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That was a long drive!
I decided to go to the Geneva motorshow this year and I wanted to drive there to see some of Switzerland (I lived there until I was 7 so it's kinda nostalgic to me!). Problem is....I only had 3 days of holiday left to take (and this is why I couldn't make UK7)!
So, at 3am last Wednesday the missus and I left for Dover with the aim of getting to the north Swiss region (not too far from Zurich) by mid-afternoon to check out my old home (surprisingly, things haven't changed much in 23 years). We then drove down to Geneva by early evening so, all in all, a successful first day with a touch over 800 miles covered!
On the Thursday we visited the Geneva motorshow which was significantly better than the rubbish they put on for us in the UK every couple of years - there was some genuinely new stuff on show as well as a whole host of crap that we fortunately don't get over here.
On Friday I decided to head down over the Alps to south Switzerland to an area called Ticino where we stayed in the Lake Lugano region. That was another 300 miles and a fantastic days driving, taking in some awesome sights on some of the best roads I've ever driven on (and some 'interesting' weather conditions!).
On the Saturday we had a hotel booked in....Paris! I decided to go south into Italy in order to come up through the Monte Blanc tunnel. Those italian autostrada's are great....so straight and fast. I had much more chance to open up the M3 than on the german autobahns (if not quite so legally!).
Indeed, I spent a good few miles travelling in convoy with a brand new 911 Carrera S and can confirm that the M3 is more than capable of staying with one - between an indicated 100-170mph we were always neck and neck!
Anyway, after 9 hours of solid driving and a further 650 miles, we arrived in Paris just in time to go to bed!
And finally...on Sunday we spent the morning in Paris and then made the 450 mile drive home in the afternoon...and got home just in time to go to bed!
Overall, we covered just over 2200 miles in 5 days and saw some great sights. However, I think I'll give myself more time next time round as doing all the driving myself was quite tiring and we didn't have any time to spend in any of the locations!
And the M3? Well, what a great car to do this kind of trip in...comfortable, fast and great fun. It also attracts so much attention in Europe - I reckon far more than it does over here. However, the reliabilty wasn't flawless (see the main forum for more details). I also managed to average over 21mpg on the journey which, given the speeds I reckon was a great result!
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