13 VILLA AWAY...

As we are keeping the cars, we need to bring them home, so we will have to make another trek back up France to the UK.  Google Maps tells me this is approximately 1200 miles and will take 18 hours.  We cannot do this in one go, which means a stop or two in France is inevitable.

This got me thinking: If we have to stop in France, why not make a holiday of it?  A proper holiday, I mean with sun, sea, swimming pools, good food, and plenty of drink.  As there are a gaggle of us making the trip, we should be able to get a decent villa in the South of France to accommodate us all and get some much-needed R&R.

We asked Derek and Nikki if they were up for the drive, and they were an emphatic no!  I mentioned meeting up at a villa, and they were well up for it - slackers!  More people mean a better holiday, but just as importantly, more money in the pot for a rental means we can get something better than your average Air B&B.

A really quick look online revealed a stunning villa in Les Issambres, not far from St Tropez.  It slept ten and was recently refurbished.  It was on a hill overlooking the Med with a terraced garden and a stunning swimming pool.  It looked brilliant, galvanising Rachel's resolve to make the trip in the little Abarth.  Unfortunately, Richie wasn't so keen.

As Richie mentioned, a big part of his job is driving, and the thought of driving as a holiday didn't fill him with joy.  The other problem is that he has a dickie hip, and sitting for extended periods left him in agony.  Add this to the fact that the seats in an Abarth are designed to hug the driver's waist in corners and are only wide enough to fit a supermodel (on a diet) comfortably, and there was no way he could do it.

This was a blow to Rachel, but she was still up for it.  I suggested that Richie could make the trip in his car (a big, soft-roader).  We would get him some orange lights for the roof, create stickers, and call it our 'Support Vehicle', but he joked that it probably wouldn't make it there and back!  

I went online and found that seats for the 'lounge' version of the Fiat 500 (the comfy, soft version of the car) were less than £100.  According to the internet, the rails and fittings in the Abarth and 500 are the same, so, in theory, we could buy the softer, wider seats and switch them out to make the car more comfy.  Richie was still not sure; I needed to think.