The plan was simple. If the French could get away with banning our beef, Dial-a-Cab's intrepid team of underground warriors would extract revenge on behalf of the British nation by selecting some of this country's finest wine, taking it over to la belle France and proving once and for all that French Beaujolais is just a hyped up version of Sarson's Malt! Our country's name was at stake and if we could get some publicity for DaC on the way, well that would be useful too!
   The day started at the unearthly hour of 04.00 on the cold, wet morning of November 16th in the reception of the Holiday Inn at Maidenhead.
   At exactly 4.35, three heavily logo'd Dial-a-Cab taxis left in convoy led by Jim Rainbird (T25) - with his passengers Brian Rice and Allen Togwell - Allen Evans (Y83) was second with yours truly keeping the passenger seat warm and Marshal Mike Harris (F79) holding up the rear of the convoy with our marketing people on board ready to sort out the awaiting press corps.
   The first stop was to be the Old Luxters Vineyard in Hambledon (near Marlow in Bucks), where we would pick up the four crates of Chiltern Valley Special Vintage that our intrepid heroes were to deliver to both the UK and Paris. The bottles also bore the Dial-a-Cab name for this special occasion with the words 1999 Alternative Wine Run. We were due there at 05.00 but arrived ten minutes late due to an unscheduled diversion around Henley instigated by Jim Rainbird who liked the one way system so much that we visited it twice! Fine in the hot weather - especially during Regatta week - but not so brilliant when it's cold, dark and damp!
   But we eventually arrived at David Ealand's wonderful wine producing vineyard to be welcomed by the local press - not to mention hot drinks and rolls. At the still unearthly hour of 05.40, Brian did the first of several interviews - this one with News Direct 97.3FM - an interview that was to be broadcast many times throughout the day.
   Old Luxters was bought in the early 80's from a pig farmer and turned into a vineyard that produced over 120,000 bottles in its first decade.

Off They Go
At 6.15, with the wine crates safely on board, the group set their meters on 'hired' to record the fare to the final set-down point of Bertie's Restaurant at Rue Leon Delibes - the finest English restaurant in Paris. At Berties, the driver with the lowest fare would

DIAL-A-CAB OUT-BEAUJOLAIS THE FRENCH

or Dial-a-Cab Fait Son Livraison du Vin Anglais

be adjudged the winner and be presented with his choice of prize - an all-expenses paid, eight week round-the-world cruise on the QE2 or a silver plated corkscrew. As no one had remembered to book the holiday, they would have to settle for the corkscrew! Wisely, they decided to drive in convoy so Brian Rice kept the corkscrew anyway!
But back to 6.15... Leaving in nasty conditions with the persistent drizzle now joined by some fog, Marshall Mike led us out and immediately turned left instead of right and the three London taxis started their long Parisian haul by having to do U-turns while the press cars drove past in amazement having turned right!
Before Paris, there was a thirty minute trip to the first wine drop-off, the magnificent National Trust grounds and hotel of Clivedon where the beverage manager Dennis Machin had been eagerly awaiting his Chiltern Valley. Leaving Clivedon at 7.03, the meters showed Ł35.80 and the next stop was to be Folkestone and Le Shuttle.

Enter The Beeb
We made good time on the Folkestone run making up the twenty minutes that we had lost through the News Direct 97.3 interview and several 'nature' calls due to the cold weather. We arrived at 8.45 with the meter showing Ł260. However, that made-up time was more than wiped out by the BBC team who guided us round and round so that they could film every conceivable angle. Interviews with Brian Rice and the drivers were interspersed with the views of passers-by who were complimenting DaC on having the nerve to take on the French nation two days before the 1999 Beaujolais release. We had a quick sandwich and coffee and almost two hours passed before we managed to drive down to Le Shuttle - only to find that we had just missed the train!
Eventually we boarded the next one and thirty minutes later - at 11.35 GMT - drove out onto French soil at Calais with meters now on a healthy Ł324.40 - a nice 'run-in' by any standards! Our first stop was around the corner at the local shopping centre where BBC Three Counties Radio wanted to speak to us. They were concerned that an interview via a mobile phone would lose too much quality so a

land line had to be found. While there, yet more trips to l'hommes where a woman was mopping around the urinals and wishing us bonjour! An hour later we left. French time was now 1.40pm and we still had 185 miles to go just to get to Paris - let alone deliver the wine! Ł348.40 now showing. As there was a garage handy, the drivers filled up with Gazole (diesel) at 48p per litre (5.5F). UK fuel rip-off or what...!

Paris Here We Come...
We were soon on the A26 for the long ride into Paris. Surely we would lose no more time? When the snow first started falling,, we smiled at the novelty value of it! By the time it had turned into blizzard conditions, we were wondering if we'd even complete the trip! But it eased off after two hours and following a quick café au lait stop, yet more spend-a-Francs and going through toll booths at around ten quid per cab (106F), we eventually arrived at le Peripherique - the French North Circular with Ł730 on the hickory.
   We struggled through the French peak hour traffic to our first drop-off point in the plush confines of the British Embassy at Rue du Faubourg St Honore. It was 5.41 local time and the meters showed Ł760. There we were met by Ambassador's wife, Lady Sylvia Jay. We delivered the wine, the drivers had a 'nice' cup of English tea while the rest of us had some Champagne. We also used the loos! It was 12 hours since we had left Maidenhead and we were shattered.
   Next, to our final stop at Berties. At 6.45 local time, we passed the Arc de Triomphe and went along the Champs Elysees with stares of amazement from the locals. The local cabbies may have been surprised at our meters, which were almost at bursting point and then, at 6.53 local time and with Ł787.20 on the meter, we all arrived at Berties in the same order that we left Maidenhead. A quick interview with BBC Radio Cumbria and the event was officially over!
   The three drivers stayed overnight leaving at 6.00 the following morning while everyone else jumped onto the Eurostar arriving back at Waterloo just before 11.00 - 19 hours since we had met in the Holiday Inn reception. But seeing the event on TV reports with our logo be shown constantly and hearing the DaC name on the radio, the day had without doubt, been a great success...