Euro Tour to Muggellooooo....

[C-J]

Well thought I'd set a thread up here, as tomorrow we are setting off and might be able to update a ride report as we go along...

The plan is to take 4 or so days down to the south of France, a couple rest days, then off to Mugello for the weekend, then back up through the Alps and the Black Forest...

I'm taking the sensible bike

And Ella (Konica) was considering taking this one......

But then she decided that it would be much more sensible to have a CBR than a GS.... We'll see !!

Will try to get lots of pictures of rainy days, snow blocked passes, and of course pit lane girls in skimpy clothing for all you Tossers !

 

[kanhulk13]

Looks like great fun...remember the joy is in the journey not the destination! (meaning stay off the boring highways).

Unsolicited information (I can't resist) -

Try these sites:

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/int...ummer/motorbike-tours-route-descriptions.html

A few of the passes in Switzerland are still closed but by the time you leave they should be open. The St. Gotthard and San Bernardino were closed (the cols...ie over the top...you can still go through a smelly tunnel).

http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verkehrsinfo/paesse_tunnels.html

"frei" means open (hold cursor over the dots)

This is a great site for alpine passes:

http://www.alpineroads.com/passes.php

You route through Germany...from Kaiserslautern down is a region called the "Pfalz" (Palatinate) with lots of vineyards and little villages. Then you could either go through the French side (Strassbourg, Colmar, the Vosges...old mountains...great riding) or as you have shown through the Black Forest. Stay away from the A5...choked with traffic. Keep in mind many of the best routes through the Black Forest are closed to Motorcycles on weekends.

Have a great trip!

 

[Gundog]

And Ella (Konica) was considering taking this one......

Ay...that bike looks familiar

Take care you two, and have a great time. Wish i was commin wiv yaz...

 

[MattW]

Looking forward to the 'live' updates!
Have a good-un

 

[earthmover]

Enjoy!
Mark

 

[C-J]

Friday 28th May

We managed to set off from Preston around 5pm and pretty much hit the bank holiday traffic straight away. Within a few miles of filtering i was already losing my concentration, and nearly ended up crashing into the back of a car while I was looking around... So getting my head back in the game we continued on.

Tonight we were doing just motorway work in order to get us nearer the south coast. We managed one complete stretch down to the services on the M6 toll, where we had a refuel. As we were tanking down the M40 the over head signs started saying the motorway was closed between 2 junctions, and the traffic on the other side was droppping. I was hoping the signs were wrong but approaching Jn10, and a sea of red lights turned on.

Rather than filtering to the front we came off the motorway and I jabbed at the Diversion button on the satnav. This tried to take us into into the centre of Oxford. this would have given me a perfect photo opportunity outside of North Oxford BMW, however I knew I'd get in trouble for that, so knowing the roads in that area I wiggled our way down through Bicester and back onto the M40. The road was empty on our side and backed up for a good 5 miles northbound. Looks like the southerners will have to wait a while longer to get to the north.

We blasted the last few miles out and stopped at a Travelodge in Wheatley. Nearly dropped the bikes on all the gravel in the car park, but chained them up and went for some scram in the Harvester. The waiter must have taken a dislike to us, as what they served up was feckin awful. A rank burger with a few chips, and what they claiemd to be Tuna steak for Ella, but looked more like an odour eater from one of my trainers. At least we had free refills on drinks. No booze yet.. Dont really want a headache tomorrow as we've got a lot of miles to cover.

 

[C-J]

Saturday 29th May

Topped up with Petrol on the M40 just before we hit the M25, and then took one big slog down to the services a couple miles before Le Chunnel. Refuled with coffee and cakes, and couldn't help laughing at the 3 taff's on spotless sportsbikes, and shiny leathers who were there. Thousands of pounds of extra's on their bikes.. More farkles and shiny bits than a GS !

At le Chunnel we were delayed a good half hour, and were queuing for half an hour in the rain waiting to get on the train. The 3 taff power rangers turned up and a load more of their mates, one of them pulling a corking wheely up the lane we were waiting in... They were going to Austria for the week.. I hope the all make it in one piece.

An un eventful train journey and we're in Le France !

