20th June 2019

Kennet Valley TR Group Grand Prix de Tours & Loire Valley tour, France 20th-24th June 2019

Kennet Valley TR Group have planned a trip to France in June to take part in the re-enactment of the Grand Prix de Tours. This is a fabulous classic car event, with over 200 cars taking part. It is non-competitive, being just a parade round a circuit laid out in the medieval city of Chinon, preceded by a gentle drive round the French countryside on the Saturday. Some KVG members went last year and reported it was a great event. To date 7 cars have booked for the Rallye & Chinon Parade (Sat & Sun) returning 24th/25th June. If you do not want to take a car there are a few passenger seats available.

The plan is to cross from Portsmouth to Caen (there are still ferries available 15-5-19) Thursday night 20th June, 14.45, getting in 21:45 stopping locally in Oiustreham for the same price as a cabin. It is then a 190 mile, four hour drive including stops down to Chinon, arriving midday Friday. There are plenty of reasonably priced hotels in and around Chinon.

Currently there is one remaining room in the Chinon Ibis (Fri 21st - Sunday 23rd) and two en-suite rooms in a Gite close to Chinon (Sat 22nd - Sat 29th).

The Saturday rally is a great event, round 100 miles of French countryside, including a fabulous lunch in a magnificent castle en-route. Again this is non-competitive, just following a convoy of cars.

Sunday you have a parade round the original course of the Grand Prix, round the streets of the town, with thousands of spectators. Then returning Monday on the 4.30pm ferry from Caen, arriving in the UK 9.45pm.

Or you could stay on for extra days in France if you wish 2 cars have already booked to do this to see the beautiful Loire Valley Chateau's (see below), making it a longer holiday.

You could either stay round the Chinon/Tours area, or could come back to Normandy and spend a few days touring the D-Day beaches, which then means you only have a 20-mile drive to the ferry. We can recommend Normandy hotels we have used before. The trip down will be in convoy with KVG cars, as will the Monday return.

This would be a great first trip abroad if you have never been in your TR, as it will be an easy run down and back, in company with KVG cars. Whether you take part in the Saturday rally is up to you, or whether you decide to stay on for extra days.

The costs of the Chinon event are:

• Saturday Rally including lunch for two people, plus Sunday Parade - €200 (£179) Euros per car. (The lunch alone would cost you €60 (£54) Euros)
• Sunday Parade only - €25 (£22) Euros per car
  • Forex based on today's rate £1 - €1.12.

You can just attend as a spectator for nothing, but this would miss a lot of the fun.

Travel costs will be:

• Brittany Ferry Return, inc cabin on the way out £305
• Petrol, approx depending on your right foot £150
• Hotel for 3 nights approx £280-330 (Or less if you can find a deal).

Extra hotel nights afterwards optional

So, minimum cost per car. Travel Hotel and Sunday Parade - £775 maximum cost per car with Rally and Parade - £950

At this stage we are just trying to gauge interest, though places for the Sunday and Saturday events will fill up fast. This is not a commitment, just helping us with the planning.

Can you let us know if you would be interested in the weekend only, or would possibly like to add extra days on at the end – suggest 3-4 days though this would be up to you, and whether you would like to stay round Tours or come back to Normandy, or make your own arrangements. Also would you want to book your own ferry/hotels. Or leave it to the Group. Please note; Bookings for the event have to be done individually.

The process is you download a form from the website, fill it in and post it back together with an English cheque in pounds for the equivalent cost, which is kept as a deposit. You then pay in cash in € Euros at the event and get your cheque back.

We look forward to hearing back from you, I realise this is next month however there are still Ferry spaces and local Gites via Airbnb or Hotels so you need to be quick to avoid disappointment. Please click on Emrhys name to email him or give him a call.

Thanks

Emrhys Barrell - Tel: 07703 218906