The Car in Blois

Yesterday was the second annual Fédération Française des Véhicules d'Epoque (FFVE) "use your old car" day. We don't usually need much encouragement, even when the weather forecast is for solid rain (as per last year). Also like last year we went with Rosemary and Jean-Michel, although this year we decided to forego dressing up 1950's stylee for being warm, 21st century style.

Chenard & Walcker F 23 1939.

Lotus Europa.

Did you know there was a club for old furniture removal vans?

A 2CV.

 

Not 2CV.

We like these events - it doesn't matter if you're in a €900 2CV or a €300,000 Ferrari, all are equal in a traffic jam, and you never know who you are going to be next to when the traffic comes to a halt.

Six Horses

Or eight if you include this.

This is the classic Citroen 2cv. Road Tax in France is levied depending on the tax horsepower rating, which is a calculation made on engine capacity, not power. The 2cv has two chevaux vapeur - that is 2 steam horses. It is the car that put France properly on the road in 1948, and it stayed in production until 1990. In total 3,872,583 of them were made.

The design brief was simple: it should be able to ....
well - I will let the shaggy bloke in the video explain it

(that makes 10 horses so far)

According to one source, "Citroen was so confident in the 2CV's abilities that it offered the prize of a brand new car to the first person who rolled one on to its roof - and well over half a century later, the prize still hasn't been claimed." If you have ever followed one down the road you may doubt this - they are the leaniest cars I have ever seen.

Simon

(The video is not the right aspect, I know - but it was loaded to you-tube by someone other than me)

A French Classic

The Citroën 2CV, a French design classic. Designed in 1939 and in production from 1948 to 1990, it was capable of being driven across a plowed field without breaking any eggs in a basket on the front seat.

I would like one of these as a bit of fun. Maybe one day...........


The ad for the current Citroën is pretty good. The 2CV Parody is better........

The Carpark at Chenonceau

As you can imagine, at this time of year we spend quite a lot of time at Chenonceau. While Susan is in the château I usually sit in the carpark. Quite often there are some interesting cars to look at (like these), and last Monday afternoon was no different. Often it is a car club, but this week the Citroën 2CV world meet is at Salbri Salbris, an hour east of Chenonceau and there were plenty of cars calling in (and passing) on their way to the meet.

The cars were mainly Citroën 2CV and their
derivatives, including 3 Meharis from Denmark

There was also rather a nice modern car. Anyone
want to buy me a Maserati? I won't complain.

It isn't just cars - many people visit Chenonceau
by bike, including this rather natty trike

Of course, it's Célestine who attracts the most attention.

Although I am a bit worried - should I admit to going to one of the great châteaus of France and enjoying the car-park more?

Simon

More Chenonceau Cars

In addition to the Bentleys at Chenonceau last week, there were one or two more modern desireables:

Ford Thunderbird (1955?), which makes it the same age as our ladies. What a difference!

And yes, I'd have one, in a shot...

 Jaguar XK (XK8 or XKR?) There were actually two of these in the car park.

One was with this group of cars, one was travelling independently

Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV (or GTV6?).  And there's always a 2CV hanging around...

All of these cars were together on a car club's Loire Chateau tour. I imagine the 2CV driver wasn't travelling in quite as relaxed a style as some of the other cars

Deuch

I don't think this 2cv was on its way to a concourse. Not unless there is a category for "totally original condition, towing a trailerload of cabbages".

Simon

Dining Alone in Manthelan

The other day I got a phone call on my mobile. I was driving home from work and had got to Le Louroux. The caller was Simon, who told me he needed me to return to Saint Branchs. He had dropped off our clients at their hotel and was coming home in Claudette, but had developed a terrible migraine. He couldn't drive any further.

Burger van in Manthelan.

I got back to Saint Branchs to find him in the carpark by the church. He wanted water, but all the shops were closed. I spotted a man in a fireman's uniform in his front yard talking on his mobile phone, so I approached him. When I explained the situation the man, Bertrand, was kindness itself. He filled up my water bottle, moistened a towel to use as a compress and offered to look after Claudette in his back yard until we could return for her. What a relief!

Bertrand, engineer, volunteer fireman, 2CV owner and all round good guy.

After he had managed to manoeuvere Claudette through Bertrand's gates I got Simon into our modern car and drove off. We only got as far as the bus stop between Saint Branchs and Le Louroux. The movement of the car was too much for Simon and we had to stop. 

After a considerable time Simon felt capable of continuing, but once again, we didn't get far. This time we reached Manthelan and I parked outside the salle des fêtes. Simon tried to get comfortable in the car and I decided to take a walk. 

