Photographer Murielle Nicolas

The Sun is shining

After the torrential rains of yesterday who was followed by the howling winds who rampaged through the island last night, it was hard to believe that the sun would be of the party today. But there it was, and combined with today being the first Sunday of the month, it was time for the 2cvs (and their owners) to congregate together and strut their stuff.

A visitor

A couple of days before the run, the owner of TinTin CadMan, a fine looking van, had been in touch via facebook to ask if he could join us on our monthly run as he was on the island. And the answer was…. “Not on your Nelly” (only kidding) the real answer was “Of course, this is where we are meeting and the time”.

Titinne was there first as the meeting point was the car park of Murielle’s place of work, but TiTin Cadman was there second, managing to beat all the local cars, Camille, Buzz, Earl Grey, Millie, Cassis, and of course last but not least the burgundy charleston aka “no name”…

It wasn’t long before Matt introduced himself to all, and taking part in the conversations going round the open car bonnets…  In fact the chaps were so engrossed in their technical discussions that they missed one of the ladies (which I do not need to name) , who wanted to grab the attention back, asking if anyone  wanted to “see her hole” … of course she meant, would they like to look at the hole left in her 2cv by the loss of an outside door handle… but a few of us burst out in peal of laughter at this comment.

A change of plan

Photographer: Debbie Podger

All best plans and all that… the Jersey Marathon kind of foiled ours with all the road closures out West, so we decided to stay East and went for a cuppa to St Catherine break water. Camille was the leader of the pack, and with an Irish owner at the wheel, went the straightest way from A to B. On the way, we overtook another type of “deux chevaux”, leaving plenty of space between them and us and slowing right down.  And we reached our destination in no time at all. Not even attempting the small car park, we all parked behind one another on the verge and headed for the cafe for a hot drink and a chat.

To redeem himself, Camille’s owner proposed that we all take the scenic route to town, which we did. We lost a couple of cars on the way as they took the turnings leading to their homes, and we finally stopped above la Collette to say good bye to every one and wish TinTin CadMan a lovely end to his holidays, and safe return to the mainland.

Photographer: Debbie Podger

The Stats:

• 9 cars on the road (2 vans, 1 mehari, 6 2cvs)
• 11 adults
• 1 child

Drone Picture by Anonymous

It started…

2016 was our first visit to the UKGB 2cv club in Chichester, were we met lots of people sharing our admiration of the tin snails, who literally adopted us into the 2cv family. So many people were saying they wanted to come to a National in Jersey that, once back on the Rock, I mentioned to my fellow club members that, perhaps we could…..

And we started the preparations, ideas flying everywhere, and then, a plan started to take shape, the preliminary inquiries and discussions lasted longer than a pachyderm gestation’s and 2 years later, we were expecting our first 2cv guests.

Preparations were also made in France as Val from the Club du Mene, was regrouping all interested French clubs on the same ferry booking to take advantage of the group tariff. A special thank to her for arranging this.

Finding sponsors wasn’t an easy task, so thank you to the local businesses who helped us however they could, they are:

• Chevron Motor Co Ltd (for the rally plaques)
• Jersey’s Webmistress (for some goodies and website maintenance)
• The Channel Island Cooperative ( £20 voucher)
• Sophie Pitman Illustration (leaflet and rally plaques designs) – Sophie now lives in London and accepts commissions if you are looking for something original.

The camp

We definitively chose the right camp site, Beuvelande had all we needed, great facilities, plenty of room, lots of space to eat and of course, the quintessential bar and very helpful and friendly staff from start to finish.  So we start with saying thank you to them for hosting  & feeding us.

People came trickling in a few days before the event, Helen, Debbie & Peter taking turns to wait for the them at the harbour to show them the way to the site.  Friday saw the arrival of the majority of the cars, who were late thanks to the ferry’s late arrival and had to pitch up in the dark. It took a little while but then all tents where shaken out of their bags and erected, and everyone was checked in, and ready to socialise and make new friends.

