Me and mrs msgs1200's trip to the Alps

[Berin]

mrs msgs1200 passed her test about 2 months ago. She'd bought a gs650 even before passing, which made her instructor giggle a bit - she's not keen on failing tests

So after a bit of time to settle in, we set of for a trip down to Chamonix via the Vosges and Jura, on Martin's special minor-road route due to a cock up with Mapsource. I said it would help her to just get stuck straight into driving up Alpine passes on the wrong side of the road, no point in tarting about with trips to the West country and the like

the cats seeing us off
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And the bikes ready to go
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Nice MM panniers, proved very robust when I crashed into mrs msgs1200's RH pannier to to a moment of inattention

Parked at my sisters house en route to Calais - TT screen spolier worked very well, virtually no bugs on my visor the whole trip
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gs650 loaded with make-up bags and shoes
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And on the train with a big group of geriatric but very friendly Goldwing riders
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First campsite in Verdun. Very nice, lake view
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Verdun - no traffic wardens here
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Tony the Spanish hairdresser who lives in London on his way back from an epic through Turkey to Iran

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His bike looked more "adventurised"
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Can't recall why we went here, pretty building though.
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This is near Joan of Arc's house, apparently

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Heading for the Meuse valley
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In the Vosges near Munster/Gerardmer - awesome roads. A quick stop to explain to mrs msgs1200 how to do switchbacks - apparently it's not covered on the DAS
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Between Gerardmer and Munster
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which is here


Downtown Munster. Full of Germans.

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Camping near Munster - very nice
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Nice Hilleberg tent - 2kg all up
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En-route from the Vosges to Annecy via the Jura region.
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More later. So far the only mishaps are me hitting her panniers and me getting trapped under my own bike at petrol station.

 

[Berin]

Somewhere in Jura
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On the road to Chamonix
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More later - nice Alpine shots to come.

So far we've been covering over 200 miles a day. Doesn't sound much, but none was on Peage's and mrs msgs1200's 650 doesn't cruise much more than 80mph. On the plus side she learnt overtaking very quickly, and I always made sure I got the coffees in while I waited at the caff for her to catch up and gave it a good five minutes before setting off again.

The Vosges and High Jura are fantastic, very remote and we often went for hours without seeing another person, let alone a car.

 

[Berin]

Annecy old town. Annecy is here.
The old town is delightful, medieval and criss-crossed by canals but it seems to be where French stag and hen party's come these days. And traffic into and out of the town is terrible.
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Lake Annecy from the hotel
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The Aguillie du Midi cable car takes you from Chamonix Town via 2 cable runs and an elevator to over 3800m!

We shared the car up with paracendeurs and climbers - it's a popular start point for various Mont Blanc climbs
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Travelling over a glacier
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the big peak is the Grand Jorasses
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View from the top platform
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Mont Blanc
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And a quick run back home through Burgundy and Champagne. Biggest day 380 miles. When we got back Jane read an article by Kevin and Julia Saunders saying that new riders should only do 150 miles a day - good job we didn't see that before we left.

A nice view over Epernay and the champagne vineyards

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And safe home

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An excellent trip!

 

[davidgibson999]

great pics!
mont blanc looks impressive!

 

[Timolgra]

Looks like you had a great trip, we are also just back from the Alps and i'm about to post some pics soon