Le Mans & beyond - 1750 miles in a TVR
Discussion
It's P&O's fault. They are the ones I can blame. They wanted to financially rape me so badly for the weekend trip to le mans I decided it would be a good idea to extend the trip to justify the cost. Now I am financially ruined. If anyone fancies buying me a beer at Pistonfest my arm is already at 90 degrees.
A route was planned. The usual debauchery of Le Mans followed by a week touring France and Andorra. Easy. So off went the car for its pre-european service – and then it went quiet. Rang the garage and the mechanic was on holiday for the week before we were due to go
After various panic had set in I realised the walnut warrior may be called into action for the trip. A Rover at Le Mans, I just couldn’t. I have broad shoulders but the thought of that made me vomit more than drinking white spirit. In fact, come to think of it, white spirit doesn’t make me vomit. Ok, so it made me vomit more than the thought of Mungo snogging that bird at the Thurland Arms. Suffice to say, mungo pulled a pig. No, hold on, suffice to say I didn’t want to take the Rover.
My mechanic did wonders and the flying bogey was returned on the Tuesday night. Result. A quick blast to check it was all in order meant I ended up down at Pompey ferry port watching the early LM leavers arriving and taking their places in the queue.
Wednesday dawned and I was due in the orifice in the morning. I ended up getting naff all done as final preparations and PH perusal were in order. All sorted. Pre-LM BBQ/party arranged at mine for the Wednesday night and a chance for the more distant members of our LM contingent to sleep over just a few miles from the port. Good to see a few faces also turn up including TVR-Mark-Loud or whatever he’s called, his passenger simon and a few other faces. The Hants RO Craig popped over with his missus and we suitably rubbed their noses into the fact they weren’t going
next year craig and the Nos’ed Cerb can be let off the leash…
so the quiet night in order never happened. Psychobert and his brother Chris were responsible for the late night. I wanted to stop drinking. Such persuasive mates… Still, at least the fire breathing was minimal. Unfortunately, we felt it our duty to polish off the wine from the Fishes’ wedding so ended up shitfaced. Ooops. 1am to bed. 5am up for the ferry. Feeling like shite.
On went the Le mans T-shirts….
front
back - just in case Flasher didnt have the opportunity to bore, sorry "tell", all of those at le mans of his illness..
and arriving at my house Bennno in his new (every time I see Bennno its a “new” something or other) Porker 996 and Flasher in his Maser. Mel turns up in his Griff 500 having got from Gravesend to Southampton in an hour
Off we go to the ferry port, cloudy skies, roof off and flat cap with pipe in mouth (yes, really). We stopped en route to say hi to DustyC’s clan at TGI Fridays and then blasted down to Pompey around 6.30am, Mel having already got the Bib off the Fareham bridge and onto the M27….
Ferry port is the usual LM chaos. Quality Porker next to us in the queue…
Got on the ferry and a call to say that Jaws had booked us in for breakie at Langams. Result. 2 hours later and still no breakfast = not a result. Breakfast for half price due to the delay = result. Being with Mel it was hardly a surprise we didn’t pay full price. I spent the next evening trying to work out when I was last out with Mel and he paid the full price for something….it took me less time to think of a bird that Mungo really had shagged…
The call to disembark arrived. Head down to the chim and get in, take her out of gear. Then decide the roof should go on since its pissing down with rain. Get out, take entire contents of boot out and lay over ferry floor of upper deck. Upper deck gets lowered as we are doing so and in the time honoured fashion the handbrake fails and the chim goes rolling forwards towards a caravan in front. One muppet shnozz holding on for dear life to the back of the boot as Claire jumps into the car and shoves it back in gear. Thanks to the Tuscan driver next to us who jumped out to help. No thanks to the rest of the ferry deck who pissed themselves laughing.
