MINI ROAD TRIP TO FRANCE

[GAZA62]

Decided on a mini road trip to France with 4 overnight stops.

First drove down to Le Mans thought i would start here as i know the way down and first time driving abroad on my own had a good run down arriving early afternoon to 31c so took a drive into the city stopped off in the shade to give the Z a spritz then had a drive around the old town run flats on cobbled streets was fun then took a run on some of the road sections of the 24hour circuit and back to hotel.Then into town to my usual haunts for dinner and a couple of bars.

Day 2 drove Le-Mans to La Rochelle sadly in the rain although did get the top down when arriving which made finding my Hotel much easier as you see more nice hotel with underground secure parking and right near the harbour.Rochelle was buzzing with tourists so had a nice wander in the afternoon taking pics of the old town which is not as pristine as Le-Mans old town but still nice and had a nice evening bar hopping and a good nights sleep.

Day 3 La Rochelle to Vannes woke up to a nice sunny day so top down all the way and when arriving in Vannes found hotel very easily so check in spritz the car and off into town.The old town here is awesome really well kept and leads down to the marina spent hours taking pics and had a great evening starting in a tiny resturant having Kangeroo Fillet with mash and pepper sauce washed down with a bottle of 1664 nice way to start the night then some bar hopping.

Day 4 La Rochelle to Le Touquet this was a killer drive 7.5 hours in pouring rain and what made it worse my backs been playing up so not good but eventually arrive in Le Touquet to heaving mass of tourists all just walking into the road took a while to find hotel but after a shower and clean cloths felt more awake so last night out nice meal an more bar hopping.

Day 5 supposed to be resting on the beach but due to rain had a whole day to kill so drove to Wissan then Dunkirk then Lille then St Omer tiny little town stopped off for a coffee then had a very very near miss in the Z so headed back to tunnel to come home getting back around 9pm last night putting 1400 miles on the clock

The Z drove trouble free all the way was a joy the tolls were fun on my own running round the car to grab my ticket to the amusement of the locals and no grief from the Gendarme not that i saw many.

Heres some pics i took on the move just quick shots with my P+S.

Thanks for reading

[Taz]

nice pics, specialy the wing mirror 1

[Z4 Beemer]

Cool road trip! Like the photo of your wing mirror...

[gannet]

nice

there was a mirror in the photo

[Lance]

Am liking the photos and jeez, didn't it rain!!

Was in le mans on Wednesday myself and got caught in the rain Thursday, however I was on a bike

Stayed in le touquet last Friday and had a great night

will post a trip report up in a few days

[GAZA62]

Thought you boys would like the wing mirror pick shame its out of focus

Lance was a group of bikers in Le Mans Sunday night drinking rounds of Guinness in Mulligans and yea some of the rain i had was horrific but all in all not a bad trip two very sunny hot days and even the wet days it was still warm weather and stopped raining in the evening so going out in shorts and a thin sweat top was not a prob and when there was a downpour just pop into bar if i was not already in one

Had planned to go down to Millau see the bridge but never realised how far it is there is a train that takes you and your car down to the south of France takes 3 hours so that way you get more driving time on nicer roads in the sun.

[PawnSacrifice]

GAZA62, good trip, thanks for the photos

Am just starting to appreciate everything that is pretty much on our doorstep. The car train sounds like a great idea. A little rest and then plenty of

Tolls... yeah, fun. But, that's the benefit of a convertible - I just stood stride the centre console with one foot in the passenger footwell, easy! On the couple occasions I didn't have the roof down, I just opened it half way once under cover.

[Lance]

I've used the motorail a few times, however it no longer goes from Calais.

[GAZA62]

I've used the motorail a few times, however it no longer goes from Calais.

Where do you pick it up ? was told about while coming back from Le Mans on the eurotunnel the staff member said it was around an hours drive once in France from the tunnel.

[Lance]

I understand that it's now called 'auto-train' and goes from one of the main stations in Paris. From Calais it used to be an overnighter, to places like Toulouse, narbonne, biarritz. Wasn't the most comfortable journey, but definitely saved loads of time and dropped you off in the sun.

You can pick up motorail in Belgium & Germany for many routes south, including France. Went from dusseldorf to villach last year. Dropped us off where the fun begins, close to Italian/Austrian/Slovenian epic roads.

[GAZA62]

I understand that it's now called 'auto-train' and goes from one of the main stations in Paris. From Calais it used to be an overnighter, to places like Toulouse, narbonne, biarritz. Wasn't the most comfortable journey, but definitely saved loads of time and dropped you off in the sun.

You can pick up motorail in Belgium & Germany for many routes south, including France. Went from dusseldorf to villach last year. Dropped us off where the fun begins, close to Italian/Austrian/Slovenian epic roads.

Thanks Lance will look into this

[Wondermike]

Interesting info about the trains - found this on google...



Sleep on the train saving fuel and miles and then get off when it starts to get exciting

[BMWZ4MC]

I was in France last week too, but I drove south east into the Alps. I took someone along just to deal with toll issue, but don't tell her that
I love toll gates just for the obligatory drag race when the barrier lifts, but this certainly became a bit hairy during Tuesday's deluge...
I must say, I love the idea of the train. We had to drive 600 miles on Friday to get from the fun roads in the mountains back to the traffic of London. As Wondermike has said, "Sleep on the train saving fuel and miles and then get off when it starts to get exciting ".