Waiting for the next instalment ... 
The Wrong Way Round (Tarka and Peter`s French Ural Adventure)
- Thread starter Tarka
- Start date
everywherevirtually
Registered user
Ohh I'm going to enjoy this
Great stuff Tarka. All good things come to those who wait
Great stuff Tarka. All good things come to those who wait
Wednesday 12th May 2010
(Sorry about lots of text in the first half...there weren`t many photo opportunities on the motorway!)
Somewhat later than the advertised 7am the doors finally opened on our strange new world.
Well....it may have been a foreign country but there was nothing strange to us about grey leaden skies and some determined looking drizzle.
Ho hum....hey,we`re on holiday!!
Peter moved over to let me pass and I lead us out amidst the soot belching diesel lorries and coaches whilst checking the strange looking roadsigns.
Compared to the oh so familiar France,even the font style was different,but the signage was good and we were heading in the right direction.
Initial impressions of Holland were good,despite the weather.
Everywhere was neat and tidy as we followed the lorries along our first dyke top roads.....the road is a good ten or more feet above the surrounding fields and rows of greenhouses and agricultural wholesalers.
Numerous cyclepaths were in evidence,with mopeds apparently allowed to use them too.
Initial impressions of riding a UK handed combo on 'the wrong side of the road' weren`t quite as bad as I`d imagined it to be......but a frustrating aspect was the difficulty of seeing past the lorries in front of me,in order to check for road signs,because the narrow roads made it unsafe to move the combo over to the left to see as it would have put the sidecar in the path of oncoming traffic.
The only options were to drop back more than normal....or to drift onto the verge to see past on the right hand side,and that was potentially hazardous when your narrow road is ten feet above everything else!
Gradually the spray lessened and the road opened up.
Before long we were about to join the first motorway...the A20 signed for Rotterdam.
The first bit of motorway wasn`t as manic or suicidal feeling as ours,and I felt happy to adjust to the sensation of Uralling 'over here' while checking the route.......but it soon started busying up.
Many major routes have European wide 'E numbers' as well as the national 'A numbers' so one motorway spanning more than one country will remain the 'E whatever' from start to finish while also having for instance 'A 123' in one country and 'A 456' in the next,etc.
Confusingly the Dutch seem to prefer the 'E numbers' so I had to scan for the E31 to make sure I was on the A20 !
Likewise,our tunnel route of the A4 was the E19 and the ensuing A15 was the E31,and so on.....all just what you want when on 'the wrong side' and looking out for traffic on all sides of you and also ensuring your companion is still behind you!
We were approaching the merge of motorways for the tunnel section and the traffic was quite thick and heavy....I was scanning for the expected road numbers whilse counting down the junction numbers until the point to veer right (or South) for the tunnel.
Just at the expected point I was suddenly confronted with nine lanes of motorway branching in three different directions.....and none of them looked right!!
The road numbers didn`t tally...the next place names weren`t as expected and I couldn`t see any mention of the tunnel!
Call it unsafe..call it reckless...call it illegal,but I stopped on the painted chevrons where one set of three lanes drifted off into the distance while the traffic thundered past on the left and right.
Peter pulled up behind and I gave a Gallic shrug to indicate I wasn`t too sure.
The momentary stop allowed me to assess the lie of the roads and to sort the right one out........my brain had just been trying to do too much at once.
I felt like punching the air as we rode through the tunnel and then merged with the A15....oops,I meant E31...oh,you know what I mean.
So then....tricky bit done....we`re on the right road in the right direction.
Traffic is lighter....but quite a few lorries.
Clear road visible ahead of the slow moving lorry I`m following....indicate left,check mirror...mirror clear,do 'lifesaver' (look over outside shoulder)...move to left and smartly accelerate past lorry in the 2nd lane.
Check that lorry has been cleared by a good margin for Peter....check mirror,do lifesaver on inside and move into 1st lane.
Check mirror...no Peter.
Am closing in on another lorry but I stay between the two and move to the right verge in order to try and see behind the lorry that`s following me.
Just manage to see Peter sat behind it,and as I`m now closing on the second lorry it`s time to repeat the overtake procedure.
It was safe to pass this lorry,which to my mind said that it was safe for Peter to overtake the original one...but he didn`t.
Bear in mind that I wasn`t exceeding 65mph at any point and mostly at a needle`s width below 60mph in that 'sweet spot' which Dee has.
