Grand Tour Herbie - Tiscali UK

Herbie off to Monte Carlo
Herbie departed from The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, at 0830 on Sunday morning to start the Grand Tour. The annual charity fund-raising car rally takes place from 17th - 21st July, between London and Monte Carlo.

Tiscali is following Herbie and his crew over the next five days and will be posting exclusive pictures and video updates from the tour on this page.

Day Five: Herbie heads for the checkered flag
A late start for Herbie, this morning, 10.30 and he left Taulane for his final push through the hills of Provence and into Monte Carlo.

Herbie dashed off at great speed in order to keep a time advantage ahead of his fellow competitors, totally ignoring early instructions to fill up before getting into the hills. After around 30 minutes or so it had become clear that Herbie had missed his first turning, and therefore had to return all they way back to the start, which he did at great speed - in reverse - of course. He took advantage of the fact that there happened to be a petrol station near the set off point, a happy coincidence%u2026 whilst filling up Herbie bumped into Red Maserati and a silver Porsche, although don't worry this bumping didn't involve bumpers! Off they left, Maserati, Herbie, Porsche. Maserati took a detour, unscheduled. Herbie raced. Porsche remained behind, dawdling in the distance. As Herbie negotiated the final mountain decent he negotiated cyclists, tractors, and a few lizards, with his screeching tyres, squeaking steering wheel, fading brakes...Oh no! Not to worry, he didn't have too far to go. He stopped for a rest at a place called Valbonne, near Antibes on the coast. Then, the final decent into the place of his holiday memory - Monte Carlo. Down through the busy meandering streets, so much attention from pedestrians and motorists, bikers, policemen, and the poor guy in front, worried about Herbie's inability to stop more than 8 feet from his derriere. As Herbie approached Casino Square, and the chequered flag, there was an almighty finish line cheer from a mass of eagerly awaiting spectators. He parked up in his special space and posed for pictures with his smiling fans, who he loves, of course.

Beep Beep!

Day Four: Fully loaded (with juice)
From Laverges De La Tour Herbie set out for the fresh, cool air of the mountains, looking ahead to a long run. He felt good in that the spectacular scenery and mountain air would allow him to open up and sing. Firstly a few kilometres of motorway, past Grenoble and in the direction of Geneva, then a turn off and up into the mountains that dominate the landscape. Herbie led a pack, including his friend the Maserati, and an E-type Jaguar through a tunnel in the mountain which basically is a whole cut into the rock - a road cave! Out of the tunnel and by a group of adventurers who stopped their activities to wave Herbie on. A brief rest in around mid day allowed Herbie to regain his strength, however, it appeared that during the mountain climb Herbie had quite a lot to drink. The question on everybody's lips was 'where is the next petrol station?' Herbie pushed on up the zigzag winding road, in search of juice, through a tunnel near the summit, and out into an expanse of peaks and valleys - and no petrol station in sight- so he rolled down the hill without using his engine in order to save fuel for the bottom or if he needed to climb again. Rolling speed reached 50mph at some points and Herbie did extremely well to get as far as he did, however, eventually, as the road flattened at the foot of the hills, he rolled to a halt. All was not lost because his Maserati friend was not far ahead and was aware of Herbie's thirst induced predicament, and came to the rescue by getting some emergency juice from the garage which, as luck would have, was only 500meters further along the road - Phew!

Herbie, Fully loaded (with juice), cracked on with the tour through the town of Die (although it was actually quite lively) where market traders looked, pointed at Herbie, and shouted stuff in French...it was okay, though, the were smiling.

Onwards out of Die, and up into more hills, Herbie had great fun spinning up a dirt track towards a picnic spot next to a meadow with panoramic views.

After the picnic, the next stop was Puimichel, a small mountaintop village where the local mayor greeted the tour, and 5 local boys had their picture taken with Herbie.

