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To Angouleme by Alvis 12/50 - Days 6 to 8
Thu, Sep 20 2012 12:42
| alvis, angouleme, bugatti, circuit des remparts
Returning to Brighton...
...Plus de repas, plus de vin, plus de fun
On Monday we set off to Saint Malo and stopped the first night at Le Lion D'Or on the Loire where we discovered that Monsieur Basil Fawlty was alive and well...
Tuesday night found us in Dinan at a lovely little hotel and Dinan is certainly worth a weekend break - it’s really beautiful.
Wednesday was an 08.00 start but in the event we arrived at the port in time to hear the announcements of the industrial action; resolved for us fortunately, but afterwards, expanded into a full blown strike.
We had a lovely day trip back to Portsmouth past the Channel Islands and then the drive home - what could go wrong?Well, the driver in the overtaking lane on the Worthing by-pass had obviously had a brain by-pass as he cut from the right hand lane across me so that he could turn left. Fortunately I'd tweaked the brakes before we left Brighton but even so, our friends who were following in the Bugatti were not the only ones who thought the Alvis would fall over as I swerved and the car tried to do one of those clever stunt drives along the A27 on two wheels to avoid the "by-pass" man.
Luckily he drove off otherwise I think some damage may have occurred which wouldn't have been covered by my fully comp insurance.
And the end of the tale?
Just as we were passing Guernsey, the postman was trying to deliver the 120 Solex jet which had been stuck for nearly three weeks in the sorting office because the postage should have been 59 pence rather than 50 pence - Jobsworth?
I fitted the 120 jet (the manual recommends 115) and the car ran perfectly; slightly rich at tickover but no spitting and of course more reliable revving when double-declutching. The received wisdom is that Ethanol in petrol makes the fuel:air ratio leaner so if your car shows similar symptoms you should consider contacting the very helpful Carburretor Hospital.
It was a lovely laid back event and one which I would recommend to any Francophile but we could have done with three whole days in Angoulême as I never got to see the Cathedral, the paper mill or the famous comic museum.
We did 836 miles and apart from the spitting, the Alvis ran perfectly - enough to make the Bugatti owner go out and buy an Alvis, but that’s another story....well, let me put it this way, if we go again it may be the ex-Tony Leech Shooting Brake in front instead of the Type 40...or perhaps the Shooting Brake behind....
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To Angouleme by Alvis 12/50 - Day 5
Wed, Sep 19 2012 12:44
| alvis, angouleme, bugatti, circuit des remparts
Race day at Angoulême
On Sunday we decided against public transport and we drove in to Angoulême; the sun was rising through the mists of the fields and it was a magical drive particularly when one of the marshals mistook us for the €300-entry rally cars.We parked and escaped before the Gendarme pressed his case for us to move on - they're not really going to tow away a Bugatti are they?
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| Panhard |
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| The winning Bugatti |
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| Citroen |
The second race was for vintage cars and comprised Bugattis, Rileys, MGs, an Alfa etc....very exciting to see them sliding round the corners.
But 30 degree temperatures were beginning to take their toll and so we headed back to the Relais before all the racing had finished and the exodus had started. This time we opted for the à la carte menu which was to prove a big saving over the €39 menu and the Paris effect was still working!
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| Alfa Romeo approaching Carnot corner |
To Angoulême by Alvis 12/50 - Day 4
Mon, Sep 17 2012 12:46
| alvis, angouleme, bugatti, circuit des remparts
Angoulême - Paddock and Atmosphere
On Saturday we set off bright and early to park at the local Auchan store from where we caught a bus into Angoulême. We collected the grandstand/paddock tickets and programmes and then found a coffee shop.
For those who could afford it there was a rally on Saturday which cost €300 and involved nearly as much eating and drinking as we planned to do for rather less.
The €35 tickets gave us access to the paddock on Saturday and Sunday as well as numbered grandstand tickets opposite the paddock exit and the Carnot corner at the end of the Cathedral straight. Just behind us you could look out over the Ramparts and see the cars racing round the hairpin bends below.If you just wanted to soak up the atmosphere there were plenty of cafes in the town centre where one could see and hear the race cars being driven through the every day traffic of buses and cars to the paddock.
At the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) the cars were still being displayed from the Concours event of Friday evening.Later in the afternoon we returned to Auchan to buy a picnic; did I mention that the temperature was nearly 30 degrees...