It was starting to get dark, but the temperature was 22°C. I happily wandered about the village for a while, somewhere I've never really explored before. When I returned to the main street because it was dark there was a burger van set up on the pavement. I thought I might as well order a burger. The choice was extensive but finally I opted for a chicken burger with two sorts of cheese, an egg, onion marmalade, lettuce and tomato in a standard burger bun and served with chips for €8.50. The burger chef said it would be 20 minutes so I wandered about a bit more. I checked out the public toilets (next to the town hall, clean and with toilet paper). When I went back to collect my dinner there were two other customers. One of them was collecting six or eight burgers, and I assume was the reason my order took 20 minutes. I bore off my prize and sat on a bench in front of the town hall, in the dark, to eat it. It was good. I didn't want to take it back to the car in case the smell was more than Simon could bear (he'd already thrown up in the bushes several times).

Finally I returned to the car and Simon, who was semi-reclined in the back seat, said we could continue. This time we made it to Ligueil, where we made a short stop for puking at the lavoir, before eventually getting all the way home. Simon went straight to bed. 

The next afternoon, despite Simon still feeling a bit fragile, we went back and retrieved Claudette. I'm sure Bertrand would kindly have kept her for several days, but we had other commitments in the upcoming days and felt we should collect Claudette immediately.

Téléthon

The last two days have been Téléthon, the annual fundraiser for research into Muscular Dystrophy. It is a big event, this year having raised over 80 million euros by the time we went to bed last night. We played our own little part yesterday.

Our neighbour Patrice called in a couple of weeks ago to ask if we would be interested in joining a randonnée pour voitures anciennes. He owns three old Peugeots and had organised a group of cars to go around the small villages surrounding Preuilly, collecting funds. Needless to say we jumped at the invitation.

We met at Yzeures sur Creuse at midday, and enjoyed a convivial lunch with the drivers of the other vehicles. We had all purchased clockwork models of 2CVs, which were being sold as fundraisers by Fiesta'Deuche Berry-Touraine (the local 2CV club), which kept us fairly busy between courses and added to the hilarity. After lunch, tactics were discussed and official paperwork handed out. The 2CVs were to head off in one direction, and the rest of us, lead by Patrice's friend Jean-Louis, were to go to Chambon, Chaumussay, Charnizay and back to Yzeures. As the purpose of the exercise was to attract attention, continual use of the horn was obligatory. I probably used the klaxons more yesterday than I have ever used car horns before in my life. Excellent fun!

At Chambon we stopped for our after lunch café at the Mairie, which was a pleasant surprise. The cars attracted a lot of attention: there was a crowd of at least 10 people, quite a number for such a small village. At Chaumussay we called into the salle de fetes (the old station) where the local children were putting on a concert. I am not sure that our parting salvo of car horns helped much.

Careful parking at Chaumussay

At Charnizay we parked in the village centre, before moving off to the football ground where the local team were taking on St Hippolyte. We were invited to join the supporters in the bar, where Susan was offered a cup (a CUP mind you) of Poire Williams which she managed to gracefully decline, opting for chocolat chaud instead. The football wasn't up to much, but we did see some brutal tackles - something that always brightens a cold and overcast day.

A collection of tails at Charnizay

After Charnizay we got separated from the main group. Being the third car in line, I thought we were safe from getting lost. Unfortunately the first two cars went in the wrong direction, and we followed. Happily, we knew where we were supposed to be going (Yzeures) so we had our own private randonnée, meeting the rest of the team back at base.

We really enjoyed the afternoon's drive - everyone was very welcoming. Célestine attracted a lot of attention and has been declared a belle voiture by more than one expert. I may be biased, but I reckon she was the prettiest car there too.

We stayed on for the dinner of poule au pot, where it was announced that the classic cars had collected over 450€ between them.

Simon

Simon's Secret Project

Over the last couple of weeks the blog hasn't exactly been receiving our full attention, which will not come as a surprise to anyone who has restored a house or who owns a large garden/orchard. There is a reason - apart from the staircase - for the lack of variety in our blog posts though, and that is Simon's Secret Project.

Regular readers will know I occasionally look at cars: old Renaults, Citroens and sometimes more exotic fare. I am not the most mechanically minded of blokes so I admire them as much for form as function - something I suspect even the most hardened engineer does. Of course, we all laugh at 2CVs (well - we do if we have any sense of humour), and we all ooh and ahh when we see a vintage Bentley, Hispano Suiza or Bugatti. Some of us are even attracted to some modern cars; the Aston Martin DB9 manages to quicken my pulse, and a Maserati Quattroporte is a thing of beauty.

