France 2016: A la Dordogne et quelques bastides

[GrinningGSer]

Warning, pic heavy and will hopefully include good French food (this is NOT one of those heroic two-day RGDA trips)
I will write this trip as it develops, so please contribute in a helpful way
Theroute:

The Planning
2014 WC GSA, rider and pillion fully loaded (just like my last French trip , we need everything )
Fast cat in and out of Cherbourg.
Nice places to stay, 11 days ,(five in the Dordogne). 1,040 miles from Cherbourg, 23hrs moving time
Two days will have 6hr rides but otherwise the plan is to see things, especially some Bastides.
Euro 2016 has started,strikes are on in France and garbage is collecting in Paris. A national strike is called on our ferry crossing day, so we now leave a day early i.e tomorrow
France has suffered terrorism and much flooding and tourism is reported down by 15%; Chateau Chambord was en route but is flooded video here. So will plan another Chateau
The weather
Looks like more floods;not the weather for motorcycling with loads of rain in the first week

But hey, we have no choice, we have one of the best touring bikes in the world and some of the best gear, so we are going to have fun

 

[Arsey]

We have one of the best touring bikes in the world

Why not take that then instead of the GSA ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tosserbollockery

 

[rodsharp]

Good luck ,hope its not too bad for you . I was planning to go very soon but had not booked anything so with the hassle going on in France and the weather forecast have decided to delay for a month or even stay over here after all we have some of the best scenery in the world and there must be a few places I have not yet visited. Will keep my eye on your reports before jumping in.

 

[GrinningGSer]

I like Tosserbollockery
When you see what we are carrying, you'd be challenged to do that on many alternatives bikes
Tomorrow is a 05.00 hrs GMT depart, a ferry crossing and a 5hr, 240 mile route to BLOIS.......in the rain
Over....but not out.

 

[Arsey]

I like Tosserbollockery
When you see what we are carrying, you'd be challenged to do that on many alternatives bikes
Tomorrow is a 05.00 hrs GMT depart, a ferry crossing and a 5hr, 240 mile route to BLOIS.......in the rain
Over....but not out.

Have fun.

Try not to stay in Formulé Ones and eat steak and frites (pronounced fritz)every night like most Tossers on here seem to think is the height of French life !!!

 

[Tinytim]

Have fun.

Try not to stay in Formulé Ones and eat steak and frites (pronounced fritz)every night like most Tossers on here seem to think is the height of French life !!!

WTF is wrong with pie and chips?

 

[Mr K]

Well I'm interested. Do go on please.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Sorry guys, but unable to locate my card reader , so I'll write the report in 2 weeks when home
Needless to say , weather was truly aweful today but the GSA ploughed through it

 

[ebbo]

I can recommend the La Barde B&B in Montfort for a place to stay in the Dordogne, it's just about 5 miles south of Sarlat, and you must visit Sarlat too.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Thanks Ebbo: we're booked into Rocamadour and Sarlat ( 5 days in both ) so will use those as a touring base .
I'll try and do justice to a good write up when I have the equipment.
In the meantime we are avoiding steak, friz and beef burgers, to keep Arsey happy

 

[leedude03]

we were in rocamadour about 3 weeks ago and the lott valley area great place, big market in sarlat on saturday morning. in the pyrenees at the moment spanish side waiting for a lull in the bad french weather before heading north. enjoy your trip.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Some French canard:

And a fabulous day for an iPhone picture( better will follow later)

 

[GrinningGSer]

(Do you know what... I"m rather pleased with that simple picture: no HDR, no Photoshop : everything just point and press from my phone: Fuji X100 pics later )

 

[ebbo]

(Do you know what... I"m rather pleased with that simple picture: no HDR, no Photoshop : everything just point and press from my phone: Fuji X100 pics later )

I just use my phone now for everthing, pictures are well good enough for me, enjoy the trip!

 

[GrinningGSer]

WARNING: I'l be using the word 'rain' a lot in this report
Day 1 of 10 Portsmouth-Cherbourg Cherbourg-Blois
2.5 hr ride for us to Portsmouth and guess what, raining all the way:

Still dry and on to my favourite 28,320kw Normandie-Express. I love the power of this vessel and could stand for ages, sheltered at the rear, watching the sea being thrown up:

Am I the only one who who watches the rapid progress on their sat nav ?

After almost no time, we are in Cherbourg and as we dock, the rain is water falling down the side windows with such vigour that all is a blur
244miles from Cherbourg (5hrs) later we are in Blois, staying at Le-Relais-De-La-Tour, family run and built around its 16th Century watchtower, giving us this view from the bedroom window:

the owners were most welcoming and settled us in for the evening with a small snack.

The walled garden was cosy

and the rooms were delightful

Considering that we've ridden for 7.5 hrs that day, in copious rainfall, we are damp rather than wet, and our room is vast and allows us to dry out and get lots of z's.
(for those that don't know,The BMW clothing has a textile outer, for cool Summer riding and goretex inner lining to keep you dry, but the outer gets rapidly soaked, making you feel very cold and wet, and in my opinion, it is essential to to wear waterproofing over the suits. So far so good... we're still dry)
It made me decide, however, that we'll probably never use Cherbourg again and would prefer Le Havre, for a shorter route.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Day 2 Chateau de Chenonceau et Le Chateau Royal de Blois (a drizzly overcast day)
A 30 minute journey from Blois,we visited Chateau de Chenonceau and you are now in for some extremely important history:

This beautiful chateau was donated, by King HenryII to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who built this famous bridge on the river Cher.

