French Figaro Adventure – 3rd to 6th June 2022

The trip started with lunch on the beach!

WORDS, PICTURES AND VIDEO KEVIN FAGAN

Laon Historique Annual Pilgrimage is the biggest classic car pilgrimage in Europe and attracts up to 800 cars (600 this year). This was the first time our club had been invited to attend this event and it didn’t disappoint. 42 cars had registered but we lost 2 due to Covid!

Most cars travelled from the UK making their way to Calais on Friday, although like Sue and I, many arrived on Thursday and stayed overnight at the channel tunnel Premier Inn. On a Friday morning, some travelled on the tunnel, but most decided to take the ferry.

We took the tunnel and arrived at Calais in just 30 minutes. Setting the Google maps to Le Touquet where the plan was to break up the journey. The weather was perfect with dry roads and roof-down driving. After an hour the beach came into view where we were signalled to park in the large car parks. It didn’t take long before a large line of Figs came into view. Most of us went for a walk along the seafront to enjoy the sunshine. We found a lovely beach bar and enjoyed some cold drinks and pizza with our Dan’s and James and Belinda Richardson.

Fed and watered we commenced the 3-hour drive to our hotel which was located 20 mins from Laon. Unsurprisingly, we were not the only members staying at the Du Golf Hotel with the car park sharing our little cars along with some Italian super cars!

On Saturday we made our way to the Laon meeting place of Parc Foch where the cars had premier parking along with the other marque of the show, the Mazda MX5. Parked in two lines I counted exactly 40 cars of mixed colours. It was a delight in the sunshine seeing everyone hooking up after the last two years of lockdown. We had to collect our rally bags which contained the route and rally plate.

At 10:30 it was time to leave the field and head off in convoy towards Saint Quentin. As I was keen to take pics and videos Kitty and Andrew led the way (no pressure!). As we left the busy town the roads became almost empty with just us on them. The countryside was amazing with very few houses or buildings, just fields and yet more fields. Andrew decided to pull up so we could re-group and this is where the group shot was taken.

Arriving at Saint Quentin was not a great experience as the traffic built and we ended up sitting in the car as the heat became unbearable. We ended up parking after what seemed to be a good hour of waiting – not impressed! The drive back was most welcome as a chance to cool down and a much-needed swim in the pool.

Sunday came with a mixed bag of weather predicted. We made our way to the parking area and met all the members parked up. Most went for a bite to eat returning to the cars for 2:30 departure. The rain started as we started our parade lap in convoy. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for us to get broken up as cars pulled which was rather annoying.

The route took about 15 minutes, and the streets were full of people waving as we drove past hooting and waving. Many did the route two or three times. In fact, it became a challenge to find an exit area as this was not that well signposted.

Back in the hotel, several members hooked up for a group meal back in the town where two restaurants were used to accommodate us all. On Monday, most headed back to Calais, but some stayed for an extended holiday.

What a brilliant experience this was even if it did rain on our parade on Sunday! To top things off we also won the BEST CAR at the closing of the event. Thanks to everyone who attended.

WATCH THE VIDEO

WORDS AND VIDEO ADAM WOODS

We have created a couple of videos of the experience – the first being days 1 and 2, the second being day 3 with the street circuit, and some special beep beeps! We hope you enjoy it!

The chance to not only attend a Figgy event in France but also for our beloved cars to be the Marque of the Show was too good an opportunity to miss. And in a series of firsts, this would not only be my first time taking our Figaro Sparky overseas but also my first time driving abroad! So, a few months ago we booked our places, and then as the day came nearer, we turned our minds to getting Sparky ready for the longest trip we would have taken so far! With the full service and MOT done in April, we elected to get all the hoses and leads replaced, buying all the gubbins from the wonderful Nic Caraccio to get them all fitted ahead of the journey. After a last-minute issue and a replacement distributor cap and rotor arm from Auto Jap Spares, we were ready… albeit that we seemed to have developed a minor oil leak…

But we were ready, and the night before headed down from Suffolk to stay at a hotel in Kent, ready for our departure bright and early the next morning! Imagine our delight when we arrived at Folkestone, to find some Figgy friends queuing alongside us at the Channel! After a quick catch up we were ready to depart in convoy heading into the Channel for the 30-minute or so journey! Our carriage had a couple of non- Figgy cars, but predictably the conversation became all about Figaros with lots of questions about what they are, how many there were, and of course the colours!

