Ramrod On Tour

[High Jetter]

Ah. Bar closed now, I guess

[eddyramrod]

Might be now.  I haven't looked tbh.

[eddyramrod]

Dartford achieved!  M6/M42/M40/M25 a succession of car parks, but we made it.  Services ridiculously busy, but of course it's a Bank Holiday which probably accounts for it.  Not looking forward to Dover tomorrow, Sally Traffic says it's hell.

[eddyramrod]

Anyone planning to show up tonight?

[Matty]

32 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Anyone planning to show up tonight?

Hope someone does eddy. Can't help you myself, it's a long way from east lancs to Dover!

Bon voyage for tomorow pal.

[Doctormop]

Thanks for the sit in HUGGY at Grange car show a few years  Eddy, really meant a lot.

Best wishes for the future; I really hope,things work out like we all want.

[eddyramrod]

Calais achieved.

Dover was a doddle.  We set off early from Dartford, expecting to meet biblical queues and glacial processing.  A2/M2 were about the easiest roads of the trip so far!  We were in Dover at 11, early enough to have a bit of a mooch.  We even slipped through the port with ease and got on an earlier sailing!  The sailing was smooth and unloading at Calais couldn't have been easier.  Then driving round, I saw a street closed for some sort of market, so we parked up and had a look.  It's Sunday, of course there's a market.  Well, a car-boot.  Nothing of interest there, my Euros were safe.  So we headed into town to look for our hotel.  Found it eventually, bang in the middle of Calais town.  Going out to look at dining options in a bit, so I'll report back.  If you're really good, I'll treat you to some pictures too.

[danthecapriman]

Keep your eyes peeled for some French Dinky toys Eddy! When in Rome… and all that!😄

[eddyramrod]

Oh don't worry about that, Dan!  The radar is on maximum alert!

[eddyramrod]

Now I did say something about photos...  We'll start with a couple of spottings on the M25 yesterday.  

And you might need to zoom in on this one, but it's a Lancia Fulvia!

Now a few from Dover this morning...

This next one you can see in the pic above.  It's built into the cliff face!  I find that astounding, but I'm sure locals will be almost blase about it.  Anyone care to fill me in?

This was the car-booty I found here in Calais...

Nothing of interest to be had, although MrsR wasn't up to walking too far anyway.  Maybe next week, in Germany...

And then this, parked almost right outside the restaurant we used for dinner.  Impressive tape work!

More properly impressive was the one I didn't get though: just as we sat down inside, I looked out and a glorious black Peugeot 404 cruised by.  It didn't come back.

[egg]

34 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

This next one you can see in the pic above.  It's built into the cliff face!  I find that astounding, but I'm sure locals will be almost blase about it.  Anyone care to fill me in?

Had to check, I thought they might belong to the grand shaft, but no, part of the Castle estate formerly WW2 offices.

https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/white-cliffs-dover-windows-played-5617328

[mk2_craig]

1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

on the M25 yesterday

Is that a UMM Alter towing a UMM Alter??!!

[eddyramrod]

Well... I have the telly on in the background here, and a film has started.  A French thing that seems to be part of a series about a bungling (I think) pipe-smoking detective.  The setting looks like about 1975 going by the cars, but the image quality suggests it's made recently.

The cars are very much the point.  The initial (pre-opening titles) murder involved "fixing" the brakes on a Renault Floride convertible, which narrowly avoided a TR6 on its way to a sad end in a golf course bunker.  The detective has now been collected from the station in a Maserati, possibly an Indy, where various 1960s Renaults lurked in the background; he was taken straight to the local garage to see the Floride, where he managed to spray "oil" (at least I hope it was something fake and easily wiped!) all over a pristine MGA.  I haven't got a clue what's going on but just for the cars, I'm going to stay with it.

And I've just found it on IMDB.  It's called Do You Do You St Tropez, orignally titled Mystere a St Tropez.  It's dated 2021, which bears out my earlier comment, but the setting is clearly historic.  We've had a Corvette C3 and a TR3A just while I've been typing!

3 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

Is that a UMM Alter towing a UMM Alter??!!

That's certainly what it looked like to me!  The green one is carrying stickers advertising what may be a club for them!

[eddyramrod]

Oh and update: it was only attempted murder.  The Floride driver has now reappeared wearing a neck brace.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Oh and update: it was only attempted murder.  The Floride driver has now reappeared wearing a neck brace.

Is Colgate a sponser?

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

Is that a UMM Alter towing a UMM Alter??!!

A rarer sight than a rare spot

[eddyramrod]

If you liked that, get a load of these!  First up, I seem to attract these Esperos, as seen in my Barrow thread recently...

