Here some pictures from our trip to France. We took the ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre and then rode to La Rochelle. We stayed in a gite in Chambon, 20km outside from La Rochelle in the middle of the country side, heaven!
Whilst there, we did daily ride-outs to the local towns (Surgeres, Rochefort, Cognac, Angouleme etc.) and visited the small islands Ile de Re and Ile d’Oleron, which are stunning with great beaches and pretty little fishing villages. We also hooked up with a load of French bikers for the protests against the government’s stupid motorbike laws. It was a fab day and a huge turnout, well over 1000 bikers. The noise was incredible!
On the way back we split the journey into two days, staying over in Honfleur, just outside Le Havre before getting on the ferry. Honfleur is well worth a visit and would be good for a weekend stay. The surrounding countryside is amazing with great roads and the town itself is charming, with lot’s of nice, yet affordable restaurants and many art galleries and little shops.
Early morning ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre
The place we stayed at in Chambon
Rally in Angouleme - we hooked up with an English couple - Liz and Brian - and a few others who we met through the French Bikers Club. They kindly let us tag along
Honfleur harbour
And back to the UK from Le Havre after a fantastic 2 weeks in lovely France
A rather lengthy video of the Angouleme rally - sorry I couldn’t be bothered to edit it
Glad you had a good time.
I’m off to France next Friday, for a long weekend with some mates.
We are heading to my sisters, who lives about 35mins from Angouleme.
Have been a few times. Absolutely love riding in France!
Would liked to have gone when the protests were on though!
May have to go & find the Tour instead!
When does the French Hi-Viz rule come into play?
I think I read around September. They are apparently removing the scamera signs as we speak! Not that it bothers us just yet!
Aaah, I’m sure you will have a lovely time in Honfleur I was amazed how charming the town is, with all the cafes and art galleries. We had dinner at one of the restaurants around the harbour and we got a really tasty 3-course meal for under 20€, bargain I say!
I have read that if the law gets passed, it’ll come into effect in September. Other measures that are proposed seem to take a bit longer and will be enforced from early 2012.
Have you got accommodation booked in Honfleur? If so, would you mind letting me know where? We stayed at the Premier Inn as that was the only one we could find in a hurry with parking and it was incredibly cheap (45€) but I wouldn’t want to stay there longer than one night. The room was the size of a shoe box!
Yes, as far as I know it’ll be from September, but who knows?! French authorities are mad
I thoroughly enjoyed riding in France. Cagers are much more friendly towards bikers and the roads are incredibly good. It was a bit of a shock coming off the ferry in Portsmouth after two weeks of smooth tarmac. Their little country roads are much better than our main roads and motorways :crazy: It’s a disgrace really. English councils should be ashamed…
We went through there earlier this year on our way the the Mont St Michel.
The road from Honfeur to Deauville is not one I would do again in a hurry but the Pont de Normandy bridge is well worth going over especially in high winds.
The Mont St Michel is a great place to visit I think it’s the most visited tourist attractions in France.
Haha, yeah the French have got these down to a tee these days. I remember in the 80s the rest stops in France were nothing more like a whole in the ground :w00t: Best public loo I used on the trip was one in Le Chateau d’Oleron on the Ile d’Oleron island. It was one of those self cleaning ones, all white and looked like a space ship. Even had Eau de toilette :w00t:
I was amazed how charming the town is, with all the cafes and art galleries. We had dinner at one of the restaurants around the harbour and we got a really tasty 3-course meal for under 20€, bargain I say!