Saturday:

After a sketchy beginning (late opening of the restaurant for breakfast to the late arrival of the bread delivery) and a lively briefing by our route planners, the cars were lined up, maps distributed and let loose in Jersey nature led by our local club members.

First stop, the Steam museum, followed by a lovely picnic stop at Reg’s garden, where our hungry revelers were able to find a place to sit and eat in a peaceful setting and meet the friendly owner Reg who went out of his way to make them feel welcome. Most of our visitors were amazed by the gardens and will remember as one of their highlight of the tour.  Thank you so much Reg for receiving us, you were the perfect host.

Click on image to access video

The route took the cars to Noirmont, Corbiere, five mile road (although the sprints forced  a detour, how inconsiderate…), then en route to Battery Moltke for a visit and a drive to Grosnez, who turned out to be such a busy place, we were unable to park all 45 cars who had to go round the car park and stop outside the race course for the planned drone picture.

I then had to leave the route as my Titinne had decided she had enough and had to be hot-wired to start and limp back to her garage.

All came back to the campsite in good time to have a little rest before the “apero” were all were treated with either a glass of wine or a soft drink, nibbles were kindly bought with the voucher we had received from the Coop. And it soon was time to head to the restaurant for hot food, more drinks and music.

Our compliments to the Chef for his menu, especially the fish and chips which were a hit with all nationalities present!
The party lasted a while, with “Le club du bout du monde” singing at the table and shall I say it? A little bit of pants showing from one of their member! Not to forget the group of misfits dressed as “wallies” and other groups. All I could hear was the sound of the fiddle playing, and lots of laughter all round.

And then it’s over

Sunday morning arrived too quickly, I woke up early and took a walk at sunset through the camp, taking pictures of the cars and tents, all quiet apart from the occasional loud snoring coming from certain tents….

After a breakfast without incident, it was time to line up the cars again for a drive, being now car-less, I jumped into Buzz with Chris and we set off last, to sweep up any stragglers and help lost cars to find their ways, and offer mechanical help (Chris, not me) when the cars were in trouble.

The main stop was on the Green in Gorey where we all stopped for picnic, and said good bye to those who needed to head straight for the ferry.

The week end casualties:

Well it wouldn’t be a 2cv week end without a drama or 2, or 3, Titinne started with sticking her key in the starting position, over working the starter motor and having to be hot wired (thank you Ian for rescuing me when my hubby was elsewhere). One of the van’s fuel pipe decided to disconnect itself and spread fuel all over its engine and saturating its insulation. One of the french car developed starting problems and then conked out in a bend on Rozel Hill, Chris came to the rescue and after a spark plug change everyone was back on the road.

So no major casualties over the week end, however, I have had the opportunity to confirm my theory that each 2cv in distress is a “man trap”, since as soon a the bonnet of a 2cv opens men rush to it like moths to the flame, so my advice to all single ladies out there looking for Mr Right; get a 2cv, open the bonnet, and emulate Miss Penelope Pittstop from the Wacky Races (for those of you too young to remember, stand helplessly next to the car, put a hand on your brow and yell faintly : ” Help, I’m it trouble”), I can guarantee you that this work having tried it myself this week end.

Please feel free to share your experiences of the week end in the comments, we would love to hear from you.

Murielle

PS: the stats:

• 49 cars
• 110 peoples (including 11 children)
• Number of break downs: 4
• Organising committee: 8 people
• Rubbish left after our visits: 0

Photo credits: MissChief.Photography

It’s Easter

Not having taken part in the last few club runs and meetings due to work commitment, I was delighted to be joining the group with Miss Titinne this Easter week end. Little did I realise that it was also April fool’s day and upon arriving at the rendez-vous point (with about 10 minutes to spare may I say), I thought that perhaps I was the victim of an April fool as Celeste, Jo & Mark were the only one there.

