We could not resist the temptation to take a shot of our Samurai amidst the Bourgogne vineyards...  

On July 12 we started our yourney to France, choosing of course the ‘Routes Nationales’ or ‘Départementales’, re-discovering France (and part of Belgium) along the more quiet and picturesque roads. We went first direction Charleroi, and further south crossing the French border at near Couvin,  where we admired its beautiful baroque church, and where we made our first brief stop. See the photo below...

We continued leasurely along the départementales in the French Champagne-Ardenne, in the meantime having a nice picknick enjoying the beautiful views. See the photo below...

Our Samurai purred along nicely in 4^th and 5^th gear mostly, and we respected the speed limits where we could, assisted by our vigilant TomTom, which warned us of radar speed traps. Consumption stays quite within limits under these holiday driving conditions : We registered over the whole 980 km trip to the South an average consumption of 6,9 litres/100 km, which actually says it all…In France, the Samurai even enjoyed a diet of 95 octane lead free fuel with 15 % (bio) ethanol mixed in, which did not seem to harm it at all !

Our overnight stop was in Villefargeau, near Auxerre, where whe enjoyed the unique Burgundy charm of the Maison les Bruyères, (see photo here above) a quite luxurious « Chambres d’Hôte » establishment with an excellent (wine) table, but this, Your Samurai pilot and his wife had earned well, we thought…

A luxurious armchair for your Samurai pilot to contemplate the events of the first day of his journey in his suite in Maison des Bruyères…  

A well earned resting place for your servant and his wife in Villefargeau…

The next morning, we continued along the Routes départementales and nationales, through the Bourgogne. At first under some torrential rain, but the weather improved rapidly, so we could take some good shots amidst the Burgundy wine fields and its Chateaux, as the top picture shows.

Wine vending stalls are of course abundant in the Bourgogne villages...

After Lyon, under magnificent weather, we took the very scenic road towards Givors and St Etienne, descending towards our holiday destination in the Ardèche using the Nationale 122, which took us near the Gerbier de Jonc, through high plateau villages like St Eulalie and Moudeyres, admiring the breathtaking views and the very typical old farms and houses. Here we took some evening shots, with temperatures rapidly falling as soon as the sun went behind the horizon.

We took the scenic road in the Haute Loire towards our destination, passing the Gerbier de Jonc in the evening sunset…

We thoroughly enjoyed this leasurely, « vintage » way of motoring, always taking into account the roadholding limits of the car, anticipating traffic situations so one hardly had to use the brakes, and pressing  the trottle just deep enough to float along with the traffic. As said, the Samurai rewarded us with a very decent consumption, and the car proved utterly reliable on the trip, and also further on…

The car proved also reasonably comfortable when fully laden with luggage, and we appreciated the vast improvements made over the years in the road surface of many Routes Nationales.  

Not using the motorways and faster roads we also re-discovered France, with traffic density very low indeed, as it was the long weekend of July the 14^th. It was driving as it must have been in the 30’s, with sleeping villages and empty roads in many instances.

Our Samurai found a new home in the garage of our holiday house in the French Ardèche…

As the Samurai is of course very much in its element in the winding Ardèche mountain roads, we decided to keep it at our holiday house, and to register it in France.

This proved to be more difficult than we thought, notably for an older car, but more of this in a further story on these pages…

Hans Knol ten Bensel