event Shitefest International 2025 aka Merdefest 9-10 August - France - Bring Your Suncream!

[Saabnut]

Here we go, a list to copy/paste and add your name to

Merdefest 25 Attendee List:

1. Saabnut (Surprise)

2. Horriblemercedes

3. Floatylight, Mrs Floatylight, Dog floatylight and maybe smollfloatylight

4. Sunny Jim plus Sunny Dog

5. LBF

6. Shandylegs

[lesapandre]

. Saabnut (Surprise) 

2. Horriblemercedes

3. Floatylight, Mrs Floatylight, Dog floatylight and maybe smollfloatylight

4. Sunny Jim plus Sunny Dog

5. LBF

6. Shandylegs

7. lesapandre (daytime 1 day).

[hairnet]

sir saab of nut mentioned flying

flight from stansted to tours

the thursday its direct to tours friday it goes via malaga or marseille (ryanair are nuts)

at lunchtime

return - sunday is direct but again lunchtime

if you return monday - again its via marseille AND madness palma majorca (!)

tuesday is direct

the mad thing is the monday return with two stops is 2 hours quicker into stansted than the single stop

WTF

also thursday tuesday is 100 quid anything friday monday is 220+

 

[Shandylegs]

Just deciding what drive over for the trip. I've nothing really classic or shite in the stable at the moment, so I'm leaning towards the wife's SLK to catch a bit of sun. The down side is it severely limits the amount of wine I can bring back!

Anyone else planning on having a run over, or is it just the magnificent seven? 🤣

 

[EightMegs]

I'm afraid I'm a bit skint at the moment for this one, I think I'll need to give this and Twixfest a miss unfortunately.

[Saabnut]

Just returned from the Lemans Classic and cut the grass for the campsite in case it rains when I get down there for Merdefest! Most unlikely I know. Last Wednesday at 6pm in the shade it was 39c. Thurs/Fri/Sat it was high 20s to mid 30s. Sun/Mon it was 18-22 so very pleasant all in all.

There is currently a ban on all bonfires, BBQs within 200m of woodlands and also a ban on walking in the forests between 1200 and 2359. Fortunately this will have little to no affect on Merdefest  

This was the scene outside the Hotel de France in La Chatre sur le Loir which is about 5kn from Merdefest central. The weekend is the Marcon Classique so likely to be lots of old stuff about.

Preparations are mostly complete (ie I have cold beers in the fridge) but they may not survive until the hords arrive. All are most welcome, if you are planning on attending please drop me a pm and I will send the full address and my contact number by return. It is easy to find, the actual address is recognised by google, waze, TomTom etc

@SiC @Mrs6C @brownnova etc can we have this as a sticky please

[Saabnut]

A link to the Marcon show which is on Sat and Sun

Ani'Marçon

There is a 2cv raffle again this year and they are expecting 1400 vehicles, plus fireworks, live music, autojumble etc. Admission is an outrageous 2.5 Euros!

 

[hairnet]

20 hours ago, Saabnut said:

 

 

 

 (ie I have cold beers in the fridge) but they may not survive until the hords arrive. 

🤣😅

[Saabnut]

I have just booked my ferry over for Merdefest so as a result I will be at Chez Saabnut from pm on the 2nd August until early pm on the 17th. You are welcome to stop as long as you want between those dates and extra days can be negotiated  

For interest, booking tonight on Dover-Calais standard ticket has cost me £248 return.

[Floatylight]

Hey @Saabnut looks like Satnav wants to send us through Rouen low emissions zone, is it easily avoidable?

[hairnet]

Theyre sacking it off but theyve not decided when

You can avoid but it just takes longer

[Saabnut]

1 hour ago, Floatylight said:

Hey @Saabnut looks like Satnav wants to send us through Rouen low emissions zone, is it easily avoidable?

We usually use the Peage from Calais and use the Pont de Brotonne crossing. Just before the bridge there is a roundabout, turn left and go down to the river and right at the roundabout there. That takes you into Caldebec en Caux where there are some great restaurants (we use the Deux Rives- two banks) after which we put in avoid the toll roads into the satnav for the rest of the journey.Takes longer but nicer. For a quicker trip pu Pont de Brotonne as destination then my place and it will take you around Rouen but on the Peage.

They are dumping the LEZs but not sure when. There is no checking automatically if you have a Critaire sticker, it relies on the gendarmes looking IF they stop you. Some of my cars have stickers, others dont and it has never made a difference.

[Sunny Jim]

Time to get properly excited about this. I'll be travelling down to that London a week today ready to set off for France with Dez next Thursday.

I picked up the Animal Health Certificate that the dog requires today and the vet reminded me that he'll require a tapeworm treatment from a vet in France to be allowed back into the UK. @Floatylight will your dog require it too? I've found a vet 5km from Saabnut's and am going to see if I can make myself understood enough in my schoolboy French to book an appointment to get that done on the Saturday morning - let me know if you want an appointment too and I'll see if I can get us both booked in.

Vets https://www.veterinaire-debillot-la-chartre.com/

Details of requirements https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain/tapeworm-treatment-dogs

Looking forward to meeting you all except Horriblemercedes (but that's only because I've met him before so I'm looking forward to meeting him again).

[hairnet]

anyone flying into tours will be paying 400+ of your pounds

 

[Mrs6C]

17 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Time to get properly excited about this. I'll be travelling down to that London a week today ready to set off for France with Dez next Thursday.

Will you be taking the C15? C'est magnifique!

