Day II: Car troubles and the French countryside
Today
was our first driving through mainland Europe. Our planned route
was to guide us through a wonderful and picturesque journey through
France from Chantilly (just north of Paris), to Chateau de Gilly (south
east half-way to Switzerland). It was by no means the most direct, but
was a brilliantly planned route through the French countryside.
Thanks
to our forever dedicated mechanics work through the night on the
ignition problem, the car was in good shape first thing, and was
looking and driving like a dream.
So
we a bit disappointed finding ourselves pushing our dear and very heavy
friend up the hill a few minutes after setting off, to the sound of
hooters and shouts from impatient French drivers looking to get on
their way. We soon got ourselves going but shortly after our
engine had become 'starved of fuel' and our fuel lines just weren't up
to the task - this little problem keep us back a few hours but we
eventually got that sorted and were good to go.
Today
was an intensive driving day but that's enough about the car for
now. We'll put together a short video demonstration on how we
operate this immaculate machine and share this over the coming days.
Being
together with someone all day (and night) every day for an extended
period of time can be a challenge at the best of times. This being
Day 2, I haven't really thought about it until I'm writing now -
but as Yan's already fallen asleep, you and I have a little time to
chat about how Yan and I are getting on. We're very different
people in all sorts of ways and quite different backgrounds, but one
thing we do share is that we're both pretty easy going; that's in
addition to the cute coincidence that we both have the same
birthday. We've had a great time over the past 2 days but they
have not been easy by any means - the car is hard work and like
people, once they pass 60 some of the moving parts just don't work as
smoothly as they once did.
Yan's
told you about yesterday morning's hiccup that kept me occupied whilst
the other cars were being seen-off from Waterloo place, and the
mechanical issues we've confronted have tested our patience to say the
least. In spite of this, we're battling through these small
set-backs, were in good spirits and getting on with other just fine
for now. See how long we can keep this up for - will keep
you posted.
We pulled into the Chateau in pretty good time,
parked our car in the dedicated formation, and went straight in to
dinner. It was great to sit down and relax after a long day on
the road, and to get a chance to chat with some of the other rally
drivers. Over the next few weeks we'll be introducing you to some
of them.
Bonne nuit,
Aly.
