There are roads in France -- and wish I had know this 30 years ago when I first started driving over here -- that no sane person should ever travel upon. The GPS, if you're not careful, will steer you onto one of these and suddenly you and the car are on a one-lane thing with a cliff-face on one side, several thousand of feet of air on the other and a foot-high stone gesture separating you from eternity. It's at the point when my wife usually says, "Here, let me drive it" -- and immediately stop and I let her.
7
If I remember correctly, Curt Henderson (played by Richard Dreyfus) drove a 2CV in "American Graffiti." The ultimate loser car for a young man in 1960s California.
1
In 1966 my girlfriend & I traveled through Europe in a leased Simca. One day, while crossing the Swiss Alps, we & about 20 other cars, found ourselves behind a Citroen like the one featured in this article. When we got to Paris, we told this story at the breakfast table in our pension & a couple at the breakfast table said that they were driving that car. What memories! What a car!
2
Wonderful and thought provoking article. I enlisted in the USAF in 1954. Was stationed at Bordeaux Marignac in "57". Owned a 46 or 47 VW. Split rear window, Marx Nicks turn indicators and with an engine air temp indicator. Trip to San Sebastian. Behind a CV2. Two lane road. CV2 driver observed a German Beetle behind and speeded up. Finally caught the CV2. My engine air temp is in the red. CV2 driver recognized my CF license plate and centered the CV2 in the road. Race over. CF license plates indicated US armed forces. Now 83 and able to visit France yearly with a new knee and hip. Will not visit any other country. French experiences are making life complete.
6
France continues turn my stomach. Thanks for the encouragement.
What a delightful story! That is my most favorite car. I have a wonderful memory of seeing one (somewhere in western France), going sedately down the road with two elderly gentlemen wearing berets. Sigh.
1
Citroën originally designed the 2CV to be usable by farmers as well as town folks, which helps explain its height off the ground as well as the removable back seats (more than once, when living in France half a century ago, I saw pigs or sheep riding there). I hope they could stand the terrible springing better than most humans, for whom a backseat ride of any distance in a 2CV was a trial. These days, you can often see large groups of the cars on the road (rarely on the superhighways) going to weekly rallies held throughout western Europe by dedicated aficionados.
6
I’m not sure if this will work, but anyone whose curiosity was piqued by the reference to “old print advertisements for the car” that showed people removing the bench seats and using them for picnics might enjoy this photograph:
https://images.app.goo.gl/f4B8fMatt5JDQUW58
It appears to be just a photo, not a print advertisement (and frankly I feel that, if the Times was going to refer to the old print advertisements, they should have provided a link to one), but it’s the closest thing I could find.
9
Sometime ago, I participated in a house and car exchange--the car was a Citroen 2CV. I drove it for 4 months because I had no choice. I can testify unequivocally that it was uncomfortable, underpowered, and unsafe. It lacked the enginer power to climb even the most modest hill. (Trust me: I was driving around East Anglia which is completely flat.) It often refused to start and the engine flooded. It stalled frequently in rain storms and windshield wipers were completely ineffective. I should add that the car was almost new with only a few thousand kilometers on the clock. False nostalgia for mythical olden days can't put lipstick on this automotive pig.
4
A book that can take you to the many remote places and forgotten practices through France is Graham Robb's The Discovery France. Mr. Robb, an accomplished biographer, bicycled throughout the country over many years and wrote to tell us many fabulous tales like apprenticed children who travelled in baskets underneath carriages or odd sheepherding practices in southwestern France.
5
What a lovely article. Perhaps it will begin the ‘’slow travel’’ movement with people tired of the ‘rat race’ will decide to give up the convenience of air conditioned cars with GPS and take to the backroads with a 2CV, map and an attitude of, ‘let’s just see what happens’. More articles like this please.
20
@Kwip
Seconded! More articles like this, please.
I wonder how much pollution that car created due to this trip.
these places are beautiful write a piece on pak destination
@NISA Why don't you write?
‘’A jaw-dropping 34-mile ridgeline route that was used by the troops of Louis XIV to suppress the bloody protestant revolt known as the War of the Camisards (by far the most famous thing that’s ever happened in the Cévennes) “
What about the Beast of Gévaudan!?
1
Photo caption: " The writer and his wife along the Corniche des Cévennes. The car also lacked GPS ". Really ! that will kill the whole trip.
1
@Dean But they didn't forget to bring their photographer!
6
It looks like fun. It would be nice if the NYT published a map along with the article, at least for the on-line post if not for,the print edition.
6
What a fine and entertaining article with gorgeous photos - but why not include a detailed map to be able to follow the trip route and track the points of interest? Am I the only one who enjoys reading maps?
24
Very entertaining, but I wish the names of the hotels were mentioned.
5
Always read such a charming travel article with ambivalence, knowing that the depicted journey will now become more popular--possibly overrun--with readers.
Not sure that French automotive engineering has entirely lost its character: Last trip we had a new rental for our drive in the Massif Central. En route south from Paris on Bastille Day, we stopped at roadside cafe for a citron presse. Returning to the car, the clutch refused to engage. Visions of trying to secure a mechanic in the US on July 4! But after calling the helpline, a guy appeared two lemonades later. Remarking "oh, this happens," he popped some plastic transmission-related piece back into place with his BARE HANDS.
Just a few hours later on a dirt farm road, the anti-lock brake cable detached and began dragging behind us like a tail. The design "engineer" had it attached to the car bottom with zip ties. Just detached it, put it in the trunk and drove the remainder of our trip without the anti-lock feature.
You don't have to rent a 2CV to have an authentic French road trip.
5
We did a month long trip in a leased deux chevaux 30 years ago. Granted the car was new at the time but it performed just fine. You learn tricks like parking on a hill do that you can start it by popping the clutch. Also backing up steep mountain passes in the Alps. What fun!
5
What a coincidence! My husband and I traveled in a 2CV earlier this year when we got married in Occitane. Thank you for the wonderful article. We enjoyed comparing cars and thinking about the experiences people must have enjoyed traveling with this car in earlier decades.
3
In 1985, my first trip to Europe was a month long rental of a 2CV, a Deux Chevaux. It was a fun ramble around France and Spain. The car was it's own character. The hiccup at the time was the French license plates identified us as tourists and as we pulled into towns in Spain we were easy marks for thieves who could just roll back the roof and rummage through our meager belongings.
5
I'm a lucky guy, living near "Les Cévennes" and wading relentlessly through the rivers fly fishing the wild and wise trouts you may catch there. Tarn, Dourbie, Lot, Vis, all theses rivers are born in the Cevennes , with crystal clear waters and running through breathtaking sceneries. I'm a lucky guy riding an old 2cv I own from 35 years which most of times is in a good mood!
18
My 2CV could start the car with a crank, inserted through the front bumper. Indeed , that is what I did when living as an impecunious student in France when the battery, finally died for good. To poor to buy a new battery , I hand crank started the car from then on
The only problem was that when the engine died while waiting in a queue in front of a red light, you had to remember to leave enough space in front of the car to be able to insert it.
