The Motor Show

We finally made it to the Geneva Motor Show but by Friday I really wasn't in the right frame of mind! Mark and I had booked a car on Friday and stocked up on plants for the garden and bought the rest of the paint to finish off the painting in the house. Two words put the nail in the coffin - veal sausages. Mark reminded me of the terrible food area at the show and how we had to find a space just to stand and eat.

Paul had got up in the small hours of the morning to watch the first F1 qualifying session in Australia but we finally got ourselves out the door and squashed onto a packed bus for an uncomfortable ride to Palaxpo, situated near the airport, north of the lake.

Here's what I went to see - the Mini Coopers! And that's the colour I'll have too, thankyouverymuch!















I sat inside and it felt like it fitted like a glove. It's small and chunky - just like me says Mark!













First thing I noticed was that the layout of the cars was the same as last year. The Bugatti Veyron, above, was exactly the same car as last year too.












One of the cars Paul made a beeline for. He called it a glass car but I'm sure it must be perspex!
















These candles tickled my fancy - who on earth is going to buy a Lancia candle?! I found it strange that these car manufactures didn't sell any merchandise at the show, they could have made a killing. Though maybe not with these candles...













That teenager is in bed again after getting up early to watch the F1 race, otherwise I'd tell you the name of this. Cars look very strange with the doors and bonnets/hoods open, don't they?













I know this one is a Spyker. A bit Mustang-like but it looked very good in the flesh.

















This has got to be illegal on the road! You'd need some pretty extensive reconstructive knee surgery if you got hit with this big, ugly car.














I found the show more interesting to look back on than I did while I was there. There were a few very gimmicky things like this silver car to add some interest.













A view from the upper floor looking down at a small section of the lower floor. Even the wide angle lens couldn't show how huge the exhibition space was.

















A beautiful Zonda but it was that scale model that I really wanted. When I was young I used to long for those model airplanes in the windows of the airline offices! Something about them being small and perfectly formed perhaps. I'd say this model was about two feet wide - gorgeous!

I was delighted to see this lovely Fiat! They don't make cars like this anymore do they?! No wonder it had to be cordoned off.
















The other car I wanted to see - the new Aston Martin Roadster. I wouldn't be disappointed to have it in that colour either.


















Just to remind me I could be at home admiring our new plants instead!














The most hideous monstrosity in the show - the Rolls Royce. It was bigger than most people's houses and that stainless steel bonnet/hood took me back to my nasty kitchen in Kuwait - made of steel and impossible to keep clean. But I guess that is the chauffeur's problem not the owner, who, no doubt, would have more money than taste.




















And guess what, the Geneva Motor Show is not a drawing free zone! He was there last year too, by the same Peugeot stand, where we stood watching him. His caricatures were excellent.

It's nice to look at the photos - Paul took about 250! - but I think I'll give it a miss next year. Although, it wasn't so crowded as last year because we went on the last weekend, it was very smoky, crowded but most of all extremely hot. Because the layout was exactly the same but there were no amazing new attractions, I felt like I'd seen most of it before. But at least we got a seat on the bus on the way home...!