gigged quietly to myself! I'll try and dig out the 2014 one for the way home (assuming there is one?).
Currently sat in somebody else's office overlooking the river Thames. It's a nice day here but it doesn't do much for the fact that coming into London on a Monday morning is one of the less enjoyable parts of my job. Threads like these remind me why I do it - whilst not on your level I still get to enjoy a house of my own, a fun daily and a stupid weekend car. Off on a tour of Wales with a couple of mates next month (following Scotland last year and Spain/France the year before) and I'm looking forward to it immensely.
Enjoy the fruits of your labour, and keep the updates coming
Thanks Ben I appreciate that, comments like yours make it worth taking the time to do the blog. Currently sat in somebody else's office overlooking the river Thames. It's a nice day here but it doesn't do much for the fact that coming into London on a Monday morning is one of the less enjoyable parts of my job. Threads like these remind me why I do it - whilst not on your level I still get to enjoy a house of my own, a fun daily and a stupid weekend car. Off on a tour of Wales with a couple of mates next month (following Scotland last year and Spain/France the year before) and I'm looking forward to it immensely.
Enjoy the fruits of your labour, and keep the updates coming
Your tour sounds great, you have to do this stuff while you can, I spent many years not taking holidays and now wish I had.
There was a 2014 blog but it fizzled out, I did way too many miles and ended up too knackered to do anything interesting.
Found some lovely roads today, will update later when I reach the next hotel.
Hi V8FGO,
Yeah,have had a couple of good guitar sessions. Sitting in a hotel room I can just play for hours, something I just don't get time to do at home anymore. The sort of sessions where you can actually tell you've improved by the end of it.
It's good having this little tinny sounding Tele cos it's too quite to disturb anybody while in the phones I've got it cranked up to eleven!
My next hotel room has a balcony that's away from other people, I've sat out there before with the guitar and a bottle of red enjoying the view of the Chateaux grounds.
Really looking forward to that!
Yeah,have had a couple of good guitar sessions. Sitting in a hotel room I can just play for hours, something I just don't get time to do at home anymore. The sort of sessions where you can actually tell you've improved by the end of it.
It's good having this little tinny sounding Tele cos it's too quite to disturb anybody while in the phones I've got it cranked up to eleven!
My next hotel room has a balcony that's away from other people, I've sat out there before with the guitar and a bottle of red enjoying the view of the Chateaux grounds.
Really looking forward to that!
drivin_me_nuts said:
Enjoying the read. I do trust you are not penning a best man's ode en route?
You had to go and mention that didn't you? Stress! drivin_me_nuts said:
Oh yeah, bridge picture please. Always good to see some dramatic shot of man/car/bridge interface. Something tall and old and crumbling down ever so slightly... the bridge that is, not you!
I'll look but you can't stop on the big viaducts they are normally single lane. They've been a piece of piss you'll be pleased to hear, even driving right close to the edge of the high ones so I can look over!I know the endless Chateaus get a bit dull but f
king hell Chambord! I've been meaning to go there for ages but never get around to it, if you're in the Central Loire area definitely visit (and the Castle at Amboise, that's another belter).
Chambord is huge, a few pics:
They let you go right up on to the high walkways, it is stunning.
While I was up there there was a teacher with a whole bunch of kids walking around, as they came passed me she's asking them lots of questions about the place and suddenly one of the little kids answers "Yes"
She pulled him out and starts berating him about using English (they're a bit snotty about their language) She's going "Nem respondre en anglais" or something like that, my French isn't good.
As she finished we're right next to each other and she looks at me and rolls her eyes at him. I decide it's best just to smile and say nothing!
When I was buying my ticket the lady in the kiosk asked - in a very heavy French accent - where are you from? I said England and she said "Ah".
I get my ticket and change and just as I'm turning to leave I quickly said "Where are you from?"
She got all flustered and went "I..er..er..I..er..the French!"
Loved it!
Got stuck going in, took this picture on the way out:
I watched the bloke in front of me roll up to the machine, the ticket doesn't come out until you're right next to it. Ticket machine is on the left obviously.
So I go in but it's really tight for a wide car. Ticket comes out and I can't open the drivers door to go around and get it because of the crap they've got standing on the right hand side.
I can't go back because in typical French fashion the bloke behind me is about 2 inches off my bumper with 3 more cars behind him. I can't clamber across because the guitar is across the passenger seat, so I'm fked.
Very luckily there's a guy who works for the estate pruning trees a little way off, so I'm going "Monsieur can you aide?".
Luckily he took pity and came and gave me the ticket.
Now this is why you should try to come and drive in France at least once:
(Stopped to take these pics incidentally)
You can see the road snaking away, the grass is all about 2 foot tall so you can see other cars sticking out from about a mile away.
A regular glance at the sat nav to check there is only a single road and off you go! If you go out early you don't see any cars anyway, the French don't seem to drive early in rural areas.
When you approach a village you will see something like this pop up:
You can just see the first houses appearing (usually it's a church), so slow right down and pootle through the village. Wave to the locals if there are any about (they always seem friendly, might be the car) then look out for this:
And you're back out in the flat countryside again.
Roof is open, sun is beaming, foot is on the floor and engine is howling. Go for your fking life!!!
If you pick the right area this territory goes on for ever.
Wonderful place in a car, France.
At the next hotel now in Tours, this the view from my balcony:
Scary moment earlier when lots of rather tired looking people on bikes got interested in the car:
They were riding right up and then sort of collapsing over there handlebars, I was cringing, waiting for the moment, got away with it.