We meet up at the garage just outside the ferry port. Mel & Bennno take so long to arrive we think they are arguing over a 10p piece that was on the floor of the car deck. Bennno arrives looking like he missed breakfast and hasn’t eaten in weeks…
we head on down to le mans in time honoured fashion. Fast. Nice single carriageway roads the entire route. Some nice overtakes, the maser in front of me, Mel in the Griff threatening to bite people’s heads off behind me. The only (minor) brush with the gendarmes when 2 stepped out in the road as I aproached. I had noticed them late. Luckily for us at that point we has eased off the speed and were only about 35kph over the limit. They waved us by with a little grin. What superb gentleman.
I really can't describe the buzz of the drive down to le mans. Its one of those things you have to do for your yourself. Great weather, the most superb roads and an invasion of serious english exotica to play with. It is one of the highlights of the weekend just getting to le mans. Overtaking at every opportunity, giving the car a good working out. The video footage I have is sheer quality and great to watch in winter months when you're feeling low and need cheering up.
We arrived at Le Mans around 8 ish after getting hideously lost in the centre of the town due to an inability to remember how to get into Houx campsite
Thursday night in Houx. Pissed. Hello to Tripps who was again unfortunate enough to camp near us this year. Sorry mate you can’t escape. And for the first time in LM history the Hants region banner was up and displayed.
Friday and its breakfast at Arnage. Nice.
Then down to the PH meet on the circuit. Picked my T-Shirt off off Furby – cheers mate J and managed to get a few Phers with the water cannon. Mr_Tony & Mark Tvr loud took it in good spirits, especially Rich who put me in a headlock
Met the now infamous Corin “Dirk Diggler” Denton at Arnage too. Congratulated him on the minge shots and he joined us for a drive down to the pub on the Mulsanne for a beer. Just a shame we didn’t have more time to hang around- next time mate. Still a memorable moment when we were queuing down the mulsanne with YMCA playing full blast and dancing in sequence in the convertibles. Nice touch but I guess you had to be there….
Back to Houx via the supermarket for more supplies. Then off to the champagne tent to get pissed all afternoon. Ah yes, and Pikey and his missus. Top show you 2. A picture of Dave is required at this point. You slippery snake you
so it was an afternoon on the beers. Again. Ah….. bugger. We also discovered the fantastic game of guessing whether you are old or young from how much your elbow (after being squeezed) looks like a clitoris. Some examples of well known Phers..
Thanks go to Penelope pitstop for adding 10 years on me when trying to guess my age
White spirit is more common at my house than Oil of Olay I will grant you but even still.
Friday night, erm, pissed. Quality BBQ from James Agger involving taking our own BBQ, food for BBQ, chairs for BBQ, music for BBQ, ourselves for BBQ and no James Agger….. D- = more effort required next year. Or at least another show of cold beer at Pistonfest and a straight swap for a 4.5 cerb...
Saturday, something is going on isn’t it. Oh yes, that’s it, the BIG piss up. Off to Arnage for breakie, then back to the campsite for waterfights. Oh no, I hear the fun police. Sorry, no water fights. We didn’t really lift the wall on the border of Houx and squirt passing cabrios…
still, some people had fun and a laugh…..
so, off to the race start. Despite his conversion to all things Italian, Flasher was bizarrely supportive of the TVR effort. In fact, he got rather anxious for the people in front of him to sit down whenever the TVRs were coming around, “Come on TVR” you could hear him shouting as he reached into his pocket for another Wurthers original.
Race started. Ah yes, a race. That loud noise of cars. Ssshhhh still, where’s the bar….ah yes. Managed to watch about 10 minutes after the start until we got thirsty and ran out of beers in the rucksack. Nice touch on the walk to the track mind you
So it was off to find a bar for cold’uns. Another afternoon of Diet Cokes for me then (I don’t drink) and then on to the fair for Claire to hurl herself off the skydive and feel proper acceleration after being passenger in a slooooooow Chim 4 litre. Nutter. Saturday night finished relatively early this year, having lost my drinking partner from last year somewhere in the fairground it ended up back at the campsite at 2.30am ish to find some lads had apprehended a French pikey who had been nicking stuff in Houx. We didn’t suffer any theft and a few more beers under the gazebo before calling it a night.
