European Tour 2008 Diary
For 2008 we once again joined Ann and Marcus Anderson and 25 other Ferraris for the Graypaul Luxury Tour through Europe, well for us, the 1st 10 Days, our plans mean we miss the last stop to turn back towards Italy to visit the Ferrari factory and then spend the remainder of the Week at Lake Orta, Italy

Day 1 - An early start, leaving at 5.30am for the Eurotunnel to meet a large proportion of the Group and then on to meet the remainder of the group and our 1st stop the Schloss Reinhartshausen in Eltville, nr Mainz, Germany
On then to our 1st night, the Weather en-route was not too kind!
It brightened up considerably on arrival and it was great to meet up with old and new friends
Day 2 - Sunday morning and we set off for one of our favourintes, the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken
Days 3&4 - The Weather it Interlaken was not the best and we decided not to go to Piz Gloria the revolving restaurant used in the 007 Movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service, opting for a tour round some 'indoor' Waterfalls, an impressive site which unfortunately the pictures do not do justice
Days 4&5 - Heading for Lake Como with time to enjoy the Furka and Grimsall Passes that had only opened a few days before, we'd initially set off as a group of 9 or so Cars but in short order this was reduced to 5 by the time we started the passes due to traffic leaving Interlaken
Crossing Lake Como via Ferry to Bellagio and through the narrow streets to Villa Serbilloni for a 2 Night stay
Days 6&7 - Our next stop is Monte Carlo, the bay Hotel and Resort, an impressive place with a man made lagoon, We took the opportunity to drive a couple of laps of the F1 circuit, the race having been completed 10 days ago and also take some Casino and Circuit photographs
Days 8&9 - Up early the next day for a long drive to Evian via the famous Route Napolean, sadly it was the Weekend and the traffic was, at best, frustrating
A long but fantastic drive eventually arriving in Evian for our last two nights with the group
Day 10 - So the end of the official Tour for us, the rest of the group go on to Versailles for one last night but we head over the Simplon pass to Varase and meet up with our good friends Maura and Eugenio and their Sons, Luca and Dario. We have a great lunch then Eugenio and I head off to Maranello for Dinner at the Montana Restaurant and a Factory tour the next morning, obvioudly making sure the Car is clean before we arrive at the Factory gates
Day 11 - It's been nearly 10 Years since I last visited the factory and much has changed but it's good to see the original Dynos and production lines still in use. We managed to get some great close up views of the new California, both in light camouflage and uncovered, I think as with the 599 people will agree that it looks much better in the flesh than in photographs
On to the Galleria for a few photos, prompted by our efforts 2 Years ago in the 1st picture!. Just as we'd finished taking the photos we had a visit from the local Police reminding us that the pink bit is for pedestrians only
Day 12+ - Onto the last leg of our tour and favourite place in Europe, Lake Orta in Italy before heading home via the Mont Blanc tunnel and across France
All our Tour pictures can be seen at

http://www.collinsclan.co.uk/pages/cars/eurotour08/index.html