France - the Great '3 Day Bimble'

Your name's been added WindyChuffer, good to hear from you. Don't forget to keep giving us your views as we need to 'lock-in' to some decisions sooner rather tham later :thumb2.

Sorry to hear about the bike GreatScott. After all the bad press on reliability the 1200s have got, I suppose I am just glad mine is still under warranty for another year. :augie

The route is really a function of where we land and at what time. With such a short trip, if we land at Dieppe or LeHavre, our best bet is to head westwards following the WW2 Normandy beaches route and aiming to get into Brittany in time for an early landing in a hostellerie. :beer: If we take the Tunnel on the other hand, there is little point and we should think about the Champagne region and its undoubted delights. :ChrisKelly

So until we know how many are coming and can lock onto dates, we can't make any booking on the ferries, so that might have an impact. Also, £300 might be a bit steep for some for a 3-day jaunt. So do we consider 2 days and one night, for example? That would pretty much limit us to a radius of 100 miles from our landing port.


Decisions, decisions................too many bloody decisions.:D Anyhow, here is the latest list of those interested:

  • OldRascal
  • Scuba-Sparky
  • GreatScott
  • Dazzle
  • Mattrex
  • Strider
  • WindyChuffer


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Hi there, the tunnel is uber quick and frequent. IMHO i would rather pay a little more and avoid the sea sickness and lose time? What do you reckon Old Rascal?
 
oldrascal said:
Just started doing some research on locations, routes, biker-friendly stopovers and ferry pricing and availability. :type

If we are looking at a Friday through Sunday trip (and I have provisionally pencilled-in April 3rd to 5th), it looks like the only sensible options are either LDLines Newhaven-Dieppe service which leaves at 0930 and arrives at 1430 (sorry about the time notation but I sail a lot and can't break the nautical habit). :cool:

The return on Sunday leaves at 1800 and arrives back in Newhaven at 2100. The return price is £40. The only other alternative is the Tunnel which is more expensive at about £70 or so but is hugely more flexible and may allow us to target the Champagne region as an alternative to Brittany. :ChrisKelly

As for accomodation in France and depending upon us all being happy to share 2/3/4 to a room, we are looking at a worst case of around £40-£50 per night each. Then we have meals - say £35 per day each.

So a quick tot-up gives us a rough total per bike for the trip excluding fuel of between £250 to £300.

How does that sound? :mmmm
Click to expand...

Thx for the reply Old Rascal. Quoting your earlier post as above, as all this is fine by me. Whilst would prefer to go for 3 days, am flexible, and go with the flow if people want to go for a shorter duration. Also flexible on tunnel / ferry / ports etc, & live in W London etc. Cheers, M.
 
I don't think that there is any doubt that the Tunnel is a quick and easy way into France, even if it is more expensive. The negative (apart from cost) is that you arrive in the Pas-de-Calais region which is a long, long way from Brittany - particularly for a short trip. And although its very convenient for some, it may be a 2 or 3 hour trudge to Dover for others.

So it really boils down to where we want to go. The options for a 3-day trip as I see it are:
  • Channel Tunnel and then head to the Champagne region
  • Newhaven-Dieppe ferry and make for Brittany
There may be alternatives but if we stick to those 2 for the moment, can you give some feedback so that we can see which way the group is swinging and how the dates stack up for you?

Speaking for me, my preference is probably Brittany as the roads are stunning, the scenery majestic and the food and drink are sublime. :101 But I also like the idea of the time flexibility of the Tunnel which is about 2 hours' ride for me, about 1 hour more than Newhaven. That said, the Champagne region is also wonderful biking country with a lot of bike-friendly hotels/B&Bs to choose from.

So let's just do a quick straw poll and see what we have got and then move this forward. The current state-of-play is:
  • OldRascal Brittany/Champagne 65/35
  • Scuba-Sparky ?
  • GreatScott Brittany (with some doubts about the dates)
  • Dazzle ?
  • Mattrex ?
  • Strider (prefers tunnel but no other preference yet)
  • WindyChuffer (flexible on tunnel/ferry)
 
OK. Put it like that and my vote goes for your suggested dates and Newhaven/Dieppe for Brittany. M.
 
Don't mind either the boat or tunnel as I live half wayish between them both! as for the other side Brittany may be nicer for me as I have seen enough of the area around Calais and down towards Champagne (by car) before and a change would be good! Dates sound good too. :)
 
After some feedback, here is the state of play so far:

For Newhaven-Dieppe and Brittany and available chosen on dates​
  • OldRascal
  • Mattrex
  • Windy Chuffer
  • Scuba-Sparky
Not yet decided because of possible date issues ​


  • Strider
  • GreatScott
  • Dazzle

​
So we have now have 4 definites with a possible maximum of 7 who are up for Brittany. Strider, would you prefer to take the tunnel and meet us down the coast? We won't land until 1430 so you could catch a morning train and meet us at the ferry terminal in Dieppe. Lonely ride though. :(

So are we getting there?

