England Trip 2014 (yes, I know it was months ago!)

When looking at my blog entries for Goodwood for the umpteenth time, I realized that I never actually wrote about the rest of the trip to England from this past summer. So here is the story of the rest of the trip!

After an uneventful flight to London, we made our way to the neighbourhood of our Airbnb host, Kushal. His apartment was in a Bayswater, a neighbourhood to the north west of central London. We did not want to spend the money to rent a whole apartment to ourselves, so we decided to rent a room in an apartment where the owner was present. We were not disappointed, as the owner was extremely pleasant and helpful. The apartment was quiet and clean and we often had the place to ourselves. When we first arrived, we were exhausted and all three of us had a long nap, so that we would be able to stay up late enough to counter the effects of jet lag. Over the next three days, we explored the parks and neighbourhoods of London, on foot, by bus and by Underground. Jules was with us the whole time and usually in a good mood. We had bought a folding stroller which tilted back so that he could nap comfortably in it and, thankfully, he did manage to sleep in it every afternoon. We also tried to integrate a few stops at parks and playgrounds for him. Still, we managed to see most of the major attractions. We even went to a kids’ event at the National Gallery, which we all enjoyed. We usually managed to find affordable restaurants (relatively speaking) that were really quite good.

Alex and Jules enjoying one of London's many parks

Obligatory photo in the City

Modern buildings and a lot of pipes!

Jules was mostly awake as we toured London

Medieval building in the City 

Jules quite enjoyed the double-decker buses

We visited the City and ate at a “Prêt-à-Manger” restaurant, part of what seems like an extremely successful franchise.

On our fourth day, after a stroll though Covent Gardens, we met up with my friend Roberto, who would be joining us for the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the second part of the trip. We ate at an inexpensive (but quite decent) Italian restaurant together and agreed to meet at the car rental office the next morning.

When Rob and I picked up the rental car (a Fiat 500L), he told me that it would take a while to get used to driving on the wrong side. He was right. I made my way back to the apartment to pick up Alex and Jules without incident, but on my way out of the city, I hit a curb with the front wheel of the car. Thankfully, there was no damage. We drove to the Portsmouth area where we would be staying in a small apartment in Southsea. The parking situation was not ideal, as we had to look for parking on small and narrow side streets, but it all worked out. The apartment itself was nothing special, and happened to be across the street from a pretty loud bar. Still, we were close to a supermarket and cooked many of our meals at the small apartment. Really, we had just been looking for a place to crash not too far from Chichester, where the Festival of Speed would be held.

Alex, Jules and Rob near the coast in Southsea

We had bought 4-day passes to the Festival and it was immensely enjoyable. A detailed account of our time at the festival can be found HERE. 

One evening after the Festival, Rob proposed that we head to Brighton. I said “Ok, but you drive”, and he accepted. Even though we were only in the town for a couple of hours, we had a good impression of the place and a nice meal together. We got home a bit late, but it was worth it.

The morning after the Festival, we dropped Rob off at the train station and began the next part of our journey. Our plan was to stay in the historic city of Bath and use our rental car to explore the surrounding areas, including the Cotswolds. On the way from Southsea to Bath, we stopped in Salisbury, where we had lunch in a green space near the cathedral. It was a lovely stop.

  

When we arrived in Bath, we were greeted by our hosts Robin and Carol. They had rented us the small flat above their house, and it was a perfect spot for us: it was about a 15-minute walk into the city centre, but the walk took us along a lovely canal, and there was a Tesco’s Express store 5 minutes away. The flat did not have a bath tub for Jules, but we used the kitchen sink to give him his baths, which we all found quite funny.

A bath, in a sink, in Bath

The town of Bath is lovely. It is filled with classical architecture and some of its buildings go back to Roman times. It is a beautiful city and almost any point of interest can be reached on foot in a reasonable amount of time. Every day we would take in some of the sites and attractions.  We accidentally hiked up to the university, and ended up having a nice quiet lunch by a small lake on the campus, complete with ducks.

Bath had its own covered bridge

This was the view as we walked along the canal

Animated pissing, Jules was intrigued

J. and I waited outside as Alex talked with university staff

Typical (and beautiful) Bath architecture

On one of our days in the Bath area, we decided to explore the Cotswolds following a circuit known as the “Romantic Road”. Although there seem to be many versions, this is the one we followed:

We started out at Stow-on-the-Wold, where we had a quiet lunch, and made our way around the circuit at a leisurely pace, enjoying the countryside, stopping at a playground, and spotting sheep. It was a lovely day, although not entirely stress-free for a driver who is used to wider roads and left-hand-drive.

There are some very old buildings in the Cotswolds

J. and me

This barn was hundreds of years old

There was also an automotive museum, complete with a Mini-shaped hedge

... as was this house

My inexperience with British driving led to an embarrassing mishap when I drove into our hosts’ garage door, mistaking first gear in our Fiat with reverse. Our hosts were very understanding about the whole thing and our insurance paid for the repair to their garage door. Oops. Our Fiat had a few scratches on its nose, but was still fully drivable, and we continued our exploration of the area.

