Pyrenees, Barcelona, Millau and Oradour

[DavidJames]

So following a last minute decison (as per this threadhttp://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157335 ) I headed down to Spain for a quick holiday and returned this week.

It was fecking brilliant!!!!

I wont bore you with loads of detail becuase I am sure it has all been covered before, but a quick report and some photos are coming.

The ferry from Plymouth to Santander was excellent - I was very impressed and enjoyed the first day/night of my holiday!!

First day in Spain I wanted to get firmly into the decent roads so that the next day I would be ready to enjoy myself. I initially thought Pamplona would be my target but I got there quite quickly and carried on to Jaca. The roads were quite dull but did get more interesting towards the end of the day. Despite being on Motorways, the journey was still quite nice becuase the scenery as you approach the mountians is pretty cool. Stayed at the Hotel Real - nice and clean, quite and good value with secure parking underground. Spent the evening with few beers and some Tapas in the bar attached to the hotel The only issue I had was that a can of Red Bull had been punctured in my topbox and managed to soak 2 Michelin maps stored in there - they dried out and have a nice scent about them now

Day 2 was were the fun really started I rode along the 260 with a few short excursions courtesy of Mr Michelin. I am not sure what I had expected before I began the trip - I guess I had not really thought about it as it was as last minute thing, but I was blown away!!!!! I was in my biking heaven. The roads were a mixture of fast sweeping open bends with stunning scenery, tight technical twisties with stunning scenery or just stunning scenery!!!!!! I took some photos, but if I had stopped every time I saw something nice...............I would still be there now!!!!

 

[DavidJames]

At the end of the day I ended up in Tremp - not a particularly nice place, but not bad either (Jaca was better). My hotel was dated but clean and quiet and they also had a very good restaurent at the back. The owner spoke a little english and recommended a dish and 1/2 bottle of wine - both were excellent!!!!

Next day I rightly listened to Mr Michelin again and headed for the L 511...............stunning is not the words to describe this road. Virtually no traffic, hairpins galore.........just amazing.

 

[DavidJames]

Finished the day by riding into Barcelona - bugger me was it hot!!! Checked found our hotel, found my wife, found the bar - no photos

Barcelona was great and such a contrast to my previous few days. Lovely hotel, lots of great found and lounging around the pool...........perfect end to the week.

We both left on Sunday morning, wife via Easyjet, me via Easybike.

No real plan other than to see the Millau bridge and keep heading north. Turned into a very long day which on the whole was pretty dull and tiring. I made it all the way to Oradour and got a hotel in the village. Hotel was, again, pretty dated but did great food and was good value.

 

[DavidJames]

Started the day with a walk around the ruins on the old village. I had never about this place until i read about it from other Tossers. It is an incredible story and a very moving place to go. I picked up a book in the visitor centre and read it on the way home, very sad.

 

[cherokee]

Cool

enjoyed that buddy cheers,im off to spain next year looking forward to it be great to catch some of the scenery you did. Its funny how some times when you dont plan things in detail you have a blast of a time..

 

[DavidJames]

I then continued north to St Malo to get a hotel before my return ferry the next morning. St Malo seemed a really nice place, a few bars and restaurants over looking the water, nice little sandy beach - very pleasent. It did occur to me that had St Malo been in Britain it would have been very different - noisy video games and tacky shops. My hotel was 'interesting' to say the least. It was owned by a larger more expensive hotel across the road (which I wished I had stayed at!!) and therefore had no reception of its own. It was above a bar which looked nice but was closed for a stock take. Just before switching the lights out I noticed I had company in the room - quite a few mossies. I killed a few and tried to sleep, but the remaining few were intent on getting me and I could hear them buzzing around my head!!!

Anyway a very restless nights sleep ended was had and they get me the in the end......... b@stards!!!

When I checked in I left my bike in the car park of the posher hotel for safe keeping. On returning in the morning to check out and be on my way, I was pleased to see the gates of the car park firmly closed meaning my bike had been nice and secure over night I pressed the buzzer beside the gate to get someone to let me in, but no response. I noticed a door open at the side of the building and went in that way to start loading the bike and get some breakfast. A few staff were milling around watching me and when I was done I asked where breakfast was served. At this point they told me breakfast was off due to a power cut. OK no real bother I thought, but then realised why the gates were still shut........................they were electic

A quick inspection of the gates and some pushing and pulling confirmed my fears - I was trapped and my ferry was leaving in 1h30m!!! The owner suggested we try taking the bike through the side door I came in through and volunteered to help me lift it up the 2 steps at the end. Fat chance of that happening I thought!!!! It turned out the passage was to narrow anyway so it was back to the gates.

