Ok now.... I know I have been quiet for an awefully long time. But been busy enjoying life. To cut a long story short,we did during easter 2007, a hectic and exciting Mediterranean road trip!!! As you can imagine, a trip involving 4 people, 4 countries , 11 days and 3500 miles of motoring was quite eventful, especially since one of the trippers happened to be a 5 year old "fast car fanatic" another a TSM (Thirty-Plus Single Mallu).
In the interest of brevity am sticking to the trip highlights.
Trip Summary
Duration 11 days from the 5th of April '07 to the 15th of April '07
Distance covered 3350+ miles (~ 5375 kms)
Road Trippers Prithvi, Rahul, Sahina, Sujith aka Wadax and his 'Sharp 770sh'
Trip Steed '98 BMW E36 323i with a 2.5L inline 6 engine
Countries covered England, France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland
Coolest moments
1. Using a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Corvette V8 as pace cars at 135mph average on the stretch between Dijon & Reims in France. At one point I glanced at the speedo and got psyched seeing 145mph (~230+ kmph). Eased off and decided that I wouldnt cross 140mph. After about 10 minutes, the 911 eased off and I overtook him by maintaining my speed (~135mph). While passing the 911, I stole a glance to see who was driving and whether it was a left or a right hand drive. The guy got cheesed off with my cheeky move and zoomed past me. The ease and oomph with which he overtook at 135mph was like how I would overtake at say 80mph!!! The statement he made was "Dont try to teach your father how to screw around" A literal translation of the Malayalam saying "Appane kali padippikkan nokkaruthe"!!!!
2. Oversteering and having the rear end step out at a hair pin bend on some Swiss hill on the border between Switzerland and France. That was the first time I had any car oversteer like that on tarmac!!! At the first hair pin, had the rear tires squealing and then biting back in. the second hair pin i went harder and the rear snapped. Felt fantastic to balance the throttle and steering to get the rear back in..... Tarmac felt more fun than gravel and gravel is anyday better than snow :-)
Hairy moments
1. nearing the end of the petrol tank on Easter sunday (8 April) and finding all petrol bunks closed in the french country side. With less than 2 litres left in the tank, managed to locate a pump in Castellane using the GPS, only to find that they didnt accept Euro currency and UK cards. Then got friendly with a french biker and filled up using his French credit card and paid him cash!!!
2. following a car into a restricted zone in St Tropez without knowing it was a restricted zone. Realized it was a restricted zone when the bollard came up and banged the car from below. <
Automatic Bollards, Automatic Bollard Systems - Barriers and Bollards Ltd - > fortunately it hit the outer edge of the rear bumper. a metre and a half earlier and i would probably have lost my drive shaft and/ or differential!!!!
3. While driving through the twisty hilly one ways in Monaco we got hopelessly lost trying to find the casino in Monte Carlo. At one junction, in a desperate attempt to take a U turn and egged on by navigators, I started to take a left turn. A 5 series behind me starting to blast his horn as if all hell had broken loose. That psyched me, but still continued with the left turn. Suddenly there was a scooter right in front and I almost banged into her. Thats when i realised that I was turning into a one way street and that the 5 series was trying to warn me. A few hours earlier I had read in the lonely bible that Monaco has the highest density of cops (uniformed and plain clothed) and that if one was ever in doubt about this fact, to try and jump a red signal. Needless to say, the "near one way violation" left me pretty shaken and not stirred!!!!
Impressed by
1. The AutoStrada joining Nice with Genoa - It is one loooong stretch of tunnels and bridges across mountains and valleys. The road goes through 1km tunnel and then a 1km bridge and then a 1km tunnel and then a bridge and so on and so on forever!!!!
2. the 11km tunnel through Mont Bianco - It is one STRAIGHT tunnel through the mountain on the border between Italy & France. Mont Bianco, I hear, is the tallest mountain in this part of the world.
