Many people ask us how fast our 2CV goes. Well, for awhile Charlie was going at 160kmh and travelled a thousand kilometers. Pretty damn impressive, huh? Well, also pretty unlikely. Charlie let the train take the strain as we motor-railed our way to Amsterdam.
All aboard for Dusseldorf
To be honest we didn’t realize that motor rails still operated in Europe and had come across the service by accident – but it’s brilliant! The motor rail brings together a regular sleeper train and a car carrier and leaves Italy from Alessandria, just north of Genoa. There are other services from other places as well, so we strongly recommend you check it out. The car can remain fully loaded when it is driven on, and because Charlie has a soft top, he was loaded at the bottom and behind another vehicle for added protection. At those speeds he would have had quite a nasty face lift on the top deck! It was still a pretty tight squeeze.
Charlie is ready to roll
We left Alessandria in the late afternoon, with a five-person carriage all to ourselves. All that was left to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.
Nothing to do but relax
Later in the year, with longer days, we would have seen the Alps speed by, but not long after we left Italy it was too dark for a view.
Last views of Italy
Charlie is back there somewhere
The morning dawned misty and grey, but we breakfasted with river views and Rhineland castles as we rattled toward Dusseldorf.
Grey days and morning haze
Imposing castles and dwarfed caravans near Koblenz
Misty moutain morning
Rhine castles even in the river
Speeding through Germany
By 10:30 we had arrived in Dusseldorf and Charlie came rolling off, none the worse for our high speed adventure.
Slowly coming off the carrier
Setting our sights on Amsterdam
Another three hours and we were back home to Amsterdam, with a new-found love of motor rails!
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