After enjoying the many Steam Rallies that take place during the summer in north Buckinghamshire it was a pleasure to see that the same countryside pursuits take place here in rural France. Someone had told me that there are no historic tractors and farm machinery displays in France since all such machines are still in full time use……..
So it was that we pitched up at Souvigné in early August for “Les Vieilles Mécaniques en Folie” (The Old Machines Extravaganza). Whilst not quite on the same scale as The Bloxham Steam Rally, the presentation of interesting, weird and wonderful exhibits was very similar to such events back in England. The big difference was that the day was hot and dry and the fields not muddy.
In the main arena were a huge variety of steam driven machines: threshing, log splitting, limestone crushing, to name a few, with some fine examples of English as well as French tools.
Meanwhile, there were plenty of trucks and tractors:
Some running……
…. and others not!
Other means of transport from times gone by:
What you’d expect to see at any Steam Rally:
And, of course, there was the display of classic cars:
The bourse d’échanges (auto jumble – every rally has one) yielded some period pieces to go with the Citroën DS back at home …….
….. great buy for 5€!
There are many flea markets, rallies etc. throughout the year around the region, why not stay in one of our gites and experience some!
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