"The best of France and Italy" is a car show held annually in Van Nuys, California.
Hundreds of cars are put on display, ranging from simple Citroen 2CVs and Fiat 500s to high-dollar stuff such as Lamborghinis and Ferrarris.
Whilst spending a month in California in October & November 2013, I drove from San Jose down to LA, and shot the following video.
Vladimir, an enthusiastic owner of a nice Citroen GS, had an idea of another trip with GSes.
The idea was to spend a day driving around Inner Carniola (Notranjska) region in Slovenia.
The video starts at my brother's place, showing some GSes parked there.
Then we met up with other participants at a restaurant in Unec.
From Unec, we continued to Rakov Škocjan, and did some hiking.
Then we visited the intermittent lake in Cerknica.
Lake is usually mostly gone in September, so we could see the dry lake-bed.
Then we drove on gravel road up to Slivnica.
The video ends at Snežnik castle.
Hydropneumaten treffen is a meeting organised by Austrian Citroen enthusiasts, dedicated to Citroens with hydro-pneumatic suspension.
But other cars are welcome as well.
I visited Hydropneumatentreffen in 2012, and quite liked it.
So in 2013 I decided to go again.
We were on holidays with my family in Berchtesgaden, Germany.
As it's only about an hour drive from Berchtesgaden to Vöcklabruck, I decided to go to the gathering with my kids.
We missed the morning part - visit to local brewery.
But we did have a good time at the meeting place.
Another Hydroraid, it took place on 13/Jul/2013 in the same place as always: on a farm in Bodislavci near Ljutomer.
The video begins at the farm, and then shows a convoy drive to Ormož in my Citroen GS Super 1.3.
We met GS enthusiasts from Croatia in Bodislavci, and one of them (Bruno) is riding along.
A museum in Ormož is shown next.
A drive to village Podgorci follows.
People of Podgorci organised tasting of local food and wine, and played some traditional music for us.
Finally, we returned to the farm in Bodislavci.
The video ends with girls tossing the hydraulic sphere competition.
Three Citroen GSes on a trip in Slovenia, Austria and Italy.
The trip took place on 08/Jun/2013.
We got together in Gozd Martuljek (Slovenia) - at Špik mountain viewpoint.
Then we stopped at Zelenci, the source of river Sava Dolinka.
Next, we drove across Korensko sedlo (Wurzenpass) to Austria, and up the Villach Alpine Road (Villacher Alpenstrasse).
Finally, we drove to Italy - to Lago del Predil.
On 04/May/2013, we visited Citromobile again.
It's a long trip from Slovenia to Haarlem in the Netherlands, but my GS 1.3 Super handled it with ease.
My brother and I took our mom with us (I like to take her to journeys to distant places).
When we were kids, my parents had two GSes, so it felt just like back in the day.
Lots of really nice cars on Citromobile, and we got together with Niels, a Citroen XM owner from California.
We also visited my aunt and uncle in Taunusstein, Germany, and had some good laughs.
A lovely trip with seven Citroen XMs.
We got together at Trojane and drove to Technical Museum of Slovenia in Bistra.
Then we drove through Vrhnika and Idrija to Tolmin.
In Tolmin, we had lunch and visited German Ossuary, a monument to fallen German soldiers in WW I.
Next, we drove to Kobarid and visited Italian Ossuary, dedicated to fallen Italian soldiers in WW I.
The video stops here because it got dark.
But our trip did not stop.
We drove to Bovec and up to Predel pass, then into Italy and back to Slovenia near Kranjska gora.
There are very few Citroen GSes in the USA.
Jaan Hjorth, Italian car enthusiast and specialist, owns two.
He used to have some more in the past.
Jaan is a very interesting character - besides being a great specialist on Italian and French cars he is also a winemaker, rock musician and sound engineer.
He specialises in vintage Italian cars, but he uses GSes for daily driving.
Both GSes have been converted to electronic fuel injection.
His workshop is named Eddins Moto:
A trip to Mangrt pass (2072 m), on the highest paved road in Slovenia.
Mangrt (2679 m) is the third highest mountain in Slovenia.
Beautiful mountain scenery, and perfect weather.
The road to Mangrt pass is a little rough, so it was a good thing to do the trip with C-Crosser.
Citroen meeting dedicated to hydropneumatic Citroens, held in Vöcklabruck, Austria on 04/Aug/2012.
My brother and I drove there in my GS 1.3 Super.
A lot of really nice Citroens with hydropneumatic suspension.
Our GS attracted quite an attention from other participants.
A lot of nice people, too, and great beer.
Vöcklabruck is near Salzkammergut region, known for beautiful lakes and high mountains.
We took our Citroen Xsara Picasso to Switzerland.
The video begins at Bernina pass (2328 m).
