Agde Part 2

After lunch, we gently tottered (and believe me on flip flops after 5 miles in the sunshine) around the town. France closes down after lunch, sometimes not opening until 2.30pm or even 4pm. The Tourist information office was extremely helpful and we came away with lots of information on the town.

One of the places to visit was the Glaciere, which is one of the oldest parts of the town apparently built on greek remains (something I never knew) but also on top of an old volcano of which Cap'd'Agde is the basin and makes a lovely harbour.

As well as keeping ice cold, if any inhabitant had a fever, they could also be taken to the Glaciere to bring down their fever.. hmm one ice cube or two?

After a little sightseeign, we the unwise, decided to amble back to Vias Plage via the Canal du Midi (we entered by the road route and I am still not certain how we came to do that only that it was my fault as I saw the sign leading the Agde which pointed away from the Canal : sigh :)

This time, we were slightly better prepared having had a nice meal, and brought some water in the town and much of the canal was shaded with some nice resting spaces and the boat traffic making gentle waves upon the water.

This picture was about half way back and led over to a small vineyard, we were too early for the main festival which was happening about a week after we were due to leave but we had enjoyed plenty of local wines including a Muscat de Frontignan which went down rather well one evening and we managed to get a bottle back as a treat for Christmas time which we are looking forward to.

Agde Part 1

While in France, SOH and I took a day trip yomp to the local town of Agde. We took a peek at the map and saw it was a nice walk along the canal de Midi to the town which was ancient and we didn't want to take a car so preparing wisely (as the weather was so warm) we wore flip flops and t-shirts.

We  set off at 11am, just in time for the start of the hottest part of the day, and headed off alongside the canal. Now the brightest of sparks among you will have instantly spotted the lack of water, and sensible walking gear and by the time we reached Agde we were well and truly parched, not to mention blistered by the flip flops.

Even the Carmargue horses we passed en-route seemed to be lethargic in the sun; a good indication that we should have had a siesta.

Still, we ended up at a lovely outdoor restaurant in Agde just off of the riverside and enjoyed a steack hache a bouchon with a starter of Melon and Parma ham. While my french is very limited, I do try to speak and love it when I get corrected by the locals. At the end of the meal they ask if you are finished, I responded with Je Suis termine but was corrected and told that I need only say Je termine. It is one of the reasons I would love to live in France, but all the properties that we saw were very much out of our price range.. still there is always the Euromillions draw on Friday.

Musings from Back of Beyond

During one of my (many) tidying up sessions, I re-found a book sent over by my brother about Oradour Sur Glane... The village has been left to stand testament to the suffering inflicted on the villages during the war and it set me thinking. Though some of the buildings now are being protected by metal bands to stop them falling down.

It seemed to be an act of almost petty spite, foiled at finding the real Resistance which had attacked the German garrisons at Tulle and Guéret as well as the kidnapping of Sturmbannführer Helmut Kämpfe, Adolf Diekmann, Commander of the Der Führer regiment of Das Reich ordered the systematic killing of the inhabitants of Oradour Sur Glane on 10th June 1944.

Some 642 villagers, including children attending the schools from outlying hamlets were shot by machine gun, set fire on in the church and in barns and some of the bodies pushed down a well.

It is a moving place to visit, but I wonder, if in the heat of the moment whether any of the soldiers under the command of Diekmann felt that this act was so wrong but were afraid of the consequences if they were to refuse the commands.

Zeltus and I took a brief tour of the village when I was on my way back to the UK, and it struck me then that sometimes we push our consciences aside in the heat of the moment even when we know something is so inherently wrong, but appears to be a lesser risk to personal safety.

We had a conversation, yes siblings even talk to each other sometimes, when is the right time to let the grass grow over the old ruins? to heal the rifts of time and anger.. It is on the same lines as Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, when do we recognise that it is time to let go of the anger for fear of just perpetuating the hatred?

What do you guys think?

