Fun in France
When the invite from Ardent Off-Road came through to join them in France for an off-roading weekend at Marquanterre I started to note down some of the things I needed to do to Deux Smurf in preparation, like a service and replacing a couple of steering bushes. Then I remembered that we’re skint and fuel alone would break the bank, so a press car it would have to be. Because Parc du Marquenterre is a nature reserve with a myriad tracks made up of soft deep sand, my first thought was an Isuzu AT35, however none were available, so I figured a D-Max Huntsman complete with a 2” Pedders suspension lift and rear canopy would be the next best thing. Friday morning arrived, and after throwing our camping gear and other essentials in the back of the D-Max we left at 7am for the 5-1/2 hour slog down the M6, M40, M25, M26 and finally the M20 into Dover.
After a calm crossing we docked into Calais at 3.30pm and made our way our campsite, du Champ Neuf in Saint-Quentin-enTourmont, arriving at 5pm ready for bite to eat and the odd pint of Guinness. After introducing ourselves to Jon, Hattie and Sam from Ardent Off-Road and a few of the other customers we put up our brand new Robens Vista 400 tent and unpacked the D-Max. I’ll be honest, after the long and boring motorway slog it wasn’t long before I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag dreaming of difflocks and sand castles. Saturday morning arrived bright and too early, and after breakfast and a mug of coffee we queued up outside the campsite’s indoor swimming pool ready for the off at 9am sharp. After just a 10 minute drive in convoy we arrived at the park, and after helping ourselves to coffee and croissants we listened to the safety briefing. Once that was over we returned to our 4x4s, lowered our tyre pressures to 20psi, which didn’t do a lot for the 18” All Terrains on the D-Max. We were then split into two groups, allocated a group leader, which in our case were Hattie and Sam in the Ardent 110, and followed our park guide on his quad across the road and into the forest.
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THE MUD LIFE MAGAZINE
Making our way along the single track lane, the ground was hardpacked sand. I had the D-Max in ‘High 4WD’ to keep up with our eager guide. Weaving our way through the forest we suddenly, and without warning, came up to our first obstacle, a shortish incline with a 90 degree left hand bend at the top. Granted, that doesn’t sound much of an obstacle, but when you add soft sand to the mix it becomes fun.
