Back to France with the GSI

[H-400]

Finally I'v got the health to put the pics on this forum of our holiday in France. Got 12parts of titanium in my spine and 2 new discs. So I can not sit for a long time, can not walk very far but am also not allowed to lay down for a long time. But I feel better every day, but the doc says I'm not allowed to do anything for a month, just walking and spinning on a home trainer. The pics:

Our first stop was about 800km's from Belgium, in a small village "Rocamadour". Known for the midieval houses and the church on top of the hill. Picture taken from the hotel.

Me with the red T-shirt, I am afraid of heights. In my military career I did rappéls and death rides but it is always overwinning my feers when I jump in the deep.

The village and on top the church, view from our hotel room

As last year there was an oldtimermeeting in the neighbourhood of our location in the Pyrenees, when we entered the meeting the asked if we realy came from Belgium to go to this meeting, of course 😁.

I was not the only one with an old Opel, nice GT

Yes I know, not our brand but nice...

Not a quality pic, just to show how to keep the car cool in the heat of the sun. An old military sheet that is big enough to cover the whole top of the Manta. 

Me and the Missus, we went to those waterfalls up in the picture. Took us hours, but I wanted to be trained before the operation on my back so I can recover better.

As always I take pics of classic cars with the Manta when I see one: A Citroén CX Turbo-2 with the long chassis

You can see it is a long one (+25cm) on the big C-pillar, yes a CX has got also a D-pillar 😲. My Dad had a CX Turbo-2 and I remember it was one the the fastest diesels in the late eighties. Had 120Hp and a lot of torque.

On the parkplace of the local supermarket, a 2CV... Old model when you look at the hood, indicators and very tiny tail lights

Ofcourse some work had to be done: The Rocky needed new oil and filter 

Yes some romance is allowed on holiday, while we were walking on one of our trips...

The Medion/Aldi radio was not doing his job so our son gave me another one (sony) but had no time to fit it. Took it to France so there I had time

Some of you will remember I fitted a new engine in this little Renault while I was in holiday, yet some new oil & filter. Still drives well👍

Always had a soft spot for those Defenders, The indicators and hatch behind the door shows it is an ex-military one. LHD so propably ex Dutch army

Someone spotted me and whatsap'd me the pic

Parked in front of the old centre of Beziers, a nice town on the Canal Du Midi 

I was not the only one that took his classic car to the South, an old Volvo 242 with Dutch plates

And again a 2CV, the lights show it is a recent one

On one of our road trips; a Citroén Ami. Think rather rare in the U.K.

We visited a big cave, so big you can drive through it. We visited also the guided tour in the cave. Made a video of the public road, the squeaking sound is a French van pushing in my back but max speed is 30km/h (20 miles/hour) so ignore him...

We visited an old grave tomb, about 5000 years old. 

To get there I took the Manta through the woods, no signs that I was not allowed so I could park the car in the shade. 

On our location they they organised an "Eighties party" so they asked if they could take pics with my eighties Manta, a few pics:

Me and the Missus😁

Star of the show

Again on the local supermarket: Nice Alfa GTA, rustfree 😲  so restored

Back home in Belgium. Took the GSI to fill him up and saw this Opel Blitz. Parked in front of the house of the former Opel dealer of our village. He has got a nice collection of old Opels and spoke with him yesterday. He stil runs a body shop and our son his Toyota Celica is at this moment in his shop for a total respray. And again he took me in his collection of cars 🤪.

We did 3700km's with the Manta, it runs without any problems. Had to fill up about 0,4 litre oil. Had a great time and a lot of thumbs up, also from the Gendarmerie National.

Grts, Herman

 

 

[BarryD89]

Great photos, and nice to see one being used.  Best of luck and good wishes for your recovery.  

[Jessopia74]

Great to see your back Herman 😎👍 great pictures

[Ems]

Nice photos, thank you for uploading them.  That was a big operation, hope you recover soon.

[®evo03]

Great pics, travels, holidays and memories. Best of Luck with your recovery, a little every day 👍

[611]

Always great to see your pics Herman. You find so many great classic cars on your travels.

I might try and get to France next year in the A series 🙂

Best of luck with the recovery.

[H-400]

Thanks for the nice comments, my back is getting better every day. Unbelievable what those surgeons can do these days. 

[berni]

Love the 400 sprint vid on your channel 👌🏼

17 hours ago, H-400 said:

Thanks for the nice comments, my back is getting better every day. Unbelievable what those surgeons can do these days. 

 

[H-400]

On 24/08/2023 at 08:51, berni said:

Love the 400 sprint vid on your channel 👌🏼

Thanks Berni, remember that chase. Those Ascona400's were a bit faster than me, and they are a bit lighter. Done some time ago a overhaul of my engine (topic 400repair) so could compete with them now but those dark and wet roads when we arrived in the forest made me drive more carefully.