There is one car, however, that appeals to me on a completely different level. It isn't the most luxurious of cars (although it's not bad on that front) nor the most advanced (although it its day it was revolutionary). Nor is it the prettiest (even though is it attractive) or rarest (over 3/4 of a million were built over a period of more than 20 years).

I just like it, and I want one.

Last Week we have drove over 1000km* to look at Citroen Traction Avants. We have seen some really nice ones but none have been THE car for me. Last Tuesday we drove a pretty black one, but I wasn't convinced by the way the doors fitted. We saw a very nice example on Friday, but it isn't black, it's grey (most post war French Traction Avants were black, but they were made in grey and blue for the Algerian export market) and I want black: baddies and spies drive black Traction Avants.

The showroom it was in is magnificent:

A row of Tractions

A TR3, Model A Ford and a smatterings of Goddesses

So if anyone has a Citroen Traction 11B, left hand drive, black, in good condition with normal French registration (Carte Grise Normale), drop me a line. Post war malle plate preferably, but a big boot model wouldn't be a problem. (For those not in the know, the difference is shown here).

Simon

*All this was achieved on not a lot of gazole. Our last tank of fuel got us 1020km, at 4.7235l/100km, 59.8 mpg (UK) or 49.79mpg(US). Not bad for a 10 year old 1.9 diesel.

Things You Have to See

In France you would be disappointed if you didn't see a 2CV. In Germany, you'd be hoping to see a VW beetle.

We ticked off one of our Italian expectations not far from our villa in Tuscany. Who doesn't like the original FIAT 500?

Autos Enjouées

Yesterday we went to Autos Enjouées at Joué-les-Tours.

We have never been to the parc du Château des Bretonnières before, but even if it wasn't full of old cars it would be worth seeing. They have an aquatic centre with sailing, a number of walks wth various orchid locations marked, and lot of open green spaces - all in a satellite town of Tours that frequently gets overlooked.

An identity parade of Tractions.

However, yesterday it was cars we went to see and there was plenty to feast the eyes on. Of course, the majority were French cars (including at least one marque new to us - more later) but there was also plenty of Americana and British cars.

Hands up - all those who thought a 2CV hot rod was a good idea.

Today I have concentrated on photos of Citroëns, but over the next week or two we will have some more exotic and esoteric stuff.

I like black DS's

The party continues today, so if you're in the area do drop in. It's free, there are beer tents and pizza vans, and lots of beardy car types if you feel the need for a chat. The website is here, and the programme is downloadable here.

Simon

Out and About with Claudette

Not a huge voyage, but a significant event after the week I had last week.

Yesterday was their third meet-up, and our first. It coincided with us having Claudette at home, and me feeling vaguely human. In fact I felt so human we stayed for lunch at the Guinguette.

A row of 2CV kit cars

If you look in the background you can see Claudette

It was nice to get out of the house and meet up with friends - and meet people who share our interest.

We were saying at lunch how successful the Guinguette is, and how it attracts the widest cross section of patronage. If you're in the lower parts of the Touraine do visit. It's ace!

Ca Bouchonne sur la 10

This year for the Journées du Patrimoine (European Heritage Weekend) instead of visiting rarely opened historic buildings we decided to participate in some historic recreation. Along with friends Colin and Elizabeth and Tim and Pauline we registered ourselves and our classic Citroëns for the Heritage Traffic Jam at Sainte Maure de Touraine. 

Colin photographing us while we are photographing him 

(no he is not the one dressed as a nun).

This was open to anyone with a car older than 1974 and our friend Fabien was one of the organisers. Participants were asked to accessorise their cars and themselves so that the event recreated the look of a weekend in August before the town bypass opened. In the 70s and earlier the N10 (national highway 10) went straight through the middle of town. Everyone heading south from Paris for their summer holiday (or north on the return journey) passed through. 

Tim, probably saying merde quite forcefully. 

This regularly led to gridlock, with cars overheating and breaking down. It's long enough ago now though that people who remember going on holidays like this as kids look back with nostalgia not horror. Thus, a movement has been born to recreate the holiday scrum.

Not one of the cars you can see in this picture is less than 40 years old.

It certainly brings out a wide variety of cars and a good deal of the French delight in dressing up and play acting. Policemen, postmen, cyclists, stressed out couples, hippies and hicks all featured and entertained the amazingly large crowd who gathered to photograph and enjoy the spectacle. 

Some of the 300 classic cars in the centre of Sainte Maure de Touraine.

Now there is a bypass the centre of Ste Maure can be closed off to regular traffic, allowing the classics to stop-start their way up and down the old N10 in the centre of town. Some vehicles had more difficulty than others negotiating the new fangled roundabouts, so progress was rarely smooth. That was fine. It all added to the authenticity, and if there was a blockage, everyone just stopped and got out of their cars -- just like the old days. We chatted with passers by, both strangers and acquaintances. We took gazillions of photos and some movies.

