Well this was a bit of a different experience for me, a trip down to France with rally trader, Disco Dave… in his motorhome.
We were off to the Cat the Cat rally. An event held in memory of artist, Kathrine, who sadly died of cancer. The event was in Jard-sur-Mer, which is in the Pays de la Loire region of Western France. The plan was for me to ride up to Crawley, meet DD and then head over to Dieppe from Newhaven and drive down whilst sightseeing on the way.
And what sights there were to see: the weather was beautiful, the countryside amazing, and even getting stuck waiting for wind-farm turbine blades to be transported through a village was fun.
It took us two days to get down to Jard-sur-Mer, when we got there DD introduced me to the local scooterists, and a great bunch they are, they made me feel really welcome, I knew this was going to be a good rally.
Chilled out
The weather was perfect, warm, sunny and soooo relaxing, I just couldn’t help falling into the chilled vibe. Friday evening was spent at the local bar, appropriately called ‘Le Local’, with scooterists coming and going all evening.
There was a small British contingent there, and everyone was having a great time. More Brits arrived in the form of Andy Greenslade and his riding buddies; it’s good to see Andy enjoying himself at a scooter rally rather than dealing with the trials and tribulations of running them.
The evening ended early for me, and I headed off to bed.
Nice Spot
The morning started at the local restaurant, called ‘Le Spot’, for a FREE breakfast, yes, free, I like free! Joking apart, it’s a nice gesture by the organisers, and I definitely appreciated it. The temperature had dropped a little, but was still so much better than your average British rally at this time of year.
I watched the ride out, headed off, and wandered down to the beach. This place is just too nice!
Healthy eating
I watched the ride out, headed off, and wandered down to the beach. This place is just too nice!
The afternoon was spent exploring the town and being introduced to the local boulangerie (bakery). I’m supposed to be trying to eat more healthily, but that’s not easy in France; I’m not complaining, though, I can eat healthily when I get home.
It’s then back to the campsite for a siesta, or I think more correctly la sieste, anyway, a snooze. After my sieste, it was time to head back to the bar for the evening. It was a great atmosphere, with everyone having a great time. The DJ hit the spot with the tunes, and the drink was flowing; all in all, a great weekend.
Disco Dave (front left) lowers the tone
Intimate
Hats off to the organisers who pulled out all the stops to give us a great rally, and on a personal note, made me feel very welcome.
The rally for me was a bit of a new experience, a lot smaller, no, that’s not the right word, a more intimate rally. Indeed, more of a celebration, and with that, I’ll pass you on to DD to give you the lowdown on our trip down. As well as a deeper background and the meaning behind the rally.
Frozen in time
As Pete and I were on an epic journey to tick off one of his bucket list requests, we left on the Wednesday night ferry for Dieppe. When we arrived in the early hours of the morning, we started our long trip to Oradour-sur-Glane. If you want to know more about the place, you will have to just look it up.
On the way there, Pete took random photos to remind himself of his trip. How a field of cows does that, you will have to ask him. We spent the night near the site, and Pete looked around the village before we headed off to the rally. The weather all weekend was great, well, what do you expect for southwest France?
Jard Sur Mer
We arrived at the campsite in Jard Sur Mer around mid-afternoon, where I met my RGC breatharian and had a catch-up before going to the bar, ‘Le Local’, for a meet and greet. There, we met Popo and some more scooterists. As the afternoon turned into early evening, more great friends turned up at the bar, and more and more scooters were parking up on the pavement outside.
There were a couple of young lads, one of them was DJing, playing a nice, varied mix of sounds to entertain the throng. I stayed and enjoyed the music and company while Pete had already sloped off early to get some shut-eye.
Cut & blow
Saturday morning, and it was down to the seafront restaurant, where they were serving free breakfast, paid for by the sponsors who had made the rally free. It was a good time to catch up with Steve (Kathrine’s other half). He was an English lad from Basingstoke who had fallen for her charms and moved heaven and earth to be with her after first meeting at Hell run in St Dolay.
The custom show was held at lunchtime on the seafront. Everything was close to the campsite, so you didn’t have to travel too far. In the afternoon, Pete and I wandered into town to find a Boulangerie to get a few essentials, and we passed Poppet, where the afternoon aperitif was going to be held at her hair salon.
Remembering Cat
We headed back to the campsite for a brief time to get refreshed before going to the evening do. Pete sloped off early again (must be an age thing). I stayed out till well after 1 am.
During the evening, they set up a projector to show lots of memories, including photos of Cat/Kathrine with friends and family. She had many followers of her art, including Captain Sensible. The pictures brought a tear to many an eye as we remembered a great woman. I stayed to the end and walked back with Steve. The streets were pitch black as they had turned all the streetlights off.
Blast off
It was a great rally put on by lots of people who were close to Kathrine.
On Sunday, we had another long trip back to Dieppe, where we headed off to stay the night at a V1 rocket launch site hidden in the middle of a remarkably well-preserved forest. The following morning, Pete took another wander round the V1 site before we headed back to Dieppe for lunch and then on to Blighty.
Words and photos by Disco Dave and Booga
