Guests started to arrive from 4pm onwards, in time for the briefing which cannot be missed, as everyone needs instruction on how to drive a 2cv, use the Garmin and the radio! Once armed with this information, everyone found their allocated 2CV and had a practice drive around the field before lining up at the start line and setting off a minute apart. First stop Brittany Ferries in Portsmouth for the 2015 crossing to St Malo and after everyone had settled into their cabins, we all met in the a la carte restaurant for dinner. We arrived the next morning at 0815 and had all cleared customs by 9am. Everyone made it out of St Malo but then there was a slight hiccup at a roundabout and things went pear-shaped for a while before half the field found their way back on to the route and the other half consulted Waze and very skillfully navigated themselves to a village further along the route and joined us once again! We stopped for lunch at a Boulangerie/Patisserie in a small village who provided some delicious baguettes and apples before we carried on to La Chartre sur le Loir and Hotel de France, famous for hosting the managers and drivers, competing in the 24hr Le Mans back in the 60’s. It was a long day at 385km but everyone made it and were happy to sit outside the hotel in the late afternoon sun, in the beautiful little square.
We had a wonderful evening and a superb meal in a private room around one huge table, with prizes awarded and speeches made. There was early start the next morning with breakfast from 0730, with the cars scheduled to leave at 0830. After a group photo the cars all set off – it is not necessary to travel in convoy but on this trip a lot did travel together and preferred it that way. We headed north towards Caen and stopped for a pre-arranged lunch at Les Trois Planeurs at Pegasus bridge before heading for the ferry at Caen. We arrived in Portsmouth at 2115 and had a 30 min easy drive back to base. After all the goodbyes, departed for home in their own cars. It had been a wonderful two days in France and a memorable adventure!