Went for a run down the banks of the Loire when I got here, still can't find anything interesting car wise, saw this old beast:
As I was running away from town I passed a girl about 25 walking on her hands on the river bank, really skillful. On the way back she was standing straight up on one hand and sort of slowly turning, it was amazingly elegant. I thought "Photo for the blog", so I stopped, pointed at the phone and said "Pic?"
As soon as I did it I thought Oh no that's going to look well noncey (I'm 51 ffs). What the hell was I thinking?
She gave me a bit of a nervous look and said "Non" so I quickly ran on.
Idiot.
king hell Chambord! I've been meaning to go there for ages but never get around to it, if you're in the Central Loire area definitely visit (and the Castle at Amboise, that's another belter).Chambord is huge, a few pics:
They let you go right up on to the high walkways, it is stunning.
While I was up there there was a teacher with a whole bunch of kids walking around, as they came passed me she's asking them lots of questions about the place and suddenly one of the little kids answers "Yes"
She pulled him out and starts berating him about using English (they're a bit snotty about their language) She's going "Nem respondre en anglais" or something like that, my French isn't good.
As she finished we're right next to each other and she looks at me and rolls her eyes at him. I decide it's best just to smile and say nothing!
When I was buying my ticket the lady in the kiosk asked - in a very heavy French accent - where are you from? I said England and she said "Ah".
I get my ticket and change and just as I'm turning to leave I quickly said "Where are you from?"
She got all flustered and went "I..er..er..I..er..the French!"
Loved it!
Got stuck going in, took this picture on the way out:
I watched the bloke in front of me roll up to the machine, the ticket doesn't come out until you're right next to it. Ticket machine is on the left obviously.
So I go in but it's really tight for a wide car. Ticket comes out and I can't open the drivers door to go around and get it because of the crap they've got standing on the right hand side.
I can't go back because in typical French fashion the bloke behind me is about 2 inches off my bumper with 3 more cars behind him. I can't clamber across because the guitar is across the passenger seat, so I'm f
ked.Very luckily there's a guy who works for the estate pruning trees a little way off, so I'm going "Monsieur can you aide?".
Luckily he took pity and came and gave me the ticket.
Now this is why you should try to come and drive in France at least once:
(Stopped to take these pics incidentally)
You can see the road snaking away, the grass is all about 2 foot tall so you can see other cars sticking out from about a mile away.
A regular glance at the sat nav to check there is only a single road and off you go! If you go out early you don't see any cars anyway, the French don't seem to drive early in rural areas.
When you approach a village you will see something like this pop up:
You can just see the first houses appearing (usually it's a church), so slow right down and pootle through the village. Wave to the locals if there are any about (they always seem friendly, might be the car) then look out for this:
And you're back out in the flat countryside again.
Roof is open, sun is beaming, foot is on the floor and engine is howling. Go for your f
king life!!!If you pick the right area this territory goes on for ever.
Wonderful place in a car, France.
At the next hotel now in Tours, this the view from my balcony:
Scary moment earlier when lots of rather tired looking people on bikes got interested in the car:
They were riding right up and then sort of collapsing over there handlebars, I was cringing, waiting for the moment, got away with it.
Went for a run down the banks of the Loire when I got here, still can't find anything interesting car wise, saw this old beast:
As I was running away from town I passed a girl about 25 walking on her hands on the river bank, really skillful. On the way back she was standing straight up on one hand and sort of slowly turning, it was amazingly elegant. I thought "Photo for the blog", so I stopped, pointed at the phone and said "Pic?"
As soon as I did it I thought Oh no that's going to look well noncey (I'm 51 ffs). What the hell was I thinking?
She gave me a bit of a nervous look and said "Non" so I quickly ran on.
Idiot.
Edited by br d on Tuesday 9th June 21:47
Edited by br d on Tuesday 9th June 21:48
Ignorant bds.
This just happened right below my hotel window. Woman pulls up really close to car next to her:
Even though there's a load of space the other side:
Both back seat passenger and driver both open their doors against the other car, then walk away.
I'm going down for dinner in a minute and I'll give reception the ignorant bds reg in case they have damaged the other car.
ds.This just happened right below my hotel window. Woman pulls up really close to car next to her:
Even though there's a load of space the other side:
Both back seat passenger and driver both open their doors against the other car, then walk away.
I'm going down for dinner in a minute and I'll give reception the ignorant b
ds reg in case they have damaged the other car.Dan,
No special secret places, I just drive about wherever I like the look of. Plenty of that type of countryside in Central Loire where I am now. I've also had a lot of fun around the Beaune area (which is a cracking place anyway and worth the visit even without a car).
France is way too big to get a handle on all the driving conditions but everything is here.
Most people always seem to want mountain roads, lovely for the scenery and all that but I prefer the flat stuff for early morning blasting!
Nothing on the car front today, driven all around Tours for an hour and a half and haven't seen anything remotely interesting, might be time to move the thread to Mumsnet.
No special secret places, I just drive about wherever I like the look of. Plenty of that type of countryside in Central Loire where I am now. I've also had a lot of fun around the Beaune area (which is a cracking place anyway and worth the visit even without a car).
France is way too big to get a handle on all the driving conditions but everything is here.
Most people always seem to want mountain roads, lovely for the scenery and all that but I prefer the flat stuff for early morning blasting!
Nothing on the car front today, driven all around Tours for an hour and a half and haven't seen anything remotely interesting, might be time to move the thread to Mumsnet.
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