click for bigger photos!
 For
the first time a short vacation by plane, and the destination was Tunesia,
the first week of April. In this Arabic North African country the second
language is French, and there is still some influance, also in the makes
of the cars thar drive around there, many of them cars imported at older
age. |
 The
first cars we can see are the taxi's at Monastir Airport (in Skanes,
8 km from Monastir City). Behind these there is a parking lot with a mixture
of old and new cars. One of the older is this battered LNA. |
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| Another old car is this Visa, and newer most certainly is the C3, which must have been standing there too long without paying, so it's punished with a wheelclamp! |
 New
also is this Berlingo used by TUNISAVIA, probably for passenger
transport. |
 Time
to do what we came here for, play our tourists role. On to the old Medina
of Monastir, which we can entre through the old city gate. But what
comes in our way? The yellow taxi, a Xsara and in front of that
the white C15. |
 Inside
the Medina there are all kinds of little shops, this for fruits and other
groceries, in front of it an old Mobylette, and isn't that the nose of
a white C15? |
 We
planned to see the edge of the Sahara and rented a Berlingo for
3 days to cover the 1200 kms. But what do we get? Not the Citroën
Berlingo we asked for but a Peugeot Partner! It's the same car the
man says...., maybe for him, but not for us! But there is no other choice
at that moment.
On the road again, let's see what is in front of us. |
 
It's the second 2CV we see in Tunesia (the first one was in Sousse when we were transported in a taxi and I could not make a photo at that time). The first looked very nice, but this second one really needs good care.. If interested take a look in the village of Gafsa. |
 
Another 2CV in better condition we see in Gabès, a bigger city on the seaside in the South. At the other side of the street we see the next interesting car: |
 Maybe
you've never seen this car and maybe you think it's a Méhari...
It's not like the Méhari made of ABS, but has a steel body. You
can recognise the left front wheel as a 2CV rim, in this case with
a flat tire. At the upper rear you can read "NAMCO" which gives
away it's origin: Greece. This Namco company produced about 30.000 Pony
cars from 1972 till 1983 in Thessaloniki (source: Wikipedia).
The Pony was based on Citroën's design for the FAF (Facile
à fabricer = easy too build). |
 Next
morning we leave the hotel and drive again to the centre and we see this
little garage which has a big sign abovethe entrance...
...when coming closer it is clear that it is a full size sign in 2 dimesions, only the 3rd dimesion has been shortened.... |
Garage sign in Gabès. Who can translate this for me? The answer came from Fouad Mohamed Elnady who translated it into: "Fixing and painting cars", thanks Fouad! (15 november 2006) |
 Street
life in Mahdia, a village situated at Cap Afrique. Lots of
Tunesian flags, the mosque with it's minaret in the background, some cars
before that, a parked white Berlingo (not my rental Partner!) and
a silvergrey C2 from a driving school, so people can learn to appreciate
driving Citroën from the start! |
 In
the last kilometers from the return to our hotel a taxi passes by, a new
looking Xsara, not all yellow but with white bumpers and other white
accents, maybe the new look for taxi's..... |
 After
a weeks holiday waiting an hour at Monastir Airport and looking at the
platform we see parked at the left a white Berlingo and in the middle
a white C15. Behind the C15 a white Berlingo with
green stripes is passing by. |
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You may say: "Are these all the Citroëns you saw?" The answer is: "No". But we were on holiday to see the country and not especially see the cars. And sometimes an interesting cars passes by befor you can grab the camera, or I had to drive on without being able to stop to make a photo. What I saw also and did not photographed:
an AK 400 in good condition and another one with the rear of an
Acadiane
(maybe an Acadiane with a 2CV front, it went by too fast
too take a closer look). Also there were more Acadiane's in use, always
in the color white! And I saw 2 other 2CV's, one looking like new
and another one old but in good condition.
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Interested in our holiday photos with the trip to the mountain oasis, salt lake Chot El Jerid and the edge of the Sahara? Click here |
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CitCity Tunesia review
was written 16 april 2006, last addition 15 november 2006
© 2006 | CitCity
| hans tacq | boskoop | NL
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