MR2 Mk2 Tubby to South of France

[vmaxnick]

Just got back from a tour of the South of France, 3 thousand miles in 14 days without a hickup
From Chard to tunnel, then Routes De Cretes down to Nice, taking in the marvelous Grand canyon du Verdon and mountain roads as deserted as they were dramatic.
If there is any interest, I will post up some pics and a route plus some advice prices etc for anyone who might be interested in going.
The Lac du Saint Croix was particularly impressive, sitting in the middle of a rugged alpine scene like a secret blue lagoon! No big TV's, No football, no Brits on tour, no Watneys red barrel or fish and chips!

Lush







The French have no clue what an MR2 is, we had parties of girls posing for photo's with it. waiters asking what model Ferrari it was, when I said it's a Toyota, he wanted to know why it had Ferrari badges! I had to explain the difference between a Cheveaux and a Chevre!
Best was a kid on a moped who power slid to a halt and asked if it was a Replica. I replied; MR2, to which he said; "two turbo's?" Uhh, yea, that's close enough!

[DAN_REV1_TURBO]

Fantastic mate get some more pics up! Some close ups of those rear lights aswell please

[dantheman]

I think Toyota decided not to sell it in france for 1 simple reason.

Car Name: MR2

French phonetically: Em Ehr duh

French Word for poop: Merde

French phonetically: Mehrd-eh

See the similarity

[vmaxnick]

isn't it poop or death! either is not a good marketing ploy though!

I will remember that one though, next time a Frenchman asks if it's a Ferrari, I shall reply; no, it's a poop!

[Ren0W]

Now I know where I have to be for the slogan "Boost gets you laid".
Never had any success with my car here ...

[Nails]

doing something like that is defo something I'd be interested in, got a week of coming up in sept and usually do a week long driving holiday in the uk plus the usual foreign holiday, but havent managed to do one this year, keep fancing the 'ring but something like the above would probably be a lot more enjoyable

[afennell]

nice run, i would be interested on the route if you would be so kind.

[vmaxnick]

nice run, i would be interested on the route if you would be so kind.

I will get up a more detailed route when I have time but in short we took the Chunnel to calais then the most direct route down as far as Gap where you then follow the routes de crete through the grand canyon du Verdon (Gorges du Verdon) I think it's Gap to Castellane then take the gorges gauche (The left hand route) as this is the most spectacular but if you take the left route in be sure to take the left route out so you do both sides of the gorge.
When you get to the end of the gorge you will encounter the spectacular blue lagoon that is the lac du st croix. Moutiers Ste Marie is the first place you come to on the lake and it is a picture perfect little mountain villiage there are camp sites and hotels all the way round the lake from Moutiers, Bauduen, Baudinard, Aups and Lac de Ste croix so you can take your pick where you stay. We stayed in a superb mobile home which only cost us £350 for a week. Shop around, there are deals to be done.
We motored on to Saint Tropez to swim in the med but St Trop is hugely overated so we did a swift Votre face and went back to the lake.

The route back was more complex but much more rewarding, we made for digne les bains on one of the D roads which was superb then we made for Switzerland, Mont Blanc and Neufchatal. Don't look to overnight in Switzerland it is diabolicaly expensive! from Neufchatal we went back into France and discovered more fantastic mountain roads from Colmar (Well worth a visit) then Some lakes near to Munster which had very resonable hotels and camping and was another beautifull location. This will be our half way stop next year)
From there we reluctantly said adieu to the mountains and headed for Luxembourg then into Belgium Bruxells, Gent, Oostende, then back to Calais and home.
No payages at all on the route home, saved ourselves over £100

I will have a look through the map and give you the numbers of the top roads we found though. When you get to Digne look out for a restaurant called "Aux deux Daims" This was our first stop in the French Alps and made a wonderfull start to our holiday.

Seriously, if you thought the Top gear guys found the best roads in Europe, not a chance!

Tell your missus, no posh frocks, it's not that sort of place but take your hiking boots because the Gorges have some amazing walks on offer.

[vmaxnick]

A few more pics

[vmaxnick]

doing something like that is defo something I'd be interested in, got a week of coming up in sept and usually do a week long driving holiday in the uk plus the usual foreign holiday, but havent managed to do one this year, keep fancing the 'ring but something like the above would probably be a lot more enjoyable

I've done the ring and surrounding area many time as I used to live in Germany only about 60 miles from the Eifels (Had a fiat X19 at the time)
You can make it from Calais to the Eifel mountains in about 5 hours.
There are some beautiful roads in and around the area. Altenahr is a town I would recommend as a base if you want to experience the ring. lots of really nice campsites along the river Ahr. Watch out for the Polizei though they are a lot stricter on speeding than the French.
Problem with the Eifels though is the weather! Expect UK style unpredictability!

