Marilyn and David's Wedding Anniversaries.

Ninth, in September 2011, on the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club trip to Austria in the 1976 Daimler Double Six Avon-Stevens Convertible.

Day Eleven, Saturday 10th September.

A 246 mile drive to the Hotel Continental in the centre of Reims. Virtually no traffic on the road through the Vosges mountains and lots of very twisty narrow sections. As on so many of the drives, we came across road works and on this occasion a complete town that appeared to be in the process of being rebuilt! It was almost one of those times in France where you find your way in, but never emerge the other side. The weather was very hot and we were lucky to find a roadside café for refreshments. It was interesting to see the change in the scenery as the landscape became flatter and flatter. The final section of the suggested route was across mile after mile of traffic-free gently undulating countryside. It was a shock hitting the motorway again for the entry into Reims. The final few hundred yards were a disaster, as the instructions said "turn left on to Boulevard du General Lerclerc". TomTom was telling us to turn right (correct), but I followed the written instruction. We ended up doing a loop around the park and eventually parked right outside the hotel entrance.

It was extremely hot when we finally checked in at 16.35 hrs and it took me ages to find the aircon controls in our room (behind the open bedroom door). The cars were parked in a huge underground car on the fifth floor down. Once cooled off after all the unloading, etc., it was a pleasure to be able to walk around the town. The place was heaving with people and all the eating places were very busy. The last time we were here was on one of our Alvis trips in 1997 and 2002. I can't ever remember it being so full of people. We had a very good dinner at a lovely Piano bar restaurant not far from the hotel and indulged ourselves in two Planters Punches each: very refreshing on such a hot and humid night.