After a short stop by lake Silvaplana near St. Moritz, Oberalp Pass (2044 m) is shown.
A train station at high altitude, quite a sight.
Then some scenes from Disentis, where we stayed.
Finally, we drove across some more mountain passes and towards Germany.
A nice family trip to Dolomiti, Italy in July 2012 - with Citroen Xsara Picasso.
A lot of steep mountain passes at high altitudes.
Our Picasso was fully loaded, and the clutch suffered a bit.
The video begins at Passo Giau (2236 m).
Cortina is shown next, and the views of Monte Cristallo (3221 m).
Then Lago Misurina and another lake, Lago Fedaia, at the base of Marmolada mountain (3343 m). Then on to Passo Pordoi (2239 m).
We also see Monte Pelmo (3168 m) above Selva di Cadore.
Then we drive across Karerpass - Passo di Costalunga (1753 m) to beautiful Karersee.
After leaving Dolomiti, we drive to South Tirol region and over Stilfserjoch pass - Passo Stelvio (2757 m), the second highest pass in the Alps (2757 m).
This is the highest we've ever taken our Picasso.
This is the trip we did in July 2012 with your Citroen Xsara Picasso.
The video begins in Heiligenblut and surroundings, before actually starting with driving on the Grossglockner alpine road at 2:03.
The first stop is Kaisers Franz Josefs Hohe, the highest Austrian mountain Grossglockner can be seen from there (when not obscured by clouds).
We then continue to Edelweiss Spitze, the highest point on the road.
Finally, we stop at Hochtor pass for a while.
Rida Raid was a trip organised by Celje chapter of Citroen Club of Slovenia on 26/May/2012.
The start was by Ivarčko jezero at the base of Uršlja gora in Koroška (Carinthia) region of Slovenia.
The participants drove in convoy through Koroška towards Črna, making stops at places of interest.
Then they crossed into Savinjska dolina (Savinja valley).
We only went to the start, and followed the convoy for a little while, before having to leave.
So the video only shows participants and their cars at the starting point.
Biokovo is a mountain massif which rises steeply above Adriatic coast in Croatia.
The highest point is Sveti Jure, 1762 m above sea level.
A very rough road leads to the summit.
Views from the top are spectacular in all directions.
We drove to the summit in September 2011 with our Citroen C-Crosser.
Going from sea level to 1762 m in less than an hour is quite amazing.
Our border collie Pina had some funny moments with horses.
In April 2011, we visited the Rab island in Croatia again.
And we again drove to the summit of Kamenjak, the highest point on the island.
Our border collie Pina also came along.
The rough road was hardly suitable for our Picasso, but we drove up there anyway.
In June & July 2010, we visited Sweden and Norway with our C-Crosser.
We spent most of our time in Norway, which is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe.
The video in nine parts follows.
Part 1:
- Luebeck, Germany
- Ferry from Puttgarden (Germany) to Rødby (Denmark)
Part 2:
- On a beach near Copenhagen
- Ferry to Sweden (Helsingør - Helsingborg)
- Gothenburg
- Oslo
Part 3:
- Oslo
- Telemark
- Lake Nisser
- Ferry across Lysefjord
Part 4:
- Preikestolen
- Låtefossen
- Odda
- Vøringfossen
Part 5:
- Hardangervidda
- Flåm
- Flåmsbana Museum
Part 6:
- Gudvangen
- Sivlesteinen
- Stalheim road
- Vikafjell
- Vik
- Ferry across Sognefjord
In June 2010, friends from California visited Europe.
They began their trip in Sarajevo (Bosnia) and ended in Prague (Czech Republic).
As they had quite a difficulty finding a rental agency willing to rent them a car for such a trip, my brother lent them his Citroen ZX.
So we did two trips:
- We first delivered the ZX to Ploče, Croatia.
- After three weeks, we drove to Prague to collect the ZX there.
The other car on the two trips was my blue GS Pallas, and we took our mom to both trips.
The video shows the trip to Ploče, and some places on the lovely Croatian coast (Gradac, Ploče, Primošten). It also shows the trip to Prague and back.
Our friends drove from Ploče to Dubrovnik, then to Korčula, took a ferry to Split, then visited Plitvička jezera (Plitvice lakes). Then drove to Ljubljana, Slovenia, and visited Bled and Bohinj. We went to Škocjanske jame (Škocjan caves) together. From Slovenia, they went to Budapest, Hungary. After Budapest, they drove to Czech Republic, visiting interesting places there and finishing the trip in Prague.
Rab is a lovely Croatian island on the Adriatic.
We go there quite often, and we like to hike or drive up to the summit of Kamenjak, the highest point of the island (408 m above sea level).
This video shows the trip to the summit with our Citroen C-Crosser.
It's a very rough road, but view from the top is great.
