Roycing around

Having spent many a weekend when growing up in the back seat of a classic car on the winding country roads of England’s green and pleasant land, when Dad mentioned he was off to spend a long weekend doing just this around the picturesque landscape of northern France, I jumped at the chance of being able to turn back time and join him on the 21^st Fougere Rally.

We left Wally (our not so appropriate Clio!) safely tucked up in a Portsmouth car park and met our ride for the trip at the harbour – a 1934 Rolls Royce – nicknamed the ‘Chocolate Rolls’

#ChocolateRolls

Scotland is a long way from Reading!

We didn't find any reasonable accommodation around the border so decided to just grit our teeth and head home... all 650 miles or 12 hours of driving.  We decided to head to Loch Ness via Eilean Donan Castle, one of the most photographed and beautiful castles in Scotland.

After a good breakfast at our B&B having a chat with some Americans, we traveled south over the infamous Skye Bridge. The route, as many in Scotland was spectacular.  The road snaking its way along the Loch Alsh. After about 30 mins or so we came across Eilean Donan Castle.  From first impressions it wasn't as grand as I had expected as it has been used in several movies and promotional videos and images, but if there was one castle you would associate with Scotland - this was it!  We decided to stop and have a look and we were tempted to go in - limiting ourselves to an hour as the clock was ticking to get home - and we were rewarded.

Eilean Donan

The journey to the Isle

The Isle of Skye was our target destination, but we didn't just want to drive like crazy to get there, we wanted to see a bit more of Scotland, so we got off the main road and went for a coastal route, recommended by friends Rhys and Nicole, who had done a similar trip earlier on the year.

On the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond