Two days ago we arrived at Beaulieu and our adventure began. Palace House, my home for the next ten days, is epic. The building of the palace dates back to the 16th century. My crew and I are staying in the family dwelling area of the palace closed off from the touring public. A moat surrounds the palace and acres of lush green yellow and red paint the landscape of the gardens. Today was the first day of clear weather and our first opportunity to film the scenery. Yesterday, we had lunch (salmon) with Lord Montagu and his son (and heir) Ralph (pronounced “r-aa-f”). Then, Lord Montagu gave us a personal tour of The National Motor Museum which is absolutely incredible! It is every car lover’s dream. Here is a pic of Lord Montagu and me.

Today (Saturday) was our first day of filming. We filmed the bi-annual Autojumble which is a gathering of thousands of car enthusiasts who buy and sell vintage autos and parts. I’ve never seen or heard anything like it. I spoke with one man who was showing his ruby red 1956 Mercedes 190SL. When it was manufactured it was three times the cost of an average house, and it was Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite auto. One of the coolest sightings was an artist, Ian Cook. He paints large portraits of cars using electric toy cars!! He literally uses dozens of remote control toy cars as his paint brush…..how’s that for imagination?!? Phillip, my photographer, asked him how he came upon the idea. Ian said his girlfriend gave him a toy car as a present and said not to get paint on it. Ian did the opposite and it’s working out nicely for him. I bought one of his prints.

I must get to bed….we are filming Lord Montagu at his beach house in the morning. We have not had much free time today, so here are a few pics as a teaser We will post more tomorrow. ** I’ll be posting a video of the amazing scenery very soon too!!