Geneva road trip & tour of JLC Manufacture

[v8woollie]

Someone at the D&D asked me to add them to this list and I think it was Pilgrim7777. If I have added the wrong name please let me know.

v8woollie +1
yeti
jonby
AstonZagato
Niki M +1 (tour x 2)
DavidV12V
Behr
Neil1300R +1 (tour x 2)
Threesixty + 1
jamesc12 (+ 1?)
AMDBSNick
V8 PLL +1 (tour x 2)
Robgt +1 (tour x 2)
Mac355 + 1 (tour x 2)
B4rnst4ble + 1 (tour x 2)

Manufacture tour reserve list (you can still come on the trip):

Dougie81 +1
CraigV12V + 1
marceltay + 1
Tony V12V
George H
PauloV12V +1
Pilgrim7777

[v8woollie]

v8woollie +1
yeti
jonby
AstonZagato
Niki M +1 (tour x 2)
DavidV12V
Behr
Neil1300R +1 (tour x 2)
Threesixty + 1
jamesc12 (+ 1?)
AMDBSNick
V8 PLL +1 (tour x 2)
Robgt +1 (tour x 2)
Mac355 + 1 (tour x 2)
B4rnst4ble + 1 (tour x 2)

Manufacture tour reserve list (you can still come on the trip):

Dougie81 +1
CraigV12V + 1
marceltay + 1
Tony V12V
George H
PauloV12V +1
Pilgrim7777
MaverickAM9

Added JLC will pay for the accommodation and meals whilst we are in Geneva.

[v8woollie]

Well I've now got new Potenzas all round so they will have to do

[v8woollie]

Very nice. Now stop buying watches - you have a wedding and the world's most expensive cream teas to pay for

Plus a route to plan

[v8woollie]

yeti said:

It's all up here >taps side of head<

Who is taking responsibility for booking a place to stay in Beaune?

If 20 cars or whatever, then we'll probably end up at the Mercure just on the edge of town..? Still easy to stroll into town for some top flight grub and there is a petrol station right outside

Once the plans are finalised I'll speak to the Mercure and see what we can get for a block booking and a section of the car park to ourselves. Standard rate per night looks like £72.

[v8woollie]

jonby said:

The car park at a guess holds around 25cars in total so we would need to book the space well in advance - you can actually see some photos on the website

They may like the idea of an all aston car park for a photoshoot too -in fact whilst there will be plenty of other opportunities no doubt, it's a cracking spot for us to take a photo too

I'll ask the question and see what they say

That looks like a nice place with a secure car park too.

[v8woollie]

I am meeting the Jaeger-LeCoultre marketing people on the 26th so hopefully will have some more details to share after that.

[v8woollie]

yeti said:

Can't hurt can it

I love Beaune, one of favourite towns. Nick and I will drink them out of Montrachet

Chassagne-Montrachet is one of my absolute favourite white wines. Good job us V8V owners have big boots

[v8woollie]

yeti said:

Room for a little one..?

Nope

[v8woollie]

jonby said:

The car park at a guess holds around 25cars in total so we would need to book the space well in advance - you can actually see some photos on the website

They may like the idea of an all aston car park for a photoshoot too -in fact whilst there will be plenty of other opportunities no doubt, it's a cracking spot for us to take a photo too

I'll ask the question and see what they say

Did you get an opportunity to ask about parking and rates?

[v8woollie]

Thanks. Email addy coming in a second.

[v8woollie]

Dates are firm being 9th - 13th April depending if you want to do the longer route back.

We are currently looking at hotels for the trip down and back and I will provide the options and rates as soon as they are available. Lewis (yeti) is route planning and I'm meeting the JLC marketing people on Friday to discuss the agenda for our time in Geneva..

Nothing to pay yet and I'm currently assuming all on the list are confirmed at this point. Of course much may change between now and April in terms of numbers.

Edited by v8woollie on Monday 22 October 23:31

[v8woollie]

I'm hoping we will have a few JLCs on the trip but not a compulsory item. I may wear my Casio G-Shock

[v8woollie]

Just trying to get some hotel options and prices for the overnight in Beaune. Need to decide the plan for the return trip as far as the overnight on the 12th is concerned? Lewis, we need some route info

[v8woollie]

jamesc12 said:

Looking forward to this. Good work on the organising guys.

I'm hoping it will be EPIC!

