Our 2013 adventure starts with a long weekend in the fabulous city of Paris, an event organised by fellow Roadster owner Simon Sinclair.
Below are links to the two clubs involved in this epic get together
http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=41322
http://www.mrs-passion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=10200
Eleven British cars with their motley crews
Simon & Sue
Les & Anne
Nigel & Carol
Roger & Alison
Nathan
Stu & Tolly
Stu & Emma
Russ & Viv
Savannah & David
Richard
Bernie & Jackie
Our French Friends
- Dieamond
- MRiste 400%
- milosavljevicm
- chrisoups
- patou
- piston75
- jeanbaptistef
- fkl91
- MRiste 400%
- milosavljevicm
- chrisoups
- patou
- piston75
- jeanbaptistef
- fkl91
patou
milosavljevicm
chrisoups
piston75
Thursday 18th April
Leaving a day early to meet Simon, Roger & Alison at Blenheim Palace on the way to stay with our good friends Nigel & Carol
A pleasant three and a half hour journey to Blenheim Palace
After meeting up with Simon, Roger & Alison we went to the cafeteria for coffee and a chat then a quick browse round the shop before heading off to Nigel & Carol's
Friday 19th April 2013
Leaving with Nigel and Carol at Stupid O'Clock in the morning we made our way to Dover where we would meet Roger & Alison, Nathan, Bernie & Jackie, Stu & Emma before catching the ferry
Ready to board
This is our intended route, a steady 5 - 6 hour drive avoiding tolls
Food stop
The look of horror on the poor woman's face when eleven of us rolled in at once was priceless
Although the drive didn't always go exactly to plan and we got separated a few times, there were still some pleasant driving roads on the way
We had to stop when we came across this pretty little village Chaussy, Val-d'Oise
Just before Paris we managed to get separated once again, instead of trying to meet up with the group we just headed straight to our destination here ....... http://www.ibis.com/gb/hotel-0635-ibis-paris-porte-d-orleans/index.shtml
Driving the Boulevard Périphérique during the evening "Rush" hour is certainly interesting.
After booking in then meeting our other travelers who had all made it safely, we all met up later for an evening meal then settled down ready for the main parts of our Paris adventure to start the next day.
Driving the Boulevard Périphérique during the evening "Rush" hour is certainly interesting.
After booking in then meeting our other travelers who had all made it safely, we all met up later for an evening meal then settled down ready for the main parts of our Paris adventure to start the next day.
Just a small nightcap before retiring
Saturday 20th April 2013
With breakfast out of the way we all met up to discuss the itinerary for the Paris city run, we were to set off in small groups as this would hopefully prevent getting separated (We had four in our group and still managed to lose each other eventually)
The planned route didn't really go to well although we did see a couple of sights and even managed to disappear into the bowels of Paris for a while, after losing the rest of our group altogether Anne & I decided to make our way to the parking point near the Eiffel Tower, it was on our way there we managed to latch onto one of the other groups and did a tour round the Arc de Triomphe (Absolutely loved it!!), not long after that the other group pulled over for some reason so once again Anne & I were on our own............... so once again we headed to the parking place.............and what a parking place!!!
The planned route didn't really go to well although we did see a couple of sights and even managed to disappear into the bowels of Paris for a while, after losing the rest of our group altogether Anne & I decided to make our way to the parking point near the Eiffel Tower, it was on our way there we managed to latch onto one of the other groups and did a tour round the Arc de Triomphe (Absolutely loved it!!), not long after that the other group pulled over for some reason so once again Anne & I were on our own............... so once again we headed to the parking place.............and what a parking place!!!
Some footage of our Paris drive
Getting lost under Paris
and now......................................Some photographs
Starting to attract some attention
The cars
Cars with a bit of scenery (Hope you like the format Russ?)
Leaving the Trocadero with views of the Eiffel Tower
Saturday evening meal at Le Bistrot du Boucher Montrouge
To round off our excellent day we once again meet up with our French friends for a superb meal at Le Bistrot du Boucher ( http://www.bistrotduboucher.fr/content/restaurant-24-bistrot-du-boucher-montrouge-92120.htm ) not far from our hotel, although this would not be the case for a few of us as we walked several blocks in the wrong direction (twice) when looking for the place, there were a few cheers as we walked in the door..............Not sure why (Being over half an hour late might have something to do with it)
Sunday 21st April 2013
All packed and ready, we check out of the hotel and join our French friends again for another convoy to the Palace of Versailles, the traffic should be light with it being a Sunday............(no it wasn't)..... still a pleasant drive though.
Panoramic pictures by kind permission of Patou
Thanks once again to Simon’s excellent organisation, we had yet another prime parking place just a stone’s throw from the palace gates
Some of the views taken of the "small" gardens and pond features round the back of the palace
My thoughts
Yet another one of my many continental road trips that hasn't disappointed, meeting new friends is always a great passion of mine and passion has allowed me to meet new friends (MRS-Passion)
I have to say that Simon's choice of Paris with the added bonus of exclusive settings deserves a special mention, without his excellent organisational skills none of this would have been possible.........Thank you Simon
It was great to see some of the French members and their cars during our weekend stay, it felt like a week when we were there but seems like a month ago since we returned six days ago
Although the trip never ran like clockwork and we all got to visit different routes at sometime during our drives there and back, this would never deter me from making a similar trip, after all, we all made it there and we all made it back in one piece.
I have to say we all get along irrespective of age, gender, religion or nationality, even colour...........although we all know silver is the best
Till the next time
I have to say that Simon's choice of Paris with the added bonus of exclusive settings deserves a special mention, without his excellent organisational skills none of this would have been possible.........Thank you Simon
It was great to see some of the French members and their cars during our weekend stay, it felt like a week when we were there but seems like a month ago since we returned six days ago
Although the trip never ran like clockwork and we all got to visit different routes at sometime during our drives there and back, this would never deter me from making a similar trip, after all, we all made it there and we all made it back in one piece.
I have to say we all get along irrespective of age, gender, religion or nationality, even colour...........although we all know silver is the best
Till the next time
Here are the links to some of the fabulous pictures and videos taken by other members of this fantastic road trip
Nigel & Carol http://www.flickr.com/photos/loadswine/sets/72157633304468786/
Jeanbaptistef http://www.flickr.com/photos/avrilmrspassion/
Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mGOIXLc4G4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwLmdqbFSoY
Micha http://www.flickr.com/photos/95224430@N08/
Friday night meet https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.530359690347835.1073741830.437309099652895&
Videos from Friday night http://vimeo.com/64770230 http://vimeo.com/64504245
Stu & Emma http://www.flickr.com/photos/49256052@N02/sets/72157633305092860/
Patou http://www.flickr.com/photos/patoulouse/sets/72157633334459365/with/8679972535/