19
There's no need to choose a ridiculous, noisy, disruptive, zero-to-sixty in never-never-land car to enjoy any view. It's just distracting. With a normal car you wouldn't be writing about the car, you'd be writing exclusively about the places you're visiting..
12
@globalnomad
But wasn't that the point? It was a lovely article.
10
I learned to drive in a 2CV. The thing confounded me as it was so weird to push and pull a lever in and out of the dash to change gears. But the impotence of the engine was legendary so I bought, in 1971, a 1967 Mini Morris which was wildly more powerful (he,he). Must say, almost half a decade later, although I love the beauty of the countryside and the house pictured, I much prefer a new car and a hotel not too far from a good hospital. And by the way, a 2CV with 4 occupants and some luggage would never make it up the mountain but the nostalgia, ah, mon Dieu!
19
@Baboulas Sorry, I meant to say half a century later...
Sounds like more fun than a game of Mille Bornes!
4
Of course, there are still millions of 2CVs everywhere, and the big futuristic sedans too. Find us at car shows, on line, at Bastille day (last weekend) in NYC, and really, worldwide. I think the rental cost this couple paid might have actually bought a decent example, but nevertheless, an astonishing engineering tour-de-force right up there with the Model T. Mine is the camionette, or truckette, from the ‘50s with less than half the engine power of the one they drove, but it is a hemi, has inboard brakes, lift out seats for picnics, less than 50 mpg because of the boxy shape, and can carry it’s own weight. There’s no distributor needed, no fanbelt, no radiator, and the speedometer cable runs the wipers. Known for astonishing roadholding on nasty surfaces. Scary, slow? Sure, but so is a bicycle, the very best way to travel beyond hiking.
The functional approach to design shown by the 2CV could translate into a sub-million-dollar lunar excursion if we still understood engineering synergy.
17
Two for the road.
6
I always wonder on these photojournalistic articles: where did the photographer, Gabrielle Voinot, ride? Did she bring her own car? Did she occupy the back seat? Did she do anything beside taking pictures (i.e., did she help, transport the others into town, etc.)?
35
Ahh....the 2CV. I remember when I first saw one back in the '60's. My Dad told me all about it. Classic complicity ought not be posited... He'd seen them throughout Central Africa a few years after WWII when he was the sales rep for Caterpillar. He said it was so light you could pick which ever end was needed to change a tire.
5
Your story brought back memories. In 1969, my then husband and I moved to Southern France -- Cotes de Provence -- as part of a University of Illinois year abroad architectural study program. A French family friend recommended the Citroen. We found a 1951 van--really a Quonset hut on wheels. We tied trousers over the hood to moderate the air cooled engine. Bungee cords held the windows open. Yes the bench seat was removable. On road trips throughout Germany, Italy, and Southern France, we camped in the van, sleeping in the back. It definitely wasn't a safe car, but we loved it. When we returned to the states in 1970, we sold the car for about what we'd paid for it. Great adventures!
10
Great article....I had friends in the north of Germany who drove one of these from Hamburg to Turkey, Israel, upper Egypt and back.
7
"mint green"?
Ever seen mint?
There's likely some growing next to the pond in the first photo.
Mint leaves are about the colour of basil leaves, now the leaves are a lighter hue on the underside.
But the car isn't claimed to be the colour of the underside of mint leaves.
Also, fine drive the car in France for fun, but who in his/her right mind would drive it across mountains?
Submitted July 15th 2:34 PM eastern
2
Why knit pick about the color of the car? I found the article a delight to read and enjoyed the author’s recapping of their journey.
And btw, the car is in fact a color that is commonly referred to as mint green so maybe check your color charts before you take a such a literal view on color nomenclature.
28
@Yaj The color of mint with a bit of cream.
Where is your imagination, your poetic instinct? It’s an awesome bit of travel writing with a bit of the absurd -otherwise known as perfect.
5
The Cevennes area is magical. Citroen cars can be, too. The hydraulic suspension of a fancier model than the Deux Chevaux saved President DeGaulle's life.
6
I was so excited to see this article and the photos. This strange, austere, beautiful region has many happy memories for me. The solitude and the purity of the land is intoxicating. You can hike all day around the Mont Lozère and only cross paths with five or six people at most. The area close to Genolhac is the least populated canton in the least populated département in the country. A fabulous vacation spot for city slickers needing quiet, clean air and no wifi or even a phone signal!
Please, if you go, respect the countryside and don't litter or make a lot of noise... Thanks NYT for another fabulous article.
30
Being a "car guy" and having a great love for France and the 2CV, I loved your story. For all of the trips my wife and I make to France, the Chemin de Stevenson is an area we have never explored. Your story inspires us to look at this trip!
12
What a wonderful article, beautifully written and illustrated.
There is only one car more 'French' than the Citroen Deux Chevaux, and it is the Citroen DS, a car so quintessentially French it even looks like Charles de Gaulle.
And while it is Italian-made, there is always the VELLAM Isetta, a car so tres cute it even upstaged Audrey Hepburn in 'Funny Face'.
Oh, how I love those tiny European cars. I only wish they'd issue revival reproductions here in the U.S., the way Chrysler did with the PT Cruiser and Mazda did with the Miata back in the 1980's. Are you listening, automakers?
22
@David Bartlett
I don't know. Citroën Traction Avant was quite a standout as well. Saw lot's of those when I was a kid in Brazil.
5
@David Bartlett It appears plans have been shelved, but here is what it might have looked like:
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/4084/citroens-2cv-is-back-pictures
@David Bartlett, there were rumors of a new “retro” 2CV a while back. Looks like it never happened, but there is a picture of what it could have been here:
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/28782/citroens-2cv-back
Just coincidentally I just finished reading Robert Louis Stevenson's account of his journey through the Cevennes. I am not a regular reader of his but enjoyed the book and also enjoyed the current account in this story.
I share many opinions stated here that is it a soothing break from the daily news. Thank you to the author for sharing his experience.
10
It's a very fun car. I used to drive my best friend's between Caen and Cabourg for a night out. Good times. Must be exhausting on a long trip though!
5
I did something like this trip in my Renault 4 right after I bought it in Paris, with about a decade on it, for $200 on auction in 1971. It was called a "4" because of its 4CV motor: twice as big as that in a Citroën 2CV, still very small, but making the car quicker -- everything is relative .... Bear in mind that the Citroën 2CV helped save France at the end of the war. Gas was expensive, but this car consumed almost none. Farmers pulled out its back seat to carry supplies or crops.
My old Renault 4 was relatively reliable, and the only breakdown had a happy ending. On another trip south the following fall, I entered the Corbières, only to have my windshield wipers stop in sudden rain; a village mechanic took an hour or so to fix them, and I passed the night in these foothills. The next day, at their crest, the panorama of the Pyrenees was spread out before me: gold, with fall leaves at the bottom; green, with pine forests higher up; white on top.
