France Day 12

What a long night - after a good Cantonese meal downstairs, I then retired and watched the England v Serbia match on the TV.

Then a quiet village suddenly got noisey as after about an hour a lady with a boom box was roaming about outside and her friend; totally plastered was shouting at the moon and waving his shirt about!!!

Managed to escape from the Chinese restaurant with a room upstairs very early and I was on the road for 8am. The rain was still chucking it down. I managed to stop for fuel and a spot to eat and finally arrived at Caen about 11am. Apparently the boat is fully booked and I was lucky to swap tickets. We are full of Porsche cars, Aston Martins and that sort of car returning from Le Mans.

So ah well on my way home again ….

France Day 11

Well what a long day that was…. It started off wet and just got wetter and wetter the further north I travelled.

Visited Oradour-sur-Glane (Martyred Village) and the weather matched the somber mood of the place. Just ponder on this : it was alleged that one German Officer was captured, they retaliated by slaughtering 600+ people from this village!! 80 years on and the same thing is happening in another place. "Never again" and "Lest we Forget" appear to be hollow sentiments …. We just don't learn….

So it's still chucking it down with rain, onwards and upwards we rode. We arrived in Saumur soaking wet and in need of a cup of tea. The idea of putting up the tent in a rain storm just ain't going to happen. So Googled for a cheap Hotel and found one just a few miles away - I confirmed the booking and arrival time was 4pm… I don't suppose that means French time!!! I arrived and waited until 5:30 for them to open up - no apology expected or received !!! Now I know why it is cheap…. PS the "en suite" translated means it down the hall !?!?

Slight change of plan ( as expected by those that know me) I catch the ferry at 4:30 tomorrow - riding all day in the rain is just no fun - wet gloves, wet bum, wet boots and wet socks. Next time I'll leave the Altbergs at home….

France Day 10

The view from my room

Well the rumblings from the another night carried on… I got to the room and crashed out.. totally wasted. I fell asleep until about 8pm then all hell broke loose in the Stomach area. I must have visit the facilities over 10 times. It finally stopped at 4am. I manage a tea and a couple of slices of bread at breakfast but there was no way I could ride the bike. Too weak and wobblerley. So book another night.

I took a walk up the hill to the supermarket as I needed something to eat. Having got some food and water I noticed a laundrette in the car park - so back down the hill to collect the festering pile of clothes and back up the hill. It's now 3:30pm and I am going to try some sleep. !!! Good lord I looking tired in that photo of me outside the portal to my underwear…
I will be riding tomorrow to Oradour-sur- Glane and the Saumur probably.

France Day 9

I enjoyed a lovely meal at the camp snack bar : and couple of small beers. Then a quick shower and off to bed…. But… at 2:30am things we're not right tummy wise…. Rumble rumble and a quick dash to the facilities but oh too late and the inevitable happened…. Yet another shower and some clothes to be washed at 3am - at least the water was hot.

Packed up the tent and had a morning coffee and then on the road just as it started to rain - it stayed over cast and wet all the way today, not much fun at all, hence few photos. Stopped for a break and a cuppa then on to this place… in Payzac. Hotel des Voyageurs…. Nice and cheap too…

As usual I arrived early (2pm) and am now awaiting the arrival of the staff!!

Tomorrow we are taking a visit to Oradour-sur-Glane outside of Limoges and the north somewhere once I have located a campsite..

France Day 8

Left that nice campsite in Mende and headed over some fabulous roads : N88, then up to St Flour - Massiac - then the N122 to Aurillac and Figeac. I found the campsite but was too early to register so took a Quick Look around - big bar, big cafe, big pool and hundreds of children !!!! Back on the bike and away…. I tried two other campsite but both closed or doesn't exist. Mind you Garmin says the Figeac has 2 McDs but they are just gone !!! So after riding around in circles, over some very narrow roads we got lucky and this one was open. Just outside Decazeville.

Tomorrow we are off to somewhere near La Rouge-Gageac !!! Don't ask me I'm just the driver !!!!

France Day 7

A chilly night but very quiet. I was on the road by 8:30. Topped up the tank just out of habit really. Then we rode through the Tarn Gorge, spectacular sights but hardly anywhere safe to stop for a Kodak moment. The weather was brilliant sunshine but the winds were a bit naughty - it appears not to have much effect on the Tenere - unlike the Africa Twin.

Gertie Garmin decided to take us on the D63 as a sort cut !!! Lots of warning signs about danger and hazards … we went up up up then down, then up and over, many a hairpin !!! We finally arrived at Ales for lunch, then doubled back avoiding the D63.

We arrived at Mende and found a nice little campsite "Camping Tivoli" just outside town.

It's now 4pm and almost time to cook supper…. Tomorrow we ride to Aurillac via St Flour…

France Day 6

Supper last night was a better affair as the new Dutch crew were not so tight knit and so with the arrival of a French rider we had a fun few hours - and I slept ok.

The morning brought a light drizzle as I was setting out to ride to Millau. Lovely back roads with very light traffic.

Set up at the campsite - walked about town a little - finished the last chapters of the book. A thoroughly recommended book - brilliant . Todd Lawson "Inside The Belly of an Elephant".

It started to get a bit chilly now and I could not be arsed to break out the cooking gear so had a quiet meal at the local Cafe.

All in all a good day albeit a bit long. It's only a 5 hour ride tomorrow along the Tarn Gorge etc so I might even start a bit later..

France Day 5

Supper last night was good - 8 Dutch folk around the table and very little English spoken…. Followed by just one glass of beer and then off to sleep - one way or another it was a long day.

Slept very well, and following a SSS* I sat in the early morning quiet before the breakfast flock arrived. Then out with the map and garmin to sort out the next weeks ride…. All the Dutch riders left this morning and a period of quiet descended - that lasted an hour and another 5 Harley riding Dutchmen arrived…

So routes sort of sorted, a few chapters of my book read and the sun is shining a little.

France Day 4

This morning started off well - after the normal SSS* and a cooked breakfast - I packed up and was on the road by 9:30. I found a petrol station to top up the tanks - this bike has two tanks and takes 23 litres … which is good for about 300 miles or so…

I still have the motorway option turned off so we are set for a 5 hour run to the Camping Moto Dordogne.. I rode some great roads through miles on miles of vineyards to Cognac area with hardly any traffic. Then after 3 hours it started to rain and rain and rain… 2 solid hours of it….

Finally reached Moto camp and it hasn't changed over the years… I first came here in 2009 en route to Andorra on my first bike trip on the 1st Africa Twin…(Mr Mugabe).

Tent up and the first beer is free…. Supper is at 7:30pm so I'm looking forward to that. The place is run by a Dutch family and there are many Dutch folk here now. I have decided to stay 2 nights , so will get the map out tomorrow and sort out the next week before heading back to Falaise and doing a tour of the beaches (Omaha, Gold etc etc) before catching the ferry home on the 19th..

It's cold and overcast here now but it's warm in the 'club house'…