On July 19-20-21, 2019, Citroen’s centennial celebration took place at La fermé Vidame.
The media support for this commemoration remained relatively confidential but the success was there: 60,000 people present – including 10,000 collectors – and 4200 vehicles on display including 22 Rosalie from Club.
Citroen’s design offices have provided Ferté Vidame with a secret test centre, which explains the choice of this commune. It is in particular in these places that the first prototypes of the 2 CV, the TPV project, were tested.
The club had the originality to undertake a group presentation of the Rosalie.
For this reason, members wishing to participate with their Rosalie in this event were accommodated in a hotel centre not far from Ferté Vidame.
This place had the advantage of being able to accommodate all participants and their vehicles, which they reach on their own or on a trailer.
We had the pleasure of welcoming two members and their wives who had crossed borders with their Rosalie:
- Jonathan who came from England with a “Ten” (actually an “8”) with all the peculiarities of this type of car built across the Channel
- Kurt who came from Switzerland and had made the journey since Monday to join the group
Among the participants were two guests who had been faithful to the club’s events for the past ten years:
- Sylvain with his C4
- Joel with his convertible traction
On Friday morning at the first hour, the Rosalie got in order to reach the castle of Ferté Vidame where the gathering was taking place.
After following the indications to group the vehicles according to their dates and types, the Rosalie were exposed and subjected to the interest and curiosity of visitors.
During this time the participants of the club had the opportunity to stroll in the castle grounds where one could have the pleasure of admiring the different types of Citroen. One can only admire the amount of Traction, DS and SM gathered on this occasion.
Not to mention exceptional vehicles like Jean Daninos’ fully reconstructed Citroen 15 Speedster, the immortal little Rosalie, and a magnificent Caddy
In addition to the 14 Rosalie housed in our resort, we were also able to meet those who came to join us on the centenary site:
- that of Eric the Belgian, who came from Belgium by road with his “Ouîte”
- that of Ingrid and Dirk, who came from Holland with their Club “Patan” and their Manessius 2 places
- that of Gilles Le Lyonnais with his sedan 15 gray 2 tones
- the Rosalie tray of michel alias “pa2koirir”, ran out of gas next to us
- Jean François’ fake spider 15AL convertible
- that of Pierre-Yvon, an 8 all black from the Finistère came to join the Club on this occasion
- that of Yvon, a black 10B inner drive, which has also become a member of the club this day
- the 15 Sical Cabriolet by Eric alias André, parked next to us, who participated in the elegance contest, which he also won
At least 22 Rosalie of the Club!
And also, the superb luxury family 15 green and black mauritius, a former adherent, came from the Cantal by road.
After a sunny day and finally trying, the procession has reformed to reach the hotel site where drivers were photographed in front of their respective Rosalie.
We were then able to spend a cordial moment around a well-deserved aperitif followed by a meal worthy of this adventure.
Saturday and Sunday followed the same pace as the one mentioned on Friday and Monday the protagonists returned to their homes.
Many thanks to Gilles and Joelle (President and Treasurer) for organizing this gathering which required a lot of time and energy.
For more information, visit the official Centennial website:
http://citroencc.com
And the club forum:
http://forum-rosalie.1fr1.net/t5215-centenaire-citroen
And to conclude, two videos: