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In the Summer of 2009 Tom, Sarah, David and Caz set off on a Classic Car Road trip from the UK; driving down the West Coast of France, over the Pyrenees and into Spain, reaching the holiday destination of Lloret de Mar!

Here we rented a villa will 4 other friends who flew out for the week before driving back again.

We did this road trip in a 1974 Triumph Spitfire and a 1989 Porsche 944.

Click HERE for the Kit List of the trip.

We took the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk before driving down the West Coast of France to the Pyrenees. We then took some of the classic mountain roads over the Pyrenees including the N260 and D918. After completing the mountain roads we continued our journey to Lloret de Mar where we stayed in a rented apartment for a week. Four further friends flew out to meet us for the week.

It took 5 days to get from the UK to our apartment in Spain. We camped out most of the nights, carrying all our camping and cooking equipment with us. Our experience of French camp sites was great; they were cheap, clean and with ample facilities, even in high season when we were travelling.

 

Day 1. Sussex – Caen

 

We left Sussex at 3am in order to catch the 6am ferry from Dover.  The weather was dry so the roof came off straight away, much to Sarah’s dislike as it was a little chilly! We also used the 2 way radios (Binatone 550 8km) for the first time which were great and defiantly recommended for a road trip, they saved us £’s in phone calls whilst abroad and prevented the two cars being split up on several occasions. Don’t be tricked by the supposed 8km range, between cars it was more like 1km!

We left Sussex at 3am in order to catch the 6am ferry. The crossing was very pleasant and we rewarded ourselves on the early wakeup with the largest cooked breakfast possible! The Dover to Dunkerque crossing only takes two hours and once on French soil we started the journey to Caen.

We took the coastal road round to Le Havre. It took a little longer but there were stunning views and we found a beautiful spot for lunch at Dieppe.

We also met a young chap called Hans whilst stopped for lunch. He came from Belgium and was just rounding off a 2 week tour of South France in his beautiful 1947 Singer 4A.

 

 

 

After lunch we pushed on for Caen stopping of briefly at the beautiful town of Honfleur. We reached our luxurious location of "The Fast Hotel, Caen", a chain of budget green hotels that are all over France. Despite its appearance our stay was very nice and the Breakfast in the morning superb!

 

Day 2. Caen- Chef-Boutonne

 

We set of by 11am with the target of reaching Sarah’s Aunts house in Chef-Boutonne to stay that evening. This took us through Le Mans where we could not miss the opportunity for a quick drive around the Race Track! We stopped of for a late lunch at a lovely lake near Chateau de Loir, just off the main road between Le Mans and Tours. After lunch we pushed on for Chef-Boutonne.

 

 

 

  After a delicious meal we sampled the spirits collection!

Day 3. Chef-Boutonne – Bazas

 

On day three we set of with the hope of camping somewhere just south of Bordeaux. We took the N10 to Angouleme and then on to Bordeaux. On reaching Bordeaux we chose a camp site on the sat-nav and settled for Le Grande Pre in Bazzas. This was a lovely campsite with individual pitches separated by small hedges. There was a swimming pool and an impressive washing and shower block.

 

 

 

As we approached Bordeaux there was a sudden change in scenery; the fields turned to vineyards and the roads were lined with trees. Unfortunately we did not find time to visit a vineyard and do some tasting but it would defiantly be worth looking into – especially if you planned to camp nearby!

That night we had a delicious meal of pasta in sauce cooked on the camp stove. Annoyingly the Optimus 111 camp stove decided to die on us but we still had the trusty Trangia, and with alcohol 1/4 of the UK price it was cheap to run! 

Day 4. Bazas – Arrens Marsous

 

After a fairly early start and delicious breakfast (compliments of Caz!) we set of for the Pyrenees. The first leg involved miles of dead straight roads lined with Forests and Sunflowers.

As we approached the Town of Pau we got our first glimpse of the Pyrenees ahead of us. A quick stop off in Pau allowed us to get fuel, lunch items and food for camping that evening. We then continued our journey, in search of a nice lunch spot.

We found a beautiful lake in Castet where we stopped for lunch and a swim! It was a beautiful spot with lots or tourist activities such a boat hire and donkey rides available.

Despite how inviting it looked David was the only one crazy enough to go swimming in the freezing mountain water!

From Castet we pushed on South on the D934 and the East on the D918. This was the first of our mountain roads and a truly stunning route.

After a long climb we made it to the top of the mountain and stopped at "Les Cretes Blanches" Hotel at 1600m. By this stage the Spitfire was getting a little hot and opening the bonnet revealed she had boiled! The break was extended to include a refreshing coke and a complementary watering can full of water for the car!

