Two horses

 

I saw the photo above online and it took me back to my own first car…a Citroen 2CV.

Then I checked back over our archives to discover that the idea of naturism and the 2CV has already been covered on our pages, a post I missed when on sabbatical and Trine was editing the blog. I note that Trine wrote that she saw a link between naturism and the 2CV. I disagree…up to a point! It seems, to me, that naturism (or glamour photography -see many of the examples below) wasn’t linked to the 2CV per se, but an individual sort of lifestyle was linked to an individual kind of car styling, styling now lost in the identikit 2000s. I don’t see much evidence of particularly individual cars these days, although I’m not an expert. I make no apology for using ‘glamour’, rather than naturist, photography, for illustration. These photos simply underline the point(s) I’ve just made about the appeal of the Citroen range extending beyond -but also including- naturism.

(note: in Trine’s post, she explains the meaning behind the car’s name. 2CV stands for Deux Chevaux, or ‘Two Horses’, a comment on the car’s horsepower)

It seems, to me, that glamour photography, naturist photography and naturism seem pulled more towards the whole idea of Citroen, the car maker, and its entire range of vehicles (the DS and H-van also seem ideal backdrops for each).

You can see why…with its capacity to raise the suspension and drive fast over poor roads, something historically necessary in the rural French countryside, the Citroen would certainly appeal to young people heading out to some out of the way cove in order to indulge in a little 1960s ‘ooh la la’ naturism.

I also noted that Paris Metro had a group gift going when Trine posted to own your own 2CV in SL! And she’d got one! (insert jealous face emoji here) Surely…it couldn’t…still…be there? Sadly not, but I went onto the Marketplace and for just L$100

I rezzed it and… ‘Jim, Jim! Are you free? Go on Second Life right now!!!!!

The secret to a successful marriage is the man knowing when to do as he’s told. 🙂

We were in different rooms when I demanded he go online but I could hear the laughter when he logged in and saw what I’d rezzed.

We did a few photos, he logged out, and came into my study. ‘The 2CV…remember that time we drove to France in it, poor as church mice, our first naturist holiday together, everyone else in well-appointed camper vans and the two of us in a two man tent from Millets?’ (world, please note, Millets is a British camping/outdoor store. Their cheapest tent, now, is £50. Back then, we probably got ours, now long binned, for about £10-15).

I logged out and for the next hour we reminisced about the car, the tent, the campsites, the naturism (Jim’s first experience of it) and the falling deeper in love with each other. We remembered the invites to other people’s site, to sit by their campfires, to cook their sausages, to share our wine, to meet new friends, all under a starry sky and further immersion of the wonderful lifestyle that is naturism. The not-quite-sure-about-it-when-we-departed-the-port-of-Dover Jim came home a confirmed and committed naturist. It was a wonderful, wonderful series of memories…and all conjured up by SL!

There are times when Second Life, and the memories it brings back when there’s some cross-fertilisation between the first and Second worlds, is the greatest game in the world!

Ella