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Glasgow --> South of France

Brucey1

Well-known member
Joined
15 Feb 2017
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104
I've booked up for this mega journey in July , I e had my 996 for a few months now , no real problems so far but this should be a real test for it !
First day 500 miles to Folkestone
Then tunnel and down to Dijon for the night
Third day route napoleon and staying at a hotel near Verdon Gorge for two nights
Then down to menton in the riviera for 8 days
Then start heading north again with various stop overs .
We toured FRance last year in an Audi s5 , it performed perfectly through the alps into Switzerland,Italy via the grand St. Bernard pass .
I hope the 996 is as reliable, I'm slightly paranoid about it ,being as it's 18 years old ! I'll get it serviced before I go and probably replace the front tyres , they have plenty of tread but are 7 years old , I think this may be a trip too far for them .
 
I'm driving down on the 18th July. Won't bother with Napoleon but most likely jump on the D1075 which I much prefer. I've done the same trip in an Audi A6 on a few occasions - the 996 is far more comfortable and gets you there refreshed. My 996 is 19 in August and has done this trip 5 or 6 times now.....effortlessly!
 
Brucey1, been there done that to some degree, though back in 2003 and not in a Porsche but an old open topped sports car not entirely renown for reliability, where overheating seemed to be a prevalent issue for many owners of the marque, so I have sympathy relative to your possible mechanical concerns.

I Would suggest breakdown Insurance as well as REALLY understanding your cars Insurance policies possible/likely changes relative to the cover it extends on "foreign" soil, you might be surprised..? If we Brexit prior to your trip it might be best to check out possible changes to driving licence requirements in the EU... There has been loads of informative chat on here if you search around..

If your 996 has air-con then perhaps it might be an idea to be sure it is functioning well as the temps down in that area can be rather high for white skinned Scots...Circa 35Deg C when we were there which was too hot for locals who were fainting in the streets..but from a poor memory 2003 was a rather hotter summer than usual in that area...? Though the old sports car handled the heat much better than did we and given our level of dependence upon it... It was more important that it faired better than us..!!!

On our trip the first stop after leaving Scotia was at a B&B in France not too far from the tunnel, next stop was in Buxy a small town in Burgundy before heading further South, to spend that night at a B&B set back in the hills behind Niece, the next target for us was Pisa though we did stop in Menton for an hour or so before heading off to Italy, on a later fly drive trip we spent the night in Menton in a beach front hotel.. Nice place to spend time and as a base to explore a bit of northern Italy too...? On our first trip down we carried on down as far as Sorrento where we stayed for afew nights with the aim of driving the Amalfi coast road, which we did in the early morning..

Will try to post a pic I took of Menton as a backdrop, on the coast road just having crossed the border into Italy Italy....

Should you be interested, I have covered other aspects of this trip elsewhere in this forum..

Hope you have a great adventure, as did we, and that you can share some of it on here..
 

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Thanks for the response Luddite , excellent post , we intend to travel into northern Italy , probably on the train as I will be enjoying a few Peronni during the day . I will dig out your post will make good reading before I go , looking forward to it just need to get saving , last year a we got charged €15 for a g and t in a couple of places !
 
Sounds like a great trip!

Without wishing to consider worst case scenario, download an English translated version of the European Accident Statement report form. There was a story on here about a bloke who was stitched up by the guy that wrote his car off in France, as he'd unwittingly signed the document without properly understanding it in his addled post-accident state.
 
Super trip, a great motoring adventure. My wife and me did exactly this trip from Glasgow a couple of years ago.
I would definitely recommend a side trip to Reims while leaving the channel crossing
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Re...uit_de_Reims_Gueux-Reims_Marne_Grand_Est.html

And when in the south Port Grimaud is well worth a visit, we stayed there in an apartment with its own jetty and speedboat, felt very lush :p

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Re...a_Cote_d_Azur_Provence_Alpes_Cote_d_Azur.html

Keep your eyes peeled for the speed cameras, they do love them :bandit:
 
We are staying near Reims will give the circuit a look , Port Grimaud looks stunning maybe have a look at booking that next year !
 
Brucey1 said:
We are staying near Reims will give the circuit a look , Port Grimaud looks stunning maybe have a look at booking that next year !

The whole Gassin, St Tropez, Port Grimaud area is a within a 5 mile radius and just heaven. So much to do and see. My second home :cloud9:
 
France trip 2019

Well so far so good car has completed the first stage to Folkstone , I will try and get some pics of France posted up tomorrow.
Only negative was getting tailgated by an Audi s3 , I dropped down a couple of gears , floored it and he fecking smoked me !
Well I suppose that's 20 years of progress for you !
 
Subscribed :thumbs:
 
Have a great trip. What's the itinerary ?
 
Shedman said:
Have a great trip. What's the itinerary ?

Threads merged to show planned and actual trip.
 
Today we're going to the race track at Reims , then to our hotel in Nuits-Saint-Georges, then we have a couple of days at the gorge Verdon then down to the riviera for 8 days .
Will try and get some photos up , if I can stay off the beer tonight 😂
 

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