If I get some firm nods, I will start serious research and lay out a possible route with proposed and optional layovers. :type I think we should keep this first trip at no less than 4 and no more than 7 riders to give us some cohesion on the road and also so as not to overwhelm the resources of our chosen overnight stops.

What say you all?

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I re-jigged my leave so I can definately do those date now. In fact I have the whole week before Easter (and the Easter weekend off). My original plan was to do a run up to JOG, but it would more fun to ride with others so put me down as a confirmed. That is of course so long as the bike makes it out of the SLM intensive care unit. I might stay on in France for the rest of my week off. If anyone else has got the time off and wants to join me - great.
 
I have been pricing up the trip, think it may be too steep for me, as I am going away the following weekend as well.
I would not be popular if I chose going away with a bunch of tossers instead of her :blagblah
I know your love for everything gallic, but I was thinking cheeper option just as foreign.
Wales. up through cotwolds, to cross gates elan valley, to the coast, new town to breacons and back, only fuel, B&B, ace roads no siting on ferry for 11 hours :comfort no eating frogs and horses either.
just an idea :beerjug:
 
Good news, GreatScott, its kinda tempting to carry on biking once we are over there, I have to agree. So here is where we are now:

For Newhaven-Dieppe and Brittany and available on chosen dates​
    • OldRascal
    • Mattrex
    • Windy Chuffer
    • Scuba-Sparky
    • GreatScott
Not yet decided because of possible date issues ​

  • Strider
  • Dazzle
I've been looking at some options and here are several that have caught my eye. For example.


First Night

Saint James isa fortified town on the borders of Normandy and Brittany and some 3 hours from Dieppe which would get us there about 1800 or so, in full daylight and with plenty of time to visit the more liquid establishments before getting down to some serious food and.......er............drink.:ChrisKelly

Here is the route from Dieppe:

Untitled.jpg


The hotel is called Petit Illyria and is biker friendly with secure parking. Their tarriffs are:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=250 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Single

</TD><TD>from €50

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Double

</TD><TD>from €55

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Double ensuite

</TD><TD>from €65

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Family Two Room Suite

</TD><TD>€120

</TD></TR><TR><TD>Additional Bed in Room </TD><TD>
€20​


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

Here is a linky to their web-site. I have not checked availability but I don't foresee any problems as its over a week before Easter. Do we likee. :JB
 
Dazzle, sorry to hear you aren't making it but the reasons are irrefutable, of course. :rolleyes:

See you around though.
 
Hi All

Sounding better by the post :drool :beer: :ChrisKelly
Just looked on the calender, guess what? I come back on Sunday from this little 'lets just get the last out off my tyres before the new ones go on for the Morroco Easter Dash :drool :JB ' Then back on the ferry Wed or Thursday :bow :JB :green gri

New Haven to Dieppe sounds good :beerjug:
 
Here is the confirmed group to date:
  • OldRascal
  • Mattrex
  • Windy Chuffer
  • Scuba-Sparky
  • GreatScott
So that's a quorum then and we have sufficient numbers to call ourselves ........er...............well, whatever we want to call ourselves. A handful of Tossers does for me. :D

We just need to hear from Strider if he wants to join us and see if anybody else has been following the thread but staying silent. Can I suggest we put a cut-off date as this coming Sunday (8th) for finalising the group? That will give us all time to confirm ferry bookings and to lock-in to our overnight stops.

This is fun...............:JB
 
GreatScott, thanks for the essential translation of the time into nauti-speak (that's as in matelot and not shagger of course). :augie

I think that its a great idea, for as many of the team going to France as can make it, to get together and fine-tune the weekend. That said, we have to lock-in to ferries and hotels in the next week or so, I reckon, or we may start finding things getting busy in Frogland because of Easter.

Have you has a chance to check out the proposed first-night yet?
 
All seems good to me. I agree we might have to finalise everything before the 21st but if we do get together for a natter it would be an oppurtunity to get excited about the trip.

Bike better. What the dealer called a gear indicator potentiometer and I call a switch was u/s and so the bike thought it was still in gear and refused to play. Replaced under warranty :D
 
Good news about the bike........that could have been a bummer (bimmer?).

Yup, I agree about the meet. Let's see if the others pick up on the suggestion.
 
Hi All
Sounds like there is a plan to this trip!! :augie
A meet up sounds ok to me, or can just book tickets for ferry and see what happens. . :eek: :D
 
oldrascal said:
Here is the confirmed group to date:
  • OldRascal
  • Mattrex
  • Windy Chuffer
  • Scuba-Sparky
  • GreatScott
So that's a quorum then and we have sufficient numbers to call ourselves ........er...............well, whatever we want to call ourselves. A handful of Tossers does for me. :D

We just need to hear from Strider if he wants to join us and see if anybody else has been following the thread but staying silent. Can I suggest we put a cut-off date as this coming Sunday (8th) for finalising the group? That will give us all time to confirm ferry bookings and to lock-in to our overnight stops.

This is fun...............:JB
Click to expand...


Hi Old Rascal, apologies for silence! Work is getting in the way of my social life! :mad: I will know by Friday as I am working out the diary commitments this week! Thanks for the patience.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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