6
The author's account reminds me that travel can be, is actually, what we, the travelers make of it. My wife and I haven't the resources to retrace his footsteps (or tire tracks). But long ago adopted something like his approach. If at all possible, we avoid 4 lane and larger highways, sticking to two lanes in the vein of William Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highways."
The car we take is more modern, but still somewhat eccentric and we have found that the real joys in the experience are found in the people and the circumstances we encounter on the journey. Whether it's the jocular owners of a soul food restaurant in Alexandria La, or a fascinating local resident in Marathon, Tx - the people are the soul of the trip.
14
What a fun read Dave. Enjoyed it thoroughly and I should have listened to your advice and NOT gone to Provence this spring. It was lovely but very Rhinebeck NY
3
My faithful yellow 2CV now sits demurely outside my house in Los Angeles, permanently covered up and no longer drivable. But it served me well for over 25 years, a veritable little engine that could, bravely negotiating the hills all over Southern California. Not that I didn't have my share of scary moments. I learned the hard way never to trust the hand brake and to make sure that the battery was securely connected to the engine. Also, people's comments were half the fun, like the guy who wanted to know how I managed to move the engine from the back to the front of my "VW bug." I'll go out and scratch it behind the headlights. A beloved old car deserves decent palliative care.
16
It's all about the journey; and this excellent writing exemplifies that, transporting us there.
Nicely done and visualized for the rest of us! ... Only to be improved with a glimpse under the hood of the 2CV; to peer at the mechanical workings connected to the ratchet-rod shift and classic dials inside, the clankety, and the metal machinery under a flimsy hood would have added some more texture.
5
Years ago we stayed at a friends apartment in Montpellier. They left their old Citroen 2CV for us to use. Quite an adventure. We didn't get far out of town and decided discretion is the better part of valour, managed to drive the car back, parked it, and walked to a nice restaurant for dinner.
8
Thank you so much for this article. It brought back so many memories to me. In 1973/74, when I was 16 & 17 years old, I attended Le College Cevenol in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, somewhat north of where you were. Le Massif Central, of which the Cevennes are a part, is so ancient, rural, wild, and wonderful. In my day, there were still farmers with ox-drawn carts. I'm not sure how they made a living given how small the farms and how poor the soil. Once, with a friend, I hiked cross-country from Chambon to Mt. Mezenc, the tallest mountain in the province of Haute Loire. Another time, a group of friends and I camped by a ruined castle tower near a 100-foot waterfall. I cross-country skied in the winter. In better weather, I ran on the trails through the forests and on the one-lane rural roads. I endured the fog and cold rain of late fall and early spring. I walked into town on market days, stopping at the PTT to buy "aerogrammes" for letters home. And yes, there were Deux Cheveaux everywhere. Also tiny Renaults. Of course, for many, the only form of motorized transportation were velo-moteurs, small motorized two-stroke bicycles. I loved the way the Deux Cheveaux would bounce along the bumpy roads, given their air suspension system. Really they were tin cans on wheels. I hate to think of how many Frenchman died in car crashes with anything more substantial -- a truck or a tree or a French mileage marker. Again, thanks for the memories.
9
A yummy photograph, beautiful setting, no, no, DOUBLE-yummy!
2
I am amazed how the 2CV car looks more fancy than what I saw when I was stationed with the U.S. Army in France during the early 1960s. I remember it could be purchased for about $800. However these cars were not allowed on the Army base because they were not considered safe.
1
As someone who put many miles on a 2CV in the 60's and 70's I enjoyed very much the story of your voyage.
Just an FYI, although a overheated coil meant the car would not start under any conditions, it did come with a manual crank so one could start the engine in case of a battery or starter motor failure.
I found out about it one day in Antibes when I watched an old man do exactly that with his own 2CV. I was told by the waiter that this gentleman had never used the electrical starter in the entire life of the car.
8
Why anyone would be nostalgic for a Deux Chevaux is beyond me. I had enough miserable rides in them in the 1970s to never want to get in one again. Trying to drive around the Cevennes, a beautiful, rustic, mountainous region, is akin to doing a leg of the Tour de France on a Schwinn stingray.
Maybe for your next trip, you should try crossing the American West in a covered wagon.
10
The article wasn’t long enough, when I suddenly realized the journey was ending I felt sad as if I had been a fourth member and once again leaving France behind. “Travels with Charlie” by John Steinbeck is a similar masterpiece.
8
I dont want to be reac or whatever but these regions of France is lovely because there is no tourism and no tourists. Im French, live in France in a small village and sorry but I'd like to keep my tranquility. And I dont want the "France profonde" to be like Paris whith overcrowded tourists. Tourists denatures places just by be there. So please, continue to visit Eiffel Tower and Versailles and let French people who dont want their country museumified, alone.
8
Thanks, I’m going to read Stevenson’s story now, I’m always looking for something to read and always find myself at a loss when trying to find something.
1
That old Citroen is a car that forces you to actually drive instead of allowing you to mindlessly use your phone or fiddle with the radio. Now that even “manual transmission” cars have tore gone the clutch pedal, driving a car has even further distanced you from the world.
Ditch the phone, the GPS and the auto everything and drive! Better yet ditch the car and travel by motorcycle and experience the world face to face.
5
Bjarne Sørensen
Copenhagen
Denmark
I drive a 2CV6 myself now, bought 12 years ago. It has never failed me. My wife and I has travelled in Germany, Belgium, Holland and o fcourse France several times without any problem. One has to learn how to drive it. In my yonger days I drove a 2CV4 (400ccm) also without any problem. I am 78 years now so the 2CV and I are going to retire. Now my wife and I only drive around at the westcoast of Denmark in narrow roads, especially at a little Island near the coast called Fanø(Fanoe) where we spend some time in a summer house.
11
Way back in the day a girl friend and I took a 2CV over the Alps to Rome so that she could see/receive the papal blessings at St. Peter's. After a safe, and really fun, round trip, I almost became a Believer.
2CVs forever...
6
I've always had a soft spot for the 2CV since seeing the crazy chase seen if "For Your Eyes Only".
2
My memory of the 2CV is as a 5-year old child, when an eccentric uncle took us on a 3-hour road trip to see a steam locomotive show in northern Italy. It was simply the worst automotive experience of my entire life. To this day I remember the vibration that shook the entire car above 50 mph, the unbearable noise and the feeling of sheer terror at being passed by large trucks while sitting in this tin-and-cloth bone shaker.
Do yourself a favor, if you want to enjoy the French countryside in a quaint vintage car do it in an old Alfa Spider, in an old Jaguar or if you don’t enjoy breaking down, do it in an old Mazda Miata (MX5 for Europeans). But unless you like deafness, chiropractors and new tooth fillings, for the love of God stay away from the 2CV!
5
Beautifully told story; great writing.
5
"A distinct smell of gasoline ..."
