Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) A trip to the French Pyrenees in a Plus Six

This is just a brief write up of our three week adventure in France, I have written some observations of our tour just for folk that havent driven around France yet.. its just our views nothing more.

A semicircular tour of France via the Pyrenees started as an idea back in 2024 to align with our 40th wedding anniversary this year. The idea was a series of stops to check areas for future longer visits.
During the last months of 2024 the route and stops were worked out and booked, our stop overs were mainly made via Booking.com and were a mix of Gites, Chateau and chambre d’hotes. Roads were to be mainly non motorway, (this was revised once in France) and the regions to visit were to be rural.

We purchased and set up an Emovis ( Sanef) transponder for automatic passing of toll gates on Peage motorways. (Positioned just behind the mirror on the windscreen and it is removeable).

We live in West Somerset, so decided to use Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Roscoff, this is a crossing we are very familiar with and apart from the 15 mins it takes to get through Plymouths one way system with its average speed cameras it is an easy-to-use departure point. The Roscoff end is a breeze, it has to be one of the easiest ferry terminals in France. The Plymouth departure leaves at 22.00 hrs and arrives at 0800 hrs France time, so it pays to book a cabin and have a nice overnight kip.

Our semicircular route was from Roscoff, down the West coast past Nantes to Cognac, then South again to pass Bordeaux, veering slightly South West to visit friends near Pau, then Easterly along the Northern foothills of the French Pyrenees to Angeles-Gazost. At this point we planned a 4-day stopover to explore the high passes in the French Pyrenees. Angeles-Gazost is a nice small town and is in an ideal position to drive the high passes of the Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aubisque and the Col du Soulor. The next stops were in the Haute Garonne region and onward toward Carcassonne. Then North East to Millau (Bridge and Tarn gorge valley). After Millau we headed North to just outside Ambert in the Auvergne Massive region, another stunning countryside. Onward then to near Blois which is more or less halfway between Tours and Orleans, then North to Rennes (lots of Chateau in this are to visit) and finally back to Brittany near Roscoff.
We had planned ten stops over three weeks, this was slightly amended mid trip as we added another stop in the Haute Garonne region once we were in the area, so eleven stops in all.

The departure date was booked for the 16th of June. I checked the car thoroughly two months before departure, all was ok, but I decided to replace all four tyres with Continental Sports Contact 7, as the car was still wearing its part worn original tyres, at this time I also replaced the air filter. Another check of the Plus Six was undertaken four weeks before departure. We had a problem. The radiator was found to be leaking at a fair rate. This was the cars 3rd radiator. A swift telephone call that afternoon was made to Williams and an email sent to the factory explaining our situation. Both Williams and the factory responded first thing the next day, a new radiator assembly was dispatched to Williams by the factory for immediate fitment. Two days later the car was collected from us by Williams and two days after that we received a call to say that the radiator assembly had been fitted and the car was ready for collection. So a big big thank you to both Tony at Williams and John Bower at the MMC. Without this fast assistance we would most likely have missed our trip.
We spent a few days covering some miles in the UK to make sure the radiator was all ok, it took about 3 days for it to find its running levels in the expansion tanks, but after that the level did not move. A huge relief! (I strapped a bottle of Holts Rad-weld in the engine compartment as a “just in case get out of jail card” if the new radiator did decide to leak).

The ferry crossing went as planned, we even manged to park on the lower deck of the ferry. The morning arrival in Roscoff saw some low cloud about, but it soon cleared away and blue skies followed us for the next 20 days!
The first part of the drive South through Brittany went as planned, nice rural roads, but from Nantes onward we decided to use the two-lane motorways when we moved between scheduled stops, the main reason was to cover ground quickly, the standard roads are fine and in great condition, but France seems to have fully embraced the roundabout junction system and, in some areas, around small towns, I was just getting fed up driving between seemingly endless roundabouts. The Peage (toll) motorways worked well, they were not overcrowded, were mostly two lanes, you could still see the countryside and no issues through toll gates thanks to the transducer. Refuels on the motorways were more expensive but easy and refuelling stations seemed to be positioned a maximum of 50 Km between each other. Food stops in the services was less great, limited parking and most services were full even though the children were still at school and the Tour de France had not started.


The car worked almost perfectly during our tour, the BMW engine purred along on E10 95 octane averaging 40 to 45 mpg. . The only real hassle experienced in the tour was due to high heat levels, for 3 days it was 38 degrees in the shade, this forced us to run with the top up and aircon on for those days. When I finally tried to lower the top, the front rubber windscreen seal had semi melted to the wind screens metal surround. The front cowls Morgan badge also came out worse for wear in the heat and changed colour from Blue to Cream.. Lastly the after market 3D printed shade for the SatNav deformed! and the passenger’s side screen inner leather finisher came loose along its top.

I bottomed the car out six times, mainly on unseen metal work in the middle of entrance gates, no major damage was done, just some exhaust scrapes. Our Plus Six has the SSL touring suspension upgrade with good ground clearance and we still hit.

We wanted to see mainly rural areas of France, plus to drive the Pyrenees high passes. We did all this and had a fantastic time in the process. I loved the extensive forests South of Bordeaux, but the best rural regions for me were the Haute Garonne and around Carcassonne, plus the Auvergne Massive region in central France.. I would happily live in both of these areas. The drive over the Millau bridge was something. The engineering and design is outstanding, only beaten by the nearby Tarn river Gorge, 45+ Km of some of the most outstanding natural beauty I have seen in France, the internet says it’s the longest and deepest gorge in Europe. Its also a good drive following the river.

