Hi all, just got back from a trip to France. Some of what I saw might be of interest for members.
So, last Friday I hopped into my trusty 1976 Citroen 2CV Truckette/van/fourgonnette (602 ccm, 31 bhp), put my right foot on the
floor, and 10 hours later I had covered the 700 km that separate my home from that of Michel, a fellow fougonnette driver´s, right in Picardie, about 20 km south of Amiens. Where other people have garden gnomes, he keeps a 1954 9 hp 2CV A-Type.
On the way I had stopped at one of the famous Emmaus shops, which are charities run by the church (I think) and which give some sort of work
to people who otherwise won´t find any employment at all. The populace
can hand in their unwanted goods, and, as Norris Lockley pointed out correctly, there usually are some cycles, too.
And what do I see in the outside bicycle stand but a sixties frame with
some parts modernized, ideal for parting out, adorned with a Stronglight 93 in good nick and other goodies, the price quoted being 20 Euros, about 25 Dollars. This seems to be the standard price for used bikes in France. However, the chap who was friendly enough to show
me round (the shop only opens on weekends) and who seemed so interested
in why the bike was special, said I would have to come back the next day.
No problem, on the way to Paris on Saturday Michel, who used to work as
a rep there, and I stop by, only to be told that the bike has been stolen overnight. What a coincidence. None of the mountain bikes have gone, just the one I described in detail to the employee. The wet through Idéale 39 saddle has been taken off and left on a table. I pay
one Euro for it, and leave. Michel keeps saying on the drive to Paris that I should not have displayed too great an interest in the cycle, and has a definitive opinion on who nicked the bike.
Anyway, the Idéale is still not too bad, and must be kept in shape until it has dried, of course. No string available, I find that while sitting in the car the ideal shaping instruments are my hands, or my knees. Squeezing a wet saddle with your hands over a longer period of time is something I cannot recommend, so it´s the knees that have to do their part of the job, too. Having arrived at the Singer shop, my trousers around the knees are wet through. Doesn´t matter, we arrive
the minute they close for breaking the crust at mid day, so Michel drives me around the other attractions of Paris. Actually, we find a parking space right in front of the shop window both times. So much for
parking in Paris.
The afternoon is spent largely in the shop, talking to the two Czukas,
extremely friendly people. Michel, who is an accomplished master mechanic and who does not even own a cycle, is drawn into the fascination of a well-made bicycle, and is soon discussing some finer points with Olivier. On the way back from Paris there is another Emmaus
with two more bikes; a scrappy Manufrance with nice Campag wheels, and
a non-defined 1930s roadster onto which someone had mounted a Caminargent extension and nearly NOS red 650B tyres. I pay 30 Euros for
both of them.
So, what is heaven? Being driven from one picturesque French farm to the next scrap metal merchant in a 1971 18 bhp 2CV van, picking up a Cyclo-equipped 1950 randonneur here, a Moisdon with JOS-lighting (10 Euros) there? (That´s what we did on Sunday.) Fetching a 2CV from a place 20 km away, and being allowed to drive the 1954 2CV on the way back, though the sunny French countryside? Spending a great weekend with extremely friendly people in a house with a number of classic Citroens rusting quietly around it? Or being allowed to use the rest room at Alex Singer´s? For the sake of staying on-topic, surely the latter.
In all, an unforgettable weekend.
Toni Theilmeier, Belm, Germany.