Sunday morning. For a change we had breakfast in Arnage Back to Houx where the rest of our group packed up to head off to get out of the track before the stampede after the race. Met up with Bridgdav and his other half who wondered down to watch the end of the race with us. Blagged grandstand tickets off the leaving members of our group and comfortably watched both TVRs come home. Ah, the thought of shutting up all the non-believers back in Blighty….priceless. Had to also shake the hand of every fellow Saints fan I met in LM that weekend, far outnumbered the number of pompey shirts I saw this year
So it was back to Houx and to the TVRCC area for the post-race party. Some champers (cheers Bob the Planner J). Met up with the lost boys and they tempted me by getting to sit in the cerb again.
Bastards.
The mid-essex lot had kindly invited us to watch the England –v- france game over with them. The set-up was superb and included satellite TV to watch the commentary in English. Unfortunately, the team let down the essex chaps and chappesses and a few miserable faces were present that evening. Not least N17 TVR and myself. Big thanks to you guys though, as well as a big big thank you to Big_M and TDF. TDF you are sheer quality mate! Need to take you to one of the saints matches at some point.
Monday morning arrived and it was time to pack up. Whilst I am not renown for being particularly fussy with the cleanliness of my car, it really did need a clean
Guess what. Breakfast in Arnage. We were on personal terms with the waitress by now so it seemed rude not to, especially when you don’t have to worry about your lack of French cos she memorised the order.
Parked up next to yet another F40. How common…
We left le mans and headed South to Bordeaux. Had a play with a few cars on the way down but missed out on the Brit pack going North. An Italian Fezza gave up after we overtook him. Didn’t want to play again L
Arrived in Bordeaux around 5ish and stayed in the most stunning castle. Really was awesome and perfect relaxation for a night after the manic le mans weekend.
Headed off to the small town a few miles down the road for dinner and the local lads on the sea front went crazy when they saw the TVR. Stopped us to get photos on their phones and clearly hadn’t seen anything like it before. They did get a bit bored after 3 hours when I had only reached explaining the leven cooling kit mind you. The youth of today No, seriously they were so excited and when we asked for directions to the restaurant one of them jumped on his scooter and gave us an escort. It was only a 1987 Ghia LX but still a nice gesture.
The Tuesday we headed for Andorra, clothed in T-shirt and shorts. Bad idea. As we passed Toulouse the mountains got closer and closer until we started to climb. And it rained. A lot. The roof was packed firmly behind the entire luggage in the boot and we were up in the clouds. In rain. And it was cold. The scenery was stunning but my rear suspension had decided to pack up and the journey had turned into somewhat less fun. The Pyrenees have some great roads. In a TVR, in the pissing rain, with dodgy rear suspension, they aren’t so great for a minute. The drops to the right of me got pretty massive and the car didn’t feel very planted to say the least. But a big thank you to all of the complete w*nkers who drove an inch from the back of the car. If you want to read the badge, stop me next time and I’ll ram a
TVR badge up your arse so you will always be reminded.
After a good hour and a half going up and down mountains (only 30 miles in that time ) we arrived at our hotel. Still raining and still dressed like clowns. If ever there was a time for me to be fire breathing it was then. The hotel was fantastic and a very plush suite there was in order for a few days relaxation. The car was feeling sorry for itself and the roads around Andorra not ideal for a car with a handbrake as useful as a kaleidoscope for stevie wonder.
Unfortunately an old eye injury of mine proved problematic whilst in Andorra. Whilst racing karts about 6 years ago I was a twat and left my visor up. It ended with me in agony as at 50mph the bloke in front flicked small pieces of metal up off the track and I ended up having it drilled out of my eyeball. Somewhere along the trip I picked up an irritation which lead to the scare opening up and by the second day in Andorra it was the size of a small country. Like Andorra. So on the third day in Andorra, which was supposed to be a trek up to stay at Wrinkly’s pad in France, meant I was in the hospital and then sent to an eye specialist. I nearly died you know….
