Some final thoughts ....-
Much has been written prior to the past Euro Events by Peter and others that the cars should be in top shape etc. No need to address this again. I have some pointers that arrived by e-mail to me that I shared with drivers of our group that will drive from the Euro Event after our breakfast on Sunday Sept 30 to the the Paul Bracq Aleliers in Bordeaux. Celebrating a Family affair here by a glass of read I was thinking why not share it here with the group, some have not driven in France before. My last trip by car from Frankfurt to Paris was in the late 90s
Anywhay here are some pointers for those of you not having driven in France before .....
As we are now close to the event, it is time to give those participants who are not used to travel in France some useful recommendations;
- don't bring with you a lot of money.
A credit card is necessary. With it you could get some cash from ATMs.
You will need cash, but in general, you will have to use a credit card to buy fuel, and to pay highway tolls (almost all are automated, and some don't take cash).
More important : fuel stations and highway tolls accept only visa and mastercard (no exotic card, including AMEX).
- Avoid buying fuel on highways :
it is a lot more expensive. You will find high octane fuel (super 98), medium octane (super 95), and super 95 E10.
Don't take 95 E 10 , it contains 10 % ethanol !. For a Pagoda, 98 is recommendeď, but you could also use 95 for a short distance.
(Our group has planned fuel stops going west to Bordeaux).
- Cell and Smart Phones;
People with smartphones (android or apple) will be able to communicate (maybe with a surcharge), but not get access to data or the internet (except at the hotels through wifi). (For our Group in case of a problem on the road, we have (the originator of the recommendations here) to be the focal point, as he will have a permanent access to the internet.
It will be nice to have a list of participants with their phone numbers (our group has shared the phone numbers and I will provide a hard copy to drivers for the trip west after the Euro Event.
- Finally, don't forget to bring a charger for your Ipad, smartphone, or GPS, including a car charger, to plug in the cigarette lighter (navigation apps use a lot of power).
And as Rick mentioned a magnifying glass is always helpful
At my age I make a list and check it several times
I like to add one item ... last year on our Mosel Tour Peter H. While having a great roadmap planned for our GPS systems Ihard copies for everyone), we came up with a last minute safety plan and that was ....
A) Heinrich B, and his Pagoda (my driver) we left the hotel last to make sure no one got stranded along the way of the 35 cars plus.
B) every passengier kept an eye on the car behind (most of the cars in our group did have a RHS mirror) to make sure there was no problem.
Our group only got split in half when we came to a construction site there was a driver with a slight confusion otherwise our plan worked like a charm during Peter H. planned drive first a short stratch along the Rhein for a spell then over to the Mosel and back to the hotel.
Nothing left to be said, happy trails and I have it on good authorities that the weather man/Lady is on our side
Bon Voyage see you in Province ...
Dieter
