Report by Dave and Tracy Hill
Lining up at Dover for the ferry to Dunkirk
By following the route in the itinerary (mostly) kindly provided by the trip organisers Graham and Pete, the early part of the journey after we got off the ferry at Dunkirk, was on motorways (A roads) and then N roads (equivalent to our A roads). We spent most of the day travelling on our own through France as we were more or less the last off the ferry with only Magnus Lie B-91399 Mark II 1300 Deluxe whose journey had begun the week before from Norway to join us on the trip. We passed Magnus and our journey continued into the French countryside.
After driving through several villages and green countryside we arrived at the historic town of Reims at about 4.30pm without the aide of any Sat Nav. We pulled up outside our hotel and were closely followed by Steve and Rob Weston in their Mk I “Cortina or Bust” and also Richard Sloman in his Mk I 2Dr GT.
We checked in and the plan was to meet up for a rally briefing at 6pm. However this was put on hold when it became clear that several cars had not made it to Reims. Cars had broken down on the way and others had stopped to assist with roadside repairs. After several telephone calls happily confirmation came through that all the cars would make it to Reims thanks to the dedication of our fellow travellers.
Grahams estate needed attention thanks to a failed UJ.
While waiting for the UJ to be changed, Phil took the opportunity to borrow a spare alternator from Graham in the hope it solve his worries about running out of electric.
Day 3
All photos © Cortina MkII Owners Club LTD