A day was lost off the schedule. As it turns out, Wrinkly was having his own problems and never made it back to France in time.
So, a day down, knackered rear suspension and we have to get from Andorra to Nantes for the B&B. 60mph the whole way
I was even overtaken by a Porsche Boxster. Frustration was mounting. Mounting dogs, horses, in fact anything I could lay my hands on. The good thing was that the weather back down through the mountains was far better and allowed better photo opportunities.
We arrived at the B&B. Another lovely chateau. Totally bonkers French owners who spoke naff all Anglais. It was Monsieur Harold and Madame Hilda after a trip to the loony bin. Madame Hilda decided to give us an escort to the local pizza restaurant to get some grub. We had turned up so late after over 12 hours on the road that any food was welcome. What Madame Hilda didn’t say in her French was that she was the next Hilda Villeneuve – her driving was nuttier than a 20lbs fruit cake and the suspension on the Tiv wasn’t amused in a Queen Victoria fashion. Whilst the villagers didn’t bat an eyelid at Madame Hilda hammering through the streets in her saxo, the attention was drawn to an English nutter with a loud exhaust making quick progress through a sleepy village at a latter stage of the evening.
As it turned out, the bar/restaurant was in the local shopping mall where the local yoofs hung out. Once again, the TVR was received with great aplomb. Even with knackered suspension, I couldn’t resist giving it some welly as we left the car park.
The chateau itself was lovely though, and a great place for a quick pic of the car outside
The next day was an early start again and en route to le havre. A brief getting lost in Caen episode was the only moment of panic and the rest of the journey was fairly dull. 60mph is boring, although we still overtook half a dozen from the MG club who were still on the road back from Le Mans a week later. The speed they were driving I wasn’t sure if they had taken a weeks holiday or just the time allowance for them to get from the track back to the ferry port.
P&O were great in getting the car onto the ferry without any scrapes. It also meant we were first off at Pompey and back home within 20 mins of the ferry docking.
Another great LM. And a superb road trip. Some problems along the way, but a hell of an adventure. Highly recommend it.
>>> Edited by shnozz on Thursday 24th June 10:51
A route was planned. The usual debauchery of Le Mans followed by a week touring France and Andorra. Easy. So off went the car for its pre-european service – and then it went quiet. Rang the garage and the mechanic was on holiday for the week before we were due to go
After various panic had set in I realised the walnut warrior may be called into action for the trip. A Rover at Le Mans, I just couldn’t. I have broad shoulders but the thought of that made me vomit more than drinking white spirit. In fact, come to think of it, white spirit doesn’t make me vomit. Ok, so it made me vomit more than the thought of Mungo snogging that bird at the Thurland Arms. Suffice to say, mungo pulled a pig. No, hold on, suffice to say I didn’t want to take the Rover. My mechanic did wonders and the flying bogey was returned on the Tuesday night. Result. A quick blast to check it was all in order meant I ended up down at Pompey ferry port watching the early LM leavers arriving and taking their places in the queue.
Wednesday dawned and I was due in the orifice in the morning. I ended up getting naff all done as final preparations and PH perusal were in order. All sorted. Pre-LM BBQ/party arranged at mine for the Wednesday night and a chance for the more distant members of our LM contingent to sleep over just a few miles from the port. Good to see a few faces also turn up including TVR-Mark-Loud or whatever he’s called, his passenger simon and a few other faces. The Hants RO Craig popped over with his missus and we suitably rubbed their noses into the fact they weren’t going
next year craig and the Nos’ed Cerb can be let off the leash… so the quiet night in order never happened. Psychobert and his brother Chris were responsible for the late night. I wanted to stop drinking. Such persuasive mates… Still, at least the fire breathing was minimal. Unfortunately, we felt it our duty to polish off the wine from the Fishes’ wedding so ended up shitfaced. Ooops. 1am to bed. 5am up for the ferry. Feeling like shite.
