Cote d'Azur & back in 4 days....

[jonboyE63]

Last weekend myself and a good friend were planning a weekend at the ring - I was taking my E63 & he was taking his E46 M3 - however due to shite looking weather in that part of Germany we headed to the south of France - we left early Friday & got back Monday evening.
We headed south via the now disused Grand Prix circuit near Reims, onto Dijon, Grenoble & then onto Antibes via the famous Route de Napoleon (N85/D4085) - this i'd driven before but not for some time.
Once on the coast we headed for Nice & took the Route des Alpes (D6202/N202) north to Barreme where we joined the N85 & headed back north.
If you haven't been to this part of France before I have to say the roads are fantastic - a few years ago I got pulled for speeding in France and the Gendarme gave me a piece of advice regarding driving in France - if you want to drive fast use the D roads as they're largely quiet, rural & are generally unpoliced....he wasn't lying...!!
On the way back we drove from Grenoble to Calais via Dijon, Reims & Lille almost all on D roads & was simply epic - I've had the car for nearly a year & not really explored the grip, performance & sheer enjoyment that I did over the weekend..
We drove 1867 miles in 38.31 hours @ an average of 49mph & 21.5mpg & I wish I was going this weekend..!!
Myself & 4-5 other friends regularly go on road trips & over the past 9 years have been to the Alps, Dolomites, German Alpine Strasse, Italian Lakes & the famous balcony roads of southern France - look them up as they're very entertaining.
Next trip is June next year - some planned trips are advertised from £1000 per person, if you fancy going, do it yourself with like minded mates - trust me you'll love it..!!

 

[AJA]

Sounds amazing. Well done. Take some pictures on your next trip (difficult I know when driving), I for one would love to see them.

 

[Teego]

You're absolutely right about French D roads. We never use autoroutes, except to by-pass places like Lyons and RNs are turgid. D roads aren't entirely safe to go batshit on though.
Couple of years ago I was in the Cevennes area which has fantastic roads on my bike. Nearing the end of a long and fast day in the saddle. Slowed down to 50kph entering a village. Blue lights in my peripheral vision. Ugh Ho. Gendarmes pull me over into layby. Shit and fan time thought I.
Helmet off and we eyeball each other.
M'sieur says I.
Hmmmm, says he.
Je suis desolee M'sieur, says I knowing he has me bang to rights.
Still silence as his rather lovely partner examines my bike and pronounces it OK.
Parlez vous francais, said he.
Petit peu, M'sieur.
Ok, he said, I speak English.
Bon, M'sieur.
Do you know why I stopped you?
Oui, je pense M'sieur. Je suis desolee.
What is the speed limit?
90 M'sieur.
And what was your speed? No, I shall tell you. Your speed was 145kph.
Je suis absolument desolee M'sieur. (This is not the time to argue.)
A period of silence while M'sieur le Gendarme considers his options.
OK, he says. You may go but..........if I ever catch you again I shall take your machine and you will walk back to England.
Merci M'sieur said I.

My French friends could not believe I got away with it. And I was lucky he only clocked me at at 145.