Sorry about the reflections - the camera rig was tested with the car pointing the other way...

Half way round the first circuit Tim applied his handbrake a little too vigorously and the handle came off in his hand. Fortunately he had some chocks for the wheels and pulled over to the side to bodge a temporary fix. By the time we got round to him again he'd tied the handbrake cable to a rope and attached it to the windscreen wiper knob or something. At any rate, he and Pauline and their 2CV rejoined us and we went off to have a picnic lunch at the local campsite.

After lunch we strolled through the camp, where the really keen retro enthusiasts had set up their period caravans and tents and spent the night. Then we bid farewell to Colin and Elizabeth and followed Tim and Pauline home just to make sure nothing else fell off their car and they got back safely.

The Church Above Saint Remy sur Creuse

 

I love this view. It is the church above the village of Saint Rémy sur Creuse. I've never driven to it, always walked from Buxueil on the River Creuse, along the river to the village of Saint Rémy, then up the steep sides of the valley to the church. This photo was taken from way across the other side of the valley, coming into Descartes.

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For details of our private guided tours of chateaux, gardens, wineries, markets and more please visit the Loire Valley Time Travel website. We would be delighted to design a tour for you.

We are also on Instagram, so check us out to see a regularly updated selection of our very best photos. You may also like to check out our YouTube channel. 

 

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UPDATE -- RESPONSES TO COMMENTS:

Pré de la Forge -- were you in a 2CV? Sounds like that's what the road was made for!

chm -- yes, the church has some interesting features.

Jean -- it's one of our favourite walks.

Assumption Day at Lesigny

As is now our custom, last Thursday we joined the Assumption Day drive at Lésigny. This is held in conjunction with the Lésigny brocante, and is a fun day out for anyone who appreciates a drive in the country in old cars, and a random picnic.

This year we drove through a number of the smaller villages of the south Touraine, stopping for a morning drink at la Celle Guenand.

I've never seen one of these before - a 1965 UMAP, based on a 2CV

You can't beat class

This one's for Leon

Gathered for a mid morning drink

4CV - literally 4 horsepower.

On our return we picnicked, looked at all (about 400) shiny and no so shiny cars on parade, chatted with aquaintances old and new, and generally had a convivial time. If you have a pre-75 car (or a new GT car) why not join us next year?

Célestine

We have an awful lot to talk about!

Célestine is a 1953 Paris built Citroën Traction Avant 11cv Normale, also know as the 11b, or the 11bn. The 11 refers to the the fiscal horsepower, the "b" is for Berline, or sedan. There is a bl - the Berline Légère, or light saloon. (Confusingly, in the UK, where the Traction avant was also made, these cars are know as the Citroën15 and Light 15, because the taxable horsepower calculation in the UK was different. Then there is the whole matter of the six cylinder 15/6, known in the UK as the Big 15)

The whole Citroën Traction Avant thing started in 1935 with the 7A, the world's first mass produced front wheel drive, all welded monocoque construction car with independent front wheel suspension. This car was later given a larger engine and became the 11bl, and a larger bodied version was made which became the 11B. If you want more detail here is the place.

Celestine was found in a farmyard a number of years ago (some time this century, but we will have to check when exactly). She was in a bit of a state, but was rebuilt from the ground up in 2006. Very generously Monsieur S has given us some photos of the work.

The doors form part of the monocoque. Here they are being
repanelled and welded.

The grey item at the bottom centre of the photo is the gearbox

One of the reasons for chosing an 11b is the enormous amount of legroom in the back seats. Even with the drivers seat having been moved back for me by 20cm (8 inches) the back legroom can be measured in acres. The other main reason is that you can still get the parts - most parts - just by picking up the phone, and most garagistes can still do the work (and are happy to do so). The fact that it makes us feel like gangsters/spies/movie stars (depending on mood) has nothing to do with it. At all.

Driving it is interesting - people wave and flash their headlights, and pedestrians turn and look. This is unusually (and somewhat unfortunately) a cue for me to crunch the gearbox changing from first to second. No synchro, you see, and it takes getting used to.

I mentioned on Friday evening that we had an interesting trip from Nemours. This is down to the way the car starts.

First you have to be in neutral. No first gear with foot on the clutch here, definitely neutral. Then you put the key in the lock and turn clockwise. This is "contact". Next the choke (in French starter) is pulled out oh so much, then you pull the démarrer button. This will start the car.