On went the Le mans T-shirts….
front
back - just in case Flasher didnt have the opportunity to bore, sorry "tell", all of those at le mans of his illness..
and arriving at my house Bennno in his new (every time I see Bennno its a “new” something or other) Porker 996 and Flasher in his Maser. Mel turns up in his Griff 500 having got from Gravesend to Southampton in an hour
Off we go to the ferry port, cloudy skies, roof off and flat cap with pipe in mouth (yes, really). We stopped en route to say hi to DustyC’s clan at TGI Fridays and then blasted down to Pompey around 6.30am, Mel having already got the Bib off the Fareham bridge and onto the M27….
Ferry port is the usual LM chaos. Quality Porker next to us in the queue…
Got on the ferry and a call to say that Jaws had booked us in for breakie at Langams. Result. 2 hours later and still no breakfast = not a result. Breakfast for half price due to the delay = result. Being with Mel it was hardly a surprise we didn’t pay full price. I spent the next evening trying to work out when I was last out with Mel and he paid the full price for something….it took me less time to think of a bird that Mungo really had shagged…
The call to disembark arrived. Head down to the chim and get in, take her out of gear. Then decide the roof should go on since its pissing down with rain. Get out, take entire contents of boot out and lay over ferry floor of upper deck. Upper deck gets lowered as we are doing so and in the time honoured fashion the handbrake fails and the chim goes rolling forwards towards a caravan in front. One muppet shnozz holding on for dear life to the back of the boot as Claire jumps into the car and shoves it back in gear. Thanks to the Tuscan driver next to us who jumped out to help. No thanks to the rest of the ferry deck who pissed themselves laughing.
We meet up at the garage just outside the ferry port. Mel & Bennno take so long to arrive we think they are arguing over a 10p piece that was on the floor of the car deck. Bennno arrives looking like he missed breakfast and hasn’t eaten in weeks…
we head on down to le mans in time honoured fashion. Fast. Nice single carriageway roads the entire route. Some nice overtakes, the maser in front of me, Mel in the Griff threatening to bite people’s heads off behind me. The only (minor) brush with the gendarmes when 2 stepped out in the road as I aproached. I had noticed them late. Luckily for us at that point we has eased off the speed and were only about 35kph over the limit. They waved us by with a little grin. What superb gentleman.
I really can't describe the buzz of the drive down to le mans. Its one of those things you have to do for your yourself. Great weather, the most superb roads and an invasion of serious english exotica to play with. It is one of the highlights of the weekend just getting to le mans. Overtaking at every opportunity, giving the car a good working out. The video footage I have is sheer quality and great to watch in winter months when you're feeling low and need cheering up.
We arrived at Le Mans around 8 ish after getting hideously lost in the centre of the town due to an inability to remember how to get into Houx campsite
Thursday night in Houx. Pissed. Hello to Tripps who was again unfortunate enough to camp near us this year. Sorry mate you can’t escape.
And for the first time in LM history the Hants region banner was up and displayed. Friday and its breakfast at Arnage. Nice.
Then down to the PH meet on the circuit. Picked my T-Shirt off off Furby – cheers mate J and managed to get a few Phers with the water cannon. Mr_Tony & Mark Tvr loud took it in good spirits, especially Rich who put me in a headlock
Met the now infamous Corin “Dirk Diggler” Denton at Arnage too. Congratulated him on the minge shots and he joined us for a drive down to the pub on the Mulsanne for a beer. Just a shame we didn’t have more time to hang around- next time mate. Still a memorable moment when we were queuing down the mulsanne with YMCA playing full blast and dancing in sequence in the convertibles. Nice touch but I guess you had to be there….