3. The cities of Siena, Perugia and Nice -
Siena - In the main city vehicles other than cop cars and taxis are not allowed. The philosophy is that its for the people to live, not for cars to pollute. To add to the whole experience, we met an old Italian dude, who used to run an italian restaurant in Chelsea. he gave us the history of Siena and walked us through the best route possible into the square. Historically Siena and Florence have been at loggerheads with each other, trying to be the centre of renaissance. Fantastic!!! BTW, Siena hosts a horse race called Palio. (Now you know from where Fiat gets its inspiration, for its cars in India)
Perugia - This is a bit of an odd ball town. There is a section of the town which is in the underground ruins of an old fort. Windowless yet swanky shops on either sides of a dark underground passage. Jazz is very big in this part of the world. I walked into a Jazz CD shop. It had this narrow door and steep dark steps leading down into an underground "nothing". I asked the storeowner where it led and he said it led to an ancient wine cellar which used to be a truscan temple before it became a wine cellar!!!
Old town in Nice - This felt a bit like the Jew town in Fort Cochin with spice vendors and fresh antique sellers!!! the promenade in Nice was like the Marine drive in Mumbai except there were topless sun bathers here. Me and prithvi spent time on the beach while Sahina & Wadax unsuccessfully tried to break into a Matisse museum ;-) The Socca we had from Socca Nisso was fantastic (and cheap).
4. Idyllic isle of "Isola Polvese" in Lago Trasimeno with no roads and its olive gardens
Coolest "Patel Point" activity
Driving through the tunnel and the swimming pool complex on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit. When Kimi and Alonso race through the tunnels next month we can claim that we had been there before them this year ;-) Incidentally the tunnel smells like a fish market.
If I were to do it again, what would I do different?
Spend less time on the french riviera and more time in Italy. Dont get me wrong, the Riviera is cool. After all its where the rich go to hang out and let it all hang out. Yacht mooring charges at St Tropez harbour is apptly in the region of Euro 90,000 a week during peak season!!! the average yatch is double the size of a 3 bed house. You can see more Ferraris in front of the Monte Carlo Casino in half an hour than you would see in London in a month!!
But Italy... Italy has a raw charm. People are friendlier, food is nicer (spicier?) and the landscape is amazing. Driving in Italy can be "interesting". Lonely Bible suggests touring Italy on a bike and having seen the roads there, it is a FANTASTIC suggestion. (Anil, hope you are reading this?) The day (Friday the 13th of April) we drove from Tuscany to Cogne (in the alps) through Turin, the change in landscape was dramatic. From rolling hills, floral fields and olive gardens in Tuscany to the farmed planes around Turin to the snow covered Alps and pine trees in Cogne. Italy also has good beaches and dramatic cliff side drives along the coast, volcanoes, history, Mafia infested towns, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis and Valentino Rossi!!!
Italy has it all. A bit like India, in some respects.... :-)
Im thinking we do another trip like this, 10 years from now. Either late May 2017 or late september 2017. Now, that gives something to look forward to, doesnt it?
So block your calendars....
Regards,
Rahul
Pictures from the trip
Given the number of days on the road and the number of cameras involved, there are over a thousand pictures from the trip.... post editing etc etc... some of the better snaps are at:
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Picasa Web Albums - Rahul - Road Trip - E... >
Trip Route
05/Apr From London, GB To Troyes, FR
Via Dover, Calais
EOD miles 350
06/Apr Fom Troyes, FR To Antibes, FR
Via Millau, Montpellier
EOD miles 1050
07/Apr From Antibes, FR To Antibes, FR
Via Juan Les Pins Antibes, Cape d' Antibes, Antibes
EOD miles 1075
08/Apr From Antibes, FR To Antibes, FR
Via Grasse, Castellane, Gorges de Verdon, St Tropez
EOD miles 1345
09/Apr From Antibes, FR To Antibes, FR
Via Nice, Monaco
EOD miles 1430
10/Apr From Antibes, FR To Toricella, IT
Via Genova, Pisa
EOD miles 1860
11/Apr From Toricella, IT To Toricella, IT
Via Isola Polvese in Lago Trasimeno, Panicale, Perugia
EOD miles 1933
12/Apr From Toricella, IT To Toricella, IT
Via Greve, Wine Tasting in Greti (Chianti), Villa Vignamaggio, Siena
EOD miles 2100
13/Apr From Toricella, IT To Cogne, IT
Via Vinci, Turin, Aosta, Cogne
EOD miles 2621
14/Apr From Cogne, IT To Dijon, FR
Via Grand Paradise National Park, Mont Bianco, Chamonix, Geneva
EOD miles 2860
15/Apr From Dijon, FR To London, GB
Via Lac du Der, Reims, Calais, Dover, Ashford
EOD miles 3366
26th May 2007, 05:24