Not one word about the air pollution those cars emit. And gasoline counts as an air pollutant.
To see how awful old French cars are, watch Jacques Tati's 1953 classic film, "Monsieur Hulot's Holiday". The film clearly shows how hard it is to get them to start, how noisy they are, and how they emit clouds of exhaust.
In contrast, French bicycles are elegant. See Tati's "Jour de fête" (1949), which shows bicycles as swift, reliable (except for flat tires), flexible, and pollution-free.
3
@NLE - come on, bicycles are slow, hard work and impractical on a long holiday. What are you going to do about luggage? And is the average family really going to cycle up and down mountains for hundreds of miles?
Please be realistic. If you really want to show your green credentials on holiday, get a Tesla, or something like that.
3
the locals call anglophones 'Stevensons' not really as a term of endurement. also that car is a pollution machine.
3
Oh, this L - shaped gearstick....! Those were the days. My girl friend had a Renault 4, which featured the same exotic stick and a similarly small engine. But it was ours and we loved it for getting us to the Alpes and giving us this feeling of freedom and independence... Dear author, dear R4, thanks for the ride!
4
A most beautiful, informative article. Thank you for letting me step out of the USA if only for a few minutes. (So very tired of trump & company)
14
My daughter and I have just returned from hiking the Chemin Stevenson (all 170 miles). It was an amazing trip. I loved the comparison of the Citroen to Modestine but really, chuckling at the hikers? Every step of that hike (11 days) I was thankful we had elected to walk, like Stevenson and those hardy and personable randonneurs. Seeing the world through a windshield, even a charming old one, diminishes the world.
44
@Elizabeth Hanson
So true. I've just finished my last long walk (arthritis) and I'm in mourning. Next up a bike, but for me there is nothing to compare with seeing the world at walking pace.
And I used to own 2CV! Happy days.
5
@ML
Please do not give up. Find a really good personal trainer and add years to your walking. Wish you the best.
2
My husband and I purchased a new Citroen in 1966 when we married. Smoothest ride ever with its hydraulic suspension. But it was always breaking down and finding someone to repair it became a problem even in the San Francisco Bay Area. We eventually sold it. While raising our family we had nothing but used cars and I recall, not so fondly, of spending much of our summer travels waiting for repairs on cars with 100,000 miles. When the last child left home I went out and bought myself a brand new car and drove the length of California and Oregon with confidence and freedom.
9
@Peggy Wray
My mother did the same when my dad died. Finally bought herself a well earned brand new volvo wagon to schlep her beloved dogs.
She raised 7 kids in used cars and never complained or said she cared about what she drove.
1
As a child in the 1950s I admired the Deux Chevaux. Those early post-war models were all an austere grey. They looked to me like a car a 10-year-old could easily manage. In the 1970s I was delighted to drive a friend’s 2CV around Dorset on a trip to England. Today, I wish I had one to drive around my own small town. It lends itself to errands.
6
This is the new tourism, experiences like this are how we can connect in a world that while it ever gets more connected digitally, it gets more disconnected in every other sense.
A classic car is a way to return to essence, and choosing a place like the Cévennes aided in creating a calm environment.
I hope to hear more people choosing this way of getting to know France, and other countries.
The great road trip was an important symbol of the 1950s and 60s and it appears it might just become fashionable again!
6
I switch back and forth between two “daily drivers:” a ‘69 Saab 96 and a ‘71 Saab Sonett. I never know if even a local excursion will be trouble-free, but I do know that conversations, and an adventure, are just around every corner. Great way to stay connected, especially in retirement!
3
@Ed. Shorer My Saab 96 would often stop dead with vapor lock. On the other hand, I could buy body parts at a junk yard and bolt them on.
1
@Ed. Shorer
I seriously miss my 2000 Saab 9-3. Yes, a bit more comfy and with more bells and whistles than your two, but indeed still an adventure to drive. And fun.
Loved this story, as I frequently take road trips in my 1960 Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite.
But, I am curious as to whether photographer was following them around in a modern car? No offense intended but of so, it would appear that this journey was not nearly as intrepid as the author has made it out to be.
18
@Missed the Big Picture My thoughts exactly! The knowledge that a photographer appeared to be part of the article that was not acknowledged by the writer.
It made the experience a bit artificial unfortunately.
The problem as always is in the small derails!
5
Thanks McAninch for a charming story of your travels. The reference to RLS, the hiking couple with donkeys & dogs, and most of all the mist shrouded farmstead in that mountainous wonderland.
And I'll do my part to preserve the mystery & beauty by not going there!
8
Such fabulous countryside and so close, relatively. Thanks, I needed that!
3
Very much enjoyed this article and it made me reminisce about my own road trip through Auvergne region in France last year.
4
Well done! This was a delightful read and reminded me of a nine-month "relationship" my husband and I had in 1983 with the other vintage car mentioned here--a Renault 4--that we bought in Belgium and drove through Greece, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and the British Isles.
That car (after a CV joint repair in Avignon, shortly after we purchased it) got us through the flatlands just fine, but when we took it up a 12km one-lane and VERY hairy switchback to Bosco Gurin, a little village in the Alps, the car overheated several times and we had to stop to let it rest. We'd had to replace the cracked glass radiator bottle on-the-fly with an empty wine bottle, but made it up that road in our little Renault 4 with three people and our camping gear on the roof rack.
That was a stout little car and it punctuates every memory I have of that long, wonderful adventure. The radiator repair we had done in a village in Turkey is a whole other story...I never knew until then that one could use a coat hanger to spot-weld.
10
in the very early 1980s I visited a friend in Barcelona. He generously loaned me his car so I could be free to roam the enchanted city of Barcelona. His car was a Citroën, mirror image of the one pictured in the story.
I drove the clunky thing all over, trying not to get in the way of the pesky many cylinder card speeding by me. The most bewildering part was shifting the "The car’s L-shaped, push-pull gearstick" not something I was used to, at all.
Nevertheless, the little lemon took me all around the city, it allowed me to park in spaces ( half the car on the sidewalk, half on the street) no modern car would fit in. Those were the days!
Thanks for the 'drive' down memory lane!
4
As the former owner of a post-war DKW, (Deutsche Kraft Wagen) made by Audi and equipped with a 3-cylinder, two-stroke engine, I think the author's decision to make a trip in a mountainous region with a car of such a vintage was equal parts romanticism and insanity. As cute and attention-getting as these cars are, they tend to be temperamental and really not very safe to drive under less than perfect circumstances. I hope if he comes up with another similar hare-brained idea in the future, his wife insists on the spurned BMW.
2
@CW...True dat! I wouldn't drive around in one of those things without a bunch of spare parts and a hefty toolbox. Really tempting fate...oh, and a Haynes.
Question: So at no time did you stand on a perilous highway and give this French classic a stern talking to as obviously Stevenson did to Modestine?
This reminds me how in the old days when I could not call and blame the dealership, I did have intimate relationships with inanimate things when my life depended on it. No dealership can replicate the stubborn code of silence a motor can have when under stress or when feeling insulted by a road too steep or altitude too high.