I decided it was best to try and un-bolt the rams that were holding the gate closed, so got some tools from the bike and set about dismantling the gates. The nuts came of fairly easily but the pressure of the rams meant the plate was jammed tight on the studs. Using all my weight (I am tosser shaped) I pulled one of the rams free which enabled us to open one of the gates

A very nice gentleman from Kent then asked if I would mind doing the other gate as well so he could get his Land Rover out - I still had time, so I obliged. With both gates open I was just re-packing the bike when an electrician turned up, flicked a switch and everything was back on

It gave me an interesting end to the trip!!

The ferry home was fine (not as nice as the way out) and I was at home with a glass of wine by 8pm!!

The End

 

[DavidJames]

enjoyed that buddy cheers,im off to spain next year looking forward to it be great to catch some of the scenery you did. Its funny how some times when you dont plan things in detail you have a blast of a time..

Absolutely - If you don't have a plan how can it go wrong? (Steptoe's words!!)

Also I found that if you don't have high expectations, how can you be dissapointed? The hotels were good examples of this - If I was planning a holiday I would research hotels on Tripadvisor etc and then book them. If you then got there and it was shite you'd be gutted. When I turned up a hotel I had 3 questions:
Do you have a room?
How much is it?
Do you have parking?

If the room was a shite hole then I was not dissapointed, it was just a laugh, just part of the experience!! The hotel in Tremp was quite funny - it had the slowest bath tap ever - I reckon it would of taken about a week to fill it up I even took a video of it running!!

 

[DavidJames]

Just got a PM with some questions so thought it would be useful to share it with everyone

"Just wandering what you reckoned your overall costs to have ended being?

Not having been before, did you pre book accom or just pitch up each day wherever it took your fance?

Am thinking about either the ride down through france/ spain and back. Or the same as you, Santander ferry etc."

Overall costs are a little difficult because I didn't really keep track of it but here what I do know:

Ferry was £250 which was Plymouth - Santander with an inside 2 berth cabin and St Malo - Portsmouth with a recliner chair booked via Nutt Travel.http://www.nutttravel.com/ They were cheaper by £50 than Brittany ferries themselves as they availability of smaller cabins which Brittany no longer had.

Hotels were anywhere between 36 and 46 Euros per night, evening meals and beers were between 15 and 40 Euros. Nothing was pre-booked except Barcelona. Like I said above, dont have high expectations and you wont be upset. Look for 2* hotels as they will generally have everything you need and be reasonable prices. I chose to stay in towns but along the roads there are loads of hotels in smaller villages which were probably even better value.

Petrol, I did about 1800 miles but did not keep any track of how much fuel I used - as someone recently said I am never going to be a millionaire becuase I don't count the pennies.

Take a phrase book with you (I use Lonely Planet) one hotel did not speak any English at all. The receptionist spoke French so I checked in in French whilst in Spain!! Dont be scared of the launguage barrier you will survive, the phrase books are great for reading menus

As for the ferry vs ride debate - it has been discussed many times in the past and I am definitely in the ferry camp on this one. There is no doubt that France has a lot to offer and you could spend a long time riding good roads and seeing great things, but when you are just passing it by to get to a location it seemed to be a waste of time and a pain in the @arse (literally!!). I would prefer to take the ferry there and back and spend more time riding the stunning roads. I personally don't think that there is much difference in cost either - when you add up you hotels, meals and petrol (and wear and tear on the bike) it would not be much different to you return ferry.

This was the first time I had done anything like this and it was the best experience ever!! It is easy to be scared of getting out there on you own and facing people who dont speak you language but it is so rewarding.

I had a couple of moments on the bike that were difficult to describe and maybe I am talking b0ll0cks, but I seriously felt like my life was perfect at that moment. Early in the morning, bright sunshine but still quite cool, no other traffic, on the side of a mountain with the next 5-6 bends laid out in front of me and stunning scenery all around - perfection!

 

[Ash]

my ferry leaves 21/09/09

 

[asif]

nice write up

Nice write up and ive book marked it. Hoping to head that way in the spring.

 

[GS TRV]

nice one

 

[AndyT]

my ferry leaves 21/09/09

I'm only a week behind you so keep it tidy please.......

 

[Ash]

I'm only a week behind you so keep it tidy please.......

sunshine booked

 

[Dave56]

Thanks for that really enjoyed it, liked the "no plan" approach.
I too would use the same travel companies as yourself - EasyJet for the wife & EasyBike for me - wife not the slightest bit interested in 2 wheels, but loves the sun.

 

[DavidJames]

my ferry leaves 21/09/09

Nice write up and ive book marked it. Hoping to head that way in the spring.

nice one

Thanks for that really enjoyed it, liked the "no plan" approach.
I too would use the same travel companies as yourself - EasyJet for the wife & EasyBike for me - wife not the slightest bit interested in 2 wheels, but loves the sun.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm glad you liked it and hope that you enjoy the trips as much as I did.

 

[Deleted Member I]

That looks fun!