Balkan Bucket Bonanza

[Bucketeer]

To repay the hospitality of my hosts, I've been helping them with a bit of roofing work. At the end of the first day I was presented with an old but good mountain bike to use. I said thanks and told them I would bring it back in one piece, to which they replied that it wasn't a loan but was mine to keep! So in the last few days I've gone from having just my feet for transport to having a car and a bicycle.

I decided to go out for a chod recce on the bike, as I could drink wine whilst doing so.

 

 

View from my second new steed of the biggest, busiest road in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overambitious cornering results.

 

 

 

Long dead Estafette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unloved LNA.

 

 

 

 

 

Well insulated R4.

 

 

Increased transport opportunities will should may could result in more spots. Only time will tell though.

[Bucketeer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone any ideas what this is? I couldn't get any closer or higher.

[garethj]

Excellent progress, a bicycle and a car!  By next week you should have a helicopter, and some kind of ocean liner by mid-September

[purplebargeken]

Lovely stuff.

 

Whereabouts in DS are you? We had a house just outside of Parthenay (a commune called Gourge). It was due West from Poitiers. Lovely area, lovely people. Miss it like crazy.

 

Ken

[Bucketeer]

Excellent progress, a bicycle and a car!  By next week you should have a helicopter, and some kind of ocean liner by mid-September

I did see a cheap hang glider for sale last week. Probably not a good idea though.

I'm undecided as to whether to keep the Golf or not. It's buttons to fuel and insure and it feels like it will run forever but I would ideally like to keep walking if possible. I'd like to eventually have walked around the world, I've done Germany to Turkey/Iran border and a lot of France now so that must be at least half way.

 

 

Lovely stuff.

 

Whereabouts in DS are you? We had a house just outside of Parthenay (a commune called Gourge). It was due West from Poitiers. Lovely area, lovely people. Miss it like crazy.

 

Ken

I'm about 55km South of Poitiers in the bottom right hand corner of Deux-Sevres, near the border with Vienne. It's just North of a town called Sauze-Vaussais.

I completely agree, it is a lovely area and the people are fantastic. The hamlet I'm staying in has about seven houses, all owned by locals, and they have all treated me like family from the moment I arrived. Every night is dinner at one of the homes and lunch-times are generally communal aperitif-athons. Roofing work in the afternoons after a bucket full of Pastis is always fun.

 

 

Peugeot 203?

That would've been my (ill-informed) guess. I'll have a knock on the door next time I'm passing and see if I can get a closer look.

[purplebargeken]

Ah! same distance from Poitier more or less, just a little further down. Fabulous stuff. I was thinking about our old place today. Damn, damn, damn.

[Bucketeer]

Time for me to move on again in the next couple of days. I heart mountains so the Pyrenees are next on the agenda. Like a dick I spent an hour planning my walking route down there before I remembered I've got a car parked outside.

Before I leave I have a date tomorrow night with the barn full of old joy that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (camera is charged and I R BIG EXCITEMENT) and on Monday I'm off to the Monet Goyon motocyclette museum - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBWYs4JSfk

 

I shall fill the dark void between then and now with a bunch of typically crappy spots from the last few days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Split_Pin]

Brilliant stuff, it sounds like an exciting adventure. Amazing that Renaults 12 and 6 are still in use! I like those 5 door 5s that you spotted too.

 

This all makes me want to do France!

[Bucketeer]

Yesterday I finally got to visit the 'barn full of old cars' that I'd been told about when I first arrived here.

I got taken by Franck, a neighbour in the hamlet and the guy who I've been helping with roof repair work on his house. The car collection belonged to his dad, Albert, who died two years ago. Before he died, he kept all his cars in near perfect condition and since then they have all been covered with blankets and not really touched. It was obviously still a bit of a painful reminder for Franck on his recently departed and much loved father, so I didn't spend too long there and tried to be respectful about taking too many photos and removing all the blanket covers, but I did what I could. It was an amazing place, I could have spent a month in there, as well as the cars there were motorbikes, old engines, parts everywhere - it was my idea of heaven.