Back to Houx via the supermarket for more supplies. Then off to the champagne tent to get pissed all afternoon. Ah yes, and Pikey and his missus. Top show you 2. A picture of Dave is required at this point. You slippery snake you
so it was an afternoon on the beers. Again. Ah….. bugger. We also discovered the fantastic game of guessing whether you are old or young from how much your elbow (after being squeezed) looks like a clitoris. Some examples of well known Phers..
Thanks go to Penelope pitstop for adding 10 years on me when trying to guess my age
White spirit is more common at my house than Oil of Olay I will grant you but even still. Friday night, erm, pissed. Quality BBQ from James Agger involving taking our own BBQ, food for BBQ, chairs for BBQ, music for BBQ, ourselves for BBQ and no James Agger…..
D- = more effort required next year. Or at least another show of cold beer at Pistonfest and a straight swap for a 4.5 cerb... Saturday, something is going on isn’t it. Oh yes, that’s it, the BIG piss up. Off to Arnage for breakie, then back to the campsite for waterfights. Oh no, I hear the fun police. Sorry, no water fights. We didn’t really lift the wall on the border of Houx and squirt passing cabrios…
still, some people had fun and a laugh…..
so, off to the race start. Despite his conversion to all things Italian, Flasher was bizarrely supportive of the TVR effort. In fact, he got rather anxious for the people in front of him to sit down whenever the TVRs were coming around, “Come on TVR” you could hear him shouting as he reached into his pocket for another Wurthers original.
Race started. Ah yes, a race. That loud noise of cars. Ssshhhh still, where’s the bar….ah yes. Managed to watch about 10 minutes after the start until we got thirsty and ran out of beers in the rucksack. Nice touch on the walk to the track mind you
So it was off to find a bar for cold’uns. Another afternoon of Diet Cokes for me then (I don’t drink) and then on to the fair for Claire to hurl herself off the skydive and feel proper acceleration after being passenger in a slooooooow Chim 4 litre. Nutter. Saturday night finished relatively early this year, having lost my drinking partner from last year somewhere in the fairground it ended up back at the campsite at 2.30am ish to find some lads had apprehended a French pikey who had been nicking stuff in Houx. We didn’t suffer any theft and a few more beers under the gazebo before calling it a night.
Sunday morning. For a change we had breakfast in Arnage
Back to Houx where the rest of our group packed up to head off to get out of the track before the stampede after the race. Met up with Bridgdav and his other half who wondered down to watch the end of the race with us. Blagged grandstand tickets off the leaving members of our group and comfortably watched both TVRs come home. Ah, the thought of shutting up all the non-believers back in Blighty….priceless. Had to also shake the hand of every fellow Saints fan I met in LM that weekend, far outnumbered the number of pompey shirts I saw this year So it was back to Houx and to the TVRCC area for the post-race party. Some champers (cheers Bob the Planner J). Met up with the lost boys and they tempted me by getting to sit in the cerb again.
Bastards. The mid-essex lot had kindly invited us to watch the England –v- france game over with them. The set-up was superb and included satellite TV to watch the commentary in English. Unfortunately, the team let down the essex chaps and chappesses and a few miserable faces were present that evening. Not least N17 TVR and myself. Big thanks to you guys though, as well as a big big thank you to Big_M and TDF. TDF you are sheer quality mate! Need to take you to one of the saints matches at some point.
Monday morning arrived and it was time to pack up. Whilst I am not renown for being particularly fussy with the cleanliness of my car, it really did need a clean
Guess what. Breakfast in Arnage. We were on personal terms with the waitress by now so it seemed rude not to, especially when you don’t have to worry about your lack of French cos she memorised the order.
Parked up next to yet another F40. How common…
We left le mans and headed South to Bordeaux. Had a play with a few cars on the way down but missed out on the Brit pack going North. An Italian Fezza gave up after we overtook him. Didn’t want to play again L
Arrived in Bordeaux around 5ish and stayed in the most stunning castle. Really was awesome and perfect relaxation for a night after the manic le mans weekend.