[Sunny Jim]

Mais oui, bien sûr, naturellement. En France, faites comme les Français. (Conduisez vite et avec un certain je-ne-sais-quoi!) 🇫🇷🥖🍷💨

[Floatylight]

32 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Time to get properly excited about this. I'll be travelling down to that London a week today ready to set off for France with Dez next Thursday.

I picked up the Animal Health Certificate that the dog requires today and the vet reminded me that he'll require a tapeworm treatment from a vet in France to be allowed back into the UK. @Floatylight will your dog require it too? I've found a vet 5km from Saabnut's and am going to see if I can make myself understood enough in my schoolboy French to book an appointment to get that done on the Saturday morning - let me know if you want an appointment too and I'll see if I can get us both booked in.

Vets https://www.veterinaire-debillot-la-chartre.com/

Details of requirements https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain/tapeworm-treatment-dogs

Looking forward to meeting you all except Horriblemercedes (but that's only because I've met him before).

We remembered that we want to do some stuff thats not dog friendly so we'll be leaving him at home sadly.

Still got to book the ferry but planning on arriving Wednesday..

[Saabnut]

3 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

Time to get properly excited about this. I'll be travelling down to that London a week today ready to set off for France with Dez next Thursday.

I picked up the Animal Health Certificate that the dog requires today and the vet reminded me that he'll require a tapeworm treatment from a vet in France to be allowed back into the UK. @Floatylight will your dog require it too? I've found a vet 5km from Saabnut's and am going to see if I can make myself understood enough in my schoolboy French to book an appointment to get that done on the Saturday morning - let me know if you want an appointment too and I'll see if I can get us both booked in.

Vets https://www.veterinaire-debillot-la-chartre.com/

Details of requirements https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain/tapeworm-treatment-dogs

Looking forward to meeting you all except Horriblemercedes (but that's only because I've met him before so I'm looking forward to meeting him again).

There is another vet at Le Grand Luce (that is an e with an accent) that friends have used and they speak reasonable English (or at least some did a few years ago!)

[Saabnut]

I am planning on leaving home in the morning, working in Forfar tomorrow then heading for Worksop tomorrow evening where I will pick up and fit 4 new tyres as a quick inspection showed the current ones are getting a bit thin though would be still legal just when I got back. Typically the best tyre has a nail in it! So 4 new ones on Friday then the ferry from Dover just before midnight Friday. Will be at chez Saabnut by lunchtime Saturday. Looking forward to welcoming you all there.

[Shandylegs]

Newhaven ferry booked for the evening of the 6th (£140 return).

As recommended, will be avoiding Rouen and intend to have a steady run down on the D roads, arriving at some point on the Thursday!

Looking forward to it....

[Floatylight]

13 minutes ago, Shandylegs said:

Newhaven ferry booked for the evening of the 6th (£140 return).

As recommended, will be avoiding Rouen and intend to have a steady run down on the D roads, arriving at some point on the Thursday!

Looking forward to it....

Got a link?

[Shandylegs]

Just booked by the DFDS website.

Having just checked: Out on the evening of the 6th and returning on the 11th (again on the night ferry) - £136 all in.

[mat_the_cat]

I'm planning to come to this too, just not sure on choice of transport yet. Stellar has a noisy wheel bearing, and a cracked sump.

[hairnet]

18 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Will you be taking the C15? C'est magnifique!

 

18 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

Mais oui, bien sûr, naturellement. En France, faites comme les Français. (Conduisez vite et avec un certain je-ne-sais-quoi!) 🇫🇷🥖🍷💨

yeah if jag breaks - merde 

if c15 breaks - pas de probleme - gauloises and a hammer

[Saabnut]

So far so good. Made it to Worksop last night, fitted and balanced 4 new tyres this morning and currently at Dover docks having been put on the 2050 ferry rather than the 2320 I had booked. Bonus!

[Saabnut]

After a smooth crossing and a brief stop to catch up with a bit of sleep, an easy run down saw me arrive at Chez Saabnut at 6am local time. The sun is out, temperature is warm but not uncomfortably so and the beer is cold. That will do!

Anybody else who is thinking of joining us, you will be most welcome, just drop me a pm for the actual address and how to find us.

[LightBulbFun]

On 30/07/2025 at 19:00, Sunny Jim said:

Time to get properly excited about this. I'll be travelling down to that London a week today ready to set off for France with Dez next Thursday.

On 30/07/2025 at 19:19, Mrs6C said:

Will you be taking the C15? C'est magnifique!

got said C15 registered with TFL under my blue badge now, so I only have to worry about ULEZ now  gets us a tunnel exemption too! so you could possibly be the first person to christian the Silvertown tunnel with a Citroen C15!

[Saabnut]

Weather is absolutely perfect here today, sunny mid 20s and a light breeze. Cut the grass this morning, dug the spitfire out of the garage and a friend has just arrived to take his dog for a walk. As soon as he gets back, we are heading to the local bar (1km) for lunch.

[Spottedlaurel]

6 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Weather is absolutely perfect here today, sunny mid 20s and a light breeze...........

Weather's been great for us in Vaucluse, but we've had rather more than a light breeze with the Mistral blowing pretty much all week!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Wish there was a way I could swing across but there isn't enough time on our journey back home. 

[Floatylight]

On 30/07/2025 at 19:00, Sunny Jim said:

Looking forward to meeting you all except Horriblemercedes (but that's only because I've met him before so I'm looking forward to meeting him again).

We have also met before, at the Truckers Rest in Cannock earlier this year, you were in the hearse..