There wasn't much room between all the cars so the photographs aren't great and probably don't convey even a fraction of the eye-joy I experienced.

 

Apparently Albert was a bit of an inventor and built anything he needed to solve any problems, including attaching a forklift to the back of this old tractor.

 

 

Into the barn. The organisation and quality of the photos isn't great but I was just too excited to care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently Albert used this to transport local brides to the church on their wedding day, wearing a white suit. Class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My respect for Albert just grew and grew. He even had a Ssangyong Musso FFS. TOP SHITER.

 

 

 

There were several cars in the garden too.

 

This was his daily before his untimely death.

 

 

 

 

Over a few Pastis after the visit, Franck mentioned that he would like to get the collection cleaned up and fully working again sometime early next year. I offered my services and he accepted, so it looks like I'll be returning to this lovely region in the future to fiddle about with all these beautiful old crocks. HAPPY DAYS.

[skattrd]

Holy poop, that's a lovely barn full of cars.

[dollywobbler]

Gosh. What a stash! I want to rescue those garden 2CVs though. Poor things!

[Junkman]

Holy shit!

[Dave_Q]

Holy motherload Batman!

 

What a collection, and what lovely sounding people.

 

Somehow I doubt if you were staying in a tent in the woods in the UK anyone would take you in for HOT APERITIF AND CHOD action.

[eddyramrod]

Le Shiter Supreme!  Albert was clearly "one of us" even though he most likely didn't know we exist.  Is there much of this sort of thing going on in France?

[Bucketeer]

I've heard rumours about other places like this but I don't know how accurate they are.

Rest assured I will now be keeping my ears peeled and my eye to the ground in case there any similar treasure troves.

 

Unfortunately Dink, I agree. Even though I believe that every country has it's share of good and bad people, I'm not sure I would have had a similar experience in the UK.

The people in the rural parts here remind me of rural Yorkshirefolk - Seemingly gruff and offhand upon first inspection but friendly, welcoming and generous when you scratch the surface.

[DVee8]

Fork that is some play ground..

[panhard65]

I bought a Fregate Domaine from some guys that collected fire engines in the same area. They had a barn full of old tat  just outside Niort in the middle of a wood behind a nightclub. I didn't get pictures at the time but they certainly had a serious collection. Apparently it was a group of firefighters that owned them all including some ex french airforce crash tenders. There is certainly enough room for collections like this so I expect there is a lot to be found if you look hard enough.

[panhard65]

A quick bump for this thread as we haven't heard from our resident roving French chod spotter for a while. How is the Golf doing ? Or is it back on foot we need to know !

[Bucketeer]

Like a bad smell this thread is back again. Perhaps a burning clutch smell. Stinky, unwelcome and a portent of misery.

No updates recently, I've been up in the mountains for the last couple of months and therefore blissfully out of the reach of telephone, internet and smoke signals.

 

First a few spots spotted on the way South to the Pyrenees.

 

 

 

 

 

Extra/Express LWB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WTF is this potential future retro shite?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was around this time that I met two crazy Italian girls and we decided to travel together into the mountains. The Golf was still running like a very noisy, slow, rattly dream and we headed into the Pyrenees without a care in the world.

 

Some cares soon after arrived in to the world via a complete and catastrophic failure to proceed from the Golf whilst up in the hills and many miles from anywhere or anyone.

The following two pictures are all I have from this unfortunateness. They were taken just before the aforementioned failure and shortly after. The first is of the road I had just been rallying up, possibly slightly exuberantly. After this came a period of heavy cursing and car kicking when the taking of pictures was not considered, due to rage. The second photo is of the solution to the problem. Good job we had stocked up on essentials.

 

 

 

 

There was no way I could get the car going or moved so I decided to leave it as an offering to the mountain gods. I left a note inside along with the keys and contact details and the three of us (the Italian girls had adopted me as their husband by this point) set off to explore the mountains on foot.

 

For anyone who can't imagine what well-worn feet and mountains look like.

 

 

In an abandoned little cottage up in the hills I found a slightly less than complete Koehler-Escoffier motorbike.