I had a great time in France

Landed on Saturday afternoon, and by the time I got home I was absolutely shattered. Sunday was spent catching up on tasks such as washing etc and after a busy week already I opted for a leisurely bath, watched the Northern Ireland drama and fell asleep.

Feet haven't touched the ground at work, hence the blog not being updated, but now I think there is light at the end of the tunnel and if I find it is someone else bringing more work they might swing from the rafters.

Stopped at Oradour Sur Glane on the way back to the airport, it was a very moving experience, not just because of the feelings of the place but knowing some of the history. Such a tragic story, but not alone in paying the price of war I am afraid. I am glad it is left as a testament to man's inhumanity to man, it helps to remind us of our rights and responsibilities. We have the right to a peaceful life, and a responsibility to protect those rights.

I was glad to get back to the airport, and it was worth paying excess fare on the luggage which contains all sorts of goodies that I brought back and the cheese and walnut bread made a good snack at the airport. I even brought coals to newcastle in the form of a chocolate easter egg that Zeltus, his wife, me and a friend won as part of a quiz team on the Thursday night we won 4 eggs and therefore each had one. Needless to say I also brought back some french chocolate including some very nice cocoa dusted walnuts which are a regional speciality.

The ratz survived the week without me, and I think even missed me though the person that took care of them said she read them a goodnight story on one of her visits, and even said they were quite cute. I think most people's view of ratz are the big brown scary variety.

It is good to be home again, but I did enjoy my visit to Zeltus not to mention polishing the acres of oak panelling with beeswax on the Friday :-)

Perigord Region

Zeltus's wife took me to Perigoux yesterday as I was on the hunt for some local perigourdine delicacies to take home, such as foie gras, confit de canard, cocoa dusted walnuts etc.. I hadn't visited Perigoux before, so we went there and the small streets and narrow walkways reminded me very much of York with the ginels and snickets.

After a cup of coffee, and the obligatory pastry we set off to explore the town. It is always fascinating to look into the shops and see the different objects for sale, so different to english towns and so much the same.

I managed to get some petite tins of foie gras in different styles, and in a small chocolate shop found the elusive cocoa dusted walnuts - these I brought when I first visited 4 years ago and they are lovely and not too sweet - my quest was completed with a visit to carrefour where I managed to pick up some sweets for friends etc.

Then last night, we went out to a quiz night with another ex-pat Rob, the grand prize being chocolate Easter Eggs - Cadbury's. Given the first 12 questions were on wimbledon winners I wondered if we had a hope, but after than general knowledge saw us sharpen our wits.. one question we got right, by luck more than judgement, was on which river would you find the cat and mouse castles... anyone know why this is? The answer is the Rhine if that helps, I have had a look but haven't found out why or how. We not only scooped the first prize, but managed to get the closest to the bonus question to get a fourth egg so we came home laden and happy last night.

I fly home tomorrow, it will be good to get home, to unpack and hopefully cut the grass in the garden not to mention catch up on the post and other work that will need doing, also have to prep for work next week.

On the way to the airport at Limoges we are going to call in at Oradour-Sur-Glane as I have always wanted to see it, we will only have time for a short visit but needs must.

Fish Day

I was talking to Zeltus's wife about the French customs for April Fools Day, and apparently over here it is known as Fish or Poisson Day. They still play jokes on each other, as do the English and other nations but over here in France they sell chocolate fish to give to each other as presents.

From what I know of the traditions behind April Fools Day or All Fools day is that in pre-Christian cultures May Day or May 1 was celebrated as the first day of summer, and signalled the start of the spring planting season; an April Fool was someone who did this prematurely.

Chaucer references April Fools' Day in the Canterbury Tales written c 1400 in the Nun's Priest's tale, a tale of two fools: Chanticleer and the fox, which took place on March 32nd as as we all know only 31 days in March so this would have been April 1st.

Our mother told me the story of the spaghetti tree harvest, reported on by the BBC in 1957, and tried to convince me it was true but I was having none of it. Good job too as this was a hoax, but had many people fooled at the time.

