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MGTC trip to PortugalMGTC trip to Portugal
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MGTC trip to Portugal

May - June 2018
We will be driving our 1946 MG from Wickhambrook in Suffolk UK to the Algarve in southern Portugal. Taking our time to enjoy the journey.
The car has been prepared to the best of my ability. We will see how it goes. Read more
  • 27footprints
  • 26days
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  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • France
  • England
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  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    1
    11
    Day 1

    Sunny England to Foggy France

    May 15, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    While we waited for the ferry after an uneventful drive to Dover Mandy put on some sun screen as it had turned from being quite cool to nice and warm and we watched a Spitfire fly up and down the coast, still patrolling after all these years. Arriving into Dunkirk harbour at 6pm we couldn't see land at all until we were about to reach the dock because it was so foggy. Then our sat nav decided it doesn't like France so we used Google maps in my phone to find our hotel au gallodrome named because it was a cockfighting arena! in Drincham not far from Dunkirk.
    After a rustic french meal of local produce served by the French equivalent of Basil Fawlty we went to find the MG owners club who are staying at at a grande hotel 5km away where we were welcomed like long lost friends.    Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    21
    Day 2

    Cold damp and windy

    May 16, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    If it wasn't for the occasional rain, the cold and the driving wind it would be quite nice.
    Today we braced the weather and drove to Cassel but only for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel with our jackets tightly fastened and start planning our trip south. Once it was all plotted and entered into the sat nav we went for a meal with the MG T owners only to be told more than once to stay away from our intended next destination of Rouen so we came back to our hotel and as I write Mandy is plotting our route once again this time to Honfleur.Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 3

    Warmer in Honfleur

    May 17, 2018 in France ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    190 miles today. It started really cold so we wrapped up and left the hood down Mandy looked... well wrapped up!. Lots of motorcyclists passed us on their way to Le Mans for the motto GP - we will be passing Le Mans tomorrow. We crossed the Seine on a lovely bridge at La Havre then dropped down into Honfleur - a warm sunny and stunningly pretty town. Thanks Gay and Christine for recommending it! On our walk we came across a barge being painted blue. Take a look at the photo of the man working on it.
    Honfleur is quite touristy but not too busy... We found an interesting large wooden church....I've never seen such a big wooden structure.
    Stopping for a beer we met a group of English cyclists from the BASCC they have ridden 171 miles in 4 days so far this week and are having a great time. They are all either in or retired from the army. Hope you make it home safely guys!    Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 4

    Alencon

    May 18, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Changed plans for today as everything booked up by motorcycle fans coming to the Le Mans GP.
    Before we left Honfleur we had a last walk down to the harbour to eat Pain au Chocolat and drink our 4.80 euro a cup coffees! So it was at 11am before we set off to fill up with petrol where we met a group of English classic car owners. We were charged over £130 to fill up the tank at the automatic pump then some time next week we will get a refund of the difference between what it actually cost and £130 which I think is a rip off. I hear Asda UK are going to try the idea 😀
    Now we are in Alencon 85 miles from last nights stop. The centre of town is quite pretty but we found nearly everywhere closes early on a Friday which is weird. However we did find a nice market and a really good Algerian restaurant where we had a great meal.    Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    111
    Day 5

    A trip or a pilgrimage

    May 19, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Today was a day of meeting pilgrims. This morning we met a couple of motorcyclists who had stayed at our hotel, I wrongly assumed they were on their way to the GP. They were heading back to Switzerland from Spain and hope to get home tonight. The lady was riding a BMW GS which is my favourite modern bike and the man was in a enduro KTM and will compete in his first long distance enduro later this year.
    Then at lunch time we deviated to a beautiful little village called St Catherine-de-Fierbois which is where Jeanne-d-Arc got her sword and we got a lovely meal at the Auberge Jeanne d Arc. As we were leaving we got chatting with a couple of cyclists who had cycled from Amsterdam and are heading for Santiago d Compostela in northern Spain following a route of pilgrims.
    When we arrived here at Chenay we met a man called Han walking past the hotel.... would you believe on the same pilgramage route as the cyclists!. He was so interesting to talk to that we joined him for dinner and discussed many things. It was another good day.    Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 7

    Classic cars and good music

    May 21, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Saturday evening we stayed at the 3 pigeons at Chenay about 60 miles west of Limoges which was close to our friends Derek and Jan who we met on Sunday morning and joined them on a classic car club run to a park. Almost everyone in the run was English and two of the drivers were also musicians so out came an accordion and a hurdy gurdy.
    Here is a link to a short video of the English man playing accordion https://youtu.be/nAfQNVXzx4s
    Here is a link to Brian explaining how the Hurdy Gurdy works https://youtu.be/nB55PeIWSpw
    Sunday night we stayed with Derek and Jan. We admired his classic car collection and then enjoyed a lovely barbecue. Whit Monday is national holiday so no trucks on French roads. The day started sunny so we asked the sat nav to take us to St Emilion in the heart of the Bordeaux wine region and over lunch checked for places not too far away because although warm it got overcast and threatened thunder in the afternoon We found a room in a old chateau vineyard where the owner insisted on moving his car out of the garage come wine store for us to park Blubelle. Finding a place to eat in a national holiday was tricky but we found a really nice pizzaria which also offered some of the nicest wine I have had in a long time.
    Tomorrow we should enter Spain.    Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 8

    Technical update

    May 22, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Fingers crossed, all is good so far.
    Yesterday I put about 3/4 point of oil in the engine which over filled it a bit but not enough to worry about and half a pint of water in the radiator.
    I realised that when I'm cold I can create a heater in the car by pulling up the boot which sits on the lower half of the gear lever. There is quite a draft of warm air comes out. Shouldn't need it much from now on as it has got rather warm today.Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 8

    Estamos en España

    May 22, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We crossed the border into Spain at San Sebastian this afternoon.
    After a lovely breakfast this morning our host at the vineyard insisted we try his organic red wine so it wasn't the best way to start a long drive. It was foggy and cool as we left so we had jackets over jumpers which gradually came off as the sun came out. The border had a queue of trucks waiting to enter France which must have been five miles long. I think it was because trucks were banned from the roads on Sunday and whit Monday. Lucky we were going the other way! We still haven't had the hood up yet. Let's hope it stays that way.Read more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 8

    Olé!

    May 22, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Getting tired we select a town to spend nght at random...Deb ...nice seaside resort town... then cheap hotel also fairly random...Peter thinking he will dip his toes in the Cote Basque. Several large hills later we are not at sea but on a mountain with fab view, a pyrenian mountain guard dog, lots of bulls and a bull fighting area. Wonderful 7 course dinner....I think I will snore tonight xRead more

  • Peter SprotMGTC trip to Portugal
    Day 9

    Paella and Tapas

    May 23, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Once we negotiated the busy roads of Bilbao and Santander we made good progress stopping for a lunch of my first paella in Spain and ended up in a small and not very pretty town called Arriondas.
    We walked around this industrial town looking for a restaurant that was open and ended up in a cider bar which has the strange custom of pouring the drink from as high as they can hold the bottle to as low as they can hold the glass then they only pour a little bit. The customer then drinks a bit quickly and throws the dregs into a trough which runs around the foot of the bar or if outside into the street. We ordered what we thought was tapas and got a plate of calimari with chips followed by a plate of chips with three different sauces two of which where hot followed by a plate of crispy chicken pieces and chips. The girl serving us looked like a young Janet Jackson so I was happy to eat whatever she served.Read more

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