Changing Cars

[jeremyg]

loving this, mainly because I want to do it myself, so soaking up all the info and tips. Thanks

Ah! Thanks. So glad someone finds it useful as it’s a bloody PITA struggling with this bloody Tapatalk app. I’ll keep trying then..

[jeremyg]

Loving your story. Keep it coming!


Regards
Mike

Thanks Mike. I’m trying I’m trying ..

[jeremyg]

No, not staying there!
We plan to go on to Badan Badan, through the Alsace south and across West to Le Man area / Hotel du France and to Brittany which was our first holiday into France in our Capri!
But that was 40 years ago now.

Lovely. Have a great trip. We stayed at the Hotel de France once (in 2017 I think) and were woken early to find Ford photographing their then new Le Mans challenger (dummy copy) right outside our bedroom.

[jeremyg]

Anyway, carrying on, the next morning we decided to leave the autoroute well alone as it was a Saturday, and holiday time, and we set off for the final leg of our journey to Provence on the ‘D’ roads, and we have this guy in his old Mercedes to thank for being an excellent car to follow.

He obviously knew all the roads and slowed for the speed limit areas, slowed beautifully for the treacherous and numerous speed bumps that litter French villages, and put his foot down for everything else. It was a lovely lovely drive, a time of bonding with the GT3 and respect for a French ‘classic’ car driver. I call it classic anyway.

.

We made really good time and as it was so frazzling hot and we couldn’t get access to the place we were staying in until 4pm, we decided to try and get lunch in what was likely to be an air conditioned hotel.

It was the Les Sables d’Ocres at Roussillon. If you see it, give it the finger as you pass as they don’t do lunch for passers by and nor do any other local hotels the man at the desk informed us - seemingly incredulous that we should ask. (Trish speaks French) He suggested an out of town restaurant. We googled it back in the car. It was closed.

So we found a great little supermarket with parking right outside (as a Japanese coach party walked past taking selfies on sticks) and bought bread cheese and wine, and drove off and found an ideal little shady spot for lunch.



It was on a sleepy road junction but I delighted in waving at any passing motorist who couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing.



Note the bare feet on a bag to cool off but keep cleanish. Not a weird fetish - it was about 34 degs.

At 4 we got access. Arrived at last.

[210bhp]

Can’t beat a bit of cheese, a long French baguette and a drop of red in a shady spot. 20 minute power nap and back on the road….


I see you remembered the lightweight chairs but with your feet on the cold bag I feel you have probably overrun the time where you should have switched to shorts.

Great pics

Regards
Mike

[jeremyg]

Ah yes the ‘shorts’ issue Mike. Was discussed at length before departure. Basically I’m in shorts most of the summer, but when driving I prefer the windows down a lot of the time, and so a pair of light linens protects the legs from sunburn. Or that’s the thinking..

[KS]

Sitting here recovering from Covid, your travelogue is just the medicine we need. Keep it coming!

[jeremyg]

And I forgot to say - yes the lightweight chairs are a must for the autoroute aires as much as the field side stops. On the way down we went into an aire and found a bit of shade..



A Belgian woman in leathers approached the car and said what a great colour it was, and checked out the badge. A long conversation ensued as she was joined by her Harley Davison riding partner - they were off to catch the Tour de France and support a Belgian cyclist.

WARNING POLITICAL COMMENT They also had to say how stupid Brexit was, and how horrible Nigel Farage was for being so rude about their Belgian EU president at the time Herman van Rompuy. They couldn’t understand how all the UK population voted for it. I adjusted their factual innacuracy for them.

They were lovely and we waved them goodbye.

[yoda]

Great write up Jeremy and glad you are enjoying the car. Don’t be surprised by the 30 mpg - I get that when I’m being gentle with the right foot and have manually calculated it a few times to check and it’s genuinely not bad if going gently. It drops A LOT when you press harder though.

Good reminder about the autoroute tag, must remember to get one. Re the tunnel crossing, if you tell them you have a low car they will direct you to the bottom level but not always the wide / cargo area.

Interesting point re music in the car. My radio is pretty rubbish so thinking of getting a discrete head / speaker upgrade to enjoy some tunes when on the motorway.

Great suggestions for stop etc. will give some a try on my next trip that way.

Safe travels!!

[jeremyg]

Sitting here recovering from Covid, your travelogue is just the medicine we need. Keep it coming!

Sorry to hear this Keith. Glad to be of service in the distraction department. I hope it hasn’t affected your hillclimb assault on the West Country title - get back on the road soon and all the best.

[jeremyg]

Great write up Jeremy and glad you are enjoying the car. Don’t be surprised by the 30 mpg - I get that when I’m being gentle with the right foot and have manually calculated it a few times to check and it’s genuinely not bad if going gently. It drops A LOT when you press harder though.

Good reminder about the autoroute tag, must remember to get one. Re the tunnel crossing, if you tell them you have a low car they will direct you to the bottom level but not always the wide / cargo area.

Interesting point re music in the car. My radio is pretty rubbish so thinking of getting a discrete head / speaker upgrade to enjoy some tunes when on the motorway.

Great suggestions for stop etc. will give some a try on my next trip that way.

Safe travels!!

Hi Feroz. Sam, I think it was, said to expect around 30
on a careful long run - I hardly dare believe it but as you say it seems to be true, and that’s at consistent top autoroute legal speeds.

The radio thing is interesting - I/we still haven’t wanted or listened to any music yet. Maybe when we’re through the Route Napoleon, and resorted to windows up/air con on, it’ll happen.

[jeremyg]

And this is what all the travel was for..



I saw it on social media a few months back. We weren’t planning a holiday but my son told us he and his family were doing numerous trips to Devon and then Majorca and I thought hang on a minute - why aren’t we going somewhere agreeable too?

It’s air conditioned inside, so nights are comfortable, and the pool is heated with a clever automatic top-closing system to keep it clean and heated. We’re down here with my daughter and her family. The youngster is having the time of his life.






And here’s a rare picture of Trish taking it easy before taking the plunge. She’d tempted to do some gardening to help out too, but I think she’ll resist the temptation.



The pool uses a salt based cleaning system so is extra buoyant - very useful! And there’s a blow up sofa in the pool, so you can just laze away the day in a floating haze..






I think you could say it was worth the journey down here - mind you, we’re not back up yet. Adventures to come.

[Bootsy]

Wonderful!

[911hillclimber]

Lots of very green faces on DDK!

These road trips are really good especially in detail, and this one is no exception!
Something very nice having 2 speed limits dependent on weather, and the Dry Road '80 mph' seems to be a very sweet spot in these modern Porsches.
Hope your break lasts a lot lot longer so we get more diary reports.

[RobFrost]

Enjoying this trip... on the topic of it being hot, the air con in my 996 is freezing within seconds. It bears no relation to the terrible reputation of air-cooled Porsche air con we so often hear about. It's one of the best features of the car. I hope you have the same experience.

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