Great piece. A much needed reminder of when things go well. Sigh.
6
What a wonderful story. I so needed and enjoyed reading this this morning. Thank You for forcing me to stop my hectic schedule and relive you experience through your words.
6
I know the NYT is not focused on tech coverage, but what a wonderful opportunity lost to give due credit to an engineering marvel. Instead of complaining about the lack of modern features in a car that hit the market in 1948 (and left it in the early 1990s), it could have taught us how this car was the first mass-produced one in France, like the 600 in Italy and the Beetle in Germany and the Ford T in the US. Unlike those, it was specially designed to fit in a rural environment, with a design goal to be able to carry undamaged eggs across a plowed field. Its energy efficiency was surprising and still unmatched for a Otto cycle engine: 61 miles on a gallon. The original design called for 95 mpg, but the cost of aluminum and other compromises necessary after WWII made that goal unattainable. It was nonetheless a smashing success which had a considerable impact on rural life in France.
87
@Azul Ferrière. Great comment. Citroen remarkably pursued the attainment of the two extremes in automotive design nearly at the same time: the most simple (2CV) and the most avant garde (the DS range) automotive designs. The 2CV was an inspired choice for this rural tour. One slight nitpick to Monsieur Ferriere's comment: the first mass-produced car in Italy was Dante Giacosa's Fiat 500--the Topolino--introduced in 1936. The 600 was a later model from the 1950s.
6
David, thank you for taking us along on tales of your journey. I loved the photo of the 2CV's interior and have now, several times, mentally gone through the gear shifts you would have been making.
I was in the southern Cevennes last year, in the Ganges area. It took me forever to realize that the town of Ganges is pronounced as a one syllable word, and not like the river in India.
4
Too much info about car troubles, inconvenience and weather. Not near enough photos or info about the joy and beauty of the region, where I have passed many many days. Too much me me me, not enough that that that.
16
Great writing! Thank you for sharing. A good reminder that it is the journey and not the destination.
7
Hello all.
I have a 30 year old 2CV sitting outside while I tinker with the imperfections.
It is a beautiful machine and brings smiles from pedestrians and other drivers, oddly enough very often 10 year old girls. They can't believe it moves.
And France is my favourite country in the world.
Lovely article.
23
I had a ride in a 2CV on a business trip in Ireland many years ago and remember the odd golf-putter-shaped shifting lever coming straight out of the dashboard.
Was the couple traveling by themselves? Was there a non-mentioned third figure riding safely in a comfortable vehicle behind or in front of the Citroen who could serve as a backup in case things did not work out? Who took the photos?
6
@tdb Gabrielle Voinot for The New York Times
1
Please say that the rumors are true that Citroen will be returning to the US to sell their cars. Even though wonders like the 2CV, Traction Avant and sublime DS are no longer made, they still make cars with a panache that no other car sold here has.
How about more articles in this series: Scotland in an MG; or the Loire Valley in a DS?
8
There is a constant in Western Civilization. If there is a way for the French get crosswise to the world around them, the French will seize on it.
I drove a 2CV back in the day. Key word here is "drove," not "owned." Right off, I found the 2CV to be a wretched piece of engineering. Not to mention being one of the ugliest cars of all time. Driving a 2CV was sure way to get attention, particularly endless ridicule from my friends, including long after the fact.
The gear shift pattern of the 2CV alone speaks volumes about the French mindset. in the 2CV, the French brought down the pattern of a manual steering column shift to the floor when a far better and and faster shifting pattern had been developed and become standard.
Amazing.
4
@no Time flat, totally disagree. This is a beautiful car.
9
@No Time Flat. Actually, the 2CV's design was rational, using as few parts as possible. That is a hallmark of great engineering. But the crowning genius of the 2CV is its ride quality. It was the equal of large luxury cars. No other small car could approach it.
8
Lovely scenery and a fun read. How much of a jam could the writer have been in with the wonky Citron since based on the photos, there was clearly a separate vehicle along side with a photography crew?
4
love the beautiful photos and whimsical car story
5
@Jerry
Funny, you saw whimsy and I thought the “car story”
was stressful. I like your positive thinking!
Lovely article - 2CVs always seem to be animate objects and are usually named (said as a keen observer of several owners = I've never had the courage).
3
We got engaged after driving around in a 2CV... a magical moment, a magical car!
7
How did the photographer, Gabrielle Voinot, manage to accompany the author and his wife throughout the journey? Was she a passenger in the Citroën's back seat, or did she follow in her own car? And if she did, couldn't she have given them a lift back to Lyon?
22
@Ortrud Radbod I'll guess Mme Voinot is a freelance French woman who possibly lived locally (who maybe got them to the bus).
This is a fantastic region of France. There's a lot to do, prices are very good, and because it is not a known tourist destination, you almost never hear English. We took our kids there twice and it is one of their favorite vacation memories in our home country.
9
The car is very cute, fun and a conversation starter, but most old cars like this spew thousands of times the levels of air pollutants that a new car does. Folks wanting to take extended road trips in these types of vehicles might want to consider that.
7
@Hools
Thank you for bringing attention to how this car ride contributed to air pollution. We must insist on addressing how our behaviors contribute to the planet.
Cheers.
"... most old cars like this spew thousands of times the levels of air pollutants that a new car does."
That was my first thought when I saw the first photo. Thinking of clouds of deadly exhaust ruins the scenery in the photos.
Now, I want to visit this lovely place. New to me. But, I will either hike or rent a newer car.
Thanks for writing this.
3
My brother and I learned to drive in my grandmother's 2CV in Betz, France. We would take turns running it up and down her lawn and I can attest to the strangeness of the gear shifter, but it was so easy to drive...like a go-cart. Even better were the half-windows and roll-down top. My 90 yo grandmother (known to us as bonne mamman) would drive around town in it and actually physically get out of the car at stop signs to look left and right. I miss you Bonne Mamman...and your quirkly deux cheveaux. Such wonderful memories of my French heritage.
65
I am originally French but live now in NYC. My first car was a 2 CV and your article woke up excellent memories of that car. It was a you describe it: moody and you need some mechanical creativity to handle the car. I had an earlier version: wipes were manual and the (smelly) heating system was unneeded. During the summer, you just open the flip-up windows and the roof. Somebody walking really fast might overpass you but I learned to take the time to watch and enjoy landscape. Thank for reminding me these good old days. Christian
21
Ahhh, the 2CV. My Oxford landlady had one. Certainly more of an art form than an actual engineering effort. Driving one certainly was with its oddball “shifter” thingy and reliable unreliability. The 2CV was the inspiration for cartoonist Stan Mott’s iconic Cyclops 007, a love child of the 2CV and a wayward Fiat Cinquecento.