To Angouleme by Alvis 12/50 - Day 3
Sat, Sep 15 2012 12:47
| alvis, angouleme, bugatti, circuit des remparts
Tiffauges to Angoulême, 150 miles
Very early on Friday morning I reset the tappets to 6 thou cold rather than 3 thou hot and that made a big difference particularly when I put the hood down as I could barely hear the spitting and f***ing through the carb.
However there was a new distraction. The French equivalent of the Department of Transport came up with more deviations than the Marquis de Sade could have dreamt of; where the British would use traffic lights, the French used deviations which I'm sure were designed to show off their country to us.
The hotels in the centre of Angoulême had been mostly fully booked for months so we finally arrived at our Relais de Silence (which I had booked in April) just south of Angoulême (we had a bit of a shock in store for some of the auto-phobe guests seeking silence); on arrival there were already a couple of vintage Alvises, two Triumph Stags, a Porsche and a Rolls-Royce.
You’ll probably recognise the Alvises as belonging to Adrian Bell (who had given me a lot of advice before we booked) and Tony Leech who had been doing a meander through the Loire valley.
We ate at the hotel from a rather expensive menu but fortunately Jon's brother-in-law is from Paris...it's true what they say about Parisians...and we had impeccable service from then on!
However there was a new distraction. The French equivalent of the Department of Transport came up with more deviations than the Marquis de Sade could have dreamt of; where the British would use traffic lights, the French used deviations which I'm sure were designed to show off their country to us.
The hotels in the centre of Angoulême had been mostly fully booked for months so we finally arrived at our Relais de Silence (which I had booked in April) just south of Angoulême (we had a bit of a shock in store for some of the auto-phobe guests seeking silence); on arrival there were already a couple of vintage Alvises, two Triumph Stags, a Porsche and a Rolls-Royce.You’ll probably recognise the Alvises as belonging to Adrian Bell (who had given me a lot of advice before we booked) and Tony Leech who had been doing a meander through the Loire valley.
We ate at the hotel from a rather expensive menu but fortunately Jon's brother-in-law is from Paris...it's true what they say about Parisians...and we had impeccable service from then on!
To Angouleme by Alvis 12/50 - Day 2
Fri, Sep 14 2012 12:49
| alvis, angouleme, bugatti, circuit des remparts
Saint Malo to Tiffauges, 160 miles
On Thursday we disembarked at about 08.00 local time and headed off on every small side road we could find in the direction of Tiffauges (L on map) which is about 160 miles away from Saint Malo. Our plan was to drive for two hours and then stop for coffee before doing another two hours driving, stopping for lunch and then a similar laid-back schedule in the afternoon.
Our first night stop was at Tiffauges which is a lovely little town with a very old castle which boasted a trebuchet, a very nice hotel and a fabulous but inexpensive restaurant, named Archers - Veal sweetbreads, followed by Coquilles St Jacques and Creme Brulée...To Angoulême by Alvis 12/50 - Day 1
Wed, Sep 12 2012 12:55
| alvis, angouleme, bugatti, circuit des remparts
Brighton to Portsmouth docks
Le Circuit des Remparts d’Angoulême is a series of races for old cars around the castle ramparts of Angoulême, which is a lovely town about two thirds of the way down France on the left hand side. It's 30 miles inland from Cognac and 75 miles north of Bordeaux.
I’ve heard it said that Le Circuit des Remparts d’Angoulême is similar to what the Goodwood Revival once was before the organisers discovered that the Sussex Downs were paved with gold.
I was lucky enough to get to both the Festival of Speed and the Revival in the very early days before it became a part of the social scene; it was all pretty relaxed and you could buy your tickets on the gate before it all went online and retro.
The easiest way of getting the Alvis to Angoulême was to take the Brittany Ferries ship from Portsmouth to Saint Malo and then drive 300 miles over the next two days whilst sampling plenty of petit déjeuners, déjeuners et cafés.
I did book the Angoulême tickets online as I wanted to ensure we got some seats rather than just wandering around and looking over people's shoulders, besides they'd already sold out of the Cathedral grandstand seats when I started booking in August so it was pretty popular.
The seats were not expensive; €25 each for entry to the paddock for both days and €10 each for the grandstand seats for both days. If you use my sort of logic, what you save on Goodwood pays for the ferry...sort of.
I'd cobbled the carburettion together on the Alvis but was still without the all important 120 Solex jet which my engine seems to need now to combat the Ethanol in petrol that tends to make the mixture leaner. On the afternoon of Wednesday 12th September we met up with our friends’ Bugatti on the Brighton seafront before we headed off to Portsmouth for the overnight voyage to Saint Malo.
The traffic through Arundel wasn't kind to us and the Alvis popped and spat back through the carburettor which was ominous...