"Clemsie McKenzie" (thestirringcolumn)
07/25/2017 at 10:31 • Filed to: None
10
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"Clemsie McKenzie" (thestirringcolumn)
07/25/2017 at 10:31 • Filed to: None | 10
| 6 |
Last Sunday I went to the “Traversée d’Orléans” (literally: “driving through Orléans”), a yearly classic car event centered around Orléans, a city roughly 80 miles south of Paris. It was great fun, and also surprisingly popular with the locals!
We all met in a big parking area just outside the city, early Sunday morning. I was joined there by my family in my dad’s Rolls, which would be our luxury ride for the day. Time to grab a coffee and do a quick tour of the 300 cars!
Have you seen the size of that thing? I’m pretty sure my garbage bin has bigger wheels!
Soon it was time to leave our grey parking lot and fill some empty roads and countryside villages with weird smells and sounds.
Two Kapitän twins riding together
I know which Renault I’d take
I don’t know much this part of France, so it was fun to discover hidden roads and some almost painfully French looking villages, as families waved at us from the side of the road.
After 40 miles or so of our little trip, it was time for the lunch break. Sponsored by Pastis, I kid you not. But I wasn’t there to drink French alcohol, so I skipped that step and went wandering between the cars instead.
Pictured: a cute 500 leading the US Army through France
After a good lunch on the grass, people went for a cool nap or to talk with their neighbors. But I didn’t come to sleep or talk to everyone, so I skipped that step and went to see some more cars. Also bikes.
GET IT DONE!!
As you can see, there was a pretty impressive diversity. And also a lot of American cars, which are always welcome in diesel-land. I need more V8 in my life.
When people decided it was time to stop doing nothing, our convoy rumbled again through countryside to reach Orléans, for the actual drive-through part of the day.
Though a bit lost in the middle of an agricultural area, Orléans is a pretty city. We drove right through the middle of it, by the Loire, France’s longest river. And we weren’t alone: people were massed on the side of the streets to wave us by, in numbers I absolutely didn’t expect. At the back of the Rolls, I felt like the Queen of England, waving to my good people!
It was really heartwarming to see so many people so happy to see some old cars clutter their streets. It’s easy to let yourself get convinced that French people just don’t like cars; but events like this are proof that this is pretty far from the truth. We like to complain about many things; and cars can be pretty high up that list. But deep down, France still has a sweet spot for the automobile. Except maybe in Paris.
Soon though, it was time to regroup one last time, and then part ways. It started raining pretty much immediately after that, and it stopped just this morning. Proof than even French weather wanted this to go well! And it did. Another fine Sunday!
We need more yellow cars. Also more Alpines.
Because I fear the wrath of the mighty Kinja, I haven’t posted nearly all of the good pictures I have from that event. So I uploaded them on Flickr, you can check them out there:
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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> Clemsie McKenzie
07/25/2017 at 10:48 |
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That 500 is a beaut! :D
What’s the sporty little blue fella in the pic after the back window of the canvas roof of a Willys?
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Clemsie McKenzie
> RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/25/2017 at 10:49 |
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That’s a Simca 1200s! 80hp of rear-engined fury!
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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> Clemsie McKenzie
07/25/2017 at 10:59 |
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Ah, so just down my alley of quirkiness and awesomeness then! :D
Jonee
> Clemsie McKenzie
07/25/2017 at 15:48 |
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Awesome. So many great cars. I love that little Rovin. Maybe the most elegant microcars of all time. I did a post on Rovin once. Interesting story behind them.
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/rovin-royalty-racing-and-the-prettiest-microcars-ever-1658250141
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Clemsie McKenzie
07/26/2017 at 07:07 |
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awesome!
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Clemsie McKenzie
> Jonee
07/27/2017 at 09:53 |
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Man that was an awesome read! Fascinating little cars indeed.