French 480 club meet September 4th 5th 6th 2020
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:16 am
We joined the French club a few years back when we knew that John de Vries would be at their annual meeting. We enjoyed it very much and have stayed members so we can go every year - quite a few people there speak good English and they are a very friendly bunch. Their meetings are organised by members taking it in turns so always in the area where the organiser lives and next year it's in the Cherbourg area. Ferries run from Portsmouth to Cherbourg so if you can get to the ferry why not come along ? Membership is 20 euros per year, the meetings are for the weekend with everything organised for you and you only pay for meals/accomodation that you will be there for. The club has less than 40 members and there are always at least 30 cars there even though they live all over France. Of course, their roads are almost empty compared to ours so long journeys are much less stressful.
The format is as follows:
for those who can get there - Friday 12 noon is a picnic which they ask everyone to contribute food/drink to, preferably a speciality from the area where you live
Friday afternoon is usually a visit to somewhere interesting
check into a gite
Friday evening meal in a restaurant
Saturday morning meet up for breakfast at the gite
Competition of some sort - often a road book (treasure hunt by car)
Saturday lunch in a restaurant
activity in the afternoon
BBQ at the gite in the evening
breakfast at the gite then visit somewhere Sunday morning
Sunday lunch in a restaurant - long and lazy, plenty of time to chat until time to leave for home
Plenty of photo opportunities in the various carparks
You have to pay a deposit of 50 euros per person when you book (usually Feb/March time), then the balance a few weeks before the meet - uaually around 100 euros each if you are doing the whole weekend
We will definitely be going, as will James if he can get leave. Our Belgian friends Michel and Jaqueline will also go. Last time it was in the north of France, we were put on an English speaking table in the first restaurant, along with Dutch and Belgian members and John de Vries and his wife so we would know who spoke good English which I thought was a great idea.
The format is as follows:
for those who can get there - Friday 12 noon is a picnic which they ask everyone to contribute food/drink to, preferably a speciality from the area where you live
Friday afternoon is usually a visit to somewhere interesting
check into a gite
Friday evening meal in a restaurant
Saturday morning meet up for breakfast at the gite
Competition of some sort - often a road book (treasure hunt by car)
Saturday lunch in a restaurant
activity in the afternoon
BBQ at the gite in the evening
breakfast at the gite then visit somewhere Sunday morning
Sunday lunch in a restaurant - long and lazy, plenty of time to chat until time to leave for home
Plenty of photo opportunities in the various carparks
You have to pay a deposit of 50 euros per person when you book (usually Feb/March time), then the balance a few weeks before the meet - uaually around 100 euros each if you are doing the whole weekend
We will definitely be going, as will James if he can get leave. Our Belgian friends Michel and Jaqueline will also go. Last time it was in the north of France, we were put on an English speaking table in the first restaurant, along with Dutch and Belgian members and John de Vries and his wife so we would know who spoke good English which I thought was a great idea.