Dog Day afternoon

Have been busy entertaining Zeltus's two Parson Russell Terriers, Judy and Charlie. Because it is cold, but bright sitting outside is not an option so I am staying in the kitchen which gets the best of the morning sunshine and kept company by Charlie sitting on my lap adding to the warmth factor. Judy instead preferring her own company and staying in the cold living room.

At some point in time in the morning yesterday, Judy started shaking and we had no idea why until much later in the day when she squealed with pain on being picked up. However this morning she seems a lot happier and there will be no need for the vets but her exercise is going to be curtailed so I will be walking Charlie alone today.

Almost finished the book I brought with me, Elizabeth Buchan - Light of the Moon. If you like tales of WWII and the resistance/soe exploits this is for you, it is a novel but draws on some of the experiences of the people of the time. Another book Between Silk and Cyanide is written by Leo Marks and he was involved in the work of Violette Szabo, this isn't easy to get hold of this book but a very good read if you do find it.

Hopefully today will be a little warmer, and I can get out in the garden for a while

To France

A friend brought me across to Stansted airport, where I duly checked my bag in using the automatic check-in systems and then stood in line at the baggage drop. It was difficult at first to work out where I should be going but then like a light switch being turned on I saw the light.

I sent some final texts to friends and then headed to air-side. Security was more rigorous than when I last flew, but I did manage to get a smile out of two of the security staff when I asked if I should remove my hoodie he said yes, and I asked if he wanted any more.. his reply was are you offering with a big smile... sometimes it pays to have humour. Then passing through the detector I triggered it and got stopped for a frisk, of course women have to do women, but I did ask if next time I could have her charming looking male companion.. she smiled broadly and said she would try and arrange it. I thanked them all nicely, bundled up all my belongings and passed through to departures.

I did some browsing in Dixons and purchased a new set of headphones for the mp3 player, as mine are now showing their age. Then a quick visit to WHSmith got me a sunday paper and I headed for the gate as it was now showing up on the boards. Once there I tried a last call to a friend and then sent some texts before switching off the phone before I boarded.

Prices for drinks on board the plane were overly high so I resisted purchasing anything, and just read my book, the landing was bumpy, haven't had such a rough landing since I last flew to Glasgow with Easyjet and the pilot tried to convince us it was testing the automatic landing device.. right!

Through security once more, and collecting baggage out to the arrivals where Zeltus was waiting. 35 mins later and I am drinking kir while we wait for the roast lamb to finish cooking, though the clocks finally caught up with me and by 9.30pm french time I was quel fatigue and retired for the night.

Tomorrow is another day as they say.

France

On the encouragement of my Bro and his wife I have just booked tickets to visit.

It will be good to catch up with them and hear all about their eventful trip to Spain. Not to mention they were worried about me after yesterday and want to check up on me to bolster my spirits. Hopefully I can get them to take me out to Oradour Sur Glane as it is somewhere I have long wanted to visit.

Just have to organise holiday and things now at work to enable me to go.

18th September

We had an early breakfast, the missing companions stayed missed (though this was a hotel they had apparently arranged) and they didn't show for the ferry either...

Tony and Sue just missed us having breakfast, but came to see us off and as they don't live that far away we will catch up with them before too long.

We arrived at the dockside before too long and having got through passport control (yes folks despite rumours to the contrary, our passports were checked to ensure we were entitled to come back to the UK); though because we were on motorbikes, we were not required to get off and have them searched, unluckily for us we simply had no room for goodies, but we will know better next time.

The ferry crossing was calm, much better than last time and all too soon we were back on British soil and heading home.

SOH will say that due to my suggesting let's go up the M1 that it took longer to get home than if we had gone up the A1 but in my defence I said I didn't mind which of the two roads we took - but honey, next time I will defer to you :-)

Total Mileage for the trip : 1943 miles

Many happy memories and we are already looking forward to our next trip abroad.