With a body seemingly fashioned from two stolen Cinzano signs and engine from a castoff Vespa the 2CV represented a meager post war step up from a bicycle. Nevertheless it’s eight feet of suspension travel could be expected to absorb most of the potholes in rural French and northern Italian “roads”. Vive la 2CV.
14
Lovely, lovely piece, Mr. McAninch!
5
I have always loved that car.
5
What a glorious trip, and the account is superb.Though I have never been to the Cevennes, this brought back fond memories. While living in France, my ex-husband drove his Deux Chevaux and me to distraction. I always found it an adventure riding in it; it felt like sitting in a sardine can. Thank you for the beautiful article and pictures!
5
"Cocorico! Monsieur Poulet", a 1974 Jean Rouch African road trip movie in a Deux Chevaux panel truck, celebrates the versatility of this vehicle, ubiquitous in post-colonial West Africa.
84 minutes into this 93 minute film, Monsieur Poulet, an itinerant African chicken merchant must cross a wide river, which he accomplishes by dismantling his vehicle and ferrying the pieces across the river in dug-out canoes. The vehicle body and frame, wrapped in a water proof tarpaulin is floated across. African ingenuity meets Deux Chevaux simplicity in this affectionate homage to France's car for the common man, produced from 1948 until 1990.
9
When I was a kid in the Chicago area my mother drove a 2CV. It never got the respect I thought it deserved, particularly in that era a gas-guzzling beasts. To this day I dream of finding one so I can drive a car that get more than 50 miles per gallon.
4
I have driven the deux cheveaux I loved it. I loved the article. I love France as well so I am partial.
5
as it happens, all roads lead to Nome. little roads; big roads; fat roads; thin roads; and roads scholars, too. in Nome the countryside predominates; the urban landscape is minimal, not to say flatulent. even the lichen are trying to move out into the suburbs, or get a place in the country where the shooting is good.
as it happens, I used to travel far from the open highways when I was a brine merchant. there were delicious vistas consisting of cream puff mountains, vermilion grass fires, sunsets at noon when the cows came home, and a smattering of lickerish wombats up in the trees near the summer home of Robert Louise Stevenson.
as it happens, my Citroen came down with the mumps one time so I had to hire a rickshaw with a sun roof. they don't come cheap, so I was under the gun to sell a lot of brine that month. luckily I came across a tribe of mummers who were being paid off in cucumbers -- they were glad enough to purchase all the brine I had. I gave them a little discount. why not? there's more to life than money and open highways. a guy can do a favor once in a while, can't he?
as it happens, the mummers fell on me while I was asleep and stripped me of my funds, my rickshaw, and my clothes. so I lay there bleeding and half dead until the police led me away to a misty tarn where wildflowers were sewn into my scalp. it hurt, but you should see the baby voles I nurture each spring.
2
A wonderful article! But why didn't they start by trying this out in, say, Brittany?
1
The car should not have had so much press. Additionally, for more impressive views, the writer should have gone to the Rockies, Colorado or Canada. The two hikers probably had a better view of the surroundings and really experienced it. Must say the article would not cause me to go.
1
@MollyMu
If you haven't been to France, and seen the beauty of the Cevennes, or the Tarn, or the Gorges de Verdon, you cannot compare the scenery.
Yes, the Rockies are beautiful as are Alaska and Canada. But to see an area that's been lived in for thousands of years and still holds onto its wildness is astonishing.
1
Great piece. Bravo.
5
The couple, their dogs and the donkeys on the Chemin de Stevenson picture made this story complete. Well now I am enticed. Well written.
8
I owned a 2cv when I lived in Darien CT. What a hoot. Absolutely every time I took it out at least one person I would pass would give me a thumbs up high sign. My car was a yellow/black "Charleston" model. I swear that car got more attention than a Ferrari. I wouldn't take it on I 95 though - never.
9
Why is the 2CV rear window electrically heated? So in winter, you can keep your hands warm when you push it.
9
We crossed the Cevennes by way of the Gorge du Tarn and Florac many years ago en famille. There was rain and cars had been swept into the gorge. The Cevennes was for a long time a refuge for the Huguenots (Protestants). There is French film La Collins aux Mille enfants
4
This was a fun article to read. I currently own a Charlston 2 CV and always keep an extra ignition coil in the trunk. Believe it or not, one from a Harley Davidson will work as well.
13
A wonderful article! But why didn't they start their 2CV trip in someplace less wild, say Brittany?
1
So many memories... the original Volkswagens, the Deux Chevaux, the post WWII days with the wonderful American cars of the 60's still alive in Havana (fins, colors, gas guzzlers, huge) -- an era when there were fewer people everywhere (almost 2/3rds fewer-- and we talked about birth control and racism and even solar energy and a awful war in a distant place-- so "interesting" - sad which conversations haven't changed. Cars without AC (homes without AC), that smelled of gas -- an improvement over a bicycle and train or a motorcycle if one were lucky. France has wonderful terrains (peppered with Romanesque churches and travelling solo I was ever so grateful for the Tomtom GPS which can be set to avoid super highways and route you via farm roads- cows on either side watching you go by or in one instance on a rainy night strolling across the road -- stop, turn off your lights and wait!) Far more people now, but so many adventure still await -- I did Montpellier (the Camargue-Aigues-Mortes) St. Guilhem-le Desert, to Albi (no highways -- gorgeous) to St. Foi in Conques, to St. Nectaire and Orcival and the Volcano Park (with the ruins of a Roman temple at the top accessed on a cog railroad), Clermont-Ferrand, Bourges (tied with Amiens for the most beautiful of the 13th C cathedrals), Paray-le Monial, Le Puy, the Vercors (ski mountains - do not honk). Beautiful varied landscape -- a somewhat rushed but extra-ordinary trip. Do it. Rent a car-even automatic, buy a Tomtom- GO.
7
It is amazing how much that photo looks like my home state of California. Even tot the Citroen!
1
This is a an endearing and touching piece. I'm familiar with both the car (a hoot to drive in the wet) and the landscape. Two minor points: Peugeot and Citroen are the same company, so your Citroen engineer was remaining loyal; bikers wear expensive fancy gear because falling off on these roads (something I'm also, alas, familiar with) is no fun at all! Thanks for the enjoyable read.
16
Yes, that region is seldom visited by American tourists. If you arrive from, say, Montpellier to the south, the largish town to begin your explorations of the Aveyron and the Tarn/Cevennes with is Millau. And since you'll thn be close, dont miss seeing the amazingly high and long Millau Viaduct/bridge.
7
2CV, no thanks.
These stories are the reason I pay for a subscription to the NYT
51
There is a company that provides a guided tour of Paris in a Deux Chevaux. I think that may be more my style-- even if not my speed.
2
Word of advice for those thinking of renting a Citroyen 2CV - DO NOT venture onto Germany's autobahn where the average speed seems to be 140 MPH (ahhhh!!!). Another problematic place - Swiss Alps...unless you intend on sliding backwards on the steeper parts, with that huge tour bus an inch from your bumper.
