After years of European touring I finally got to visit the Pyrenee mountains, I got back last tuesday night. I was surprised at the difference between the French and Spanish sides, the french part being so much greener, different weather systems I suppose.
My route was from St Helens to Poole, Brittany ferries to Cherbourg, I've not used them with abike before and was pleased that they secured the bikes with large cushions on the seats. I travelled with my pal Phil who was on his Harley Dyna fat bloke street bob thingy, he's had the HD stage 1 tune done and the thing flies along, I just about kept up with him on the straights, but the Harley tied itself into knots on the fast bumpy twisty bits.
We had an overnight stay with some friends at their holiday home near St Mere Eglise, then travelled south mainly on 'D' roads to Parthenay, stayed at Hotel St Jaques (secure off road parking) there is a biker bar in the town that dispenses draught beer from an old airhead BMW engine
We continued on the minor roads down to Mirande which was like a ghost town, only one bar open and the only restaurant open was the chinese and the buggers didn't do spare ribs or crispy duck! Tarrascon was our third overnight stop, a nice town with plenty of bars and eateries.We entered the mountains near Pau and headed towards the Med, and crossed into Spain via Bourg Madame using the N260 to Ainsa-an absolute cracker of a ride. We stopped in Ainsa a few nights at the Hotel Dos Rios, they have a secure garage for the bikes just across the road. We spent our time at Ainsa exploring the local mountain roads and saw all sorts of birds of prey including eagles.
Leaving Ainsa we crossed back into France via the Col du Portelet and stopped at the Hotel Europ in Bergerac, again secure parking for bikes. We finished the trip with a couple of days in Normandy at Couseilles sur Mer, visiting some of the WW2 sites and enjoying Bastile day with the locals, then ferry from Ouistraham to Portsmouth. The only Motorways used were in the UK, France on the back roads may be a bit slower, but worth it for the lack of traffic and twisty roads and getting a feel for rural France.
My route was from St Helens to Poole, Brittany ferries to Cherbourg, I've not used them with abike before and was pleased that they secured the bikes with large cushions on the seats. I travelled with my pal Phil who was on his Harley Dyna fat bloke street bob thingy, he's had the HD stage 1 tune done and the thing flies along, I just about kept up with him on the straights, but the Harley tied itself into knots on the fast bumpy twisty bits.
We had an overnight stay with some friends at their holiday home near St Mere Eglise, then travelled south mainly on 'D' roads to Parthenay, stayed at Hotel St Jaques (secure off road parking) there is a biker bar in the town that dispenses draught beer from an old airhead BMW engine
We continued on the minor roads down to Mirande which was like a ghost town, only one bar open and the only restaurant open was the chinese and the buggers didn't do spare ribs or crispy duck! Tarrascon was our third overnight stop, a nice town with plenty of bars and eateries.We entered the mountains near Pau and headed towards the Med, and crossed into Spain via Bourg Madame using the N260 to Ainsa-an absolute cracker of a ride. We stopped in Ainsa a few nights at the Hotel Dos Rios, they have a secure garage for the bikes just across the road. We spent our time at Ainsa exploring the local mountain roads and saw all sorts of birds of prey including eagles.
Leaving Ainsa we crossed back into France via the Col du Portelet and stopped at the Hotel Europ in Bergerac, again secure parking for bikes. We finished the trip with a couple of days in Normandy at Couseilles sur Mer, visiting some of the WW2 sites and enjoying Bastile day with the locals, then ferry from Ouistraham to Portsmouth. The only Motorways used were in the UK, France on the back roads may be a bit slower, but worth it for the lack of traffic and twisty roads and getting a feel for rural France.