Failing to get contact before you pull the démarrer will quickly result in a flat battery - as happened to us on the forecourt of the filling station not 300 metres from the garage where we bought Célestine. Luckily, a phone call bought Monseuir S out (in a 2cv) to rescue us will one of those battery booster pack things. Not that it was embarrassing in any way, shape or form whatsoever. In future we will have to think back to all those old flying movies, where the pilot calls out "contact" before the prop is swung.

We picked up Geoff and Pat at Poitiers airport yesterday, and Célestine made a huge splash - everybody turned and looked, people commented, and we even had a cyclist turning around to take a photo on his phone camera as we followed him down the road.

Unfortunately, we were pootling so casually we weren't revving hard enough to recharge the battery, so when we got home the poor old girl was flat out of puff. This means tomorrow we will be buying a charger so we don't embarrass ourselves in future.

Simon

A Little Runabout

This little Citroën 2CV van (a style known as a camionette or fourgonette in French) strikes me as an excellent vehicle for tootling up and down to the orchard loaded with compost and tools. They generally cost a couple of thousand euros to buy. This one looks fairly good, with roof rack and everything, although I prefer the colour of this one.

The Last Tyre Rolls Off the Line

The production of tyres officially ceased a week before Christmas in the Michelin factory at Joué lès Tours. However, the factory is not going to close. It will retain 200 employees, but their output will be membranes, flaps and fabrics, according to the newspaper.

A page of Tourangelle industrial history has turned. More than 53 years after the first tyre was made - a radial destined for a 2CV left the workshop on 6 June 1961 - the employees of the Michelin factory have quality checked their last tyre, this time destined for a heavy earth-moving machine.

Between the two dates the site at Joué made millions of tyres and employed 4000 people at its height. Even just three years ago the factory produced 3600 tyres a day, compared to 250 in the last few weeks.

In reality this is just one stage of several in the process of transforming this factory by Michelin. In June last year the loss of 706 of the 906 jobs on site was announced, due to the relocation of the manufacture of tyres for heavy vehicles to La Roche sur Yon. The new manager, who arrived three months ago is directing some big social and industrial changes in the factory. Of those who have left, 380 simply retired. Another 162 took up jobs in other Michelin factories, so have moved away from the Touraine. The final 164 lost their jobs altogether, but 30% have since found new employment.

Very shortly there will only be two workshops on the site, manned by no more than 200 people, making flaps and membranes in one workshop, fabrics in the other. 22 million euros will be spent building a new factory, taking up 8 ha of the 32 ha site. The unwanted land will be sold.

The demolition and rebuild will run from January to October next year and the first job is to pull down all the buildings on the 24 ha which will be sold. By mid-2016 the site will be clear and the land on the market.

Ultimately Michelin is committed to creating 300 jobs on the site and another 100 or so in Indre et Loire. They will get some state assistance to do so and those who lost their jobs will also receive assistance so that the economic impact of so many job losses in a rural area will not be so great.

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Au jardin hier: I lightly sanded all the handles on my garden tools yesterday and dressed them with linseed oil. I'm not totally convinced by the use of linseed oil -- there is a lot of nonsense spouted about having to 'feed' wood -- but it is the traditional treatment to maintain wooden tool handles and Tim did a beautiful job of dressing my broad fork handles last year. Linseed oil works like face cream ie it's hygroscopic, so it attracts moisture and gives the sensation of smoothing and enriching, but isn't necessarily having any real positive effect. It's easy to slop too much of it on, in which case you could end up with every little particle of dirt and dust stuck to the oiled wood, forming an immutable 'mudpack'.

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A la cuisine hier: Pizza, from homemade dough topped with supermarket tomato sauce, sauteed mushrooms, slices of chorizo and grated cheddar cheese, served with a green salad. Gut busting. Simon didn't have dessert! Unheard of! There are leftovers for lunch today.

Like Putting the Clock Back 50 Years

Moving to rural France from urban England, like moving from the east coast of Australia to New Zealand, is often said to be like putting the clock back 50 years, to some halcyon period when the sun always shone, adolescents were always polite, you could leave your front door unlocked and family life was important, but you couldn't get very much in the shops.

This photo no doubt bolsters the myth. We don't know the man with the 2CV, we just happened to pull up behind him at the pumps in la Ville aux Dames.

Susan

Another French Classic

In a previous post I wrote about the Citroen 2CV.

This beast is the H Van and was manufactured by Citroen from 1947 to 1981.

That is right - 1981, as in 4 years after I first got my driving licence. Seeing a vehicle that looks so ancient and finding out it is a contemporary of mine makes me feel slightly dinosaurish...

Susan won't let me have one of these, either.

Simon