We grabbed a couple of bacon rolls, and before too long (well 10 – 15 minutes after the due time) the others started to trickle in, Eddie, Annie & Gary, Spencer & Julie, Debbie & Allen (Debbie now being the proud owner of Millie, a light blue little beauty). Celeste looked ready for spring today with her lovely daffodils decorations and Millie’s Easter bunny ears gave her a little cheeky look too ! 10/10 for effort to their owners.

Off we went

So off we went, with Jo & Celeste at the head of the convoy since she was first on the scene, we cleared some much needed parking spaces at St Catherine and headed towards the West. And as we were leaving, who was coming from other direction? Lynne & Steven in their Earl Grey…. who it, turned out later, had to make a petrol stop on the way which had delayed them.

The route took us through Gorey village, along the coast road, up Mount Bingham, along the old harbour, through the esplanade, where fast Eddie (yes Debbie, the nickname will now stick) decided to leave the group and head toward a petrol station and then home. then through St Aubin, and it later came to my ears that Jo was thinking about going up Ghost hill in St Aubin, but thought better of it or “Murielle (me) will kill me”…. She was quite right there, hill starts in Titinne are not my forte having short limbs, I find hill starts a bit of a challenge….  So thank you Jo for changing your mind 😃. We then drove through St Brelade, down La Pulente to park our rides at the Watersplash to partake in hot beverages and have a catch up.

You don’t have to be mad but it helps….

It downed on me when we left, that all of us lady owners of 2cvs and meharis have got one thing in common, Jo, Lynne, Annie, and myself, are all outgoing and dare I say it, a little bit batty, we still have to discover the batty side of Debbie and Helen, but I am sure we will see it when we go to the French week end in June….

Until next time… keep on driving!

Murielle

Baby it’s cold out there…

After the snow and wind earlier in the week we were promised some sunshine and out it came, along with half a dozen or so 2CVs and a Mehari for the early Spring meet. Not that a few flurries of the white stuff would put anyone who owns a 2CV off as apparently they are the best cars in a snowy crisis!

At the start

First to arrive at St Catherine was Fast Eddie and Helen & Debbie soon joined him in Terry Le Main’s Gogo Bar for a quick bacon roll before the other tin snails arrived. With the ugly plastic conservatory having blown away, everyone was able to watch the parking skills of the later arrivals whilst congregating at a leisurely pace in the café before setting-off towards the Goose on the Green. Even Peter (our chairman) was early (his coughing was preventing him from lying in), and he was swiftly followed by the Pallots in the 2CV with no name, Duarte & Paula in Cecille, and the Austin-Vautiers in Quackers.

Off we go

Fast Eddie took off to lead the fleet on an interesting route through the delightful lanes in the northern parishes, taking in St Martin, Trinity, St John, St Mary and St Peter. The pace was good and we managed to stay together, amusing many onlookers as we glided past. There were a few challenging ascents thrown into the mix, when one driver who shall remain anonymous took a late decision to drop down into first gear and consequently backed-up the fleet who were soon on his tail. The hedgerows were looking beautiful in their coats of many daffodils.
As we neared St Peter’s Valley we took a pretty short-cut down La Rue de la Potirons and La Dimerie, and at that stage we thought Eddie might be leading us down his new cycle route through the valley, but it was already being well-used so perhaps we shall save that for another day.

The watering hole

Having parked at the Goose we were met by Spencer and a very fetching yellow Fiat 500 which drew great interest from the car collectors within the group. As keen as they might have been, even this one was perhaps one challenge too far. But who knows…….
Over a coffee in the pub, Eddie collected forms and money for the French meet in June at Lanveoc. It seems there will be a good contingent going from the 2CV Club de Jersey – everyone is welcome so if interested please get in touch with Eddie or Murielle for further details. A la prochaine……

Debbie x

Article & Photos yy Debbie Podger Brown

The words from Meatloaf – “It was a hot summer night and the beach was burning” – were hardly running through our minds when we opened the curtains on this cold January morning. We are not soft southeners, however, and when we have a 2CV Club De Jersey meet then we sure have places to go & things to see. A few apologies started trickling-in due to the force 8 winds and general damp stuff, but that would not put-off some of the die-hards.

