The 4L Trophy: A Look Back at an Emotional Journey!
Here's a quick recap of this fabulous trip!
The first leg of the journey—not exactly the smoothest—was the trip from Nantes to Poitiers, our first “long” drive… But that was nothing compared to the 7,000 km we covered afterward. Thanks to the preparation by our mechanic, we had no trouble passing the administrative, medical, and mechanical inspections!
Thursday, February 13—the starting gun goes off and we’re off! We have two days to travel through the south of France and Spain. (in pouring rain and a windstorm) all the way to Algeciras. After a stop in Burgos on Thursday evening, forgetting to put the gas cap back on, and taking a roundabout the wrong way, we arrived safe and sound at the destination指定 by the organizers.
On Saturday at 1:00 p.m., we hear the first briefing from Jean-Jacques Rey, the director of the 4L Trophy. Now the adventure can truly begin.
We take the ferry to Tangier overnight and arrive on Moroccan soil in the early morning. To our surprise, the weather isn’t what we expected… there’s even snow. We take the opportunity to go sledding and chat with the locals!
Our first real campout, Boulajoul… We got a feel for the 4L atmosphere, checked out the facilities (tanker truck, repair truck, large tents set up for dinner, giant screen, the news…), and met a small group of friends from Lille with whom we’d spend the entire weekend.
It wasn’t until the next day (Monday) that we made our first tracks in the Sahara sand. The goal for the day was to reach Merzouga, where we’d set up camp for three nights. The adrenaline was definitely flowing: bumps, rocks, uneven terrain, new discoveries… We took plenty of photo breaks and enjoyed the scenery. The next two days were divided into two loops to spread out the number of 4Ls on the trails: Loop 1, a “sandbox” special stage, and Loop 2, which was longer and more winding. We managed pretty well; the car held up despite the broken trunk lock. We didn’t even need to stop by the mechanic’s!
On Tuesday evening, the donation ceremony takes place: medical equipment, school supplies, and sports equipment pile up—by the ton! It’s impressive to see how all the students got involved. The “Children of the Desert” team then collects and organizes the distribution of the supplies to 15 local NGOs. Thanks to financial donations, four new classrooms will be built. The exact figures haven’t been released yet, but in total, the initiative helped more than 10,000 children last year—we hope to have done the same for 2014!
Next up is the famous Marathon stage (Thursday and Friday), connecting Merzouga to Marrakech. The teams are on their own for the bivouac and must manage their mileage to ensure they arrive on time.
On the first day, luck wasn’t on our group’s side: 3 flat tires and 1 breakdown spread across 5 cars. We stopped at nightfall to set up camp. In a friendly atmosphere around the campfire, we shared our experiences (see JT 8, where we were filmed)! Given how far behind schedule we were from the day before, we drove almost nonstop from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The cars were running on fumes, and our 4L was making a terrible noise… We had to stop regularly on the climb up Mount Tichka because the car was overheating. A mechanic’s crew happened to be passing by and fixed a couple of things in the engine; that did the trick—the car was back to normal.
We arrived in Marrakech exhausted but happy to have completed this journey full of obstacles! No tent for the next two nights—it’s time for hotels in Marrakech! We visited a few of the city’s iconic squares and monuments before attending the closing ceremony of the 2014 4L Trophy rally.
It’s time to head back now: Marrakech → Tangier → Algeciras → Barcelona → Narbonne → Bordeaux → Nantes! All in all, it was a wonderful adventure! We’re coming back with our heads full of memories after an unforgettable, almost unbelievable experience… We can’t thank you enough for helping us make this project a reality through your financial support!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Maylis & Philippine, Crew 4eldorado
We were gone for a total of 15 days, 8 of which were spent in Morocco.
The first leg of the journey—not exactly the smoothest—was the trip from Nantes to Poitiers, our first “long” drive… But that was nothing compared to the 7,000 km we covered afterward. Thanks to the preparation by our mechanic, we had no trouble passing the administrative, medical, and mechanical inspections!
Thursday, February 13—the starting gun goes off and we’re off! We have two days to travel through the south of France and Spain. (in pouring rain and a windstorm) all the way to Algeciras. After a stop in Burgos on Thursday evening, forgetting to put the gas cap back on, and taking a roundabout the wrong way, we arrived safe and sound at the destination指定 by the organizers.
On Saturday at 1:00 p.m., we hear the first briefing from Jean-Jacques Rey, the director of the 4L Trophy. Now the adventure can truly begin.
We take the ferry to Tangier overnight and arrive on Moroccan soil in the early morning. To our surprise, the weather isn’t what we expected… there’s even snow. We take the opportunity to go sledding and chat with the locals!
Our first real campout, Boulajoul… We got a feel for the 4L atmosphere, checked out the facilities (tanker truck, repair truck, large tents set up for dinner, giant screen, the news…), and met a small group of friends from Lille with whom we’d spend the entire weekend.
It wasn’t until the next day (Monday) that we made our first tracks in the Sahara sand. The goal for the day was to reach Merzouga, where we’d set up camp for three nights. The adrenaline was definitely flowing: bumps, rocks, uneven terrain, new discoveries… We took plenty of photo breaks and enjoyed the scenery. The next two days were divided into two loops to spread out the number of 4Ls on the trails: Loop 1, a “sandbox” special stage, and Loop 2, which was longer and more winding. We managed pretty well; the car held up despite the broken trunk lock. We didn’t even need to stop by the mechanic’s!
On Tuesday evening, the donation ceremony takes place: medical equipment, school supplies, and sports equipment pile up—by the ton! It’s impressive to see how all the students got involved. The “Children of the Desert” team then collects and organizes the distribution of the supplies to 15 local NGOs. Thanks to financial donations, four new classrooms will be built. The exact figures haven’t been released yet, but in total, the initiative helped more than 10,000 children last year—we hope to have done the same for 2014!
Next up is the famous Marathon stage (Thursday and Friday), connecting Merzouga to Marrakech. The teams are on their own for the bivouac and must manage their mileage to ensure they arrive on time.
On the first day, luck wasn’t on our group’s side: 3 flat tires and 1 breakdown spread across 5 cars. We stopped at nightfall to set up camp. In a friendly atmosphere around the campfire, we shared our experiences (see JT 8, where we were filmed)! Given how far behind schedule we were from the day before, we drove almost nonstop from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The cars were running on fumes, and our 4L was making a terrible noise… We had to stop regularly on the climb up Mount Tichka because the car was overheating. A mechanic’s crew happened to be passing by and fixed a couple of things in the engine; that did the trick—the car was back to normal.
We arrived in Marrakech exhausted but happy to have completed this journey full of obstacles! No tent for the next two nights—it’s time for hotels in Marrakech! We visited a few of the city’s iconic squares and monuments before attending the closing ceremony of the 2014 4L Trophy rally.
It’s time to head back now: Marrakech → Tangier → Algeciras → Barcelona → Narbonne → Bordeaux → Nantes! All in all, it was a wonderful adventure! We’re coming back with our heads full of memories after an unforgettable, almost unbelievable experience… We can’t thank you enough for helping us make this project a reality through your financial support!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Maylis & Philippine, Crew 4eldorado
