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Dollywobbles en France


dollywobbler

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A year ago, my 2CV was in many pieces.

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In January, she returned triumphantly to the road. On the way to the NEC Resto Show, she hit 1000 miles since rebuild. This didn't feel enough. Thankfully, a friend was getting married in France over the Easter weekend. Game on!

 

I prepped* the car for the trip with a lot of care. By which I mean I checked the fluid levels, greased the kingpins and lobbed a few random parts and a warning triangle into the boot.

 

Day of departure.

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This was a tough leg to be fair, seeing us clock up around 250 miles on our way to Sussex. Mrs DW's sister offered a useful staging post. We found a diner on the way, for properly unhealthy food and half-arsed service.

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Next day, we headed for Dover, allowing plenty of time. I'm glad we did as three miles from the port, all hell broke loose.

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A shunt up ahead required the services of the Fire brigade. We were sat for a terrifying amount of time.

 

We got there though, just in time!

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Then we discovered that other friends were on the same boat. Nice.

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A  fuel stop was required almost immediately, though the only one on the French side. We would cover just under 200 miles en France.

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The wedding was in the town of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, which is just south of Lille - Belgian border, quite nice and dishevelled. Very French. Dead chuffed to find a Renault 4 to park next to!

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Next day, we headed to the wedding. The theme was 1960s/1970s. Fittingly, Elly the 2CV wears a 1960s grille.

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She was one of several classic Citroens.

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A wedding hoon convoy around the town was fun.

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Next day, there was a classic car show in the town. Very informal. Folk just turned up, stayed around for a bit, and buggered off again.

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Contrasts.

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Very French.

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Then we started the drive home, stopping off in Dunkerque for sightseeing...

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Crusty!

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Then it was back on the boat on Monday, behind a Dutch Golf.

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And a Volvo.

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We had another night in Sussex, as I'd done some work in Kent while we were there. My nephew helped me check the car over before the last stretch home.

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Five days and 900 miles later, we were home!

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Not a lot to report wrong with the 2CV. The speedometer bulb packed up in France, which made driving at night interesting, and the handbrake went from poor to entirely useless. Must adjust it. It does also seem to be building fumes up on the windscreen, which suggests either a head leak (doesn't seem to smell) or oil misting somewhere on the engine. It isn't using very much (one small top up on the trip). It is seriously loud though  - earplugs were necessary for most of the trip, especially motorway sections. I'm also badly out of shape. My arms and shoulders ache a fair bit today. The S-MX, with its over-assisted steering, has spoilt me!

 

So, in short, we drove a long way in the 2CV. The 2CV was fine, but I coped less well. Nice little trip though!

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Hey, I know that diner! I had my first Oreo Cookie shake in there.

 

Well jel of your pleasant and entirely successful little road trip. It's the same for me in respect of there being a depressing amount of motorway miles that have to be done in England just to get to a channel port - I don't feel like I'm properly on the trip till the channel has been crossed. My road trip for this year will be to Hautes Languedoc in July. I wish the XM was going to be up for it but it'll be out of MOT by the time we return and its chances for a pass are non existent at the moment.

 

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Hidden just the other side of that diner there are at least 2, perhaps 3, Hyundai Pony pickups.

I collected a tool box from the garage there for ruffgeezer and the fella was admiring the Mitsubishi Colt I rocked up in. He did join up here for a short lived posting career.

 

Drat. Wish I'd thought to explore!

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Guest Hooli

Hey, I know that diner! I had my first Oreo Cookie shake in there.

 

Well jel of your pleasant and entirely successful little road trip. It's the same for me in respect of there being a depressing amount of motorway miles that have to be done in England just to get to a channel port - I don't feel like I'm properly on the trip till the channel has been crossed. My road trip for this year will be to Hautes Languedoc in July. I wish the XM was going to be up for it but it'll be out of MOT by the time we return and its chances for a pass are non existent at the moment.

 

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From Congleton you'd be better off heading for Hull & getting the overnight boat wouldn't you? I think I once worked it out as the same cost as driving to Dover at 40ish mpg when leaving from Donny.

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Tried that too. Trouble is, we've got used to the convenience of the tunnel, and by comparison a cabin on a floating sports bar followed by a fairly lengthy drive through Holland and Belgium isn't much more attractive than hitting the M25 past Heathrow at 5pm on a Friday. We are both terrible snobs though :)

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All European countries look much the same from the motorways. It was a bit annoying that we didn't have more time for a bit of off-piste exploration on this trip. We saved all our motorway avoidance for the drive home from Sussex yesterday...

 

Must also admit that I far preferred the chunnel crossing we did in the Rover last year, to the 2-hour ferry crossing to Dunkerque this time. For a start, you can jump straight off the motorway into the terminal and secondly, it's a lot quicker and you can stay with the car. Which I like...

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That looks like the coolest wedding in EVAH.

 

2CVers do tend to mix things up a bit when it comes to weddings. At one point during the very serious Catholic ceremony (which only the vicar and a handful of French people seemed to be taking seriously), the groom was wearing a red nose. Tough gig. Especially the side made up of mostly-atheist Brits...

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While I've not frequented that one for a while, my vote for the Diner Poor Service Award has to go to the one on the A5 in Brownhills, for its ability to piss off patrons while having more staff than customers. Anyway, enough thread hijacking.

 

As you were.

 

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It is seriously loud though  - earplugs were necessary for most of the trip, especially motorway sections.

 

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+

 

s-l1600.jpg x2

 

Although a more Autoshite version obviously as that's £360 worth.

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