18th September 2008

We had an early breakfast, Premier Classe hotels start serving from 6.30am so it was easy to make an early start and get on the road by 8am. Today was a shorter ride, only 170+ miles (est) to Boulogne and we wanted to get there and have a look around.

Also in our mind was the fact that having 'lost' our companions of the trip so far, we wanted not to catch them up on route but to arrive at the hotel before them and be nice and calm in trying to resolve the issues.

SOH had a GPS system, but the roads to Boulogne were well signposted, and we made a good team as our riding styles are quite similar (just think pipe and slippers - comfort mode)

We made good progress, stopping for fuel and a coffee on route; even so we arrived at 1.30pm and the hotel lets you book in even though the manager isn't on duty with a electronic system; easy to do and even displays the instructions in English as well as French.

We changed clothes, and went in search of some lunch before taking a look around. While we were walking back from Decathlon we noticed that a bike contained Tony and Sue was arriving so we walked back to have a chat with them; they were staying on an extra day to look around Boulogne town (we had established by now that we were just too far out of town to walk and neither of us fancied getting the bikes back out).

We arranged to meet for dinner, taking another visit to the Buffalo Grill where I had the cowboy platter and SOH had a lovely steak and between the four of us we drank two bottles of St Emilion so we were very happy as we went off to bed.

Daily Mileage : 183
Total Mileage so far : 1815

17th September 2008

We had the luxury of a warm double bed, and a shower that provided a ample supply of hot water so we were well looked after by Zeltus and his wife.

More so when we went down for breakfast and had fresh croissants from the Boulangerie (just across the road) so hot that when Jan went for them they were almost too hot to carry comfortably.

The guests that had accompanied us had been told by SOH and myself that breakfast would be basic, but Jan did us proud with cereals, fresh pastries, piping hot coffee and tea and cold meats and a baguette to choose from on the kitchen table; sadly these two so called guests managed to put a sour note into the breakfast and Zeltus and Jan were left fuming at their unbelievable rudeness and bad manners.

We set off at 9.30am, only because we were prolonging breakfast as having eaten too much last night we were still stuffed and also we wanted to spend the time with family. Zeltus got his bike out and accompanied us as far as Limoges, he needed to buy dinner for that evening but also to replace the wedding anniversary champagne that we had drunk the night before, so that he and Jan could celebrate properly.

Going across country to the A20, Zeltus took us by the chateau where Richard the Lionheart died from his wounds he got at Chalus - another missed photo opportunity.

We took the A20 northwards to Orleans, the scenery changes quite quickly as you rode along, but the long open roads on the E9 road after Orleans let you see for miles ahead. Though overtaking in the side wind was not fun, and on the second occasion I got blown back out into the traffic by a gust of wind and after that I rode a little more cautiously.

Chartres was skirted, and I longed for a stop at the cathredral (another place I have promised myself a visit to so that I can take the pilgrims maze), but I had to satisfy myself with the view from the traffic lights.

The cathedral had some scaffolding up, which you can't see from this viewpoint.

Our stop was some 30 miles north of Chartres, at a place called Dreux (we still don't know whether the x is silent or not). We arrived early evening and noticed the restaurent was about 500 metres up the road, but not a great distance. However our companions at this point lost the plot completely and decided to leave us as he didn't want to walk that far; instead he drove another 40 miles to Everaux and book in to a different hotel. By this time we had enough of their behaviour over the past few days and were glad to be on our own.

We had an excellent meal at the Campanile, where Vanessa made us feel at home and when she established we were staying at the Premier Classe hotel just down the road she gave us a free drink and we got 10% off our bill.

Tomorrow, Boulogne and then home.

Daily mileage : 263
Mileage so far : 1632

16th September 2008

We had a good night's sleep and with a shorter day in front of us we opted for a slightly later start. This also allowed the frost on the bikes (yikes - frosts!!) to warm up before we set off for the days ride to Zeltus's.

We were in the midi-pyrenees, and though we didn't know it we were only 27 miles away from my old neighbours who left home to live and run a Chambre d'hotel in France; I didn't realise this fact at the time otherwise we might have been tempted to call in on them as well.

We headed up through France, through the Lot region, and it was extremely pretty; particularly so was the port on the Tarn we passed through and a very scenic little village that I forgot to make a mention of the name of but would have like to have had a coffee at if we had the time.

The Paper mill at Sarlat, gets a mention as it was extremely pretty and as we drove past it could have been right out of the middle ages; Zeltus thinks that it is a modern recreation but it was very good and hard to tell.

We stopped for a photographic moment (a first for us) at Jumilhac le Grand, the Rapunzel story is supposed to have originated from here; SOH in trying to turn his bike somehow lost the battle of weight vs obverse camber and she hit the deck, but luckily only a few scratches and no major wounds or trauma.

We manoevered the bikes in front of the fountain and took this picture :

We were only 6 miles or thereabouts from Zeltus at this stage, so we called to see if he wanted to come out on his bike, but he preferred to wait for us at home. I had been there about 3 years ago (yikes - really that long ago?) but as we neared his home it started to look very familiar; he lives opposite the church in the village so it wasn't difficult to miss him.

After making the suitable introductions, and changing into more comfortable clothes we sat down and had a pre-dinner drink before Zeltus kindly drove us all to the restaurent, making two journey's each way to ensure everyone could get there - cheers Bro.

The restaurent was typical french cuisine, and specialised in local dishes of the perigord region. I had the assiette perigord and shared with SOH who had the vegetable soup while Zeltus's wife shared with our leader the delights of her plate after giving me the dish of creme brulee with fois gras (which was delicious) and I look forward to trying in again in future.

We pigged out far more than we should have done and all of us felt full that night and it was hard to do justice to the spread that Zeltus and his wife put out for us the following morning.

The croissants and pastries came from the boulangerie just 2 mins away across the road along with cereals and cold meats we had a feast; unfortunately the two guests we had taken with us were not pleasant breakfast companions and I can only apologise to my brother and his wife who had put themselves out on our behalf and who didn't mention a word in front of them publicly. I know they felt upset at how these two 'guests' were rude and obnoxious given that Zeltus and his wife had only just got home from Cornwall and then were faced with opening up a gite, cleaning it and preparing for our stay with less than 24 hours notice and got very little thanks from our companions for doing so. If it helps we appreciated very much

It was too short a visit, but we have promised to go back before too long.

Daily Mileage : 147
Total so far on holiday : 1369

15th September 2008

A long day and tiring, but full of drama and scenery that we passed. We left the campsite at 9.30am and headed towards the motorway (peage) after refuelling, unfortunately our leader led us initially the wrong way so we ended up having to backtrack and lost about 40 minutes overall but we did get back on track fairly quickly.

The wind was quite strong, a disadvantage for motorcyclists as when you are passing lorries or open spaces it can catch you out occasionally. We passed by Salon de Provence on the Peage which on reflection it would have been easier to have used this on the journey down to the campsite but you cannot change the past.

Managing the toll booths on the bike is an artform; SOH would take a ticket and pass through, then me. Then the other side of the booth we would stop and he would hand me his ticket, then at the other end of the toll section I would hand over both tickets and pay for us both; I apologise now to anyone caught behind us in the queue.. as I took a while to co-ordinate getting money out and putting gloves back on.

We passed by Montpellier and the Camargue region, I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the white horses running alongside the black bulls but it was only a glimpse and I had to buy a postcard to get a decent picture, as the wind was so strong along this part of our route that you were having to hold on fairly strongly to make forward progress.

We were also entertained by some jet planes above enjoying the open space to play battle games with each other until they disapppeared off into the distance.

It gradually grew cooler as we headed northwards, we had been in heat for so long that it felt almost cold to us but we quickly acclimatised. We stopped for fuel, and a break from the wind, a scottish lorry driver en-route to Spain came over and chatted to us having spotted the English plates.

