I’ve not been on a French Weekender since 2006, as the one that was arranged last year, both myself and Matt weren’t able to attend as we had both purchased our new MINIs. So after a year of getting money sorted, we were able to book up for this years one

The adventure started after work last Thursday.. I was able to leave work early (despite having loads more work to do) so I could get back and finish packing. Matt turned up soon after I got home and we started packing my things in the car - I didn’t pack light! We had arranged to meet the majority of the weekenders at a Harvester not far away from the ferry terminal, so we could have a bite to eat and a chat before leaving. We were the second car there, after Stu and Alex. Going on what we were like the first time with food on the French Weekend, we had decided to nip to a super market after dinner to buy loads of supplies for the weekend, plenty of drink, chocolate, biscuits, crisps etc

We met everyone back at the Harvester for more drinks before deciding it was time to head for the Ferry. When we arrived, we had to wait a little while before we were allowed to board, so we stood around in the cold chatting Eventually we made it on. Myself and Matt couldn’t park with the others as there was no room so we were instructed to go and park in front of all the lorries - surprisingly there was just enough room for a MINI right at the front of the ferry We grabbed all the things we might need for the ferry and went to check in and leave our stuff in the cabin. I wasn’t impressed with the cabin we were given.. we had 4 beds and no little bathroom, we had to used to shared one just down the corridor! hmmmmm! We then went off to meet everyone else in the pub for drinks and chats about the weekend ahead. While we were there we found that Ray, Gail and their grand daughter had been given a 2 bed cabin, so we decided to swap.. no point in us having a 4 bed one for just 2 of us! I was very glad we did though, we got our own bathroom! Bit small but I didn’t mind! With it nearly 1am, we all decided it was time to head off to our cabins and try and get some sleep ready for the driving tomorrow..

Didn’t get a lot of sleep that night, being on the ferry didn’t seem right Also didn’t help that when I did get to sleep, I was woken up by the captain saying that we were an hour away from docking, so we had to get up and ready.. As soon as we were ready we gathered by the stairwells until we allowed down onto the car decks to get into the car. We were first off, coz of where we were parked Pulled into a car park near the exit of the terminal so we could all meet together before convoying off to find breakfast

Pics after getting off the ferry..

Once we were all together, we then began driving to find somewhere we could have breakfast. Getting through Le Havre was interesting as it was rush hour, took a while before we were able to get out and start the proper driving. We soon found somewhere to stop and have some breakfast. I felt very embarrassed ordering our food as I’m not the best of french speakers, though I managed to say what I wanted, just couldn’t understand what she was saying to me..! I really should learn French for the next time I’m over there!

After filling our rumbling tummies with food, we hit the road again and made our journey to meet Chris, Jax, Paul and Simon who had gotten the speed ferry earlier that morning. We all somehow managed to get split up on the way to meet them and myself and Matt were the first ones there at the car park to meet the others who were already there waiting for us to show up Soon enough, everyone else began to show up.. we all gathered round our cars to get more pics before heading off in separate directions to lunch. we ended up staying with Chris and Jax, Jax’s son Jamie, Paul and Simon, although Simon wondered off somewhere just as we found somewhere to eat It was a nice little cafe, that just about fit us in Again I felt embarrassed ordering what I wanted and trying to understand what the waitress was saying back.. knew I would be struggling again through out the rest of the weekend.. ah well! Once we were done, we headed back to the cars to meet with everyone and the head off to Reims to meet Spaci - one of the swiss MINI memebers

Pics from the lunch stop..

When we arrived at Reims, Spaci was already there waiting for us, watching as we got there from the seats in the stadium on the other side of the road.. We weren’t planning on staying too long, though just long enough to get pics of all the cars lined up together..

After our short stop, it was time to finally make our way to our hotel.. Hotel le Château Fort

http://www.hotelfp-sedan.com/index-gb.htm

This place was amazing!! A huge castle/fort! I thought staying there would be really expensive as it looked it, but it really wasn’t! There were loads of places within it to explore and look around - which I think some of the other weekenders did, but we didn’t, would have done if we had been there longer than a weekend!

We all got split up again on our way there and took a while to find the entrance to the place as at the time it seemed complicated to get into! Eventually found our way in, and had to drive though a little tunnel to get into the court yard to park our cars. We went in and found our rooms. Our room was on the 4th floor, with a great view of the court yard - even though the window was right on the floor surrounded by metal gate.. The room was lovely and big, with one of the walls made out of the original castle stone, looked pretty cool!

Pics getting to the hotel and the hotel itself..

That evening we had arranged to meet everyone in the lobby/bar to decide what we would be doing for food that evening.. it was Ady who found some places around near where we were staying, so we picked one and tried to find it.. We got lost though Darren plucked up the courage to stop an on-coming car and attempt to ask for directions, even though he doesn’t speak French!! After a lot of pointing to a map, the guy driving the car got out and walked us a short distance down the road to the place we were looking for! Turns out it was either his or his girlfriends families restaurant!!

There wasn’t a table big enough for all of us so we had to split up amongst 3 tables.. I sat on the bigger table with Matt, Simon, Paul, Darren, Chrissie, Ady, Michael, Jenna and Mandy Good bunch of people to enjoy the evening with! The menus were passed around and after having it translated for me, I decided I wasn’t going to have anything from it, as none of it sounded very nice!! I was right not to pick from the menu, everyone elses meals didn’t look very appetising!! I was very glad they kept bringing out bread throughout the evening, so I munched on that!

Pics from the evening..

Several hours later, the meal was finally over (they seemed very slow in the restaurant!), and we slowly made our way back to the hotel - we managed not to get lost on the way back! We didn’t stick around too long, as the next day was going to be an early start for the photo competition that was planned!