Gréoux-les-Bains 7th - 14th of June
Day 6 ... Saturday - Les Gorges des Alpes-Maritimes
The final day of this year’s Bugatti Meeting again led towards the
gorges of the region, this time the ones of the Alpes-Maritimes in
the north-east of Gréoux-les-Bains. After finally passing the first
florid lavender fields the tour led towards the Lac de Castillon at
the Verdon and upwards to the coffee stop at Entrevaux passing
again some great mountain roads and gorges with tunnels in the
massif rocks. After the break the road became steeper and with
every serpentine the colour of the surrounding rocks changed
before turning to surreal red just to end at a green high plateau
where the golf of Valberg was situated, the last stop of this week.
A last line-up on the big parking in front of the restaurant and
again (almost as usual) the horizon showed the approaching rain
so the crews had to hurry on their way back to make it dry. On
the way back down the cars again passed the overhanging cliffs
and tunnels of the gorges they have already passed on Tuesday
so the rally came to a full circle.
The French Bugatti meeting was as good as it could get if
someone is really into driving his car. Less a posh social event
but more a driving event where one went to dinner in the driving
outfit rather than in black tie. Even when the weather sometimes
was not to the best the hailstorms and flooding will just add to the
excitement when reporting at home. As mentioned above the
selection of the roads was superb and suited the attendant cars
very well. Even going over a full week one did not have the
impression that things were returning, it stayed entertaining all
days. We have discovered the beauty and diversity of the
Provence making this a very popular place for summer vacations.
The next International Meeting in 2016 will be in Switzerland and
most likely the background will be different, maybe this will be
more in the favour of the large touring cars and evening dress.
Who knows upfront as every national club has its own culture and
tradition to share with its international guests and this is what
makes these International Bugatti Meetings that interesting. We
are looking forward to 2016 in expectation of several impressive
alpine passes to be climbed. Until then: Vive la Marque!
Report & images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
Chassis numbers compiled with the help of the Bugatti Register
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