Well after a bit of a disorganised start we got into france. The plan was to get away from Calais then hit the twisty stuff…well we did the former and then we hit the d roads but they were all straight, amazingly straight. For miles and miles. but we did get a few good bends now and again.
We hit a lovely forest and up hill section, wish I had been on the R1 though, the bandit spent most of its time bottoming out, stand hitting and the exhaust grounding out…bugger riding all that way two up, need a stiffer rear end both on the bike ( mine is well sore too)…anyway 278 miles on the first day, stayed in an amazing little village called Les Andeleys, lovely camp site and expensive B&B for me and my lad 60 euros. The place has a castle on the hill…definitely worth a re trip at some time…nice weather all day…
Early morning, nearly, then we headed off to chartres via houdan with Adam doing some excellent navigation on very confusing french signs, they really work by headings to villages rather than naems of roads once, we knew that it was a bit easier…
At Chartres we sadly left the gang. and I headed off for the bridge via Orleans and promtly missed the first turning, didnt check the map properly, anyway from then on hit the motorways and blasted my way to the bridge. a total of 456 miles. Took a few pictures went over it back then drove off to find a bed for the night…met a lovely german lady who gave me details of a hotel, biker friendly near the bridge, sounds like its worth a visit… WE did not use it as it was too close to the bridge and we wanted to get some extra miles in to reduce the amount we did Monday… So kit back on we headed back north to find a bed before the long drive home We found a place in St Cherly D Apacher, nice place, but too late to eat so just crashed…so total miles second day 536…weather was a bit dismal…
Had the usual french breakfast and i spoke only french the whole time I was at the hotel, bit basic but they understood me thats all that was needed… Weather was lovely even sunny for a lot of the way back, except for 100 miles short of Calais then it tipped it down…monsoonal rain, new gear held up well all dry except the Knee on my new Heine Gerike gear, will take that back…not good paid a lot for them on Friday, just before we left as I had seen the weather forecast…it wasnt good but in the end the weather was only bad in parts… Anyway met up with a few bikers from Holland heading back, rode with them for a while and in total completed the journey at 1,476 miles a total of 662 miles on the last day…was back by 9.30…Uk time…on the way we visited Paris and the Eiffel tower…was great to ride with Adam, Gina, terry and his wheelies, and Colin…wish I had been going all the way with them,…thanks guys great while it lasted…would definitely want to go with you guys again…