First to arrive at Jardins de la Mer (such an exotic-sounding name) were Annie & Gary in Cassis, soon followed by Helen, Ben, Millie, Debbie AND Allen in a very laden Scarlet. Yes, ‘Debbie does’ have a husband and this was his first meet with the Club in anticipation of Millie their car joining the group sometime this year! Then arrived Fast Eddie sporting his cosy topsides, and finally a new recruit – introducing Spencer and his son with ‘It’. ‘It’ is a super smart Mehari, recently purchased and beautifully restored by his new owner, Spencer Raynes. Spencer had contacted Murielle on the Club Facebook page and enquired if she knew of any Meharis for sale, and lo & behold, Spencer had become ‘It’s owner within a couple of hours thanks to Murielle’s introduction to a willing vendor.

So there we waited for 40 minutes whilst a scattering of classic cars and motorbikes arrived, but no more 2CVs. Scarlet was out-numbered by 3 to 1 by the Meharis which was such an unusual scenario!

We decided to make a quick exit with the thought of a bacon roll & hot drink at St Catherine’s café in sight. Fast Eddie took off at lightning pace, followed by Cassis, It, and Scarlet. Annie was delighted to follow a fellow Mehari so she could see what a Cassis-type looks like from the rear! ‘It’ had a port lean due to book-reading son being a quarter size of his Dad, but ‘It’s orange paintwork glistened beautifully in the spray. It was to be the quickest route possible today – through the tunnel, Grouville hill, Gorey, & Coast road to St Caths, dodging the waves & holding tight to the steering wheels during the gusts. We literally had to stop on the Pinewalk to wait for a lull in the waves, and again at the Breakwater where the sea was as rough as ever as far as the eye could see.
Phil Rondel (hardly recognisable without his Christmas suit but it was the glasses on his head which gave him away) caught up with us at the café and it was soon time for a dive into the wind-battered shelter for that hot drink. We missed our fellow owners, many of whom had work commitments or Tan Hill raids to attend, but we discussed the French Mehari meet in May and the 2CV de Bretagne meet on June 16th, as well as the many local meets we have to come over 2018.
As we left the café, replenished, the words of Michael Buble came to mind – “It’s a beautiful day, the sun is up, the music’s playing, and even if it’s started raining, you won’t hear this boy complaining”……

Happy New Year one & all, from all in the Club!

Article & photos by Annie Birbeck

Very last minute decision, got up ready to go heard the wind down the extractor fan, looked out the window mmmmhhhh. Back to bed checked emails in case it had been cancelled.
Imagined our little fibreglass car doing a Mary Poppins!
Decided probably not today, then heard Debbie and Helen the boys and Millie were going. So out of bed again, got ready and off we went.
We sat in the car only ones there. Hooray Helen turned up, then Eddie and another Mehari Spencer and his son arrived. Beautiful orange one.
It was jolly cold standing out in the car park chatting, so we drove to St Catherine’s cafe. Boy that sea was wild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think Helen had a wave over her car after Anne port.
The vintage cars were meeting at 10 30 for 11 00 so least we got to the cafe before it got busy.
Phil Rondel joined us he is looking well. His white 2cv is not in the photo he parked around the corner away from the sea spray (sensible)
Those waves were pretty scary . We were so cold those bacon rolls were so welcoming.
Think all the cars had a hose down back home sea spray on all of them. Cassis is back in the garage and dry again.
Let us know if we are having a meal out before the next run in February.
Stay warm and safe. Glad we don’t have to go out again today.
Lots to do

A la prochaine …