We let the power rangers blast off onto the motorways, whereas as we are doing our first stint on the back roads to get used to this riding on the wrong side malarky.Typical satnav routing and the back roads turn into goat tracks... I could feel Ella's stare getting harder in the back of my helmet... the roads got better, but fuel was getting low. We passed 2 petrol stations which were closed, and I was down to the last bar when I spotted a place in a village.

While we were filling up Ella noticed one of her crashbungs had worked its way loose.. so out with the toolkits and neither of us has anything that will fit.. We are saved by a Polish Frenchman who took the bolt and whizzed off on his scooter. Five minutes later he returns and the bike is fixed. Both our bikes are filthy now as its been raining, and there's been loads of mud on the road.

We get back on the motorway and take one last blast down to Rouen. Its really windy so we keep the speeds sensible, and manage not to get too lost in the town. Pull off the motorway and see the F1 I had satnav'd and a few other hotels... Decide just to stick with the F1.. wish we hadn't.. its like a prison cell ! Tomorrow night we are staying somewhere much nicer. But after all todays miles we don't really care. We grab some food and hit the bed...

 

[C-J]

Sunday 29th May

We get out of our prison cell pretty promptly and head south. Its threatening to rain at any moment, and very windy. I'd planned a day without motorway, though we were on the autoroute within 3 minutes ! Great planning... It turned into an N road within about 10 miles and within 30 or so miles we were on some goat tracks !..

Currently the CBR is doing a better mileage to a tank than the GS !! Most dissapointing.. I'm getting to a range of about 40 miles remaining before I panic too much. The first place we stopped at this morning wouldnt accept our cards.. thankfully the 2nd place was at a supermarket and we could use cash. I took the opportunity to have some Pain of chocolat.. Ella waited outside and started chatting to some mad old frenchmen... Its strange who she attracts !

The roads in the morning were long and straight cutting through the vast crops. Every now and then there would be a twisty stretch but it didnt last long. We stopped for lunch in a place called Blois.. Found a little cafe in the middle of the town, and fed the resident cat...

And after a couple of coffee's to keep us awake we were off again. Again lots of long stretches of Roman straight roads, with a really annoying side wind which kept our speeds sensible... i managed to take out a Swallow at one point. I saw something from the corner of my eye, and felt something hit my leg.. Apparently it didn't survive...

Stopped for a few photos in Saint Aignan, and watched some french children fishing.. they tried to explain to us what they'd caught but we didnt understand...

We tried looking for somewhere to stay around 4pm.. First hotel was closed.. 2nd one was closed... I gave up and headed for the outskirts of Limoges where I knew there were plenty.. Went past the Prisoncell1... never going there again.. To be fair tonights isnt much better, but at least we have our own toilet and shower... I've now booked somewhere near Millau for tomorrow night so we dont have the same problem !!

 

[Stevie73]

If you're in Limoges, you're only 15 minutes from Oradour Sur Glane....always worth a visit if in that neck of the woods. It's quite a sobering place, and a bit 'moody' maybe....but an experience none the less...

 

[Gundog]

.............

 

[C-J]

If you're in Limoges, you're only 15 minutes from Oradour Sur Glane....always worth a visit if in that neck of the woods. It's quite a sobering place, and a bit 'moody' maybe....but an experience none the less...

That was the plan for this morning... However its pissing it down

Bugger.. Think we'll forget about today and just crack on to the next hotel and get a good rest

 

[C-J]

Monday 31st May

We wake up and peer out of the prisoncell2... Its raining.. not heavily but that really wet rain that soaks you through.. Bugr.. We were going to visit Ordour sur Glane, however thats not gonna happen in this weather. We make the most of the meagre offerings from breakfast and pack the bikes up.

As its raining today my bike decides it wants some more oil before we set off. We knock off 30 or so miles on the motorway and top up with petrol. Its sheeting it down, and motorway work is not proving to be that much fun.

We were planning to ride most of the day on twisty roads. I was thinking about just cracking it all out on motorway and getting to a nice warm hotel room.. But then where's the fun in that... We cracked on into the twisty roads.. The rain kept pouring but the roads were pretty nice even though waterlogged, and seen through a rainy visor !.. We pulled up in a little town called Argentat and found some shelter. Ella's "Bonedry" waterproofs werent living up to their name... So we had a rest and we both dried off as best we could...

