Last Tuesday, I drove to Valberg, a ski resort in the Alpes-Maritimes. No snow at the moment, but it was surprisingly packed with people; they have a dry toboggan run and stuff like that. There were three of us, me in my 4/4, a chap with a very nice fully-restored Healey 3000 and my friend with his faux Bugatti. We ascended from near Entrevaux via les Gorges de Daluis (River Var) and descended on the eastern side via the Gorges de Cians. The River Cians is a tributary of the River Var which flows into the Med to the west of Nice Airport. The two gorges are remarkably different geologically and both are spectacular.

On the ascent, I stopped in a layby just before Valberg and then the Healey stopped behind me. I intended to take a photo of the two cars together, while we waited for the third car. But then an elderly (ie older than me) German lady came over and told her grand-daughter or great-grand-daughter to take a photo of my car and told her how wonderful my car was. She addressed me in English, even though my car has a French registration plate, and told me that she had once visited the factory in Malvern. She asked if Peter Morgan was still running the company. I explained that he had died some years ago and gave a potted history of the MMC since then. When I got home, I checked on the internet and was surprised by two things: 1) Peter Morgan's centenary is approaching. 2) We share a birthday.

The elderly lady then addressed, in French, the driver of the Healey, which has a Monaco registration. Confused by all this, I forgot to take any photos. Damn!