(Just realised it seems to have a For Sale sign up too!  But I couldn't stop, and couldn't even tell you where it was.)

Of all the balcony decorations....

Er, yeah.  OK.  Proof of where we've been...

And some from around the two parks...

One for @chaseracer...

So today we've been on the road.  I think this was the longest drive of the trip.  And look what I'm about to pass on a trailer...

Only a Montreal!  But wait, there's more!

Parked on-street in Nancy!  

I mean... you just have to, right?  How effortlessly cool is that?

And now the view from our room, also in Nancy...

Yes, that's our Suzuki.  Shortly after this, we went out to see what local restaurants were available, and sat eating ice cream while watching three old blokes* that I named Gary, Jim and Tony playing boules.  And this rolled past...

We're in France, we've got to find a Peugeot, right?  I'm doing well for trailer shots here and we're only a week in!

 

*"Old blokes" being probably in their late 50s... oh hang on, I'm older than they are then!

 

[egg]

Good grief the shite* is attracted to you Eddy without you even trying!

[DoverShark]

On 5/28/2023 at 6:57 PM, eddyramrod said:

Now I did say something about photos...  We'll start with a couple of spottings on the M25 yesterday.  

And you might need to zoom in on this one, but it's a Lancia Fulvia!

Now a few from Dover this morning...

This next one you can see in the pic above.  It's built into the cliff face!  I find that astounding, but I'm sure locals will be almost blase about it.  Anyone care to fill me in?

This was the car-booty I found here in Calais...

Nothing of interest to be had, although MrsR wasn't up to walking too far anyway.  Maybe next week, in Germany...

And then this, parked almost right outside the restaurant we used for dinner.  Impressive tape work!

More properly impressive was the one I didn't get though: just as we sat down inside, I looked out and a glorious black Peugeot 404 cruised by.  It didn't come back.

The building built into the cliff face is the only really visible bit of napoleonic barracks that run under and through the cliffs.

the tunnels were used during WW2 as a control centre and medical facility including Operation Dynamo and Operation Fortitude South known as the D-Day landing.

And again during the Cold War

for extra cool points, depending on the zoom on your lens, you were probably stood right outside my gaff when you took that shot of the Castle with St James Arch in the foreground 

[eddyramrod]

I was across the road, at the end of the slip road into the shopping centre, with my back to... hmmm, what was it?  Costa?

[eddyramrod]

So, we left France behind and slid easily into Germany.  This is where we're at:

Strap in, because this is going to take four posts!  Here's our room...

And the view from the window...

And inside...

I parked in the underground garage...

Worth every penny.

[eddyramrod]

Today we've been to two museums, beginning with Porsche, who are gearing up for their 75th birthday next week.  I've been told there's an event on at Media City in Manchester, but I won't be far enough north next Saturday to see it.  I might catch one or two of the exhibits on the motorway though.

Gettaloadathis!

 

Wherever there's a police car, there's a Ramrod...

My favourite, a delicious 1959 prototype...

And second choice, an early 911 Targa...

And some of the rest...

(My stepson's name is Paul...)

Oh and you're allowed to sit in (some of) them!

[mk2_craig]

The shiter's choice:

That 928 estate looks interesting though.

 

[eddyramrod]

That was this morning.  This afternoon we moved on to the Mercedes museum.

[eddyramrod]

And back to our hotel.

(I used to drive one of these for work, many years ago.  It was.... an experience.  SKD 428T)

[eddyramrod]

We are both shattered now!  In fact MrsR is asleep as I type this.  There's a big car park by the hotel with a BFO Ferris wheel on it and a couple of catering stalls, so we went for a Wurst for our tea... well you have to, don't you?

(This was earlier, cake and coffee; again, you have to!)

Our peace was disturbed slightly by some Fast&Furious types in Mercs and BMWs with pop-fart remaps tearing up the car park.  I thought maybe there was a Meet this evening but I went out for a look later and saw nothing to indicate such a Meet.

Tomorrow we're back on the road, heading north.

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, mk2_craig said:

The shiter's choice:

That 928 estate looks interesting though.

 

Oh there was an even more Shite one that I didn't snap: a 924 in metallic beige, on a turntable no less!

[danthecapriman]

That looks absolutely fantastic! You look like you’re enjoying yourself too Eddy👍

[Matty]

Have a good time pal. Tbf it looks like you really are 👌

[hairnet]

https://www.mediacityuk.co.uk/events/celebrate-75-years-of-porsche/

Might go to that if I finish work in time (across the river 5 mins from work)