Weather looks good this weekend...in France anyway. Haven't taken the Z overseas this year. But fancied it this weekend. Might be the last weekend of decent weather for a while as it's pretty changeable right now.

 

So, driving off to Portsmouth later with an impromptu stop at Madmax's, before taking the overnight ferry to St.Malo.

 

Arrive tomorrow morning around 8.30am, then a nice drive through the Normandy countryside to LeMans to see a friend of mine, will hang out and have dinner with him and his girlfriend, few bars in the evening, then around midday Sunday, take the drive up to Caen and onward to Quistreham to catch the PM ferry back to Portsmouth.

 

Should be good to stretch the Zs legs. A nice 500 mile trip for it on some empty and picturesque French roads. :)

I know that part of France well Si, and the crossing. Look forward to see any Photos you may take. ;)

Yup, I know the area and both routes pretty well and love them! This will be the 4th time the Z has been abroad. It's an ideal car for the French roads. More-so than the cramped twisty stop-start crap over here.

 

Will try and take some photos this time too. :)

Sounds like a good run. Have a good one, get some pics up when your back.

Very jealous, please post pics of your trip! :thumbup:

I must admit, I love driving the French roads. No Jams, hardly any traffic lights or roundabouts, curtious driving.....Bliss.

sounds like a very nice trip mate , hope you enjoy it . been in france numerous times aswell in the zed and the roads are fantastic. thursday afternoon i've got my own little trip with my zed aswell.off to portugal which means 10 hour drive in france , 5 in spain then 3 in portugal to my home town , cant wait now!:D mate how long's the ferry to st.malo ?i always go from dover to calais, wanted to go by hovercraft as its quicker but dont trust my zed going inside there lol the last one i went the parking spaces were too tight lol ! hope you have fun :p

Surprised you don't take the ferry to Santander or Bilbao.

 

Ferry to St.Malo is 10hrs at night (slowed down for night crossings). Day time on the return to Portsmouth from St.Malo is about 8. 6hours from Caen....but both these crossings bring you the right side of France. The NE roads from the Calais area are not pleasant. Once you hit Normandy, they are great.

 

I HATE the drive to Dover from where I am. A real miserable drive. TBH, even if I was going to NE France, I'd still take one of the western channel routes. As Kim has said and as well as you know too, the French roads are fantastic! I'd sooner spend a few more hours on the ferry than have to drive round the M25 and down the M20. A shite route.

 

Where in Portugal is your home town? My father used to live in Portugal (as an ex-pat...and was there during the revolution). He's fluent in the language as he did a Masters in it at university and taught English as a foreign Language at Coimbra University.

:bye:

 

We have no waving smiley :angry:

Edited July 2, 201015 yr by Car.Mad

The reason i dont take the ferry to spain is because its way too many hours for me i much rather just drive it tbh and its a nice trip.

 

My hometown is Setubal not sure if you've heard of it or not. its about 25 mins from Lisbon, has some lovely beaches and is quite a nice place to relax much much better than the Algarve imo.

 

Havent been to Coimbra in ages but last time i went there i was surprised its a nice little city.Have you ever been to Portugal yourself mate?

Nice one Si - have a good trip; I'm sure you'll have a great time mate!!

 

And just what the Z needs too I'd say.....

 

Richard:cool2:

sounds awesome mate - I hope you have a great trip!

Not long got back. Just one photo. Weather was superb. Z performed absolutely faultlessly as per usual. It got the most ridiculous amount of attention I can ever recall. It always gets quite a lot in France, but this time was just stupid. People stopping in the their tracks to look as they stood in the middle of the road. I even had a french girl's hen do stop me in the road so they could all take photos as I drove through the rather busy town of Grandville which is at the base of the Cherbourg peninsular! Absolutely hilarious. Old women, kids, families... staring and everything. Seems the French have a real thing for the Z32. Also drove past a wedding and watched almost all of the guests there stare as I drove past them.

 

I parked in a town called Argentan and when I got back saw people peering over it. Then this morning on my way back to Caen, the Gendarme had a checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, flagged me down to check documents and ended up having a good wander around. 'Belle voiture' was directed at me as I drove off. :)

 

 

The reason i dont take the ferry to spain is because its way too many hours for me i much rather just drive it tbh and its a nice trip.

 

My hometown is Setubal not sure if you've heard of it or not. its about 25 mins from Lisbon, has some lovely beaches and is quite a nice place to relax much much better than the Algarve imo.

 

Havent been to Coimbra in ages but last time i went there i was surprised its a nice little city.Have you ever been to Portugal yourself mate?

 

Yeah I know Setubal pretty well. I've been to Portugal about 5 times I think.

Edited July 4, 201015 yr by FunkySi

damn you found your way back!

 

dan.:kiss:

 

What a Cracking pic! - Nice one Si

Car look`s great Si :tongue_smilie:, Have you ever wondered that people are looking at you and thinking whats an ugly get like that driving a beautiful car :tt2:

No, but I'm guessing this thought crosses your mind when you're driving yours. :wack:

Nice pic Si. shame you didnt keep driving :tt2:

No, but I'm guessing this thought crosses your mind when you're driving yours. :wack:

 

 

:clap:

my parents live in france part time atm, every time i go over there i see these awesome roads and think if only, ive never driven aboard yet. and im really not brave enough to take the zed there yet! one day, one day.

wow :D you're the first english guy i've talked to that actually knows where setubal is :p and lovely pic you took there mate ! absolutely stunning car , wouldnt change anything on it tbh and thats now my fave 'stock' looking zed pic !:thumbup: