About The Challenge	Teams will be travelling to France on Sunday 19th November to take part in the annual Beaujolais Champagne Challenge - a major fundraising event organised by BP. Iain Rennie's Appeals Director, Robert Breakwell, and IRHH Vice Chairman, Tom Johnson will be representing the Iain Rennie Hospice At Home.

The Mayor and Mayoress of High Wycombe, Ian and Sarah McEnnis, who are supporting the Hospice during their year in office, will be travelling with them to help raise funds.

Teams from BP have been organising the Challenge since 1985 to raise money for charities. This year, they will leave the vineyard in Beaujolais at midnight on Wednesday 20th November when the wine is officially released and, using the shortest route possible, arrive at the Guy Charbaut House in the Champagne region by 7.30am. The team which records the shortest mileage between the two points will be awarded the coveted Iain Rennie "Bouteille Perdue" Challenge trophy. Having inviting supporters to sponsor home bottles of wine and Champagne and with help from sponsors, the teams hope to raise over £20,000.

Picture courtesy of Guy Mayer, Hyatt Studios 01442 824747

Over the last few weeks, Iain Rennie supporters have been placing orders for wine and Champagne in record numbers. A series of Wine Tastings and publicity in the press have contributed to the success of the appeal and several hundred bottles have been ordered. For Tom and I, serious preparation for the Challenge began today when we took delivery of our vehicles. Squire Furneaux Saab of Dunstable www.squirefurneaux.co.uk have provided the Hospice At Home with a Saab 9-5 car to use free of charge for the week of the Challenge and Rupert Fleming, Car Sales Manager at Squire Furneaux Saab, Dunstable, formally handed the car over to the team on Friday 15th November.

We also took delivery of a Land Rover Discovery, one of 5 generously provided for the Challenge by Land Rover, which we will be taking to France on Sunday.

So now the countdown to the 2002 Challenge has begun. Travel arrangements are in place and Tom is threatening to "burn the midnight oil" researching the shortest route for the Challenge. Don't forget to keep up with our progress by visiting this site regularly. The digital camera and the laptop are packed and, email connections permitting, we will post regular bulletins here.

Three of the charities taking part in the 2002 Challenge are hospices. As well as the Iain Rennie Hospice At Home, Prospect Hospice in Swindon and the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted also have teams participating. For the first time, we also have 2 Mayors and a Mayoress travelling with the teams: the Mayor and Mayoress of High Wycombe, Cllr Ian and Mrs Sarah McEnnis, who are supporting the IRHH, and Cllr Catherine Appleby, Mayor of the Borough of Dacorum, who is raising funds for the Hospice of St Francis.

Nine vehicles and 16 people arrived safely in Chateaux Thierry on the edge of the Champagne region tonight in readiness for the drive south to Beaujolais tomorrow following a calm crossing to Calais and an uneventful drive across northern France.

The teams enjoyed an informal dinner together at a local restaurant (there was not much open in Chateuax Thierry tonight!) before getting a good night's rest in readiness for tomorrow's journey.

	It feels like an early start as France is one hour ahead of us. As Mike Tunstall (left) briefs the team for the day ahead, Tom and Ian Kennedy (below) pay careful attention.

Then we all hit the road dividing into smaller groups to plan our route south to Beaujolais. For Tom and I, travelling with Ian and Sarah McEnnis, this means a pleasant drive to Chablis for a lunch followed by a slightly faster drive using the autoroutes towards Dijon. Then a detour via the picturesque chateau at Rochepot for some more route exploration and a few photographs (below).

As dusk settles we arrive safely at our hotel in Blace. Tom, Ian and Sarah are unaware of the beautiful scenery that surrounds us but are compensated with an excellent dinner at a nearby restaurant. Tomorrow, the purchasing of wine will begin in earnest.

To ensure fair play on the night of the Challenge, it is important that all the participating vehicles have their odometers checked over a reasonable distance. After leaving our hotel (above), all the vehicles completed the same 17 mile route taking in the summit of Mont Brouilly with its famous chapel (right), which is visible from all around the Beaujolais region, en route to the Hameau du Vin (Wine Museum) near Macon.

The Hameau provides a comprehensive introduction to the wines of southern Burgundy and, in particular, to the many wines from the Macon and Beaujolais regions.

The museum features an original wine press from 1708 and a rare view of an actual cellar used to store wine ageing in oak barrels.

