We made it! The big one. The almost final act in what's been a fascinating and enjoyable project. (I say "almost", as the project just grew and extra aspect, but more of that later). We drive Mademoiselle and Andy's "Slough built" 1955 2CV down through Northern France to the car's town of birth to take part in the 20th Anniversary twinning celebrations.

What a fantastic weekend! Crazy, fun, bizarre, amazing, moving and delightful, challenging and elating all at once. We are welcomed in by our hosts and by the whole town with such hospitality - we are feted and treated like celebs, we are greeted by the Mayor (several times), applauded by the locals, invited to Civic Reception(s), to a show by school children and a gala cabaret night. They even insist that we lead the town carnival parade

The cars cause Universal delight - everybody seems to love a "deu' ch'vaux" (2CV). They've owned one, or their parents did, or they learned to drive on one, and they seem to hold a warm corner of their hearts reserved for 2CV's, so everywhere we go people seem delighted that these whacky british fans are bothering to restore them and bring them down to show them off.

The cars performed well, running the 100-odd kms down through St Omer to La Chapelle, and back again, so we are delighted. We also learned some bits about the cars, and one of the twinning committee has promised to advertise for any more info - who owned her and worked on her prior to 1989. What we learned was that.

1) The lion on the bonnet is not some random heraldic beastie - it is a "Lion de Flandres", symbol of the Flanders region since the time of Robert 3 of Flanders (1249-1322) (or something like - history never was my strong point) 

2) The idle mixture screw will slowly vibrate out till you have no idle.

3) The speedo does not work at all, but the wipers work very well.

But enough of that. Fantastic weekend all round.

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