The Millau bridge is as good as I had imagined it would be we rode over it in blue skies and sunshine and it seemed to unfold before us. We were not so lucky as this photo shows the bridge with cloud underneat the structure, we had no clouds at all to impede our views but I am sure we will return one day (we would have considered returning to the bridge the following day, but we felt that it was just too much considering the days ahead and so regretfully have postponed it until another day).

We still had another 45 miles to go to our destination, and we were all getting quite tired and it was with some relief that we began to see signs appearing for Rodez where we would stop for the night. The hotel was warm, welcoming and a restaurent was nearby (even if it was only McDonalds).

Daily Mileage : 321
Mileage so far : 1222

Sunshine and Blue Skies

La Pachacaid was all that it had promised, the warm air of the Cote d'azur was there morning to late evening; it felt very strange to be in short sleeves at 11pm at night, and to have to use the air-conditioning in the caravans to keep cool. The view from the caravan was over the hills towards the sea (not that we could see it from our location, but it was beautiful).

What you can't see in this view of our caravan was how steep the ground was sloping; very kindly Tony and Sue opposite let me keep Max over there and you can see how flat this was. This was also where we had most of our meals as Sue was Mum in charge of us and concocted some great meals which included breakfast.

I volunteered to be up at 8.30am when the shop opened so we could have fresh croissants and bread for the day ahead, breakfast was when I got back up the hill; if nothing else I should have been fitter when I got home, but I guess the diet of bread, cheese and steak probably didn't help me much.

Apart from SOH going shopping, with two other members of our group, I stayed behind to do some much needed washing (which meant I didn't have to get dressed up again), we didn't leave the campsite. A couple of our group decided to have a day out in St Tropez, another went to Monaco to ride the grand prix circuit and a couple more decided to take in the Verdon Gorge.

SOH and I discussed what we wanted to do, but given we were planning to take 4 1/2 days home we figured we should just chill out and relax; I didn't take much convincing, the pool was good and the jacuzzi above it helped to take out all the kinks that still niggled from days on the bike.

Early one evening, we heard what sounded like cowbells, and they were going up the slope opposite our caravan. I got the camera out and about 200 goats went scrambling up the slope the bells ringing out as they made their way up the hills to forage.

Then all too soon it was the last night, and we were packing to leave early the following morning. Neither of us regretted leaving a day early as we were looking forward to the journey home.

10th September 2008

Day 4

We enjoyed a lazy, and late, breakfast on the terrace overlooking the panoramic view. It was already hot and we were regretting not having made an earlier start (remember this fact later).

We had heard nothing from our missing traveller, however he had no mobile phone with him but he did have our contact numbers so we decided to make our way to the caravans.

The route chosen, by our leader, took us via Marseille and Toulon. Trying to keep 5 bikes together was extremely difficult, and while we managed Marseille we failed miserably at Toulon and our leader was last seen heading Eastwards.

One of the other bikes took over the lead, and we navigated out of Toulon safely and towards our final destination. GPS units have their uses but get two or more together and you get differing routes.

At Hyeres, Tony's GPS said one thing and we all followed blindly only to have to do a U-turn in a narrow road with limited vision. I was second bike, and following Tony down the hill only to see a French driver in an Audi plough into the back of him, sending Tony and Sue (his pillion) tumbling to the road - thankfully they were not hurt - but the bike was damaged and roadside repairs were needed. We hauled off onto the side of the road, while insurance details were swapped but we were quite shocked at how much it affected us.

We made our way along the coast road to La Pachacaid, another mistake as there was a better road above it, however the views along this road were gorgeous, the sea was a turquoise shade of blue and all of us were tempted to stop but we had to keep going.