6
@JHarvey
I toured Europe in a 2cv and that included traversing the Swiss Alps. It was slow going but we chugged along. Wonderful, comfortable car with great memories, especially the gearshift! And it always went a little faster when the weather was humid.
Great article.
2
In the shift pattern, Reverse is located directly opposite 1st gear, as in classic American cars. This pattern facilitates a quick shift from Reverse to 1st and back again when trying to "rock" the car out of a mudhole.
7
My favorite part was that one time they crossed paths with the same color car, same model, and they both waved to each other. And the lip biting. Lot's of lip biting. Sometimes at night, I pray to God. Why is journalism dying God? My prayers haven't been answered. I'm also praying for this guy to get an editor.
5
The French film La Colline aux Mille enfants tells the story of Jewish children sheltered by Protestant congregations in the Cevennes during the Second war.
8
i hitchiked all over europe in 1969-1970. by far my favorite ride was a citroên!!
i just loved the "city horn" and the "country horn".
thanks for the memories.
5
To all the editors of the New York Times: Please, please, please provide small maps of where these exotic places are. I hate having to leave the page to Google the place. Geographical reference provides greater context and understanding of what the writers are telling us. Or trying to tell us. It is a ludicrous assumption that the writers and editors expect me to know the geographical location of the Causse Méjean.
30
The Citroen 2CV is a death trap waiting for a willing victim.
2
I really enjoyed your article and thank you for writing. Maybe another trip with Citroen DS or Porsche 356?
1
It would have been an interesting article if the writer had taken us on the steps of Stevenson. I'd have been curious to know the do's and don'ts of traveling with a donkey. Cant't NYT travel writers take climate change seriously, as the Guardian does in the UK and influence US travelers to explore locally rather than flying to France to rent an old car ? The times they are changing.
2
@Emilie
Oh really? Don't travel because of climate change? How small minded! How puritanical! There are more serious things to do about climate change than to make yourself ignorant of the world.
1
A few tips for those inclined to rent a 2CV:
- Never use the choke when restarting a warm engine; this faux pas will result in a flooded carb and lip-biting as described.
- Bring a spare ignition coil! Any French farmer old enough to remember François Mitterrand will know how to install it.
- Do not worry about pushing the engine too hard. It is nearly unbreakable. Learn to love its rattly song.
Bonne route!
43
I am sorry but you would have to be an idiot to rent a Deux Chevaux. They were a death trap when they were new and they will only have got worse with age. They used to say in France that if you look at a multiple accident at the bottom you will find a 2CV. Brakes, handling, steering and acceleration were a disgrace even then and the lack of driver protection renders them even more of a hazard today compared to modern cars
1
My first car was a 2CV IN RED. 51 years ago. Even after having moved to NYC I am still freaking of it. Your article has inspired me to go and do it again.
1
What a wonderful way to soothe my mind after reading the political news. Thank you for this wonderful journey and beautiful photographs.
106
Thanks. I needed this. Wonderfully written. Some very basic good news offering what was once normal and fun to think about.
I have always felt the Citroen 2CV was strange. I now seem to love it.
23
In the early sixties I first drove a 2CV with speedometer cable drive wipers. Once engaged, the wipers stopped at red lights and ran slower or faster depending on your speed.
9
I spent many a summer in France lollygagging as a child and teenager, and this is a lovely piece that brings back reminiscences. My aunt and uncle owned a 2CV. I admire the dreamy gumption of heading to the Cévennes in what might be the most unreliable, if most beloved, car.
35
Mon dieu! What a journey, and what a sweet story retold in artist’s strokes. I felt like I was along for the ride. As all good travel articles should do, it made me want to take that exact journey myself - except with a different ending with the car! So fun to read on a Monday morning. Thank you for sharing the story.
31
Thank you for the experience of your trip. The best vacations I ever had was a road trip through Nova Scotia 25 years ago with my husband.We "discovered" the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.When we drove home our trunk was weighed down with fossils.All the fossils decorate the gardens now. Your piece reminded me that we are overdue for a road trip through some wild beautiful place.
9
I have road trips like this all the time in my ever finicky 40 year old Fiat Spider, But I still love back road trips, last one being Baltimore to Saratoga Springs.
My ears are tuned into the cars mechanical sounds emanating from the motor, trans and rear end, and my eyes on the road and the gauges - - - oil pressure/water temp etc..
The trunk has some key spare parts and a decent tool roll. I've always gotten back home. No nav and a couple of paper maps in the glove box. Add a cooler with a picnic lunch in the tiny back seat and leave the modern conveniences behind! ( I do have a triple a card i must confess)
16
@J -
Ahhh, the memories.
I learned to drive manual-transmission cars in a Fiat Spider of about that vintage, a ‘72 perhaps. White.
Coincidentally, about the only place I ever drove stick shifts after that was France.
My first car was a 2CV. I fondly recall my years with it, including the racket it made to merely reach 100km. Against headwinds in Normandy, I never managed more than 60km, but tropical storm winds in the back once made me reach 120km, a rarity. Had to give it up when the service center said it would break in two if I’d get in an accident.
8
Lovely story. Brought to mind my travels in France in 1970 with my new wife. We were hitchhiking through the Loire valley. It seemed to us that the only drivers who picked us up were piloting 2CV's. We spent many miles curled in the tiny backseat trying to figure out a mutual language.
29
I loved this piece! Felt as if I were there. My friend owns a Citroen, in San Francisco. He will like this!
7
What a wonderful read accompanied by awe-inspiring pictures. It sounds like an interesting sight seeing/Citroën 2CV challenge.
4
Such an enjoyable article and lovely photos. It was a pleasure to read about a car with character, with its own quirks and personality; modern cars are bland and boring by comparison.
Thank you!
25
As an exchange student at Lycée Jean Charcot in St Servan 55 years ago I had many a ride in a 2cv. Several of the wealthier students owned them and it was perfect for hauling a few (or not so few) kids over to the beach after school, along with some blankets and maybe some snacks. One thing that sticks in the mind is the seemingly frequent jumping out and juggling something or other under the hood; more or less the equivalent of giving the donkey Modestine a carrot.
The other somewhat comparable vehicle at the time was the Renault 4cv, but the 4cv never had the flair, or panache of the sturdy little Citroen. It just wasn't as much fun. I mean, just driving 3 kilometers over to the Brasserie des Voyageurs in St Malo for a few beers was an adventure. The Wikipedia article likens the 2cv to the Model T Ford and I think that is a fair comparison.
5
We drove this car for six months in 1960.
It went over the alps,Italy France,holland,Switzerland. In belgium where we were for two months,the back seat was used for a couch in scenic spots by canals.
No problems ever. It was resold in Paris at the original purchase price because demand was high .
4
So delightful. Thank you. It made me chuckle and forget the news.