Headed off to the small town a few miles down the road for dinner and the local lads on the sea front went crazy when they saw the TVR. Stopped us to get photos on their phones and clearly hadn’t seen anything like it before. They did get a bit bored after 3 hours when I had only reached explaining the leven cooling kit mind you. The youth of today
No, seriously they were so excited and when we asked for directions to the restaurant one of them jumped on his scooter and gave us an escort. It was only a 1987 Ghia LX but still a nice gesture. The Tuesday we headed for Andorra, clothed in T-shirt and shorts. Bad idea. As we passed Toulouse the mountains got closer and closer until we started to climb. And it rained. A lot. The roof was packed firmly behind the entire luggage in the boot and we were up in the clouds. In rain. And it was cold. The scenery was stunning but my rear suspension had decided to pack up and the journey had turned into somewhat less fun. The Pyrenees have some great roads. In a TVR, in the pissing rain, with dodgy rear suspension, they aren’t so great for a minute. The drops to the right of me got pretty massive and the car didn’t feel very planted to say the least. But a big thank you to all of the complete w*nkers who drove an inch from the back of the car. If you want to read the badge, stop me next time and I’ll ram a
TVR badge up your arse so you will always be reminded. After a good hour and a half going up and down mountains (only 30 miles in that time
) we arrived at our hotel. Still raining and still dressed like clowns. If ever there was a time for me to be fire breathing it was then. The hotel was fantastic and a very plush suite there was in order for a few days relaxation. The car was feeling sorry for itself and the roads around Andorra not ideal for a car with a handbrake as useful as a kaleidoscope for stevie wonder. Unfortunately an old eye injury of mine proved problematic whilst in Andorra. Whilst racing karts about 6 years ago I was a twat and left my visor up. It ended with me in agony as at 50mph the bloke in front flicked small pieces of metal up off the track and I ended up having it drilled out of my eyeball. Somewhere along the trip I picked up an irritation which lead to the scare opening up and by the second day in Andorra it was the size of a small country. Like Andorra. So on the third day in Andorra, which was supposed to be a trek up to stay at Wrinkly’s pad in France, meant I was in the hospital and then sent to an eye specialist. I nearly died you know….
A day was lost off the schedule. As it turns out, Wrinkly was having his own problems and never made it back to France in time.
So, a day down, knackered rear suspension and we have to get from Andorra to Nantes for the B&B. 60mph the whole way
I was even overtaken by a Porsche Boxster. Frustration was mounting. Mounting dogs, horses, in fact anything I could lay my hands on. The good thing was that the weather back down through the mountains was far better and allowed better photo opportunities. We arrived at the B&B. Another lovely chateau. Totally bonkers French owners who spoke naff all Anglais. It was Monsieur Harold and Madame Hilda after a trip to the loony bin. Madame Hilda decided to give us an escort to the local pizza restaurant to get some grub. We had turned up so late after over 12 hours on the road that any food was welcome. What Madame Hilda didn’t say in her French was that she was the next Hilda Villeneuve – her driving was nuttier than a 20lbs fruit cake and the suspension on the Tiv wasn’t amused in a Queen Victoria fashion. Whilst the villagers didn’t bat an eyelid at Madame Hilda hammering through the streets in her saxo, the attention was drawn to an English nutter with a loud exhaust making quick progress through a sleepy village at a latter stage of the evening.
As it turned out, the bar/restaurant was in the local shopping mall where the local yoofs hung out. Once again, the TVR was received with great aplomb. Even with knackered suspension, I couldn’t resist giving it some welly as we left the car park.
The chateau itself was lovely though, and a great place for a quick pic of the car outside
The next day was an early start again and en route to le havre. A brief getting lost in Caen episode was the only moment of panic and the rest of the journey was fairly dull. 60mph is boring, although we still overtook half a dozen from the MG club who were still on the road back from Le Mans a week later. The speed they were driving I wasn’t sure if they had taken a weeks holiday or just the time allowance for them to get from the track back to the ferry port.
