I really must not laugh, but I can't help it, watching people with luggage trying to use the Paris Metro with its amazing 2 seconds to grab your ticket and get through the gate before it closes. As I was passing through the Gard du Nord a party of English school children were trying and failing to master the gates with humans on one side of the gate and luggage on the other. By the time I arrived it was too late to offer assistance as most of them were already through, nursing bruises and dented suitcases. I'm sure the manufacturers of Arkwright's till on Open All Hours must also won the contract to build the access gates to the Paris Metro.
I am travelling home by train today, because the flight was too expensive, mind you the train was not cheap either, but then it is summer time and everyone is on the move, travelling to or from their holidays.
I am on a modern TGV I did not realise that there were 'ancient and modern' TGVs, but apparently there are. This one is travelling from Paris almost to Spain, I'm not sure if Henday, the final destination of this train, is in France or Spain. The advantage of this train is that the first stop after leaving Paris Montparnasse is Angouleme, it takes 2 hours 15 mins station to station, half the time it takes me to drive it.
I love the French idea of first class in the TGVs in general, the only difference between 1st class and 2nd class, apart from the price of the ticket, is the size of the seat, and to be honest the difference in price of the ticket is not huge. On the Eurostar the price of first class is more than double that of second class but then you do get a meal and a free bar, both on the train and at the station before boarding.
Blog update..... first class on this TGV has reached new heights, we have an at seat trolley service, now I am not sure what the French are going to make of this, as they have already brought their lunches on board with them, but the tourists are making good use of it. Poor guy needs to get the hang of it a little better though, as everytime someone orders something he has to race off to the buffet car to get it, I wonder what is actually in his trolley. This is the first time ever, in over 4 years of French train travel that I have had an at seat trolley service, long may it continue and Viva La Republique:-)
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
automotive choices
Apologies for not posting a new blog for a while, I am hoping to get back into the swing of things soon, so here is a starter for 10 talking about some of the cars I have hired in the first part of this year.
So, this is a bit of an automotive blog inspired by some interesting hires I have had recently.
I am also still looking for a replacement for my Jaguar S-Type which is being retired after 4 years of very good service to and from SW France, but I will not be selling it or trading it in.
. I am looking for a largish comfortable diesel for the runs between London and SW France,capable of towing a trailer and having a large boot area, I don't think that is not too difficult a specification, but its hard finding just the right car for the job.
I am lucky enough to be hiring a lot of cars in the course of my travels, so it gives me the chance to try lots of different makes in a similar class, and given that you have no choice in the car you are loaned it means driving all sorts of vehicles.
Most of the cars I rent are either group C or group D 1.6 diesel or petrol cars but one of the advantages of being a regular hirer at the same hire company office is that I occasionally get a decent upgrade when my group of choice is running low, and recently I was given what I thought would be a good upgrade which was handy as we were actually going to do a lot of kilometers that weekend so a bigger car was very welcome.
I was given a Mercedes B180, a weird looking piece of kit and to be honest not a very good car overall. It was very bland inside unless you like black on black with more black. It drove reasonably well but the 1.9 diesel engine felt under powered for the car, the steering was aweful, it had so much under steer that I nearly hit the first car I tried to overtake. After a whole weekend of driving it grows on you a bit and it is pretty sure footed on the bends, once you've got the hang of the understeer, but over all it was a disappointing experience as I have found most Mercedes, and I really don't like the new designs they have come up with recently.
The weekend before I had a direct comparison with the B180, a brand new Renault Scenic, which was also rather disappointing with poor handling and steering, which is odd for a Renault which normally has very precise steeringand reasonable handling, we love the Senic II that my wife drives. The 1.6 diesel engine in the new Scenic was again under powered for the car, maybe the 1.9 with a 6 speed gearbox is better. One thing that did impress me was the full colour TFT dash pod Renault put in this version of the Scenic, its the first time I have seen one on a standard production car. Renault and Ctiroen are always at the leading edge of car design and this Scenic makes the Merc look very dated. Looking at the two cars I have to say I would not buy either, neither of them were really drivers cars, and they had too many negative points.
Still top of my list and just in budget, is the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso despite the wishy washy gear change on the one I had recently. The engine is amazingly strong and economical, the driving poistion is ideal with everything in easy reach of the driver, and it is very comfortable on a long journey. The Grand Picasso has bucket loads of storage and so for the job I want my next car to do Citroen are the manufacturer to beat, at least within my budget. Now I just have to save up the money or find a good 0% finance deal...
So, this is a bit of an automotive blog inspired by some interesting hires I have had recently.
I am also still looking for a replacement for my Jaguar S-Type which is being retired after 4 years of very good service to and from SW France, but I will not be selling it or trading it in.
. I am looking for a largish comfortable diesel for the runs between London and SW France,capable of towing a trailer and having a large boot area, I don't think that is not too difficult a specification, but its hard finding just the right car for the job.
I am lucky enough to be hiring a lot of cars in the course of my travels, so it gives me the chance to try lots of different makes in a similar class, and given that you have no choice in the car you are loaned it means driving all sorts of vehicles.
Most of the cars I rent are either group C or group D 1.6 diesel or petrol cars but one of the advantages of being a regular hirer at the same hire company office is that I occasionally get a decent upgrade when my group of choice is running low, and recently I was given what I thought would be a good upgrade which was handy as we were actually going to do a lot of kilometers that weekend so a bigger car was very welcome.
I was given a Mercedes B180, a weird looking piece of kit and to be honest not a very good car overall. It was very bland inside unless you like black on black with more black. It drove reasonably well but the 1.9 diesel engine felt under powered for the car, the steering was aweful, it had so much under steer that I nearly hit the first car I tried to overtake. After a whole weekend of driving it grows on you a bit and it is pretty sure footed on the bends, once you've got the hang of the understeer, but over all it was a disappointing experience as I have found most Mercedes, and I really don't like the new designs they have come up with recently.
The weekend before I had a direct comparison with the B180, a brand new Renault Scenic, which was also rather disappointing with poor handling and steering, which is odd for a Renault which normally has very precise steeringand reasonable handling, we love the Senic II that my wife drives. The 1.6 diesel engine in the new Scenic was again under powered for the car, maybe the 1.9 with a 6 speed gearbox is better. One thing that did impress me was the full colour TFT dash pod Renault put in this version of the Scenic, its the first time I have seen one on a standard production car. Renault and Ctiroen are always at the leading edge of car design and this Scenic makes the Merc look very dated. Looking at the two cars I have to say I would not buy either, neither of them were really drivers cars, and they had too many negative points.
Still top of my list and just in budget, is the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso despite the wishy washy gear change on the one I had recently. The engine is amazingly strong and economical, the driving poistion is ideal with everything in easy reach of the driver, and it is very comfortable on a long journey. The Grand Picasso has bucket loads of storage and so for the job I want my next car to do Citroen are the manufacturer to beat, at least within my budget. Now I just have to save up the money or find a good 0% finance deal...
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