9
This is a fiftieth anniversary for me of a trip to France for which I had rented in advance a car with automatic transmission. Upon arrival at the Renault dealership in a lovely, sun-dappled suburb of Paris, my wife and I found that a strike was in progress, that we would be fortunate to get any car not likely a Ford with automatic transmission. My immediate fantasy was getting into the car of my dreams, the very car pictured in this article, the very color as well. But no, this was a Renault dealership and so, after hours of waiting and pleading we were given a Renault, a car with precisely the same gear shift configuration shown on this 2CV. A friend had miraculously appeared at the same facility, and he swore he could teach me how to use a manual transmission in just a few minutes of instruction time. I jerked and sputtered along at first and ultimately wore out a belt making ascents through the Alps, but we made it. The following year I amazed a French car salesman waiting to see my struggle with the car he gave me by easing into the driver's seat and peeling out of the lot with a blur of my right hand on that umbrella handle of a gear shifter. Vive la France!
30
Had to chuckle at a couple of items in the article, the engine's failure to turn over had nothing to do with being "flooded" and everything to do with battery connections and the car's electrical system and there are millions of cars out there "no GPS" and the owners/drivers get along quite well.
7
Charming car and a charming article. I once had a friend give me a lift in a 2CV; only two miles but I remember being astounded at how comfortable it was - especially compared to the torture of a previous journey in a VW Beetle.
5
A good story. And a memorable adventure.
6
One of my favorite cars ever and one of my favorite places ever! A great piece well written, my only problem with it is I didn't get to write it!
4
A wonderful story. Modern automotive travel has become so sterile, efficient and rapid that we often miss out on the sights and joys of the journey. I remember a 2,000 mile road trip with my family when I was a child in our Ford Country Squire station wagon. Staring out from the rear-facing seat in the “wayback,” I was able to take in every bit of the surroundings. When the wipers froze up during a severe snowstorm, my parents decided to make an unscheduled stop at a small motor inn. My three brothers and I shared a 2-bedroom room and had one of the most epic pillow fights of my entire life.
A trip by bike, motorcycle or vintage car gives you permission to get off the highway and experience the journey, not just the destination.
15
France has so many different geographical regions, it’s like a mini US: there’s the Camargue, the Alps, there’s the French Grand Canyon, the Verdon Gorge, caves, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic. A magnificent country.
36
This looks like a fabulous trip! Reminds me of my 1978 road trip across Poland to visit family in a rented Polski Fiat, missing all mirrors and no gearshift diagram. Nostalgic, but a bit nerve-racking: I doubt I would want to be driving in the wilds of Poland in a retro Polski Fiat today - at least there wouldn't be any USSR military hardware to pass on the country roads. Too bad they had to take the bus, but not surprising!
3
I enjoyed this story very much but, honestly, I wouldn't have left the car without driving it back to the owner….
8
What an enjoyable read, although I lament my lack of French would keep me from ever making this trip.
1
@emcee Here are two words that can be translated into any language and will propell you anywhere: bonjour and merci. Make the trip!
6
Thank you for the beautiful photographs and story. The NYT always offers aesthetic alternatives to the steady drum of unfortunate politics in our country.
25
Wonderful road trip strory! You were brave indeed! We have done a couple of road trips through the French countryside and can attest to your great impressions of the wonderful winding switchbacks of the French back country. Beautiful and wonderful indeed. We were a little less adventurous and had a big Mercedes Benz van instead since there 6 of us. Of course, we had no significant mechanical problems aside from a navigations system that seemed to be possessed by the accuracy of a drunken old man who also suffered from dementia and was consistently lost when we needed it most!
5
I was able to re-live our wonderful excursions in the Cevennes when we lived in France. Your article found me wanting more detail about the auberges and the food. Thanks
7
I can't describe how jealous I am. Congratulations on a great adventure.
2
What a fun story, subtitle, city folks hit the hills.
It didn't have GPS? The car was built before that existed. It didn't have a defroster, why would you think it would have GPS?
Be thankful it DID have brakes! I had an old Saab, which looks a lot like that Citroen. Brakes were always a question.
It also appears the roof didn't leak, which by itself has to be a miracle.
A good road trip needs some disaster to be remembered. You all will always have great "war stories" to tell and you got to write off the trip!
6
Delightful escape David.
But a word of caution from your experience “my arms ached from wrestling with the manual steering and the balky L-shaped gearstick ” - technology and ever more specialized tools to perform our daily tasks separate us from the bodily experience of living.
Driving a 2-chevaux (the original not the kit from Brazil) is a body and mind experience in being present in the moment, muscles properly stimulated and in control, and if an owner then able to understand how this simple mechanic works. In sum: being in control, engaged, actif.
10
Fantastic. Now this is how to write a travel article, bravo Mr. McAninch! I felt like I was in the back seat with the two of you in the car!
40
Charmingly written, I got more than one chuckle out of reading this story. And I’m so glad I did. I’ve needed a break from one after another hideous thing that Trump has said or done and so it was a refreshing break. I’ve travelled in France a fair amount myself, but never in the writer’s chosen region. Although I would not take a chance on the car he chose, I’m glad that he did as it made for a really good read!
24
A wonderful story about a beloved car in France , the Citröen 2CV.. Last October, we were in Portugal and had a chance to go from Sinatra out to the sea. Our French driver took us places on a half day drove over extremely rough, sharp rocks in order to see ocean vistas where no tour but would dare to go.
“It’s like a tan”, our driver said.since the car was part of a tour company, our driver told us the cars were very well maintained.
When we got back to our hotel in Lisbon, I posted some photos of that ancient little 2 CV and French friends gushed about learning to drive in one of those cars or going on a road trip kind of like yours.
3
Just wonderful. Did more or less same trip fruitlessly seeking my boyhood-reading haunts of the WW2 resistance Maquis. My conscience wouldn't allow us to abandon our old borrowed Renault 4 "Ronda" which also died at the end [battery] so we lost a day but in those days the airline on the phone simply advanced our tickets for an extra day gratis. Hemingway wrote of fishing in the clear streams of the area. Thanks for a most charming start of the day.
5
What a lovely piece. The photos of the 2CV brought back many happy memories, except that the 2CV of my memories was a much more basic car, painted military grey. The owner was my first boyfriend, and it was Paris, not the Cévennes. He used to repair the car with chewing gum and bobbie pins, or by kicking the bumper. I particularly loved the roll-up windows, which were a semi- transparent material (oilcloth?) which you would roll up into a canvas strap that fastened to the frame. It did make a lot of noises, but they were comforting noises. I achieved a top speed of 40 mph driving on the streets of Paris, which my boyfriend found shocking and très Americaine. Oh, we smoked Gauloises too, hanging them from our lower lip like Belmondo or Sartre.
18
I will always remember my first car. A 2CV 8 days after my 18th (legal age for driving license in France). At that time, it was offered gray...or gray. My father had it painted a bright orange!!! Probably to warn other drivers!. I even remember its licence tag!!! So many good memories. The flip window coming down hard on your elbow every time you braked, the feeling to be seated onto a swing in the garden.The shock absorbs being so soft!
41