The wait was a pleasure due to the absolutely stunning view from the Hotel across the valley and to the ski resort that was on the opposite side. This was our first of many "cooling breaks" for the Spitfire!

After attending to the spitfire we moved on again, by this stage it was about 7pm. We chose a campsite on the sat-nav in Arrens Marsous which took about another hour to get to along the D918. The D918 was our favourite road of the whole trip and the photos here just cannot do it justice.

Along the way we were faced with a road block which slowed are progress some what! This was a common site up in the mountains as horses and cattle graze the land during the summer whilst there is no snow. The cattle were fitted with bells which rang out across the mountain as they walked down the road.

The scenery was continually breathtaking and everyone drives very slowly to take it all in (it must be very annoying for the locals!). Despite the time of year there was very little traffic, just the occasional motor home and plenty of cyclists on the tour de France Routes.

Eventually we made it to our campsite up in the Mountains called Camping La Heche. It was a beautiful spot and very busy. It was not as smart as Le Grande Prix but was very reasonably priced (9.50 € for 2 adults and 1 pitch per night) and had perfectly good facilities.

 

 

 

 

 

That evening we cooked a delicious curry before making headway into our delicious "gallon" of red wine purchased in Pau for just €4!

Day 5. Arrens Marsous – Forcat

 

After breakfast we packed  up camp and moved off continuing along the D918 to Argeles-Gazost. We then took the D921 south to Luz-Saint-Sauveur where we had lunch. We then took the D918 and later the D618 to Bagneres-de-Luchon before heading south to cross the border.

Along this route we climbed the famous Col du Tourmalet. This is the highest road in the central Pyrenees at 2114m and part of a leg of the Tour de France. As we drove up we passed hundreds of cyclists slogging their way up the mountain in the mid day sun.

Unfortunately the Spitfire became a victim of the slow and steady incline and we stopped for another short cooling break! Throughout the climb we had the interior heater on full blast to help cool the engine!

The photo below shows the road winding its way up the mountain and the ski lift station at the top. Imagine cycling up it!

The Porsche 944 in descent.

Again there were some stunning views along the way:

Seeing Spain on the sign post was a relief and confirmed our thoughts that we were going the right way and could cross the border at that point!

The border was amazingly uneventful! It didn’t even say "Welcome to Spain" and we did not realise we had crossed the border for several miles!

Our aim for the end of the day was to get onto the famous N260 so that we could continue on the following morning doing the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. A short distance into Spain we entered the Vielha tunnel.

When entering the sky looked a little black into the distance but nothing too worrying and roof stayed down……………….!

When we got out the other side, several miles later the heavens opened! We quickly found somewhere to pull over and in the short time it took me to put the roof up I got completely soaked.

We waited in the lay-by for the storm to blow over……it wouldn’t! Firstly there was a thunder storm and then humongous hail fell on us, at one point I thought the soft top was going to break under the hail! 40 minutes later the thunder stopped and the rain slowed sufficiently to drive again. The Spitfire had completely steamed up and David had to lead the way.

At this time camping wasn’t particularly appealing and it was getting late. We slowly drove on and pulled into the next village hoping to find a B&B. We were greeted by a chap called Pere who braved the rain to come and see the Triumph Spitfire. It turns out Pere is a Triumph enthusiast and bought a GT6 from Bath 3 years previous! On discussing B&B’s he had no ideas but said his neighbour did have an apartment they rented but he wasn’t sure if it was taken. It turned out to be a 4 person apartment and free! After agreeing a price with the lovely owners for the night we quickly moved our soaked possessions into the house and started with supper!

Day 6. Forcat – Vic

 

The following morning we caught up with Pere again and went to go and see his GT6.

Pere also kindly helped me re-oiling the trunnions on my Spitfire and after the routine maintenance we were good to go again!

 

After saying our thank-yous we set of for the famous N260. We were once again on the winding mountain roads.

Our aim for the day was to get within striking distance of the villa in Lloret de Mar so that it would be an easy drive the following morning. Vic being quite a built up area we ended up staying in a small B&B in the town.

 

The roads were a little larger than that of the D918 but the scenery and views were still amazing. The Spanish side of the Pyrenees is quit different to that of the French and the scenery is much more rugged and rocky. Below is a good example of the Spanish side:

At Bellver de Cerdanya we came of the N260 and cut through to join the N152 down to Vic.

Day 7. Vic – Lloret de Mar

 

On Monday we had a short hour and a half drive to reach our destination of Goldeneye, Lloret de Mar.