Got an invitation from Arum (owners of Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths) to attend an AM driving day and factory tour of Gaydon on the 15th November. They may want to offer me a One-77 for the trip to Geneva

Worked out nicely - into BR at 9am for new rear brakes and then down to Gaydon and all on the day after my birthday

[v8woollie]

AMDBSNick said:

Lewis and I would be happy in the store room of a vineyard with a sleeping bag

Already booked with a case of 2009 Le Montrachet Grand Cru

[v8woollie]

Thanks for that link for somwhere I hadn't seen before.

I think now may be a good time to get a feel for the opinion of those that have said they would like to make this trip.

There seem to be two options for the stay in Beanue. Places such as Le Cep and the Abbaye de la Bussiere are lovely and have secure parking. Their pricing is therefore commensurate and single rooms are around £150+ per night and doubles and suites ranging from £250 to £350 per night.

Alternatively, there are cheaper hotels that may have less secure parking, such as the Mercure where rooms range from £80 to £130 for the night.

So what are your views? Book the beter hotels with more secure parking or get the cheaper room rates and spend the savings on wine I shall of course endeavour to get a more preferential rate whatever we decide.

[v8woollie]

AMDBSNick said:

We are driving Aston Martins to the JLC factory and drinking Puligny-Montrachet en route. Why would one wish to stay in an inferior hotel

Good point, although I shall be slumming it with Chassagne-Montrachet

I think it best to canvas opinion before starting to make firm plans with any particular establishment, and I'm particularly keen that this isn't regarded as a signifcnalty expensive trip when you all had so much fun for a reasonable cost at the Autumn outing last weekend.

I'm happy to go with the flow, I just want to get a sense of what the flow is as soon as possible so I can at least get the outward overnight booked. I will be discussing the Geneva arrangements with JLC on Friday.

[v8woollie]

yeti said:

Off the top of my head...

Day 1: Calais -> Beaune

Early train, arrive Calais 9:00am (lose an hour - fortunatly my Reverso has a GMT function...).
Calais -> Reims fast on A26, arrive Reims pits at 12:00hrs. 30mins up and down the straight, few photos. Lunch here http://www.restaurant-garenne.com/ which is at the end of the straight, have eaten there before and it's lovely!

Depart Reims at 14:30 for Beaune. D396 (backroad) to Chaumont and then A31 (fast) to Beaune, arrive 18:30, either at Mercure or elsewhere of groupe choosing. Other choice is drive fast to Beaune and arrive earlier and have a stroll around the town?

Dinner... plenty of recommendations, to be refined nearer the time. Nick and I drink Montrachet, Nick names his other two kids after me after the third bottle.

Day 2: Beaune -> Geneva
Depart 10am, N73 to Lons le Saumier, D52/D678 to somewhere like Lacs de Clairvaux, lunch at La Chamiere du Lac?

Then we hit the Jura Mountains; N5 to La Cure and then the D1005 through Gex into Geneva, couple of hours of pure driving pleasure. Mind your brakes, you will need to keep them cool, it's hairpin-tastic

Departure:
Geneva -> Calais. Those who need to get back in a single day, A26 all the way home. 7hrs of driving, easily split up though. Suggest an evening train backk to Blighty!

Those who can take 2 days go back...

Day 1: Geneva -> Trier and overnight for sausages and beer. 7hrs driving on a mix of autoroutes and backroads Set satnav for 'fastest route' to stay on big roads, 'shortest' to reveal some amazing sweeping empty roads with no traffic. There's no trick to it, it's that simple!

Day 2: Trier - > Calais perhaps lunch in Lieges? Only 4hrs driving. Might be worth balancing the driving over the two days by staying in Saarbrucken or similar, arther than Trier. Trier is stunning though.

Late train home

[v8woollie]

Molly GT said:

Whilst happy to go with the flow I would say that we stayed at the Mercure Offenburg in the summer with Petrolhead Nirvana for our first night and they looked after our group well, there were no problems with car parking, there was a Shell fuel station just across the road and it was much better than the Mercure we stayed at in the UK before crossing the Channel.





Looking forward to hearing the outcome of your meeting on Friday Woollie

Thanks Molly. Always good to have recommendations about places for overnights. As Jonby said, it is just a place to sleep and shower so I am happy with the Mercure. If I was away for a romatic weekend with my wife then Le Cep or the Abbaye would be the first choice.

That said, Nick may appear more attractive after a couple of bottles of Montrachet so the seductive qualities of Le Cep may not be wasted