Exiting at the other end, we found ourselves pretty much immediately out of the terminal and let loose on the French roads, but thankfully onto the French motorways which are at a charge, but worth it if you want to get from A to B as easily as possible. We all kept in convoy, heading along the coast towards our first stop at Le Touquet where the trip organisers had arranged some Figgy Parking. After some relaxation and chat with Figgy folk, we headed off again towards Laon and our hotels… with a few showers along the way!

The next morning it was all about registration at Parc Foch where the Figaro was in pride of place as the Marque of the Show! My goodness, it was amazing to see over 40 Figgys on display up at Parc Foch. We collected our packs, bought some merchandise, and got ourselves ready for the next part of the day which was tour across the French Countryside on Route B. With lots of opportunities to see our Figgys in the sweeping countryside and of course the essential beeps and waves through the villages, we were ably led by Kitty with Kevin on hand to take some amazing photos along the way. We even managed to pull over so we could take a fantastic group photo altogether, and then headed on to Saint Quentin for some lunch and a parade. After a challenging time parking we were finally there and enjoyed seeing the cars parked up, and of course the various bands that processed through the centre in honour of the event. The one thing that now became really obvious was how little known the Figaro is in France compared to the UK. Even more questions and looks of surprise made for even more Smiles from locals and visitors alike.

There was another event later in the afternoon but we decided to head back to the hotel so we could have chance to relax ahead of the Circuit drive the next day. This also afford us some time to chat with other Figgy owners, catching up with old friends and making some new ones along the way!

WATCH VIDEO – PART 1

Sunday brought uncertain weather with clouds and the prospect of rain, but undaunted we headed over to Laon where our Figgys were specially parked in their own special area as Marque of the Show! Lots of chance to give our Figgys a polish, have a chat, and then wander around the beautiful ancient commune of Laon which rises hundreds of meters above the otherwise flat Picardy plain! After a quick bite to eat it was time to head over to the town hall for the launch of the street circuit event of the day. We were ready with our cameras and had already decided one of us would film out the back of Sparky so we could capture the day… and while it started to rain, we weren’t going to be defeated and decided to continue as planned! the street circuit was brilliant, travelling across the cobbles, down streets beautifully decorated with colourful balloons and many a poster showcasing the Figaro as the Marque of the Show! And the reaction from locals and visitors was tremendous with lots of waves, cheers, and of course our corresponding beeps! After a few circuits, our drive came to an end, so we took a little more time to enjoy the beauty of Laon and then attended the closing ceremony where there were lots of cheers and celebration for the Figaro and a special prize for the club! After this we met up with plenty of Figgy folk for a group photo outside of the Cathedral, followed by a great meal across the square. What a lovely friendly crowd Figgy folk are! Lots of chat and lots of laughter, and thanks everyone for joining in on the table by table of Beep Beeps we filmed! What a fantastic night!

We already knew we would be a little worse for wear to do the organised day trip on the last day so we made our own way to Amien in the sunshine and had a relaxing time wandering around this city of canals and another beautiful Cathedral, ahead of catching the Chunnel back later that afternoon. We were lucky enough to meet with Kitty and Andrew on the Eurotunnel, giving us all chance to look back with our rememberings of what had been a fantastic few days away! And so we arrived back in Blighty to grey skies and a colder climate, but very much energised by the experience of what had been a very special French Adventure!

WATCH VIDEO – PART 2