A few of you have been wondering where all of the vinyards have been. It has to be said that considering this was meant to be a wine tour there were not many vinyards until we hit Burgundy. Then we were surrounded by them for as far as the eye could see. But something else would also come to surround us for a few hours.
It would be the wonderful Chateau de Sauvigny-Les Beaune ; more can be found out above this place from their website (https://www.chateau-savigny.com). Upon first going through the gates it looked like an old and slightly collapsing Chateau with a few statues around the place. This perception would soon go as we went towards the back of the place.
Yup, there were planes about. Quite admiral things too. However, there were more than just a few out. The plane section was almost like a plane graveyard! There were so many old planes to see!
Sure, a few of them, well, many of them needed a like of paint but it was great to see so many about! But truth be told we could have spent all day admiring the aircraft. It was time to see the meat and potatoes of this place ; the cars. You could see any car than you liked, as long as it was a Fiat. 
Yup, there were a few archetypal Fiat 500s present. But it was not just about the smaller stuff. A lot more Italian metal was present with quite a few cars having some racing heritage about them. Some of the Italian cars I did not know even existed!
Will you just look at that carpet? Sure it was worn, well used and looking a little threadbare. But I really wanted to take a piece of that back! I mean, that would look superb in your house! But it was not to be. As always it was great to see some engines in the mix. In this case unsurprisingly the well renowned Fiat Twin-Cam amongst some of the more specialist exhibits:
However, there was another element to which it seemed the Chateau’s owner was drawn to; Motorbikes. How many? Loads! If you thought you saw enough planes the number of bikes overshadowed both of them!
I will be honest, I have not been the biggest biker fan but I can appreciate decent bits of machinery. And wow, it’s great see the development of the motorbike as time went on by.
But in the searing heat I had spent more than enough time in this outbuilding. Or rather my friends had in the 30+ degrees Celsius temperatures. With than in mind it was time to head over to the dilapidated, but charming Chateau itself. What a picture. What a masterpiece:
But then it was time to venture into the castle. There were a few rooms downstairs showing where the maids were and where people wined and dined. It was great to see all of this, and to imagine what life might have been like back all those years ago:
However, it was then time to look elsewhere. As great as the brickwork was it was time to head upstairs to many more bikes and and to several modern aeroplanes. The very same you would see in the airports for promoting the airlines:
One of the bikes which caught my attention was this Wankel engined marvel. In many ways you think a Wankel engine would have been the right combination for a bike. After all, they are lightweight and have a high specific output if you go with the weight figure. It’s fair to say that this idea did not take off
That said it was enjoyable walking around the place. Not all of the stuff was gleaming either. Amongst the abundance of shiny metal there was plenty of metal requiring a bit of love. But the tired old stuff did also have a tale of its own. A tale of what it was subjected. It had history embedded into bodywork. It had take the worst of what France could throw and it and still just about live to tell the tale. You have to love patina.
Yup, I was smitten with this place! But there was no time like the present. As great as the scenery was we were best to follow the title of Queen “This Show Must Go On”. So in the wonderful DS we left this wonderful place.
Well, I say wonderful DS, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. It did after all have a way of making itself known by smell. How? By spitting fuel out of the breather. So what if you brimmed the tank to the top? A splash came out of the vent pipe. But surely it would be fine if you took a right hand corner? You wish! The smell of choice what would be L’eau de Sans-Plomb, of the 98 octane flavour. Somehow despite this the old girl still managed to get 24MPG. Yes. A 70s car with troublesome injection system and leaking all over the shop still managed 24MPG. You can’t really complain eh?
So what would be the next step? That’s easy. More vineyards! What do they say? Onwards and upwards.
Leyland Legends 