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      09-05-2017, 08:46 PM   #1
hoyasaxa
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Drives: GTI | 982 4.0
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Five-week M2 LCI ED Adventure

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Well, I'm finally back from five weeks in Europe and I went through the first batch of pictures (i.e., I actually processed about 1% of the photos I took).

To accommodate work schedules, while still getting an LCI car, we pushed our trip back as late as we possibly could. We ended up getting the 1st Euro delivery LCI M2 that I'm aware of (at least on these forums)!

First, we headed to the UK. After landing at Heathrow, we rented a car and drove to Bath. After enjoying this ancient Roman town and the local hot springs, we headed towards Stonehenge.


Thermae Spa in Bath, blending modern glass construction with the existing buildings


The Royal Crescent in Bath


The Circus in Bath




Pulteney Bridge in Bath


Bath Abbey


Roman Bath with Bath Abbey in background

We spent the night in a tiny village at a B&B associated with a Michelin-starred British pub. Sadly, the pub was closed on Sunday, but the owners were delightful and their inn turned out to be one of the nicest places we stayed during our five weeks in Europe. The countryside was outrageously beautiful.





We'd arrange to get access to the inner circle, which is closed to visitors during normal times. Although we would've preferred a later time, say, sunset, our tickets were instead for sunrise. So, operating on very little sleep as we were still severely jetlagged, we headed to the 'henge. Fortunately, sleep-deprived though we were, it was spectacularly successful.










Once we'd had some covfefe, we drove on to London.










Tower Bridge and the Shard from the Tower of London - btw, as the Tower's warders will constantly remind you, this is TOWER BRIDGE, not London Bridge. lol


Statue from Easter Island in the British Museum

If you find yourself in London with a hankering for Indian food, PM me and I'll hook you up with two of the best Indian restaurants I've ever eaten at. The first was traditional food in a relatively casual restaurant. The second was a relatively newer hipster restaurant/bar.





Of course, after visiting London, we had no choice but to take the chunnel to Paris!




Paris is not my favorite place in the world, not least because there is so much cigarette smoke. My favorite place in Paris was Sainte-Chapelle. The chapel was commissioned by Louis IX, built within the royal palace where French kings lived until the 14th century, and consecrated in 1248. It survived until the French revolution when it was severely damaged, probably out of disdain for the monarchy and all things religious. It was restored, piece by piece, during the following two centuries. While much of what exists today is a recreation, two-thirds of the stained glass is original.






Versailles


After enjoying Paris, we rented another car. This time we drove to Normandy. First stop: Mont Saint-Michel.

The drive took us through some beautiful French countryside, and around 3 1/2 hours later, we ended up at our next hotel. The hotel was nothing to write home about–I think I’ve stayed in better roadside hotels at home. The views, though, well, that’s another story.

During the day, we were able to see the beautiful mont, an island at high tide, and a bit of a peninsula at low tide, surrounded by marshes (or, really, quicksand). At the top, an abbey that traces its roots to circa 700.








You may not believe it, but this is actually moonrise, a week or so(?) before North America's solar eclipse. It was outrageous, and, in person, the moon was huge. Sadly, I'd left the telephoto in the room, so all you get to see is this ultra-wide-angle shot.


When we were done, we moved on to the beaches of Normandy where Operation Neptune, the invasion which kicked off D-Day and Operation Overlord), began. Not much to say about this; it was a somber day.










Well, when we done in Normandy, we drove back to Paris, returned the rental car, and boarded the train for Munich. Next stop, the Welt! We had one of the first appointments of the day. They offered to move us up, but we decided to enjoy the premium lounge instead!


















After a leisurely breakfast, we met our delivery specialist--and our brand new M2!


The first glimpse of the car from the premium lounge














After delivery, we valeted the car and headed towards the museum.








When we were done in Munich, we headed to Fussen where we explored Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.














After enjoying the castles, we headed to northern Italy via Davos.







The next morning, at sunrise, we ran Stelvio!











When we were done exploring the area, we drove to Valle Verzasca.






This is taken from the top of Schilthorn in Switzerland, the mountaintop where scenes from On Her Majesty's Secret Service were shot. The picture shows three famous Swiss peaks - the Ogre (or Eiger, think the Eiger Sanction), the Monk, and the Maiden.


Beer in the Alps

After spending a couple relaxing days in the valley, we drove to Lucerne.








Finally, we headed back to Germany where we ran the ring (but first, the break-in service at a Cologne dealership)! Touristenfahrten wasn't until the end of the day, so we explored the museum.






The three pictures taken at Karussell are ours--the wife was a champ, we hiked 30 minutes, and she posted up at the hairpin while I did a lap! The others two are from 'ring photogs.
















Bonus: Random M4


Well, since the only drop-off point near to Cologne and the 'ring was Frankfurt, instead we decided to return to Paris where we dropped off the car at Charles de Gaulle. On the way, we stopped at the old Circuit de Reims-Gueux. As we left the 'ring, we had an opportunity to open it up on the unlimited stretches of the Autobahn for the first time since the service appointment.








The next day, we washed the car and dropped it off. For anyone else considering Paris drop-off, the information available online isn't super helpful. After a little bit of exploring, we discovered that the touchless car wash is called a Hydro Jet. It actually is a self-service touchless--thank God. It's coin-operated. A 1-euro coin buys you a little over one minute. A 2-euro coin buys you a little over two minutes. The road leading to the TT Transit is essentially one-way and part of it closes after business hours with a barricade. Depending on which way your GPS takes you, you may not be able to get into the TT parking lot. The entrance is behind that barricade I just mentioned. If the barricade is on your left as you drive by, you need to make a U-turn, go through the barricade, and to the right. Another gate/barricade will automatically raise as you get close to it. If the car wash is on your right, you're going the right way. Keep driving. The road will dead-end into the barricade. If the barricade is down, TT is closed. If it's up, pass the barricade and go to the right where you can enter TT's lot.




By the end of our trip, we'd covered 1,712 miles. The trip computer estimated we achieved a very respectable 22.8 mpg, despite a few spirited autobahn runs and Swiss passes. Surprisingly, this matched exactly my own calculations. (By the way, gas was not cheap. I converted local currency to US dollars and liters to US gallons.)








Well, once the car was safely in someone's else's hands (by this point, that was a relief), we spent a few more days exploring Paris before heading home.









Water Lillies
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2014 228i (lease return) | 2018 ///M2 - ED Thread (sold) | 2023 Cayman GTS 4.0 (ordered)

Last edited by hoyasaxa; 09-18-2017 at 09:15 PM..
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