With the (differing) mileages recorded, the teams then enjoyed lunch in the Sports Café at Arnas before once again heading up to the north, this time to Vinzelles to take on consignments of Macon Wines, notably St Veran, Macon Vinzelles and Pouilly Fuisse.

A convivial evening was spent at the local Café in Blace which laid on a superb meal for us. After we had eaten, BP organiser, Tony Newman, announced the details of the 2002 Challenge. This year, a new checkpoint west of Troyes has been introduced which will involve some re-thinking of the route we will need to take tomorrow night.

Tom and Rob Another day of wine purchasing dawns and, following a briefing from the Challenge leaders, Tom and I find a moment for some route planning. Then we're off to the village of Fleurie where we take on supplies of the region's most famous wine with its intense red berry flavours and notes of violets. After lunch at the Sports Café in Arnas we head back to Blace, this time up the hill to the Maisons Neuves vineyard which is the home of Jean-Pierre Merle, a respected local vigneron and maker of fine Beaujolais wines.

Supplies of the Beaujolais Nouveau are awaiting us ready to be loaded, and with the vehicles all now carrying their full complement of cases of wine, it's time for some further route planning back at the hotel and some rest in advance of the long night ahead.

At 9.00pm the teams head up to the vineyard once again where a warm welcome from John-Pierre and his family awaits us. In the cave, surrounded by the huge wooden casks and the paraphernalia of winemaking, the enormous wine press serves as a stage for the traditional Beaujolais ceremony to celebrate the new wine.

	The Mayors of High Wycombe and Dacorum, Ian McEnnis and Catherine Appleby, and BP organiser, Ted Green, are to have the honour of Chevalier du Beaujolais conferred upon them, and those members of the team who have already received this great honour join the local winemakers in the wine press.

The ceremony involves swearing allegiance to St Vincent (who was martyred by being crushed in a wine press) and promising to honour and promote the Beaujolais region, its people and wines.

The promise is sealed with a toast drunk in fortified Beaujolais wine from a special silver "tasse de vin". The celebrations continue with a meal and much conviviality punctuated by jokes and stories in French and English.

As midnight approaches, we say our goodbyes and gather at the vineyard gate ready to test our map reading and driving skills on a calm night with near perfect weather conditions.

The route that Tom Johnson has devised for us takes us across country following as straight a line as possible to our destination in Champagne. Tom and I will both drive and the Saab 9-5 and the Landrover Discovery will travel in convoy. Radio contact between the cars enables Ian McEnnis to navigate for both vehicles. The journey is largely uneventful, however our plans begin to unravel as we realise that access to the checkpoint at the service area near Sens without joining the autoroute is not an option. This means a trip of around 50 miles on the autoroute and puts us out of contention for the challenge trophy. To make matters worse, time begins to run out on us as the roads fill up in the early morning and we finally park up by the canal in Mareuil sur Ay more than an hour later than we had hoped. We are too tired to feel disappointed, and breakfast is swiftly followed by bed.

Team members emerge mid afternoon to load supplies of Champagne and enjoy a tour of the Champagne House conducted by our host, Guy Charbaut. Then it's time for a Champagne reception and a superb meal of Pate de Foie Gras followed by Wild Boar prepared by Guy's daughter, a Michelin starred chef. Naturally, a different Champagne is served with each course.

As the evening ends, the results of the Beaujolais Champagne Challenge 2002 are announced and Ian Kennedy and team mate Chris Stratford of Castrol are declared the winners. Ian, who won the 2001 challenge is delighted to be retaining the trophy which is presented to him by Ted Green. The full set of results is still awaited.

	The Iain Rennie Bouteille Perdue Trophy is awarded to Chris Stratford in recognition of his tireless efforts organising the logistics of transporting and delivering wine and Champagne to its final destinations. The Mayor of High Wycombe, Cllr Ian McEnnis presents Chris with the trophy on behalf of the Iain Rennie Hospice At Home.

A straightforward cruise up the free-running French autoroute to Calais followed by the nightmare of congestion on the M25 as we return to the Iain Rennie offices in Tring to unload. With all the teams, vehicles and contents safely home, the Beaujolais Champagne Challenge 2002 draws to a close. It has been 6 days of fun, food and friendship enhanced by the knowledge that the funds raised will provide much-needed support for the charities who have taken part this year.