On towards the Gorges Du Verdon, Herbie whizzed down the hillside, being held up by a slower and, let's be honest - not quite as good looking - Porsche. Up through the gorgeous gorges and along past the Lac de St Croix, an inviting turquoise lake nestled like a sparkling gemstone set 1000feet down amongst the rugged steep sandstone rocks.

Emerging from the gorges, Herbie raced along at an increasing pace to his overnight stop at Taulane-pulling into the driveway of the hotel, Herbie cheekily span into his parking spot showing that, even after such a long day, he still had plenty of energy.

Day Three: Rest and play for Herbie today
This morning Herbie had a bit of a lie in - 11.30am! He awoke without a fuss and headed back up the motorway to a little chateaux, to meet up with his sports car mates. While he was there, Herbie entertained the local kids. He then set off into the countryside, passing through farming land and generally enjoying the scenery, hot summer sun, and open roads. He passed by a group of boys, going fishing after school, who all yelled "Herbie, Herbie!", so he tooted his horn as a gesture of appreciation to his happy supporters.

Into the rolling hills, Herbie really began to have fun, turn left, veer right, up, over, down, up again, fresh mountain air, he passed through beautiful villages and always to a warm cheer from all lucky enough to catch a glimpse of his unique blue, white and red racing stripes. Finally, as he pulled up to the Chateaux De Leverages, past the fountain and taking up his specially reserved parking space, the owner of the Chateaux grinned from ear to ear as he knew he had the privilege of a film star actually staying at his place - his kids agreed as they posed for photos.

Day Two: Rain or shine, Herbie will be fine
Today began early in the morning, Herbie awoke to a pitter patter of raindrops, filling up the convertibles, but more importantly, cleaning the roads for a long drive ahead. He set off from the cobbled courtyard of the Chateaux and began a long journey. Their particular journey was different from what was expected, and unusual, in that it was all motorways. Very fast, lots of attention from other cars, lorries and motorbikes, beeping and tooting along a 450 mile route. Herbie cannot drink too much juice, so he had to stop at 2 petrol stations on the way. At the first stop, Merceuil, a family from Holland wanted a photograph of them with Herbie, so he posed with them and made the very happy.

At the end of the journey, Herbie had a well deserved rest at Lyon Airport, safe and sound.

Day One: Report from a chateaux somewhere in France
Herbie left The Royal Hospital in Chelsea under the starting flag, waved off by a Chelsea pensioner. He raced perfectly legally, within the speed limits, through south London, keeping Ferraris, Porsches, and Jaguar e-types at bay. Out from the shackles of traffic lights, speed cameras and sleeping policemen, Herbie stretched his wheels along the motorway to Dover port. He stopped at a garage for a drink, and met some friendly German blokes, who were van drivers, and they were most impressed and complimentary on the paintjob and fetching eyelids.
Down to the port he went, and was ushered through passport control, stopped in a line where he was mobbed by people and a local photographer (from the Dover Express) took some photos. Herbie had to move on, though, as the ferry needed to go. Just before getting onto the boat, Herbie met an enthusiastic ferry official who is a self confessed fan of Herbie, she said he is beautiful - which is true.

On the boat Herbie dozed for a while, until Boulogne came into sight. As Herbie disembarked, the Speedie Ferry's boss took pictures of Herbie and all of his new found sports car friends. Yet more adoring fans, crowds in fact, were cheering Herbie's welcome.

Then it was a mad dash up and out of the French sea port - of course, Herbie managed to find his way up the steep hills and around the temporary hairpins, ensuring that his reputation as a bona fide racing car was kept up by nipping cheekily past yet more sports cars, first a Mercedes, then a Maserati...thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

On through quiet country lanes Herbie went, through fields of Maize and wheat, to his first destination Chateaux, a bit tired from the busy day, and deserving a well earned rest ready for tomorrows big trip.

Herbie Fully Loaded will be in cinemas from 5 August, read the review here.

Herbie Team Sponsors

• Momentum Productions
• Global Logistics
• itfc post-production facilities
• Midnite Express
• Goodyear United Kingdom
• Technicolor

Click an image to enlarge

Click an image to enlarge