In which Sid and Doris ride the Canal de Berry to the home of a company whose output ranged from the tiny Rene Bonnets to the Renault Espace as well as 1970s F1 and Le Mans winners.
Doris charted a route away from Bourges along the Canal de Berry, originally built to take coal from mines near the Allier to the iron works in Berry. Though de-commissioned in 1951 it is now a great asset as cycle tourism has taken off. There are a couple of squadgy bits but mostly we spin along on fine piste or Tarmac. Probably it is busier at the weekend and on days when it is not raining.
Doris considers the loading gauge. The locks suggest the boats were vairy narrow even for canal craft.
At Thenioux they are getting ready for the minutes when the Tour de France will pour through, though the caravan that precedes the riders can slow down in the villages to add to the spectacle.
Much of what we see is quite expected: a pretty bridge, a church, a closed cafe, a Michelin road sign or a plain of corn fields. So, at Chatres-sur-Cher, much excitement to see France’s and Europe’s only Blues Club and Museum. See lamaisondublues.com Maybe Sid and Doris can be there one evening.
At Romarantin Doris has booked a third floor room up a wonky spiral staircase in a converted barn, a really small barn, but handy for the museum. After a brief discussion with the owners the bikes come inside but not up the spiral stairs.
Upstairs the promoters have chosen to put the bath and shower in the bedroom – which in some circumstances might be rather exciting. Unless Sid is washing the towpath off his shins.
The Matra Museum has been on Sid’s list for a very long time. Matra’s car company was founded when Automobiles Rene Bonnet was taken over in 1964. By the mid ’70s Matra was part of Chrysler – Talbot – Simca, before in turn the whole lot went to Peugeot/ Citroen and eventually Stellantis. Maybe the Matra brand could be reborn alongside Abarth? No, probably not.
The RB and Djet sports cars were mid-engined in the style of the Porsche Volkswagen 914, Lotus Europa and Alpine 110.
You might also recall the three-abreast Murena (well before the Maclaren F1) which was very much slower than it looked.
Or the Talbot Rancho, which was based on a 2WD Simca van and was very suburban butch and cheaper than a Range Rover. Seen here with a winch for pulling the skin off rice puddings.
More useful to the continued health of the firm was their one volume Espace concept which was built at Romorantin for Renault in company saving volume.
Perhaps more people come to the museum for the race cars. Luc Lagardere, often CEO of Matra cars and getting rich through the rest of Group Lagardere and its aerospace business, promoted the F1 and Le Mans efforts for team France. Sponsorship came from corporatist France: Elf oils, Gitanes cigarettes, Cibie and Marchal lights, Michelin tyres…
The museum does not say much about the role of Tyrell in winning the F1 1969 driver and constructors’ championship, nor that it ran a Ford Cosworth DFV engine and all out of a shed in Ockham. Still, it was a very good chassis and the Elf oil surely excellent.
A current F1 car weighs 798 kilos, the ‘69 car was 1212lbs or 550 kilos.
Here we have fore and aft pictures of the 1969 winner. 
And for Le Mans Sid has chosen the 1973 monocoque car, mainly because the victory was against the still tube-framed Ferrari 312PBs. They were faster in qualifying but by the end there was one Ferrari from three starters (Merzario/Pace) vs one Matra from four starters (Larrousse/Pescarolo). The last Ferrari was five laps behind at the race’s end and until 2023 that was the last Le Mans entry for a works Ferrari.
The factory shut in 2003 when the Renault Avantime was discontinued but has provided a great Sid afternoon.
When going home on an Epic return journey it can be difficult to maintain the balance of holiday versus delivery riding. It was a grand day out; go if you are passing by. It merits a detour.