We cracked on and made it to Aurillac around lunchtimeish... Saw a couple of German tossers on GS pull up outisde a restaurant so thought if its good enough for them it is for us.. I hadn't had a pee since first leaving in the morning, so by now I was busting !! Nearly warmed my textiles up, but managed to fumble around and find some coins for a pissour ! All of course while doing the I need a piss dance....

After my little jig I went into the restaurant to see if we could get some lunch.. It appeared that the owner took a disliking to me and said there was no food.. Maybe something got lost in the translation, but we weren't getting fed.. i reckoned she's seen Ze germans outside and assumed they were with us... oh well.. we moved on, back into the rain....

The road after Aurillac turned into smooth flowing twisties and we were having fun despite the rain.. As we got nearer Entraygues sur Truyere the road got epic... Wish it hadn't been wet otherwise we could have had some great fun.. We stopped in town for a coffee and the rain even stopped for a few minutes... The road out lead us along a stunning gorge, which we could nearly see the tops of through the mist !

We stopped for a few more photies at a place called Estaing, then headed up a few more goat tracks before eventually finding the motorway...

The rain decided to turn itself up again, and now the roads were getting higher the wind picked up aswell.. Great fun when you overtaing lorries in loads of spray across a viaduct... But as we dropped off the motorway north of Millau the skies parted, and the sun came through. Even the tarmc dried off... We caught a glimpse of the Millau viaduct in the distance and could see where we were heading off tomorrow into the the Cevennes national park. Its been a really hard day bit very rewarding. Bring on more twisties tomorrow !!

 

[Gundog]

Sounds like your due some sunshine now....

Keep smiling

 

[MattW]

Great stuff - enjoying the 'live' trip report. Hope you're both enjoying being there

 

[tarry]

live report

Enjoying this cj + ella, yer due some decent weather though

 

[Gundog]

come on, come on.....no update since monday

wots appenin ?

where's our live updates???

 

[ghost]

come on, come on.....no update since monday

wots appenin ?

where's our live updates???

+1come on you two,we need too know

 

[C-J]

No WiFi access for the last couple days. Had 2 days rest near Nice. Heading off to Mugello tomorrow. Sun is shining and life is good. Will check in again when we get a proper internet connection.

 

[Ash]

Enjoying this

 

[C-J]

Tuesday 1st June

At last we had a decent choice in hotels and ended up in a Camponile, which although small was clean and comfortable.. No more prison cells on this holiday !... We set off down through Millau, and then up to the bridge... Its pretty damn big !.. I;ve got a fascination for all things engineering, so this tickled my fancy perfectly !!

After the phot shoot we set off east and headed into the gorges.. Rather than take the gorge du Tarn we too a lower road which was just as stunning as we wound along the river..

The road then wound up the side of the mountains onto a high plateau before dropping down again into Meyrueis.. Managed to get the timing perfect on one of our self portraits in the town centre !!

More winding roads around the hillsides and then satnav decided to take me down a reet nice goat track just south of Florac. The signs syaing dangerous road should have been a warning. Turned out to be covered in grass and grit, and just for fun some really tight hairpins !!

After all the hairpins we needed a nice road, and we were treated to a right corker heading south east from Florac... After the excitement of a great road we stopped for lunch for a breather... the sun was beating down now and lunch under the shade of the trees was well deserved..

From then on we hit more populated areas as we headed over to Pont du Gard.. We nearly didnt go stop here as getting anywhere near the bridge was a nightmare due to the tourist traps laid by the French... We crossed the river at the next town and headed for the other side, and were met with more barriers and car parks. I refuse to get pay to take a picture of a Bridge ! I think Ella managed to work her charms on the guard though and he let us in for free... I was hacked off with all the barriers to get to the place so didnt really appreciate it... However it looks like some of the maintenance staff were appreciating each other !!

The remainder of the day we spent on the autoroutes and nailed it through to Frejus where we had a couple days rest by the pool...