Jersey MG Owners Club

JMGOC Trip to Josselyn

The letter in August edition of the magazine from Bob and Liz Bush, recounting their tour around Brittany, and in particular meeting the Jersey MG Owners Club at Josselin has prompted me to write on behalf of the Jersey Club, that we were equally surprised to see their M.G. in the Hotel car park and were pleased to meet them and invite them to join our group for the evening. A common interest in M.Gs is always the catalist to make good and lasting friends and we hope that one day they will visit us at our annual rally here in Jersey.

Living on an Island, where our drives are usually circular, the chance to get off the Island and do some serious long distance driving holds a great attraction and as France is our near neighbour, a short ferry trip is all that separates us. To experience the bliss of getting off the beaten track, to drive along those quiet but well maintained C and D roads passing through those "Marie Celeste" villages, wonderfully well kept but seemingly deserted, is wonderful in this otherwise busy world.

The French love tradition, no less so old and classic cars and people waving and lorry drivers sounding their horns at the sight of our M.G.s made us feel very welcome as we passed by. When parked, we always make a point of being together in a line with our Club banner and it always presents a magnificent sight, always attracting a crowd of people.

Our Club has at least one trip to France each year, an event which is organised by our joint Secretary, John Such, which becoming more popular with our members as word gets around. This year we chose picturesque Josselin as our centre for our daily expeditions with seven cars taking part. Four Roadsters, two TFs. and a mint condition 40th anniversary mini, the latter car being a stand in for a MGF which had electrical trouble at the last minute.

The weather was kind to us and tops were down as we followed the lead car on the run down from St. Malo. A stop was made for lunch at Dinan Airport where we took the opportunity of a photoshoot with a backdrop of one of the local aircraft. Unfortunately, the Lancaster couldn't make it so we had to make do with a solitary M/S Rallie (A French sports aircraft to you and me). After lunch, the cars set off for the remainder of the journey where we arrived and checked into the Hotel du Chateau, which was to be our base for the few days that we were there.

Here I must give the Hotel a plug. The Hotel is situated just across the river from the Chateau and is in a perfect setting and convenient for the town. Well used to the Brits, the owners Mons. and Mme.Bonimeux made us most welcome and with the half board arrangement that we had, the food was excellent. It has a good car park, which is one of the first considerations any M.G. Owner on tour has.

There were many highights of the trip, one being the motor museum at Loheac. Naturally the emphasis is on French cars but many nations are represented and all are superbly presented. There are a sprinkling of British cars but as far as we could see, no M.Gs which in view of the marques importance in British motoring, was puzzling. Be warned! The great French lunchtime shut down is alive and well. Staggered lunch hours are not practised at the Museum and it closes for lunch, at whatever stage of the exhibition you are at.

On one of the days we set of in convoy to visit the market at Vannes, but the difficulties of keeping together in big conurbations became all apparent and for a time we found ourselves separated and going around in circles. After a frustrating time trying to find each other, the essential boon to mankind, the mobile phone then solved the problem and we were all able to meet up, to spend a very pleasant few hours in that lovely town before leaving to return to Josselin.

The charm of Brittany is its scenery and well restored old buildings is well known and on the return from Vannes we detoured to Rochfort en Terre, a town famouse for its old world charm and floral displays. IN the Summer sunshine, both were looking their best and we were not disappointed.

Our Sat Nav served us well and in the main, directed us to the places that we more or less wanted to be at. That said, it did take us down a forest track on one occasion, to the surprise of a Frenchman taking his dog for a walk, when all seven cars appeared and tried to follow him.

All too soon the trip was over, we said goodbye to Josselin and made our way back to the ferry at St. Malo and back again to the prospect of driving in circles again on our special Island.

Peter Winn and John Such

Jersey Festival of Motoring
Review to follow, here are the MGOC cars on the track!