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Lost Places

Lost Places | Station Service Fermée

Flag FranceStation Service Fermée

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


There are many reasons why I love France. One of them is the fact, that the French do not immediately dismount the pumps after a petrol station goes out of business. Instead they just display the lowest possible price on the signpost, call it a day and wander off to play a game of Pétanque with their friends, enjoying a glass of red wine.

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Station Service Ouverte France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2013)

Lost Places | Beheaded bodies, robbed carcasses and zombies

Flag FranceBeheaded bodies, robbed carcasses and zombies

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Station Service Ouverte France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2013)

Lost Places | Station Service Ouverte

Flag FranceStation Service Ouverte

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


Yesterdays’ post featured a small service station that went out of business, but isn’t fenced off or has a sign saying so. The story today is different. You are looking at pictures of a substantially bigger service station that, for lack of a better word, is closed. Nonetheless, it does sport a sign saying: Station Ouverte.

To tell you the honest truth – this place looked like a film set straight out of a zombie movie! The lack of traffic, heavy clouds and a slight drizzle didn’t make it any more friendly or welcoming!

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Station Service Le Rousset France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2010)

Lost Places | Station Service Le Rousset

Flag FranceStation Service Le Rousset

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


When was the last time you found something not only totally unexpected, but also thought to be extinct by now? Trundling along the Route Départementale D27 at a leisurely pace on a hot day with no cloud in sight, we had a moment just like that, when we found the cutest rural petrol station and workshop. The icing on the cake most definitely was the color-matched Renault R5, which made the scene even more unreal.

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Rust in Peace | British Heritage in France

Flag FranceBritish Heritage in France

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


Well, you have probably read the posts about the German and Italian vehicles found in a field in southern France. OK then, this post is about the British heritage fading away in the very same location. The Mini Mk1 and the Land Rover Series II look as if you could save them, albeit probably with a little more work than it looks at first sight.

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Rust in Peace Germans in France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2010)

Rust in Peace | German Cars in France

Flag FranceGerman Cars in France

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


If you have read the story about the star on a reasonably priced car, you already know how I found a field full of faded treasures in rural southern France. You might also have spotted a blue BMW E28 5-Series in the background. This one seemed to be in good shape. Gotta love those yellow fog lights ?

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Rust in Peace Les Francaises | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2010)

Rust in Peace | Les Françaises

Flag FranceRust in Peace

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Rust in Peace Italians in France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2010)

Rust in Peace | Italian Cars in France

Flag FranceItalians in France

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


After posting the German cars resting rusting in a field in southern France, Drive-by Snapshots brings you the Italian counterparts found at the same location: the proverbial sleeping beauties. In the first picture, a Lancia Beta Coupé and a Lancia Beta HPE are guarded by an angry looking Simca Aronde.

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Rust in Peace | Mercedes-Benz W108

Flag FranceMercedes-Benz W108

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


Once upon a time…
This is how most fairy tales begin. This is no fairy tale, though.

Once upon a time we traveled through France and my friend asked me whether or not I had seen the classic car behind a bush we just passed. I thought she wanted to fool me and kept driving all the way to… the next roundabout. This is what they have been invented for anyways. Turning around and driving back, all the way thinking about this (possibly nice) opportunity for a Drive-by Snapshot. Finding the bespoke classic car behind the bush was great – but discovering a whole field with literally dozens of classics, left me speechless.

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Modern Garage CHalus France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2009)

Lost Places | Modern’ Garage Chalus

Flag FranceModern’ Garage Chalus

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


September 2009. Late afternoon, somewhere in rural France. Running low on fuel, we were looking for a service station to fill up the trusty Mercedes. Eventually we found a station just before sunset – and right next to it one of those places that are well and truly lost in time. The overall impression didn’t really match the name of the place – Modern’ Garage. It might have been modern when the sign-writer painted the letters on the front wall decades ago. Peeking inside, we spotted a seemingly brand new Ford Escort Mk3 and many parts boxes of the same period. Around the back I found a Renault 5 Mk2, a pre-facelift Renault 21 and a Peugeot 403. I intended to take a few pictures, but a rather unfriendly dog reminded convinced me that I really wanted to cover many more kilometers before nightfall…

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Biarritz Chateau d'Ilbarritz France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2009)

Lost places | Biarritz, Château d’Ilbarritz

Flag FranceLost places | Biarritz

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Station Service Saint Priest de Gimel France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2009)

Lost Places | Station Service abandonné en St. Priest-de-Gimel

Flag FranceStation Service abandonné en St. Priest-de-Gimel

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace


Driving past this abandoned service station in 2007 sparked a memory. A long time ago, when I was a young boy, we used to take the same route between Clermand-Ferrand and Bordeaux. If I remember correctly, this station was still in service back then and we might even have stopped there to fill up.

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Station du Haut Limousin France | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2009)

Lost places | Station du Haut-Limousin

Flag FranceStation du Haut-Limousin

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Simca Hot Rod 1955 France Front | Drive-by Snapshots by Sebastian Motsch (2007)

Rust in Peace | Nondescript French Concrete Mixer Hot Rod

Flag FranceNondescript French Concrete Mixer Hot Rod

Lost Places   |   Rust in Peace

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