4th "Esprit d'Aventure" - Jura region of France - 2023

[Chillidoggy]

The 4th Esprit d'Aventure is scheduled to take place from 14th - 17th September, 2023. This year it will be in the Jura/Doub region of eastern France, near the border with Switzerland. Shan and I had a great time at the 2021 event, and we're planning on going this year. Esprit owners came from all over Europe, and one even had his car shipped from Canada to be there.

If you are interested, e-mail the organiser, Hugues Bigot, at bigot.hugues@orange.fr for details. Numbers are usually limited to 20 Esprit's, and it's a popular event, so don't delay.

 

[Chillidoggy]

[Chillidoggy]

Registration is now open.

[Chillidoggy]

25 Esprit's are now registered for the event!

[Chillidoggy]

We're really looking forward to 3 days of Esprit-only driving in the beautiful Jura and Doubs regions, both cultural and automotive visits, superb French food, and seeing our French friends once again. An independent journalist will be shadowing the fleet, so we should have some excellent photos.

Final list of cars, a record turn-out of 27 Esprit's, and 10 of us Brits attending this time around, too!

S2.2 Grey

X180 Turbo HC red

X180 HC blue steel

X180 HC blue steel

S3 NA blue steel

S3 NA blue steel

Turbo HC 40th white

HCI Turbo red

S3 T HCI black

SE BRG

SE aubergine

SE white

SE white

SE white

SE aubergine

SE BRG

S4 yellow

S4 BRG

S4S green

S4S red

S4S BRG

GT3 red

V8 black/gold

V8 yellow (or S3 Turbo aubergine)

V8 blue

[Bazza 907]

At least one of those S3 NA Esprits is Glacier Blue not blue steel 😀

[Sparky]

[Escape]

Have fun! Hopefully we'll join in next year.

[Chillidoggy]

6 hours ago, Bazza 907 said:

At least one of those S3 NA Esprits is Glacier Blue not blue steel 😀

Best take it up with the complaints department. But it’s as well to bear in mind that the French invented the word bureaucracy……

To be fair, the French word for steel is “acier”, so they were only two letters adrift! 😀

3 hours ago, Escape said:

Have fun! Hopefully we'll join in next year.

Look forward to it!

It’s becoming very popular, and well-supported, but numbers may be controlled depending on the accommodation, so it’s as well to sign up as soon as the announcement is made.

[Chillidoggy]

Photos from the event.

 

More to follow from the best Esprit event on the planet!

[Chillidoggy]

[Chillidoggy]

[Chillidoggy]

That’s all, folks!

I must say that the Peugeot Museum housed the most exquisite and beautifully restored examples of cars I have ever seen in a museum. Also, I wasn’t aware that Peugeot manufactured all kinds of other things apart from cars. Washing machines, aero engines, boats, boat engines, food mixers, bikes, motorbikes, the list went on and on. And the older cars themselves were mainly for the wealthy, superbly-engineered, and styled. A bit of an eye-opener, to be honest!

 

And finally, the next “Esprit d’Aventure” is likely to happen in France, in September next year. If you are interested in going, contact Hugues Bigot for details.

[Chillidoggy]

https://lescylindres.com/club-lotus-france-les-grands-esprits-se-rencontrent/

[Chillidoggy]

We left the UK on 13th to drive to the Esprit d'Aventure event in Jura, and just got home yesterday. We had decided to rent a cottage in Correze for a week afterwards, as it seemed a bit daft to drive all the way to Jura for just 3 days. I've just checked the mileage, and we covered a total of 2,036 miles in that time, not all of it at the event. Our S4s fuel consumption was a bit difficult to determine, as I'd lost a receipt, but it was in the order of 20 - 25 mpg. Oil consumption was 0.85 litre in total, so I didn't have to add any during the trip. I'm pleased with these figures, especially as a lot of the mileage was cruising at sustained higher speeds in ambients up to 30C. On the long journeys to the event, and back home again, the cruise-control really came into its own, saving my poor old hips from pain.

Of the 27 Esprit's booked in, one car failed to make to trip due both occupants having been diagnosed with Covid a few days previously. A V8 arrived with no clutch fluid in the master cylinder reservoir (rectified by a top-up, and some pedal-pushing), and during the first day of the event, one was a casualty of a recently-gravelled road surface. The S 2.2 left the road, traversed an electric cattle-fence, skidded down an embankment, and into a field full of cows. The driver was unhurt, although a change of underwear was on the cards. A gang of Esprit owners lifted it up to remove the large wooden fence post from underneath it, and we were surprised that aside from the scrapes down the driver's door, the owner drove it out of the field, before driving it home.

During the event, and the navigational routes, we visited the Peugeot museum, the art museum of Courbet, visited a salt mine, and a pipe and diamond museum. The hotel was very comfortable, and the roads in the surrounding areas lent themselves to some spirited driving. The area itself had some clear Swiss influences in its architecture, and the sound of cow bells was a nice backdrop. But it also has to be said that meeting and talking to the other (mainly French) Esprit owners was a large part of the enjoyment. Roll on 2024.

[Chillidoggy]

Esprit d'Aventure, 5th edition, will probably be held in the area around Brive-la Gaillarde in Correze/Dordogne regions.

The dates are likely to be 19th - 22nd September 2024. Contact Hugues Bigot to express an interest in attending - bigot.hugues@orange.fr