Citroen 2CV Charleston

This is EXACTLY like the car we had driving around Europe in the winter of 1987/1988.

When my husband and I first made the decision to go traveling we explored our options for getting around. We had already decided not to take a tour as we wanted to make our own way and take our own time. We knew we would stay mainly in youth hostels so there would be plenty of opportunity to meet other travelers but by avoiding the tour group, six countries in seven days kind of traveling we intended to get a more authentic experience of the countries and regions we planned to visit.

We compared the tourist lease plan offered by the French car companies to traveling by Eurail pass and decided on having our own car for several reasons. Firstly it gave us total freedom of movement. If we liked the look of a village we could call in and see it. If we saw a sign to an interesting monument, church, vineyard, mushroom farm, cheese cave or whatever, we could go there. Also, although we were traveling pretty light the car would allow us to carry extra if we needed to. This meant that we could take food with us and stop by the side of the road and make lunch. Or we could buy a bottle of wine or some beer and be able to easily take it with us. We also found an unexpected additional benefit as we traveled further north. It got so cold that the boot (trunk) was like a refrigerator and kept the beer and wine nicely chilled and the food items fresh.

Image used under a Creative Commons licence from Gaspa's photostream