Share this
Amanda Hazlett tells us all about her trip to the South of France in her black custom cabriolet.
Earlier in the year my friends in France asked if I wanted to join them for two weeks in the South of France. Chris and Mary moved to the Lot Valley in 1990 and have run the French Morris Minor Club for 30 years. Before moving to France, they were on the committee of the Morris Minor Owners Club and organised the first Minors Overseas Trips after John Frye and Bryan Gostling had led trips to France and Holland. We can thank the Iceni Branch for the birth of the Minors Overseas Trips. I have known Chris and Mary since 1984 when we were competing against each other in Concours at the Eastern Regional Rally.
It was going to be a long trip, 720 miles to Duravel then another leg to our final destination La Caunette, making a total of 897 miles. I weighed up which car to take as I was going to be travelling on my own. The modern Ford, the BMW Z3 or my show winning Minor Cabriolet, Alfie. Chris convinced me to take the Minor because we would be meeting some car enthusiasts and he thought they would love to see my car. My route was via Newhaven to Dieppe, a route I have taken on many occasions, and I would be on the overnight ferry sleeping in a cabin. I always seem to bump into at least one classic car owner on this route and this time it was a couple from northern Scotland in their convertible Singer. They were travelling to the Swiss Classic British Car Meet in Geneva. We disembarked the ferry in Dieppe at 5am French time and I travelled via Rouen to my first stop for breakfast at Dreux. It was 7-50am and still dark! I was 103 miles into my journey. At this point I should mention my Minor is my pride and joy. I have owned it for 31 years, a very shiny black custom cabriolet, powered by a 1.6 Fiat Twin Cam. Originally built by Chris Street and then recreated by myself and the talented Steve Cooks Minor Restorations. The Fiat engine was rebuilt by my clever brother. The car may be very special to me and a show winner, but I built it to be used.
140 miles further I felt it was time for lunch and a fuel top up. My Minor has the 10-gallon tank, so I do not have to stop as much on long journeys. I was using the Autoroutes as I can happily sit at 65-70 all day long and for the tolls, I have a Bip and Go and it is fun trying to see how fast you can approach the barrier. They say 30kph, but I wasn’t brave enough! After resisting the urge to buy a nodding dog at the services I continued on. This part of the journey is a 228-mile drive on the super A20 with long ascents and descents through the National Park in the Limousin region. Leaving the A20 at Cahours it was then a beautiful drive along the Lot River valley in the Autumn sun to Duravel where Chris and Mary live. Alfie had preformed beautifully and deserved a well-earned rest and I headed to the local bar with Chris and Mary to meet some other local Morris Minor friends.
The next day was a rest day before we headed further south, but I felt I should give Alfie a well-deserved wash. I then took Alfie to a local garage/workshop where they had a super assortment of vehicles they were working on and restoring. The market was full of seasonal produce which was new to me as I am normally in France during June; the colours were beautiful. The next stage of my journey was driving 150 miles in convoy behind Chris and Mary’s Limeflower Traveller. We used small roads taking in some super small hamlets and winding roads to the Languedoc National Park. We stopped at a high viewpoint where we could see the Pyrenees and Mediterranean and the sun was beautifully warm. We arrived at our gite based in a village owned by a family who have a vast vineyard, so plenty of red wind literally en tap from the barrels. We spent a friendly fun evening in the local bar where Chris and Mary are known to the locals. It was beginning to look like a good couple of weeks was in store.
Recent Comments