Carvalet

 

 

Contentment comes in a wide variety of guises, for me as a Food Critic normally it may be in the form of an outstanding meal, a fine wine, it may also be in the form of an excellent film, superb sporting event or a great evening out with friends.

Well, there is another fine example to add to my list and one for you also. I had a visit from carvalet.co.uk transforming my car, outside and inside.

When she who must be obeyed is in one of her fiery moods, demanding the house has a makeover, with my office the source of much of her attention. Whilst I mutter and groan the actual cleaning and tidying is duly completed I have to admit that my writing is often easier when the room is tidy, the words flow with amazing regularity and all is well with the world. I know its all in the mind but that inner contentment allows the reviews and comments to flow freely.

There, in that very paragraph, is the connection. My car was the subject of a highly professional and effective makeover in the form of a full valet that it was a sheer pleasure to be able to drive off when it was finished, happy in the knowledge the outside and in it was gleaming, almost as much as I was. I even showed the car to a number of work colleagues, proud of the gleaming bodywork and polished interior. I even volunteered to go to the supermarket that same evening because of the pleasure of driving a car that had been so carefully cleaned and polished to such a high standard. The car, like my office with my writing, seemed to drive with style and poise, the odd rattle or rumble had disappeared from the scene and all was well with the world!

The reason I had arranged the valet was due to a recent visit to Paris where, when visiting a couple of top restaurants, I noticed that they offered and arranged the professional valet of diners cars whilst they were dining, thus allowing them to drive off after an enjoyable meal with their cars clean and pristine, both in and out. This is something that is starting in this country, a great use of time and with no inconvenience to the car driver who merely hands over the keys and leaves everything to the uniformed staff.

For readers who have tried to clean their own cars, inside and out, there will be a large number who will be happy; equally there will be many who would dearly love to reach the standards of the professional valet, where the car is, quite literally, gleaming, with all the visible, as well as some of the invisible parts of the car both cleaned and polished. I mention the latter because I was shown, as an example of the attention to detail, the inside of my lockable petrol cap which had been cleaned, polished and was a reflection of the very detail which elevates the company to the very peak of professionalism in an industry fraught with fraudulent claims of experience and knowledge.

My valet took two hours, or in culinary terms a good lunch! More importantly is the fact that the company will arrange the valet anywhere suitable to the client, work, pleasure or home. The valeter had all his equipment in the rear of his van, including a generator for the powerful vacuum, as well as a host of cloths, chemicals and ingenious devices designed to ensure the maximum makeover of any car to showroom condition.

In truth nothing is left from the careful eyes of the valeter, the paintwork, the windows, the interior sills even the ashtrays, and whilst my car ashtrays had never been used they were cleaned and polished. The alloy wheels on the car had been cleaned polished and protected, so often they suffer so much in the ravages of our weather, even more so in the damp autumn weather. They are now gleaming, returned to the condition they were in when the car left the factory, matching the remainder of the car.

The attention to detail has to be seen to be appreciated, the car badges, car handles, rear view mirrors are all inspected, cleaned, polished and given a final inspection before the vehicle is presented to the owner. The fabric on all seats cleaned, marks and stains removed, and the carpets returned to showroom condition. One of my wing mirrors had carried the wounds of a slight scrape from a fence post, the wound treated, the scar removed and the mirror now matches the superb silver of the rest of my shiny car!

I often used to wonder why so many car drivers had their car professionally valeted on a regular basis, now that I have enjoyed the experience for the first time I can see why, that feeling of utter contentment that comes from driving the car after such treatment is almost beyond words. In fact I tidied my study before creating this article and the words just flowed with absolute ease. So much so I