Hi, I am safely sitting at home with a cup of tea after completing approx 1400 miles in a few days. The W124 has performed perfectly and has been a great touring companion. I would like to say thanks to my co-driver Mr B for sharing some driving, being camera man ,refreshment service and Dj(ipoder???).
The trip commenced from Norwich at 2230 from Norwich and I managed to sleep all the way to Ashford after a busy few weeks at work. We arrived in Ashford at the eurotunnel terminal with plenty of time to spare so went to have a coffee. In the teminal we were beseiged with drunken Belgian fans coming back from wembley(we didn't know the score of the game, however we could guess which way it had gone.)
We were then called onto the Train(shuttle) and were ready for lift off, 35 mins and copious amounts of cheese and crackers later we arrived in France. A quick waft along the A26 and A1 and we rolled into Paris.
The day was spent seeing the sights of Paris drinking coffee and eating baguettes.....aswell as looking out for retroness.....enjoy
Oh Hello!!!
Nice beetle ...
Pug 205...Used
Unsure as to what this is(some one will know)
Suits you sir....in gold ....nice
After most of the day in Paris it was off to Reims to see the old circuit.
Driving down the main straight was a magnificent feeling. Imagining how those old racers flew along here pushing themselves and their machines to the limit. I will let the pictures do the talking.
We then bowled over to Reims city centre and watched a local medieval fete and had food and coffee. A few retros in Reims..
Svelte..
The Holy Grail..Very nice
We then Stayed in a very cheap hotel in an industrial estate in the Champagne region. Got some sleep after a few wines and Bourbons...The hotel was basic but clean, cant complain for 31 Euros per twin room per night.
The next morningish we had a very wt drive to Spa-Francorchamps.
Lunch was served continental style.
We stayed here for about an hour and watched a Ferrari and a few others lapping then headed for the Nurburgring.
Arrived at the ring early evening. I knew the touristfahren wasn't on as I had already checked. This was just a detour for the photo albumn. I have done a ring trip before and had no intention of taking the merc around it.
A decision was then made to drive to Aachen and stay the night there so we were a little further north. O.K. off we go again then. The route we chose was through the Eifel forest, The roads were twisty, undulating and fun.
As we were approaching Aachen we say a sign for a hotel called the Buschhause.....enough said 20 mins later and we were checked in and getting fed and watered.
1 hour later we were stuck in a 2ftx3ft lift for about 10 mins which became Hot,Smelly,Claustraphobic and worrying. Thanks Mr B for the most obnoxious and toxic smell a human
could ever make. I was not impressed with this.....AND NOBODY ANSWERED THE F****ING ALARM.....HELP>>>>>PANIC.
The hotel porter finally arrived with the key and opened the door. We were between floors and he said "Sorry for the inconvenience the lift has gone up a little bit." His eyes were watering after being hit with Mr B's toxic
smell.
The next morning after a good nights sleep and a swim we headed to Amsterdam. The drive was uneventful and fluid. When we arrived in Amsterdam we proceeded to find a hotel and parking. This was not as bad as expected and within 2 hours we had had a coffee and sorted a hotel and secure parking. This was outside the hotel so helped our decision.
We then sampled the delights of Amsterdam for the rest of the day/night.
This Guy was busy but obliged for a photo.
We visited a couple of establishments and had a coffee or two
Plenty of mercness
The next morning we headed south via the N57 coast road and the Oosterschelder flood barrier. We met some nice friends along the way.
A few hold ups
It was then a quick Blat through Belgium then to calais and eventually home.
The Route