Off for a little drive with a few friends & due to having more than 2 people to take leaving the toys at home & taking the Scout, it will be the slowest of the group by far but should still be a fun run.

Basic route

Friday night to Calais

Sat Calais to Mulhouse

Sun visit Schumph collection then on to Annecy

Monday Saint balais to Briancon via Col de Aravis

Col des Saises Col de Meraillet Through Val-D-Isere Col de l’Iseran

Col du Mont Cenis

Tues Briancon - Menton via Col d’Izoard

Col de Vars

Col de Bonnette

Col du Turini

Wed Day in Monaco, spot of Lunch & late afternoon Head off towards Verdon Gorge

Thurs Villercose via Verdon Gorge to Avignon

Thurs & Friday night at same hotel so on Friday we can play on Mt Ventoux & a few other little gems of Gorges + some wine tasting

Sat Avignon to Troyes

Sun back to calais probably via the old Reims race track & back home

That sounds like a nice little route,

Enjoy your week.

Will miss my yearly fix of Monaco and the Col de Turini and a little bit of the Route Napolian this year.

My mate is currently off for a bit of a drive - for a whole month! He went of to Santander and has now found himself in Laayoune! I had no idea where this was and thought it some town on the planet Tatooine from Starwars.

Go knows where he will go next. Wont find out until I get my next txt. And the best part is he's doing it in a Porsche 4S cab. Lucky git. Jealous? Me?

some great roads there stuart - i've done that area several time in different cars - rt napoleon still my favorite to get down to nice/monaco..

I need to attend a conference early october in northern italy (lakes area) so that will be my excuse for a euro-road trip this year, try to get in as many alpine passes as i can

Great trip, No Accidents within the group, no unfixable mechanical woes, only a couple of tickets from the Swiss police for some of the others for minor things, as always they enforce the law to the letter.

The Scout performed better than I had expected & even suprised a few on the slower twisties but did suffer badly at altitude as did the other Turbo cars. I fitted a set of Toyo T1 Sports before leaving & they are a vast improvement over the Dunlops. It was also nice to not stop every 200 miles for fuel as some were doing.

Rob, we managed to squeeze in a good chunk of Route Napoleon as well.

Cant wait until next year, there again southern Europe is great in September / October

Pics; we need pics!

Yep, looking forward to the pic from this trip.

My mate is currently off for a bit of a drive - for a whole month! He went of to Santander and has now found himself in Laayoune! I had no idea where this was and thought it some town on the planet Tatooine from Starwars.

Go knows where he will go next. Wont find out until I get my next txt. And the best part is he's doing it in a Porsche 4S cab. Lucky git. Jealous? Me?

He's back. Car's in Casablanca. Electrical fault apparently :S I wonder if his insurance will cover shipping a 4S back from North Africa?

Told him he should have gone in his Fabia

Sounds good.

There are so many possible routes, attractions, diversions and general stuff to lure you hither and yon, Like the railway museum, also iin Mulhouse. Or the vinyards or the southern Rhone, Luberon, Vacluse, Provence. Village perche, Medieval Towns and Vauban citadels. Wide fast sweeping roads, tight nagery switchbacks, smooth flat roads through vinyards, cliffs, gorges and ravines.

Not to mention the food. from producer and farmers markets to fine restaurants - a particular interest of mine.

As we here in UK have had the standard of cookiing and hostpitality improve, the economy end of the market in France now doesn't excite us as it once did. You can get a plate of calories very cheap at chains like Flunch. McDoh have a big share of the "casual eating" market, so the pressure on little family eateries is immense - notice the dearth of the once ubiqitous Relay Routier, cars and trucks can now drive from one end of France to the other without too much stress, no need to stop every 100 miles to fill up, check the oil, stretch your legs, top up the radiator. You want to go somewhere, get up and go.

There can be reasons to break your journey though. Food from good to the truely excellent is commonly available in the best restaurants, especially on their lunchtime menus. I often use the clunky ViaMichelin route planning site (its really rather rubbish!) but, big but, it gives lists of eateries around your destination, with links to their website - should the have one. Over three weeks, we didn't have to eat anywhere other than a recommended restaurant. Sometime on transit stages, we would be caught out because it was too late on Sunday, and ended up paying the same or more - £20 ish each plus drinks. The other big plus, many of these places are out of the way so you get to see parts you normally just bypass, so your route evolves and different destinations become different reasons to travel.