The people we met were lovely, the car was much admired and the word “Magnifique” used over and over. While we were driving in the Haute Garrone region, I made a wrong turn, so I pulled in to check the map. Coming from the other direction came a cream Plus 4, whose driver pulled in, jumped out, crossed the road and in a mix of excitable English and French explained how overjoyed he was to see another Morgan. He was such a nice person and so enthusiastic. We never did get names or even a photo, but I will never forget that meeting of a total stranger in his Morgan.


Would I undertake another tour of France. Absolutely. Next year!!..



Observations.
1. If two are travelling together, then two small bags on the rear rack are a lot easier to lift on and off and in and out of rooms than one big bag, more so if you have lots of stop overs.
2. If the weather is most likely to be hot, book stop over destinations with a pool.
3. If you book an apartment with a washing machine, always check that it’s got an iron! (this input from my wife).
4. If you are over 6ft in height, always check the lengths of bed where you stay.
5. Nearly all refuel stations have pumps where you pay with a credit card. If you can’t understand French pump instructions, there is either a choice of country language on a touch screen, or the pump switches to English when you enter your bank card. UK Debit and Credit cards worked fine.
6. Most supermarkets have 24/7 fuel stations, you can locate these using Google Earth and even list the coordinate for your sat nav.
7. The roads top speed limit seems to be the desired minimum travelling speed by French road users.
8. We always tried to speak French, but a lot of folk asked if they could speak back to us in English. Guess I need to attend some French language lessons.
9. The ideal stop over period seems to be 3 to 4 days to briefly check an area. Two-day stops are not long enough. One-night stops are only useful to quickly cover distance.
10. Everyone seemed to love the Morgan, at every stop we were approached and asked about the car. Motorcyclists would pass and give a thumbs up or stick a leg out in approval. Car occupants waved or beeped when passing and even truck drivers would sometimes give a wave.
11. The ring bound Michelin “ Atlas routier et Touristique” at a scale of 1/250 000 – 1CM = 2.5 Km with plasticated pages, was found to be by far the best road map. Its not cheap, but is clearly laid out. We purchased ours in France in a Carrefour supermarket.
12. The Emovis / Sanef transponder tag for the toll motorway sections worked superbly. Three weeks’ worth of tolls worked out at just under £200 including purchase of the transponder and set up fee etc.
13. The high pass roads in the Pyrenees have lots of MAMIL’s (Middle Aged Men In Lycra) on their bikes, so some patience required when overtaking.
14. The chambre d’hotes stop overs were all very good, the ones we booked supplied food, which again was superb. We think we would use more of these in our next touring adventure in France.
15. Supermarkets (and a lot of shops) are closed on a Sunday afternoon.


Approaching the Pyrenees from Lourdes


Top of the Col du Tourmalet Pass in the Pyrenees 2125 metres


Driving down the lower section of the Col du Soutor .. using the road..


Out exploring- having a rest


Some of the Haute Garonne region.


Cross country toward Carcassonne


View of the Millau bridge from Chateau de Creissels, 7 spans but only 4 in shot.


Entrance to the Tarn river gorge, photo taken from the Millau bridge observation area.


Just into the Tarn gorge..


In the forest just outside Ambert in the Auvergne Massif region.



dave

Sounds like a great trip Dave and glad the Mog behaved itself after surgery. Were hoping to do something similar in september the route info and pointers are well worth a look at. Em

Great write up and pics Dave, brings back many happy memories of past French adventures, Thanks...

Thank you for sharing. Sounds like a great trip.

Sounds a fabulous trip Dave, glad it worked out as planned. I'm looking forward to a trip to Northern Spain and Portugal with a mate in our Aeros along with our respective speed limiters () in mid September.

Great post. I love that part of Europe

Visited Brittany in the Motorhome last month also via the Plymouth Roscoff route. They do love their roundabouts in those parts.

The local villages have formidable traffic calming measures with large bumps - remember thinking they weren’t designed with Morgans in mind.

Great write up Dave.....

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In June we had a. sublime trip through France too! See the outline on our "badge". It was the third year with a group of Morgan friends, 4 Morgans, 3 CX's and one 42 years old Plus8. We had a really beautiful time, enthusiastic French people, and learning from earlier experiences, we now did build in some longer stays of 2-3 nights, even in a chateau for our own use! No technical issues, only 2 CX Morgans, including ours, some soft top related issues, already sorted out for me (2 Tenax snapped despite adequate and careful following the procedures, hopefully the new ones will hold🤞🤞). The PlusSix rear rail departed from its catches, now temporarily glued in but waiting for a new replacement. Luckily the weather was fine, one day of rain during the beginning. So no effect on our fun and joy! My PlusSix only bottomed out one time one a dreadful little road, the Nitron upgrade with also a bit more clearance at the back was a huge improvement. The tolbadges were very handy, we enjoyed France, the Morgans and each others company!

Indeed a sublime trip it was, Ruut. Thanks for posting this, as it brings back good memories, no one can take those away, so we are contemplating already what new Morgan experiences we can add.