Vosges and Black Forest

TL;DR rinse and repeat

Back again to the Vosges, this time with my Caterham.

With some gentle but firm pressure on the paint shop, I managed to have my new bonnet ready in the morning of the day we were leaving for the Vosges. I got the car back first thing in the morning myself, commando-style and brought it to House of Speed with the bonnet attached with painter's tape. I told them I'd be back at 16:30 and I needed it to be ready by that time. Pushy but fair : it had been nearly 5 months that the car was out of service and all that was left to do was to rivet the 4 hooks and fit the lateral grilles on the bonnet. I also asked the oil the be changed, for peace of mind.

I went back home for about an hour and prepared the car while the missus got the kids back from school only to bring them to my mum's. We finally left at around 18:00, had a brief stop for a snack just after entering France, and finally reached our friend's just before 23:00. Basically the now classic 4 1/2 hours drive south. We got some rain in the mountains and couldn't see much, that would be addressed later with the addition of the PIAA lights.

We were welcomed with some midnight wine, had a chat and went to bed.

On the next morning we crossed the German border (a bridge across the Rhine river) and drove to the Black Forest. Overall it was not the best experience due to my issues with the cooling system and the blown fuse, as described here. While the landscapes have all you could dream about to provide an excellent drive, weather was far from perfect; the car did overheat a bit at a mountain pass; and my mood was pretty affected by the ordeal.

Anyway, passed lunch time, stuck in blocked roads and various detours, I was fed-up enough to stop by the first restaurant I would find in the first village I would reach. Alone with the others still messing around uphill. They called me as I was parking the car. I told them to turn right, then left, and join me at the Italian restaurant.

We had the best time there. A long afternoon lunch (14:20 to 16:40!), outside, under a canopy in a rather scenic village, with a bunch of friends. -- Pizzeria San Lorenzo, in Kandern.

As my technical issues weren't improving much, and as it was getting late anyway, we drove back without any detour. We drove 270km in 5 hours.

I replaced the damn blown (new) fuse while everyone went the the paddocks of the hill-climb, and I was ready for the next day with a reliable machine, a full tank, and a better state of mind.

On Sunday we got a few more Caterham with us for a morning blat in the Vosges. We convinced my friend's reluctant wife to come along (it's not her thing and there are legit good reasons for that), promising it would be short and nice. The best part was probably when we moved people around the cars. The girls got my 170 while I was tagging along with Guillaume. His dad got the wheel of the Kompressor. In total we drove about 100km around the mountains and were back at 12:30 for a Flammekueche lunch.

We decided to leave the party early (14:30) so we could get back home at a reasonable time. The trip back was excellent as well : an actual Summer drive in an open top. We didn't stop at all. Until I was driving on fumes with the engine cutting-off on the motorway. I considered all my options and decided to go to the most downhill fuel station, only 2km from home actually. It took less than 4:30.

We were back home at 19:00 and just stopped for a quick shower before getting the kids back. Long story short we were finally done at 22:00 with the kid having school on the next morning.