 

 

When I got to the next place with a phone signal, I discovered a message from someone who had spotted the abandoned Golf and read the note. Long story short, he bought the car for the same 200Euro I payed for it and he picked us up off a mountain and took us back to his ruined chateau where he let us camp. Which was nice.

 

An Iveco flatbed, the back of which me and my Italian wives had just ridden down the mountain in.

Also, bonus Japanese duck photobombage. They were used to train their young sheepdogs.

 

 

More Pyreneen spottagery.

 

 

 

A face like this deserves to be in a childrens TV series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things You Only Ever See On This Thread (part 1).

A white Niva with a mint green bull bar and air scoop and peacock on the bonnet.

 

 

Things You Only Ever See On This Thread (part 2).

A Hyundai Trajet alongside a French/Ethiopian/Italian model with a bucket on her head trying to coax a dog through a hoop with a broom.

 

 

A friend of the guy with the ruined chateau brought round his camper he was selling for 700Euro.

A proper megabarg, I would have had it right away if I had been more fiscally comfortable.

 

 

 

I returned to the UK in the last couple of days and will be recommencing travels in a few weeks time. In the meantime, here is the last picture of the Golf before it's 'episode', taken whilst stocking up on the very wine, bread and cheese that sustained us in the mountains after the capitulation.

 

 

And to preempt the guaranteed focus on the Italian wives and requests for pictures thereof, here we are shortly after being Iveco-lifted off the mountain.

[panhard65]

Wow it was worth the wait. At least the golf made it to the mountains, I am so jealous of your travels and wish I had the balls to do something similar. Love the long wheelbase express I have never seen one like it before.

[4wheeledstool]

Not seen a Renault 15 in brown before - would give half my arse for one!

[DVee8]

which one were  you shagging?

only asking what every ones thinking.

[brickwall]

Aye.

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant. Truly living the dream. With or without Italian wives.

[Mr Lobster]

AWESOME. All of it. Well done that man.

[mat_the_cat]

A Hyundai Trajet alongside a French/Ethiopian/Italian model with a bucket on her head trying to coax a dog through a hoop with a broom.

 

A real life Jim'll Paint It!

[Bucketeer]

I am so jealous of your travels and wish I had the balls to do something similar.

It's not all cheap wine on mountaintops and cosy nights in a one man tent with fiery Italian ladies but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having a pretty great time.

I'm not sure it takes balls to do. I often think it's the easy way out, no responsibilities.

 

Not seen a Renault 15 in brown before - would give half my arse for one!

This one was for sale but way out of my league, even with bubbly paint like a Lion Bar when you got close up to it.

 

which one were  you shagging?

It was hard to tell at times in a dark one man tent.

[Jon]

He's back! Sounds like a right adventure you've had and interesting to see that there's hospitality-aplenty still, if you ask nicely enough; even if you are a Britain in mainland Europe. Am guessing Italian girls only helped in this situation, though....

 

Perhaps you should have done a for sale thread on here of the VW camper, with a moderately raised price as a bit of profit for yourself, to fund more adventures and thus more spots. Think of it as a bit of unwitting Autoshite altruism.

[Bucketeer]

I'm in the NW of England for a short visit, so in line with my remit here's some shoddy spottery from the last two days.

 

 

 

 

Bonus late plate Rover madness?

 

 

This monstrosity was actually spotted by The Moog, I just went and papped it. Apparently they have a baby pink Range Rover too.

Katie SmartPrice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a real soft spot for the Pyongyang Radius.

 

 

I was in France for a month or two before I finally spotted an Aixam Mega van. I saw this one in Accrington hours after arriving.

 

 

 

 

High fence, wall, best I could do, etc.

 

 

Consider the barrel well and truly scraped with these pictures.

I'm heading off towards the Balkans once again in two weeks though, so improved pappagery ahoy.

[quicksilver]

That shot of the Jag in the alley looks like something out of The Sweeney or The Professionals. I'm expecting a bunch of blaggers to leap in and speed away with a tyre-squealing Granada in hot pursuit.