19 replies to this topic

[cp2708]

Ear plugs! Every time I do a long journey my ears start to bleed 

[OhhEnnEmm]

Never done a trip quite that large, but when doing Blackpool and back last year I picked myself up an Oxford all in one motorcycle kit, a lot of the socket sizes were what I need for my Mini. 

 

Never ended up needing to use it but it's nice to have in the glove box!

 

Best of luck and have a great fun journey!

[insertnicknamehere]

1. Enjoy it

 

2. Take the usual spares, fan belt, top up oil, water, et cetera depending on what condition your mini is in and how you feel about it, write down basic contact info incase something happens to your phone.

 

3. Alcohol breath testers x2, check the use by date. and all the other useless junk they expect you to have.

 

4. Keep the infamous yellow vests inside the passenger cabin not in the boot.

 

5. Don't necessarily need beam converters, you can twist the headlights around a bit and adjust the beam with a screwdriver until they are pointing over to the right, it works much better anyway.

 

6. Make sure your spare tyre is up to snuff and the tools are okay.

 

7. Some petrol stations expect you to pay first before pumping fuel. It's fun to pull off into a local village for fuel and try out the patisserie/cafe.

 

8. Speed cameras can be hidden, google for some pictures so you know what to look for.

 

9. Using a little french goes a long way even if it's just P's and Q's

 

10. Charging to use toilets is a thing in some places, if it's busy they may have a tip jar for the cleaner.

 

Bonus. If you're not used to driving on the right get one of those stickers for the windscreen that shows which way to go round a roundabout or draw a big arrow with a dry wipe maker/china-graph pencil. Sometimes you have to give way to the right in situations you might not expect, traffic on a major road may have to stop for a car emerging from a side street. Print these out and stick them on your dash . If youre going into a big city you may need an emissions sticker, no idea how it works it's been a long time since a drove in a french city.

 

Extra bonus tip. Last time I took the mini to France I stuck an extra little rear view mirror on (the kind that driving instructors use) to help with joining motorways.

Edited by insertnicknamehere, 04 June 2019 - 03:28 PM.

[mk1leg]

here are contact details of a Garage for only classic mini

Mini de la Baie 5 rue du couvent (87.45 km)
50220 Ducey, Basse-Normandie, France

 his Name is Sebastien tell him Mark gave you these details he has a trailer and is based in Normandy

[johnR]

I used duct tape as beam converters/dazzle avoiders. Mobile Speed cameras are very often so well hidden you have no chance of seeing them and are on main dual carriageways as well as in villages - best advice: do not speed in France! They extract the penalty from you in cash at gunpoint so you can't avoid paying if you do get caught - my last one was 90 euros. With regard to cooling, if you do seem to be getting a bit hot under the bonnet (going up Alps) try partially opening the bonnet so that it's held by the hook only. There aren't as many petrol stations on the backroads as there used to be so don't leave it too late to fill up.