The road from the coast up to the campsite was narrow and very twisty, the GPS's all showed the path upwards until you took a road and then they smugly showed that the route you should have taken was the other way. We ended up trying to turn the bikes around with a drop on one side of hundreds of feet and a loose gravel path on the other.. I wasn't the only one who was tempted to park up, stamp my feet and give in at this stage. When we finally got on the right path, the drivers coming the other way wanted all the road (remember the drop, it was on their side) but we now had large drains on ours and didn't want to be forced in.. my language turned a lot less lady-like I am afraid.

It was a relief to see the campsite emerge from the hillside, and know we were almost there. We parked up and booked in, then it was a simple 5 mins journey to the caravans and a cold drink - before we went here :












You can see the blue of the sky, this was taken about 30 mins after our arrival, a cool beer and a chat amongst the fellow travellers before we met for something to eat.

Daily Mileage : 119
Total Mileage to date : 901

9th September 2008

Day 3

Another early morning start, and despite having done a lot of miles already the group were ready to go another long day. It wasn't cold when we set off from Chalon-Sur-Saone, we have an organised method of travel with the bikes in a string behind the leader. The roads today took us down by the Rhone river, which was very impressive as to it's width and we crossed over it a few times on some of the smaller roads.

The only trouble with travelling on a motorbike is that you have to pay attention to where you are going, to what is happening all around you and you have very little time to look in great detail at the scenery surrounding you.

We stopped for a break in Montelimar, to get a snack and to refuel. You cannot go to this region and not buy some of the speciality so a bar of pistachio and almond nougat and a bottle of wine made it's way into our bikes for consumption later. The temperature by mid-morning was pleasantly warm, finally we were beginning to get a feel for how hot Southern France would be.

Part of our route took us through Mondragon, I particularly noted the name as it has an impressive fortress both on top and built into the cliff-sides. With regret we could only pass through it but many of us spoke in the evening of wishing to have made a more leisurely journey which would have permitted us to stop and take photo's during the ride down (or even just to enjoy what wonderful locations we were missing).

The fields of sunflowers were mostly finished flowering and those that remained looked quite dry and dessicated, but occasionally a yellow flowering head could be seen; I was reminded of the Van Gogh painting of sunflowers and perhaps this gave him his inspiration.

It got hotter as we rode Southwards, and navigating through Orange the bike felt very hot and it was a relief to hit some open roads after the town which allowed air to cool both me and the bike but every hold-up in traffic after this point became a nightmare of heat being applied from both above and below - my thighs were almost al dente by the end of the day!

Our stop for the night was at Salon de Provence, it was the best hotel we had on the trip so far for views; our room overlooked the river and a Le Clerc supermarche. We had lost contact with one of our group (the one who filled his bike up with diesel) on route to this hotel, one moment he was following us through the town and the next he was gone - we still don't know what happened to him.

We booked in and peeled (quite literally) out of our bike wear and after a shower we felt more human. We walked about 50 yards to the campanile which was adjoining our hotel and had dinner with lots of drink and chat so much so that the hotel manager had to come out and tell us to be quiet.

Chastened we adjourned to our rooms, tomorrow would be a shorter ride so we decided on a later start.. this was a big mistake as we would learn later.

Daily Mileage : 267
Total Mileage to date : 782

8th September 2008

Day 2

We aimed to be on the road by 9am, and the 6 bikes were ready to go by 8.30am.. just the inherent enthusiam for the journey ahead. This picture of the bikes was taken early in the morning before we loaded them up for the day ahead.

Setting off from Amiens, again on smaller non-motorway roads we made good time until we stopped to refuel the bikes. One of our party, who seemed to know less about his bike than was good for him, managed to fill his bike up with diesel even after asking what pumps were people using. A few curse words later, also established that he had come on the journey with no maps or european breakdown cover.. insert curse words of your choice here.....

The whole shebacle delayed us for an hour and a half while he arranged for a convenient garage across the road to pump out the fuel in his tank and then refill it with high quality unleaded. No-one felt like leaving him behind at this early stage in the journey, but this would prove to have been a good choice later on.

We rode a short while on the periphary of Paris and passed by Charles de Gaulle airport; so close that SOH though he might have tyre marks on top of his helmet, but this didn't prove to be the case.