HenryII, died after a jousting accident in which a splintered lance pierced his eye and his widow, why up until this point was subdued, soon removed Diane from the chateau and Henry's widow made the gardens more beautiful:

HenryII's widow was Catherine de Medici 1519-1589, in bold, because she was to become 'the most powerful woman in 16th Century Europe.' If you know any Italian mothers, from my experience, they rule their families and Catherine was no exception;' Catherine tried every known trick for getting pregnant, such as placing cow dung and ground stags' antlers on her "source of life", and drinking mule's urine' three of her sons became kings of France and the age in which they reigned became known as the 'the age of Catherine de Medici':
FrancisII (more of him and Mary Queen of Scots later), Charles IX and Henry !!!
Catherine nearly died giving birth to twin daughters. Surgeons saved her life by breaking the legs of one of the two babies, who died in her womb.The surviving daughter died seven weeks later. Catherine had no more children.
Interior of the bridge:

This interior was used during WWI for injured soldiers and in WWII was used as a crossing from Nazi occupied France to the 'free zone' on the opposite bank.
Catherine De Medici's bedroom:

I was fascinated by the mechanics of this rotisserie:a weight outside the building providing the power (gentleman in photo not me):

Chenonceau had an essential audioguide, but it was challenging to operate.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Back to Blois and Le Chateau Royal de Blois, known as the residence of kings from 13thC to 17th C, residing here were Francis I,HenryII and Catherine de Medici and then her three sons, Francis I,Henry II, Charles IX and HenryIII.
15thC brick and stone:

16thC renaissance

HenryII was mates with The Guise family, who through marriage to James V of Scotland, they produced Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots). Young 5 yr old Mary lived here under care of Catherine de Medici and was later to marry the Dauphin Francois II
Catherine de Medici's bedroom and deathbed:

The King's Chamber and scene of legend and assassination of The Duke of Guise:

'On 22 December 1588, he spent the night with his current mistress Charlotte de Sauve, the most accomplished and notorious member of Catherine de' Medici's group of female spies known as the "Flying Squadron".The following morning at the Château de Blois, Guise was summoned to attend the king, and was at once assassinated by "the Forty-five", the king's bodyguard, as Henry III looked on.
The French wars of religion, between Catholics and Protestants were a fierce time.
We need refreshments and seated, unaware, outside La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin and whilst drinking our afternoon tea, were shocked to see and hear this video link:


https://photos.smugmug.com/Holidays...0147 robert houdin magic museum blois-640.mp4

Back to our residence in Blois at Le Relais De La Tour and the owner's husband prepared the most delicious duck:

 

[GrinningGSer]

Day 3 Chateau Chambord and journey south west
Our original plan was to visit this place, but it was closed the week before: drone footage:
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Our visit was therefore cancelled. TripAdvisor recommended Ch.Chenonceau as a better place, but our hotel owner insisted that we visit and I am so glad that we did:

Chateau Chambord is magnificent and impressed me more than any other French chateau/palace that I have visited to date. Built as a hunting lodge for Francis1, taking 28 years to construct, surrounded by a 20 mile wall and involving 1,800 builders, it is believed that he only visited for a total of one week. In fact, this 'feature of many chocolate boxes' chateau has been hardly used and is in the ownership of France.
In the middle features a double spiral staircase;

such that both staircases do not meet and the top is capped with elaborate renaissance stonework:

The audioguide, was the best that I have experienced, being fully location aware such that you can wander in any sequence throughout many floors and many staircases.

In those days, the royal party's travelled with their dismantlable furniture and sadly, unlike Ch.Chenonceau,which was favoured, Chateau Chambord was stripped during the French revolution.
Records of construction and design also disappeared and Leonardo Da Vinci (buried at nearby Ch, D'Amboise) is credited with the spiral staircase, but not proven.
There are so many history rich chateaux in the Blois area, that we will return and afford more time!

Started to rain again and we departed on a slog to the southwest, but staying overnight at hotel restaurant Domaine-de-Vareilles.com in Fontveille
Bike parked up, both drenched, but with good drying facilities, super restaurant and totally welcoming:

 

[GrinningGSer]

Day 4 Journey to Rocamadour 125 miles and was planned to take 2.25 hrs
Tanking down the peage at 110 kph, everything was gradually slowed to a crawl,then a STOP, by a blue flashing light ahead, near Limoges. I filtered, 100m to the front of the stoppage and parked alongside a BMW RT biker and alongside him the gendarme. In front of the stoppage, approximately ten vehicles opened their doors and out of these vehicles, orange suited protesters, waiving flags exited: Engine OFF, I took a picture:

I then turned to my right and took a picture of the Yamaha riding gendarme:

That proved to be a big mistake, because monsieur gendarme stormed over to me and snatched my iPhone, requested that I show him my photographs and one by one HE deleted all photos of the scene.
(To respect his objection, I've removed all identities and number plates from the restored photographs)
Clearly the gendarme slowed the traffic in a very safe manner, which is commendable and equally clearly he knew what was developing. Passing police vehicles stopped and gave him 'a handshake'.
30 minutes we were stopped, (you can imagine the tailback), accompanied by horn approvals from vehicles on the opposite side.We were getting hot and damp and sweaty and wanted to remove our helmets and use our umbrella,(but concerned that may have resulted in a motoring offence on a motorway, so we refrained). The protesters climbed into their vehicles and were gone.

 

[GrinningGSer]

Day5 Rocamadour
A stunning place to look at:

but the main street was too 'souvenir shop' for my liking

and some pilgrims climb the 216 steps to the sanctuary:

Bike parked right outside our room:

The place had a fabulous pool, a superb restaurant, but room sophistication was lacking for a pricey place (shouldn't need to kneel in the bath for shower) so I'm not going to recommend it !