P&O were great in getting the car onto the ferry without any scrapes. It also meant we were first off at Pompey and back home within 20 mins of the ferry docking.
Another great LM. And a superb road trip. Some problems along the way, but a hell of an adventure. Highly recommend it.
>>> Edited by shnozz on Thursday 24th June 10:51
Top post Phil 
.
I take it you've considered submitting it to 'sprint'. Although it would mean the full effects of your usage of the Queens English would be edited out. The article may then lose something in this process, which I'm sure is one compromise too many.
Enjoyed it myself, wondered where you were off too every morning, now I know, breakfast
Harry
. I take it you've considered submitting it to 'sprint'. Although it would mean the full effects of your usage of the Queens English would be edited out. The article may then lose something in this process, which I'm sure is one compromise too many
. Enjoyed it myself, wondered where you were off too every morning, now I know, breakfast
Harry
HarryW said:
Top post Phil
I take it you've considered submitting it to 'sprint'. Although it would mean the full effects of your usage of the Queens English would be edited out. The article may then lose something in this process, which I'm sure is one compromise too many
Enjoyed it myself, wondered where you were off too every morning, now I know, breakfast
Harry
nah, not bothering with sprint photos or articles after they pissed me off previously. Someone suggested sending this picture to them but they'll probably not return it and fail to publish it so I would rather just share it with the PH community.
cuzza said:
Top post Phil,
Really enjoyed it - sums up the whole Le Mans weekend very nicely!
Good work fella!!
ah yes, forgot to give a mention to Cuzza who I met up with on Saturday afternoon for a beer (sorry it was short and sweet mate) and also fatboy chim on occasions outside the toilet block in Houx. In fact, what were you doing hanging around those toilets mate?
Great to meet so many new faces
with the morning coffee. NEL said:
BTW what was up with the rear suspension that you couldn't get fettled in a garage in France?
nel
Not sure as yet what the exact problem is. I knew the rear shocks had seen better days so its due to have new shocks and springs fitted next week. Was never that impressed with TVR handling on standard set-up anyway so hopefully will see some improvement. We didnt really stay in any major cities and I just wanted to get the car back and let a TVR experienced mechanic to work on her rather than someone taking a guess on things. I know the suspension set up in a chim is fairly straight forward but I would rather get work done at home if at all possible.
I did toy with the idea of trying to find a mechanic in Andorra but they were few and far between and I didnt want any more delay on teh trip.
BrendonJ said:
Schnozz, great post! Thouroughly enjoyed reading it.
Can you possibly post the route/roads you took (and even possibly the name of that chateau you stayed) as i would be keen on doing the same thing next year.
Cheers.
no problem. Keep an eye on the post and I'll do it probably tomorrow night as i wont be home much this evening with the footie on at the pub...
Perhaps before I do I should check - can you get a speeding ticket retrospectively?
and dont want the same places all booked up for the week after le mans if we go back next year either
Top post Phil!!!!shnozz said:
Friday night, erm, pissed. Quality BBQ from James Agger involving taking our own BBQ, food for BBQ, chairs for BBQ, music for BBQ, ourselves for BBQ and no James Agger…..
Sounds about right for 'yer beauty'
Top post mate, unfortunate about the suspension, but it looks like you enjoyed yourselves
Top post mate, summed it up well..
You might have missed that fact that we went for a beer or two thoughout the weekend.. :hht be ehe:
Good idea.. Might be tempted to do something similar. Next year I'll have the TVR with me..
You might have missed that fact that we went for a beer or two thoughout the weekend.. :hht be ehe:
shnozz said:
Tempted to take a week off after le mans again next year after the experience this year.
Good idea.. Might be tempted to do something similar. Next year I'll have the TVR with me..
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