The 2014 meeting was held from 4 to 7 September at Beaune in the beautiful Burgundy wine region of France, and was organised by Philippe Cauche with the support of Philippe Delaage. The weather was warm and sunny, and the meeting was attended by a record 185 people and 91 Montreals from 12 countries, including 32 from France, 25 from Germany and 17 from Switzerland. Beaune, with its remarkable 15th-century Hôtel-Dieu, is very centrally situated in Europe, being 7h30 from London, 9h40 from Berlin, 7h10 from Amsterdam, 10h15 from Vienna, 7h from Barcelona and 10h30 from Rome. Piero Stroppa, whose fine Montreal drawings are shown in the Technical drawings section, was the guest speaker.
The excursions included visits to the Morvan Regional Natural Park, the enchanting town of Véselay with its magnificent Sainte Marie-Madeleine Abbey, Semur-en-Auxois, picturesque Nuits-Saint-Georges, Châteauneuf-en-Auxois with its impressive castle, and the pretty old village of Montréal, overlooking the Serein valley. The Montreals were able to enjoy the Auxois Sud Racing Circuit, which includes a straight section 406 metres long!
A private visit was arranged to the wine cellars of the Château de Savigny, which also has an adjoining motorcycle, automobile and aeronautics museum. In addition to fine wines, participants had the opportunity to taste the famous highly-flavoured Epoisses Cheese.
Before leaving for home on the Sunday, participants were offered a choice of five different extra activities, ranging from tasting the wine from a local vineyard to visiting the Imaginarium or the Cassissium at Nuits-Saint-Georges.
The longest distance travelled (according to the rules for the award of the Bernhard Schalbetter Memorial Trophy) was by Timo Jaatinen, who drove his Montreal to the meeting from Finland.
Here are some photos from the 2014 Montreal meeting:
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