Day 3 - Atoms Collide

Today was all about the visit to CERN.

The trip there wasn't without mishap, as George had waaaay too much fun in a tunnel, dipping the clutch and letting his cutom exhaust roar. Sadly, the clutch gave up the ghost halfway through and he exited the tunnel with smoke billowing from the rear of his car. I waved him over and we all stopped (all bar Bod who was leading, but he stopped a little further on).

After waiting as long as we dared without missing our guided tour of CERN, we tried George's car once more and it seemed OK so we all set off after him, only to come across Bod's car also expired by the side of the road... He'd make the classic error of stopping the car but leaving his lights on and his battery was flat! After a battery swap with Andy, all seemed well and we carried on only to discover George's expired Atom a few miles on. It was terminal and we didn't have time to stop, so we carried on to Switzerland, arriving at CERN after a quick pit stop to relieve bladders and collect sandwiches.

I was one of the first to get to CERN and went inside to organise things for the group with minutes to spare... A couple of cars arrived late for the lecture which opened the tour, but that was fine - A French physicist with a sense of humour gave the lecture, which didn't really tell us anything new, but justified the enormous expense of running this research centre.

I had been told that we were not going to be allowed underground for the tour, but there would be a minibus taking us to various sites on the 24 km ring that makes up the particle accellerator.

I was wrongly informed, and at the end of the lecture we were told that we would be one of the very last groups allowed underground to see the detector. 

Pigs in shit were never any happier than me right then.

So we got onto our bus and off we went... First to the place where they put togther and service the conduit for the accelerator, which was huge and fascinating, but not the highlight.

We arrived at the detector and... were told that the lift was broken and that we wouldn't be able to descend the 100metres down to the machinery.

Pigs on linoleum could not have been more disappointed. 

There was a possibility that it might be fixed before we had to get back to reception. So we were shown around a bit and were all on tenterhooks waiting to see if we would actually make it down to the  accelerator itself. We'd been shown a lifesize picture of this vast 30m high piece of kit and so knew what we would have seen if the bloody lift had been working. You would think that a place which holds Europes finest collection of scientists and engineers would have been able to make a bloody lift work, but it seemed unlikely.

At the very last minute, our physicist guide announced in a very quiet way that the lift had been fixed and that we would indeed be going underground!!!!!

After being fitted with hard hats, we began the descent. And after wandering through corridors of concrete 7 metres thick we finally arrived at the detector. IT WAS AMAZING! Everything I expected and so much more. Huge, and clever, and complex, and literally awesome, it was a sight to behold. I could have stayed there for ever, but after about 15 minutes, our time was up and we had to return to the surface. What an unbelieveable experience.

Afterwards, we posed the Atoms colliding ouside the globe at CERN and then headed off for our next overnight stop in Chamonix.

We were staying at the Faucigny. George showed up in a Yaris rental, so at least the group was all together which was excellent.

After a quiet meal at the sports bar in town, it was off to rest for tomorrow's playing in the mountains...

Day 2 - Chateau de la Dame Blanche

The day started with a procession along a freshly gravelled road. Those with new or nearly new cars were taking it very cautiously as the paint on Atom noses chips very easily.

A first fuel stop indicated a station on the TomTom which turned out to be a field of turnips... So we carried on en route and stopped at the first fuel station we happened across. 

I have discovered the 'Winding Roads' setting on my TomTom Rider, which is absolutely brilliant - and that took us through some awesome countryside on lovely roads and it didn't rain much, so a bonus all round. 

Andy and I seem to be leaving the pack behind a bit, but the 50kph through the villages and the odd pause is enabling everyone to keep up...

Lunch was taken on the road, with the only Mishap being that Rob lost a crown tooth... Nastly but manageable. Afterwards I left my satnav on Winding Roads, but no one else did, which meant that the pack split, with Andy and I taking some superb roads and stopping for an excellent tea with possibly the best Pain Chocolat that I have ever had - they made them for us freshly.

Then off to the second Chateau - de la Dame Blanche. This one we had stopped at before... only the last time I woke up to find that my fuel tank had split and so had to get the car repatriated and carried on the journey in Rob's car. This time, no problems for me and we settled into a slightly pretentious hotel. Dinner was like Fawlty Towers... We were told that we couldn't have any substitutions - even though the veggies didn't actually want the lamb. After a battle of wills with the Maitre d' we managed to get what we actually wanted, and the food, to be fair, was sumptuous. Bart reckoned it was pretty close to Michelin star standard, and I think he was probably right.

He and Bod had been given an amazing room which was a tree house with a hammam. It looked amazing and definitely worth booking if you ever go to the Chateau.

Then bed  and a trip to CERN to look forward to tomorrow...

Day 1 - Chateau de Mairy

Up at 5 and off to the Eurotunnel... which was running an hour late, but not to worry, all the Atoms were together in the car park (plus a Jaguar F-Type S) and in the queue, so we all got on together and off to France! The traditional sorting out of the stickers on the train, and we were ready for our grand tour of Europe.

We had been warned that weather there was rubbish, but arrived in sunshine. It did rain on the way though, so the waterproofs we were all wearing came in very handy. The morning was basically an A to B trip to our first overnight stop - a lovely, faded chateau run by an English woman. On the way, we stopped at St Quentin for lunch. We had thoughtfully booked our lunch stops for this trip - the idea being that if we got separated, we could meet up at least in the middle of the day, but managed to stay together. However, the restaurant that we had booked was closed, and our secondary stop was also closed until supper, but they were able at least to suggest a restaurant in the middle of the square... which for the summer had become a beach! The square was an architectural dream with some lovely old buildings, which were mostly peppered on gunshot wounds from WW2. It looked like the town had seen some action then.

After a very nice al fresco meal (during which the rain came down like stair rods), we continued our journey in a mixture of sunshine and rain.

Arriving at the hotel was an event, and we all settled into our rooms after tea was served in front of the lovely facade of the Chateau de Mairy. Then down to a delicious home-cooked supper which included some hooch which they make there that was fiery yet smooth and sadly only one glass each wasn't nearly enough. As we were in Champagne, of course, we had to have a bottle, which was excellent.

After the early start it was off to bed ready for the fun part of the driving to begin.

Day minus 1 - Packing it in

The day started well with a text from fellow Atom owner Oli who is off in the Alps in his Atom before us... "In Geneva. Setting off for mountains in 30 mins. It's raining, and it's freezing. Ice rink rain."

So there's something to look forward to in a couple of days on semi-slick tyres... It seems Hurricane Bertha isn't just affecting the UK - It's gone Europe-wide.

Still, we're going, and that's that. As my old gran used to say, there's no such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes. And since the waterproofs have already had a test run, I think we're good to go. 

So to the task of packing. Normally, not a problem and the vast suitcase I have swallows everything. This time, two week's worth of clothes needs to fit into a bag with a capacity of just 35 litres (basically an overnight bag). So foreign launderettes are going to come into play at some point.

This, plus I have to get the mountain of Tour polo shirts - which is probably about 35 litres on its own down at least as far as the Chunnel..

And then I have to cram in the gadget bag. Over the years, the tech bag has swollen to vast proportions. Thanks to the iPad and a wireless keyboard, I don't have to worry about lugging a laptop, but the array of other stuff required or desired is huge.

> Camera (still) plus charger and lead

> Go Pro plus back options, spare battery, mountings, lenses and lead

> Phone plus lead

> iPad and keyboard

...there's more but it's just silly.

Still, that's the world we live in and I wouldn't be able to post stuff like this without it all.

This afternoon involves a haircut and handing Buchan to his favourite dog walker.