Thursday 20 May 2010

Day Twelve

Good evening

A cold night at Soissons France but the showers were good. Steve had problems again starting but we had bought a set a jump leads in Luxemburg and were able to get an English chap on the camp to assist with the jump start.

Left about 8am and took the gentle non-motorway route through the lanes and farm lands of Picardy… Stopped for lunch in little town of Conty – sunny and warm for a change.

Continued west to the coast at Ault and decided to do B&B for the last night. Found a simple place just South of Ault and will be having a celebratory meal this evening before heading for the Chunnel in the morning. It is now sunny and 5pm and we have had a couple of beers and Steve in sat outside in the sunshine reading his book. I will be finishing off the Blog and moving the photos about ready for up loading to Photo Bucket etc.

All in all a good trip – Steve was brilliant company and has performed wonders “in the kitchen”… and has put up with the dis-agreements that I have had with Gertie Garmin !! I am sure Brian would have enjoyed the rest of the trip once he had got used to the wet and the cold!! And of course David Charlton would have loved the trip too.. note to self – no exercise in the snow !!

The Kit:
Best bit of kit must be the Garmin SatNav and the Petrol Stove. Problem kit was Steve’s bike’s battery and my heated grips that failed when most need !! Item to add to the list for the next trip was Tracksuit to sleep in. Although the Reef Shoes were very good – they have started to fall apart – so some thought into non-riding footwear.

The Route.
Over the route was good – although I must get away from Motorways more and doing “too many miles” in the day and Chill more…. But in my defence the days that we did most miles were the days that it just did not stop raining and to sit for longer in a wet tent was a poor choice... 

The Bikes
Apart from the starting problems of Steve's Tiger both bike performed brilliantly - even my 12 year old Africa Twin did not skip a beat... although the sheepskin did get soaked !!

Nite Nite to those that have been following the trip until the next one – although I will write the last entry we I get home tomorrow!

Although I have the HU Event at Ripley to come… I will have to think about next year!!! Somewhere warm and dry I think!!! SOUTH….

Days total: 135

Trip Total: 3290