Sitting here with a glass of wine and a pile of photos, memories of the Swiss Trip flood back - convoys of Minors - picnics - pouring rain - alpine flowers - sunshine - JT's snores blasting out of his tent - Fritz the dog - Aubrey Batt's shorts - the superb banquet - Amanda's hangover - where do I start to write the allowed "two pages please, no more no less"?
So, we met at Dover. 90 odd Minors lined up for the ferry in the bright cold early morning air. The Hall convoy was just relieved to be there, our green saloon having dropped a valve guide on the way down resulting in a speedy head-changing operation in a restaurant car park in Kent at 1.00 in the morning. Thanks to Tony Briance et al for coming to the rescue with a spare head. Inevitably a few Minors got up too late and missed the boat, and Andrew Hemsley's passenger forgot his passport. Once on the boat, with brekky or brandy according to taste, we relaxed. It took some time to escape the traffic jams in Calais, but once on the open road there was the happy sight of convoys of Moggies going on their holidays. Groups of up to 10 cars travelled at speeds from sedate to the almost excessive through Northern France, and there was much picnicking in laybys in glorious sunshine. From late afternoon on Minors arrived at the riverside campsite in Metz. The verdict on the site was price: cheap; showers: hot, loos: indescribable, weather: amazingly good.
Top: Garage in Metz hit by Minor Blitz. Photo: Phillip Wright
Below: Bob, Jo and Fritz showing Icini Branch Flag in Luzern.
On Sunday the day dawned bright and sunny. Our maroon saloon was deputised to fetch croissants for the Hall convoy. Others may get up and leave early, but we are made of weaker stuff - breakfast comes first! We eventually got around to leaving to join the Minor queue for petrol at the nearest garage - absolute chaos there - the French just could not believe their eyes! Thence through fine countryside, Nick's battery boiling up nicely. Hall and other streetwise convoys spotted stopping off in Alsace to buy wine for the duration. Continuing sunshine encouraged picnics and cafe breaks - notably near the Swiss border. Here a roadside cafe was invaded by successive waves of Minors in search of liquid refreshment. Through the customs in Basle and our convoy, like many others, missed a signpost resulting in many U-turns and much backing -up. We finally escaped on to the Swiss motorway system with the sun still blazing down. Amazing ladies loos at Dietingen Nord Services were inspected by all lady Minorists. By this time it had been established that undoubtedly the fastest convoy on the road (when it wasn't stopped for food and drink, which was quite often) was the one made up of three saloons (green, maroon and blue), one traveller (green) and one van (red). By this time, Alps, cowbells, lakes and snow were in view. Arriving in Interlaken in the later afternoon and early evening, we received a very warm welcome from the Swiss Morris Minor Club who had organised the campsite for us. Other Brits on the campsite with GTis, Capris, etc., were visibly alarmed by the Minor invasion. After a good night's sleep we awoke to another beautiful sunny morning with a trip to Luzern in prospect. (Except for Mr. B., who didn't read his booklet properly and went to Lausanne in completely the opposite direction!) The rest of us set off at 10 minute intervals in Swiss-led convoys to the famous Museum of Transport at Luzern. A fine drive over the low Brunig Pass was enjoyed by all, except that Mr. G. seemed to think it exceedingly funny to overtake on sharp bends - the rest of us did not agree. At the museum we lined up in the outside display area under the wings of an aeroplane. Union Jacks, bunting and rally plaques decorated the cars and made a fine display which impressed many of the visitors - Fritz was in fine form. With the marvellous museum open to us, and the town of Luzern and its lake nearby, an excellent time was had by all in brilliant sunshine. It was too good to last. On the way back from Luzern we could see rain clouds ahead. Obviously "someone up there" had finally realised that this was a that this was a group of Morris Minors on a foreign expedition and was hastening to gather sufficient, clouds to drop the appropriate amount of water upon us. By the evening it was raining. Tuesday to Thursday were left free for people to do as they pleased.The Swiss Club organised a number of escorted drives to places of interest and whilst many people joined these, others meandered around the Bernese Oberland on their own. On Tuesday, rain in the morning drove many people into the nearby caves where a guide led crocodiles (the people type not the handbag sort) on a route march through a mile and a half of underground caverns. I've never walked so fast on a guided tour in my life! The caves were interesting but we didn't see St ' Beathus, the reputed owner/occupier. Maybe he couldn't keep up with the guide either. Later in the day it brightened up and groups of Minors were seen throughout the land. Mr. C., the recently appointed Interim Member of the National MMOC Committee, was notably only seen in or near bars. By the evening, the rain had returned with a vengeance. Most of us retired to the town or into the larger tents. Our supply of Alsace vino was rapidly depleted. At about 1.00 in the morning we commented that "itsh shtopped raining". Emerging from our tent we discovered various other Minor parties had taken place, notably in West Sussex's tents - or Wesh Shusshex as they were by then! Wednesday dawned wet. Very wet. This did not deter the birds from sitting on J.T.'s tent, so a bird table was speedily erected on the ridge while he wasn't looking. By the way no other tents had birds, just his. Since J.T. is allergic to feathered things this caused a great deal of amusement! As for the rest of Wednesday, we were made to pay for the glorious sunshine we had at the weekend. It rained non stop until the evening. To cheer us up it so happened that Wednesday was the night for the Celebration Banquet at Interlaken's posh casino, the Kursaal. Guests of honour were Mr. Jack Daniels, one of the Minor design team and his wife, who were spending the week in Switzerland as guests of the Swiss Club. Our Swiss Minor hosts generously plied us with aperitifs before we moved to the banqueting suite. With gleaming chandeliers, candies and flowers on the tables, and a musical accompaniment, it was an unusually smart setting for a Minor "do".
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