[Charged]

when I said it's a Toyota, he wanted to know why it had Ferrari badges!

I was wondering myself

Looks like a great trip though

[vmaxnick]

when I said it's a Toyota, he wanted to know why it had Ferrari badges!

I was wondering myself

Looks like a great trip though

My best mate is Ferrari mad he owns a mint Testerossa, Ferrari club member, goes to all the meetings. My Mr2 styling was Pinninfarina inspired but always intended to raise an eyebrow and a smile. The goat idea was suggested to me by some guys into Tokyo drift who reckoned in Japan they cut the two top hoops off the Toyota badge to make it a goats head.
I just thought the rising sun flag and style of writing were quite tongue in cheek as is the number plate slogan; "Ferrari by Airfix" I never thought to try and fool anyone but people don't look closely at the badge they are so familiar with and the brain fills in the blanks.
Badges on the wheels say Toyota, the chrome prancing horse on the rear is a goat
Not meaning to offend anyone but I would think twice before driving the Tubby to Italy

[Philippe Gomés-10-]

I think Toyota decided not to sell it in france for 1 simple reason.

Car Name: MR2

French phonetically: Em Ehr duh

French Word for poop: Merde

French phonetically: Mehrd-eh

See the similarity

hi,

Just for the MR2 logo.
But Toyota sold the MR2 in France and Belgium with the MR logo. Without the two.
Only 1178 copies for France, that's why you will not see a lot of MR with us.
Since there have been imports and we see the name MR2 ..

For travel in the south, vmaxnick, you made the good choice.
In July, near this site, there are the lavender fields to visit, it is superb and the scent is amazing.

bye,
Philippe

[andya24]

looks amazing,something id love to do

[vmaxnick]

hi,

Just for the MR2 logo.
But Toyota sold the MR2 in France and Belgium with the MR logo. Without the two.
Only 1178 copies for France, that's why you will not see a lot of MR with us.
Since there have been imports and we see the name MR2 ..

For travel in the south, vmaxnick, you made the good choice.
In July, near this site, there are the lavender fields to visit, it is superb and the scent is amazing.

bye,
Philippe

Hi Philippe
The Lavender fields between the Lac and St Tropez are fantastic and so fragrant!
Coming back again in June!
I can't wait!

[JohnnyC]

looks amazing,something id love to do

^^^this

[A.BLAKE]

Yup... Planning a few days in June myself..

[mr2muzz]

Pictures look great! I was thinking about a trip similar to this, maybe next year

[vmaxnick]

Just got back from another 2 week sojourn to SOF.

5000mls in 20 days went through Belgium, Holland, Germany (Oh those Autobahns!) Luxembourg and into France over the Alps. Came back by an even more intense Alpine route through France on the N85.
Torrential rain all the way to Aups Followed by 14 days of sweltering heat the other side of the Haute Alps then worse torrential rain back from Calais, AND I inadvertantly filled the tank with E10 (FUME!)
Still the MR2 ran without so much as a pink or missfire! I love this car!!

Only fly in the ointment was; I fitted a new set of Cooper Zeon tyres before I left (which are great tyres) and filled them with the recommended amount of Punturesafe (Ultraseal) as there's no room to put a puntured rim in the car even if my space saver would fit over the discs and callipers. Damn stuff caused a wobble every time I changed speed on the motorway! Still, I didn't get any punctures!

Not going next year as I have a few plans for the old girl: Skirts, a Lambo spoiler, suspension overhaul and I may aquire another motor and set about spannering in some big horsepower!

[vmaxnick]

Well, only a few days to go and we're off to the SOF again! A hectic last two years has prevented any of the mods I was hoping to make on the Tubby, only thing I've done is make a vinyl roof for when we are down there to save putting roasting hot glass panels off and on. The Lambo spoiler looked pants on the car so I have saved that for some other project. I will try to post up some photo's on route and a bit of cam footage so you can see just how awesome these roads are. I've ditched my RAC European cover in favour of ADAC cover as the RAC were being profoundly stupid. £400 cover for one 3 week trip and rude! The ADAC were Eu 80 ish for the whole year and any vehicle. They offer much the same cover with the added advantage of having the biggest European breakdown company on call. I speak German so there won't be any language issues. (Hope it's not needed anyway)