The French roads are quiet, mostly; good (in places) and great sweeping bends which are great on a bike. The tree lined routes are wonderful as they offer that little bit of shade and help to break up the panorama. NB one of the shady bends, caught all but 1 bike out.. nope I got caught by it too... having to break on a corner means you got it wrong but not disastrously so.

A stop for lunch in Sens saw us lose contact with two bikes, unintentionally lost contact at traffic lights but both sensibly decided to head down to the hotel separately.

The sun had come out by this time, and it was warming up nicely as we rode through Chablis, the hills surrounding it are covered with vines but we couldn't see how/if the grapes were already picked, but I did note the premier cru signs on the side of the road; unluckily for us no stopping as we didn't have time. But it was nice to make a note of and SOH and I intend to go back and take a more leisurly tour which will included some wine tastings I'm sure of it.

Two Gendarmes on bikes joined us just outside of Chalon-sur-Saone, riding alongside us for a short while before breaking off and pulling up on the opposite side of the road; we think they might just have been checking us out to ensure we were ok and not hooning around,

We finally arrived at the hotel in Chalon-sur-Saone at just about 8pm, one of the two bikes we had lost early had arrived about an hour before us and had booked a table at the Buffalo Grill. We booked in, had a quick shower and then the last bike had arrived so we enjoyed a late meal at the restaurent; I had a Bison Burger (bit gamey for my taste) SOH had a entrecote steak which he enjoyed a bit more as he then finished my burger for me.

Total Daily Mileage : 300
Total Mileage to date : 515

7th September 2008

Having packed the night before, it was just a question of putting the bags in the bikes and then we could leave. Ha.. so simple.. Out by the bikes after locking up the house, I had a sneaking suspicion that I had forgotten to do something... then I realised, my helmet was still inside on the couch where I had left it.. Doh! Got the keys out, unlocked the house, picked up the helmet and reversed my directions. Finally we could go.

We decided to take the A1 down to Dover, so cross country to Baldock and heading South down the A1. The radio communications decided not to co-operate which meant we didn't have the luxury of talking to each other and the intermittent drizzling rain combined with new tyres for both of us meant that we took a leisurely ride. I am always impressed with the inability of other motorway users to see the brightly coloured bikes along with the riders in flourescent jackets, must be some sort of invisibility cloak that you put on when riding in this country.

The QEII bridge over the Thames was as spectacular as ever, and of course motorbikes are free to cross both this and the Dartford Tunnel crossing which we would do on the way back. We filled up the bikes at Dover, prior to getting on the ferry as neither of us were quite sure about filling up in France on a Sunday and it eliminated the risk as we still had to get to Amiens and our first overnight stop.

The ferry wasn't as bad as I expected, because it only did cars and motorbikes, there wasn't the risk of diesel spilled as I had concerns over and the ramps were gently sloping not like the experiences of ferries I had been on in the past. You ride on into a front wheel clamp and then stay on the bikes until the handlers clamp the back wheel and then you can climb off; this process is repeated at the other side. We went up to the lounge and bagged a nice seat along with the other members of the group that had met at the ferry port. The crossing was a little rough, and I was grateful for the bands I use as other than feeling a bit queasy at times I didn't lose my sandwiches unlike another member of our party.

When we landed on the other side, we went downstairs to the bikes to find that SOH's bike was tilting dangerously to one side; almost leaning on my bike. A quick check seemed not to throw up any major problems but it is difficult to deal with when they want you off the boats so they can make the return trip.

One of the guys, who had put together the trip, then led us out of Boulogne to Amiens. Using a mixture of small country lanes and villages. By this time the rain had stopped, thankfully so as some of the villages had cobbled centres and these can be exceptionally slippery. We made it to our destination for about 7.30pm Frenchtime, but reception at the hotel was incredibly slow so we only got booked by about 9pm and then it was find somewhere to eat before turning in as tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Total mileage for the day : 215