recently completed a trip on the bike which took me from Balloch West Dunbartonshire to France via euro tunnel with an overnight stop at Clent Hills - then down to Verdun via N43 and the D964 - pitched tent at Camping Les Bruils, Verdun and stayed a couple of nights - sadly this is where over 250K men lost their lives during world war 1 - as my plan was to attend the BMW biker meet in Garmisch i thought i would head towards Lake Konstanz and have an overnight stop there - instead i lost my bearings around Singen and ended up on the south of the lake instead of my chosen Freidrichshafen - i ended up camping at Bludenz, Austria in a nice though expensive little site - next day took me to Garmisch via the Silvretta Pass(10 Euro) using route 188,171,189 and 187 excellent views of the Zugspitze on this route - arrived at the biker meet in Garmisch on Friday July the third - the event ran on until Sunday July the fifth - BMW stunt rider Chris Pfeiffer gave free daily displays - the weather at Garmisch was damp at times and the camping areas were pretty wet and miserable - purchased the obligatory event T shirt at 22 Euro and very nice it is too - i departed Garmisch on Monday July the sixth heading towards the Italian Lakes - via passes Brenner and Stelvio i found myself covering too much distance over difficult terrain and had to bide in a hotel in a small town named Grosotto in the Provence of Sondrio - Hotel Garni Le Corti kindly supplied a nice en suite room at 50 Euro per night inclusive of continental breakfast - in the morning it was lashing with rain - as recommended by a local publican i headed towards the Italian Lakes via the Pass Tione De Tonali ending up at Desenzano de Garda at the south end of Lake Garda - this transpired to be a really busy tourist area with many caravans and camper vans hogging the road - i refused to pay 26 Euro at one of the many campsites in this region and ended up doing more miles finally giving up and biding at Camping Girasole on the shores of Lake D' Iseo - so quaint i spent a couple of nights there just chilling out - having previously visited Lake Como in 2004 upon a BMW R850R i decided to return and i spent several nights camping at Camping al colli fioriti in the mountains above Lake Como at a village named San Fidel Intelvi - traveling solo can become tiresome and i found myself reflecting upon family back home - instead of heading further south towards the Riviera De Levante i decided to plan a route towards home via Lake Annecy France - from Lake Como area this took me via Locarno, Domodossola in Switzerland on route S337 over Simplon Pass(6588ft), Brig, Visp, Sierre, Martigny, Forclaz route 506, Chamonix, Megeve, Ugine and finally Annecy - again the tent was utilised and i stayed in the Annecy area for a few nights - then headed towards the French Ports with an overnight hotel stay in Toul in northeastern France, the cathedral in Toul is a magnificent example of Gothic Architecture - one more overnight stay in a small hotel in Boulogne before boarding the euro tunnel next morning for blighty - checked out Canterbury in Kent for one night before heading home via the motorways - all in all a splendid journey without any major hiccups - i did not record my total milage - the bike, a 2008 BMW R1200GS used a minimal amount of oil and performed faultlessly throughout the trip - i camped using a Terra Nova Voyager tent with Thermarest mat and down sleeping bag as bedding - once i get around to subscribing i will post some good images of my trip - regards meantime and safe riding
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