Our day in Oxford was slightly marred by rain, but we still got around quite a bit and probably went into a couple of buildings that we would have bypassed in better weather, like the museum of modern art. We were not actually able to visit any of the “colleges”, due to most of them being closed to visitors during our short time in the city.

Modern art in Oxford

On another day, we visited Castle Combe and Lacock, two of the more quaint towns in the area. The towns themselves are small, and we could easily visit several in one day. Castle Combe has a nice little auto racing track, and we stopped by. There was a track day in progress, so I was pretty happy to walk around the paddock with J. as Alex napped in the Fiat. I posted about this short visit to the track HERE. 

On our final full day of the trip, we visited Bristol. The town was not very active, as it was the weekend, but we still had a nice time, picnicking in a park and visiting a historic house (Alex loves these types of visits).

Jules tries out a lever of unknown purpose in a historc house in Bristol

On our final evening in Bath, we headed uphill and walked a short section of the Skyline walk, a beautiful path that runs in the hills high above the city. We had walked short sections of the path on previous days, as it was only a few minutes away from our apartment. Unfortunately, it was not practical to hike any kind of long distance with the gear we had. I would recommend a stroll along this path to anyone, as it is really lovely.

Alex and Jules on the Skyline walk

Idyllic British countryside views

It's a cemetery, but Jules still enjoyed himself

Fantastic views if you don't mind a few hills

A kindly stranger took this photo of us on the Skyline walk

We were up early on the final morning to drive to the airport and drop off our Fiat before settling in for the long flight home. The trip was a memorable and enjoyable one, but I was glad to be home in my own bed!

Spending a lot of time indoors...

It is still very cold, even though we are in February now. Pretty much every morning, the temperature is dropping below -15. As a result of this (added to the fact that Oscar is only 2 months old), we are spending a lot of time indoors. Luckily, we have Netflix...

Oscar is now able to be awake without crying, at least for a few minutes at a time, which is nice. Jules is generally in a good mood, but not always! 

Oscar: awake and not crying!

Jules after his swimming lesson

I have come across some pretty dicey driving conditions, where even front-wheel-drive cars have been unable to manage. The BMW handles all this pretty well, although I am sometimes jealous of the hordes of people driving SUV's in Montreal (there seem to be more and more of them!).

Winter driving means winter parking...

Last Sunday, in the space of a couple of minutes, I saw a couple of cars that must be a handful when driven in winter: an Aston Martin V8 Vantage (convertible) and an Honda S2000. The M3 must feel like a Subaru compared to these cars...

Sleeper at the supermarket... Tesla P85D... 0-60 in 3.2 seconds!

Although it's a long way off, I can't help but obsess over what car I should buy as my next project car. One thing is for sure: when I first get back into automotive events, I will not be participating in wheel-to-wheel racing, as it simply costs too much in time and money. Rather, I expect to ease back into things, spending time instructing and lapping at local tracks (so I can be home for the boys' bedtime or dinner). As a result, I will not need a full-on race car. This means I can pick something a bit less hard-core, something that can also be an enjoyable weekend car. As a result, I am eliminating any 2-seaters, like the Miata (which I love), so that the family can join me on such rides. 

There are three main contenders so far:

1) 1985-1989 BMW 635Csi. 

Since I was a teenager, I have been impressed by these big BMW coupes. They are not sports cars, yet they have a fantastic racing heritage. The challenge would be to transform this grand tourer into a sports car with the right modifications (weight reduction, suspension and wheels/tires to start). The long-term goal would be to convert the car to vintage racing specifications.

 

Pros: 

This is really the car I would like to end up with

No depreciation, possible increase in value

Racing heritage

Reliable engine and transmission

I like the idea of having two BMW's

Rear-wheel-drive

The car is a real head-turner and now rare

Cons:

The cars are old, so might need a lot of work

I'm not sure how the car will do on track with inexpensive modifications

Not a sports car

Limited availability of performance parts

2) 2004- Mazda RX8

I have always liked these cars, but do not love them, like I love M3's or Miata's or Evo's. Still, you can really get a lot of car for about 6 000 $. Also, the car really is a sports car, even though it has four doors. I am confident I could keep on top of the maintenance of the rotary engine, but I would have to know for sure that the previous owner did as well...

 

Pros:

This car would be fun to drive and comfortable on track even without modifications

The cars are not old and many were never winter driven

Rear-wheel-drive

Racing heritage

Can't really depreciate any more

Quite uncommon 

I could drive it for a couple of years, then maybe get a more serious project car

Cons:

If the car was not properly maintained, the engine might have issues

I am not in love with the look of the car (although some lowering springs and new wheels might help)

3) 2006-2011 Honda Civic Si

These cars are pretty much sports cars right out of the box as well: 197 hp (easily tuneable for more) and a limited-slip differential are stock. It's a Civic, so I would be confident about reliability and my ability to be quick on track behind the wheel.

