Sharkey and George, the well-known party organisers, hired 2CV Adventures to provide four Citroen 2CV’s for a fun filled adventure for one of their corporate clients and for the first time on one of our events, we got to drive our own cars!
On arriving in Dijon, France, our four 2CV’s, Delila, Dinny, Daffy and Ducky were joined by sixteen other 2CV’s and ten campervans and we were soon all lined up at Dijon station, awaiting the arrival of the 120 clients. These clients were on a fun filled, six-day, adventure packed extravaganza, and our remit was to chauffeur them wherever they wished to go!
Each team consisted of 2 x 2CV’s and 1 x campervan and on arrival the clients were allocated their vehicles and the race was on! Delila was part of a team called ‘Oui Will Rock You’, and three clients jumped into Delila armed with an iPad which had been programmed with an impressive list of challenges, tasks and quizzes. The team could choose which challenges and tasks to accept, which all had GPS locations, and thereby rack up points for their team! Delila was in for a hectic day!
Macon was our destination, approximately 168 km further south, and under instruction from the team iPad handler, we boldly set off, only to hear “No wrong way!” but we were soon on track and looking for vineyards with grapes, tractors and a photo opportunity, lakes and swimming and matching these dogs to these people in a 90 second quiz. In the middle of one village, Delila took a wrong turn and a shout went up “Back up! Back up!” but it was too late – out of nowhere, a couple of ghosts had appeared on the iPad and they caught us which meant 100 penalty points! Bad luck team! Oops!
We drove around the countryside, heading for the various GPS locations and although we didn’t get to play tennis or badminton, buy mustard, chocolates or cheese, ‘Oui Will Rock You’ still seemed to be one of the front runners!
Lunch was by the sea on a beautiful beach with lots of fine food, swimming and high spirits. The stop for lunch was the only time we saw our fellow 2CV’s, Dinny, Daffy and Ducky, all of whom were also doing incredibly well in the rankings! Go girls!
The final challenge of the day was to get the clients to Macon Station for the 5.15pm train to Lyon and there were quite a few teams who only just made it!! Once all the clients were accounted for and on the train, the drivers dropped the 2CV’s and campervan’s off at the car carriers, for their journey home, and hopped on a coach for the one hour drive to Lyon Airport. Not us!! We had to drive our four 2CV’s to Lyon Airport, find a carpark for our support van with spare 2CV’s on the back and then find a carpark close to the airport for the four 2CV’s before grabbing our bags and high-tailing it to the check in and the departure gate where we found all the other drivers waiting for us, with minutes to spare!
Our plane took us all to Corsica and the following morning we were all instructed to pick up hire cars and the teams faced another day of challenges as the drivers drove from Bastia to a location near Figaro. The final task of the day took us down a narrow lane leading to the sea which became more and more congested as there were parked cars, abandoned cars, tourists making their way home from the beach and there was nothing else the clients could do except grab their bags and run for the jetty! It had been an amazing two days of action-packed fun, and drivers and clients alike had loved every minute! We said goodbye to the clients as they boarded a boat to one of the islands off Corsica where more festivities and excitements awaited them and the drivers retired for a well-earned rest and a good meal out in the beautiful Figaro!
The next day saw us returning to Lyon to retrieve our four little ladies for the long drive home. We stopped for an overnight pitstop in Langres at the Logis Grand Hotel de L’Europe, a traditional hotel right in the heart of Langres, with an excellent restaurant!
We were up early and on our way after a quick breakfast, as we had a colossal 738km drive to reach home, which is a long way in a 2CV with a top speed of 65mph!! Delila, Dinny, Daffy and Ducky cracked along, never putting a foot wrong and us drivers all communicated with one another via little cobra radio’s, which kept us all going!
We arrived home very late in our valiant little 2CV’s after a very long drive and a great five-day extravaganza. Plucky little cars those 2CV’s and such a joy to drive – we can’t wait for our next adventure!!