 

Pros:
Honda reliability
Wide availability of tuning parts
The K20 engine is a beauty
I could drive it for a couple of years, then maybe get a more serious project car, as these are easy to sell

Cons:
I am not in love with the look of the car
It's front-wheel drive, so less of an interesting challenge for me
The used ones I see will surely have been winter driven
Not much of a head-turner, not especially rare

It is really hard to figure out which would be the best choice for me... but I have plenty of time to figure it out. In fact, figuring it out is, in and of itself, a fun way to spend these cold winter nights.

Still c-c-cold!

Let me start this post with a couple of gratuitous pictures of my boys. Here is Jules rocking the mic on his toy piano...

... and Oscar showing us one of his lovely smiles.

We spent a good portion of last weekend at Alex's stepdad's chalet in the Eastern Townships (almost exclusively indoors, given the very cold weather). Since I finally had my DSLR camera back, I tried to get some decent photos of the family.

A magical discovery for Jules: raisin bread!

Jules rises early for breakfast

... and he is always ready for a snack too

Alex and Jules descending from the mezzanine stairs (they're steep!)

Alex and Oscar

Jules and Alex on the mezzanine bed

It's been bitterly cold for most of the last couple of weeks. I am always a bit surprised when I see the sheer number of really cool cars being winter driven these days. I have seen several Audi R8's like this one, and a couple of Ferrari FF's (as mentioned in a previous post). A minute before snapping this (poor quality) picture of the R8, I saw a Porsche 991 Turbo S. When you think about it, it's not terribly surprising to see that people are driving these all-wheel-drive cars in winter...

... However, the most surprising car I have spotted this winter has got to be this Ferrari F12. It was -20 degrees when I took these pictures the other day! Needless to say, I am very impressed with this car's owner's decision to keep driving the car, even in the middle of winter. This is surely the same car I spotted between Christmas and New Year's day. Very cool!

2015 Montreal Car Show

I think I found the winning formula for visiting the car show this year: I go alone for about an hour, than Alex and my mother meet me with the kids a bit later, and I go through a second time. The first round lets me go through alone and take as many pictures as I can, and then it doesn't matter if I am rushed through the second time through. As was the case last year, the highlight for Jules is to sit in as many cars as possible. The highlight for me was a little gem tucked away at the back of the Honda stand (see photos below). A couple of other nice surprises made this one of the better car shows in recent memory.

Note: these photos were taken with my phone, as I only got my DSLR lens back from the repair shop today (doh!).

The new AMG C63... still understated, but no more 6.2 liter V8

Jules behind the wheel of a Police interceptor Dodge Charger

The gang in and around a Jeep Wrangler

Jules driving Alex and Oscar in the new Honda Fit

For some reason, Jules did not want to leave this electric Ford Focus

Jules enjoys the Audi R8

And he has a go in the Jaguar F-Type

Lexus concept car... I don't like the wheels

Mazda really got the styling right on the current Mazda 3.

The car looks especially good with dark-coloured wheels

I never liked the Mini Coupe, but as a race car, it sort of works

The interior of the Mini... I had never seen these protective "walls" for the feet before

It doesn't look right in the photo, but this is one of my favourite BMW colours: Dakar yellow

You can still be stylish in a wagon, says BMW

I still prefer the new M3 to the M4, although Alex prefers coupes

The i8, still looking like a car from the future

Weird matte colour for this M6...

... but for some reason, it works

One of the surprises of the day... I did not know that the Alfa Romeo 4C would be sold in Canada

Viper, you're still cool in my book

Under the lights, this colour was striking

This car just looked right

Nissan: still building cars for the enthusiast

This Juke Nismo seems to have run in the Targa Newfoundland

Here is a mockup of the cars that will soon be racing in the Micra Cup

Highlight of the show for me: 1964 Honda formula 1 car

Not especially pretty, but the Civic Si is still an excellent car

Toyota concept car

Weird Ford Ecotec buggy

No nonsense: the Camaro Z28

... and its big brother, the Corvette Z06

... complete with plastic fender lips in front for the wider rubber.

Not that pretty, but still impressive-looking

Not all tuner cars are Japanese or German

RWB style 911... is it a real RWB?

What's special about this GTR?

Carbon fiber!

Lamborghini Gallardo race car

... and Lambo street cars. The Aventador and Huracan are hard to tell apart

The Huracan is the one with the massive air scoops behind the door.

This Magnum Mk5 looks neat. Will it see production?

Whoever drives one will have to be pretty friendly with her/his passenger, as they will be almost touching each other

911 Carrera 4 GTS... nice, but what's with the white taillights?

The Cayman is a better-looking car, in my opinion

Over-the top Jaguar XF-RS... disappointing rear legroom for such a large car