Peter appeared to be resolutely staying at around 50mph or possibly less judging by how close behind him a lorry was and I wondered if it was to prove a point from the discussion on the ferry.
Certainly he wasn`t trying to draw my attention to any defect with his bike so it must have been through choice.
I`m sorry but I wouldn`t have felt safe in such close company with big vehicles and that`s why I pass them whenever I can.
Predictably,before long Peter and I had quite a distance between us with numerous lorries and vans in between,and as the traffic was building up again on the approach to another six lane merge,it wasn`t safe to be gazing in my mirrors for him.
Finally,after a couple more motorway crossovers and merges,I couldn`t see him at all......not even after pulling over onto the hard shoulder for a while.
It wasn`t practical or even safe to attempt to go back looking for him,and it would have been foolish to guess at a junction he may have taken in error so seeing as we each knew where the rally was on Thursday it was best to just carry onwards.
I was having lunch in a services near Maastricht at 1pm when I got a text off Peter saying he`d missed a junction and was on the road to Namur.....and shall we regroup in Bouillon that evening?
I agreed,saying to meet at the very distinctive roundabout that looks like a chessboard near the middle of the town,by a stone bridge.
After the motorway,I took the N30 towards Bastogne until I saw a sign for the 'Ardennes Tourist Route' which got me on the N89 headed to Bouillon and then I rode through lovely fresh smelling forests on superb road surfaces.
It was in the Ardennes that the Battle of the Bulge took place in World War 2.
And it was on this day that Russian Iron met American Iron.
This was in St. Hubert (I seem to remember) and commemorates the liberation of the town by American forces in 1945.
Here`s my first view of the town..........the tank was encountered later atop the hill to the right.
I stopped on the outskirts of Bouillon to fill up with petrol and to have a loo/coffee stop.
I also decided to give Dee a good clean while I had a rest....she was rotten dirty from all the motorway spray and the wet forest roads,but the day was now dry.
I like my bikes clean...and it lets me check all is well too.
Additionally it frees off stiff joints and exercises cramped limbs.
That`s my excuse and I`m sticking to it!
While doing this,I heard a nice sounding twin cylinder bike approaching and looked up to see what it was.
It was a Ural combo!
A Blurple one...........it was Peter!!!
Five minutes later and we`re both reunited and shaking hands at the 'chessboard roundabout'.
The building opposite is the Hotel de la Poste but Peter muttered something about it 'Looking a bit expensive'......and mumbled about seeing a hostel sign.
Well,I`ve never been in a hostel in my life,and wasn`t about to now.
We found the Tourist Information Office just behind the Hotel de la Poste and they marked a map for us showing the lesser priced hotels.
Note 'Lesser Priced' as opposed to 'Cheap'.
We ended up traipsing around Bouillon and up a a massive hill that nearly gave me a coronary (don`t ask why we didn`t ride...it 'seemed like a nice walk to stretch our legs' ) and finding a great looking and CHEAP place overlooking the town ......but it was closed !
Here`s a view from beside it...shows the height we`d walked up to (in bike kit !) and also shows how lovely Bouillon is.
On the other side of the river valley is a splendid castle.
Well,we got down the hill quicker than we climbed it,and asked in a tavern if they had rooms for the night.
They didn`t but said the most reasonable rooms in town were likely still available.
In...yep,you guessed it....in the Hotel de la Poste !!!!
We got a splendid room each for 65 Euro with buffet breakfast and an underground automatic gated garge 'cell' for the Urals.
One wonderful shower later and I went out scouting for likely good eating places.
Research done,I returned to our hotel and invested in a Belgian Trappist beer.
I said 'invested' because a glass of it cost 7 Euro !!
But it was worth every last cent.
I savoured my investment while Peter languished in a hot and restorative bath.......once fully recharged,he and I walked across the stone bridge and treated ourselves to a superb meal.
He had a salady thing while I got a 'Pizza Diabolo' which was entirely made on the premises and had such a delicate selection of peppers,chillies,onion and garlic that no one item overpowered the next.....delicious and perfect.
Our other discovery was the local Bouillon beer....well recommended.
We researched this over several glasses and each was as good as the previous!
As I`ve said,Bouillon is a lovely place.....especially by night.
Walking along the river bank to settle our meal,it looked as if the water under the bridge was crystal clear,and that you could see full channels for the water.
It was in fact the effect of perfect reflections.............
Not sure if it was the effect of the beers or the atmosphere of the place but I was in danger of getting all arty with my camera.
Did someone say beer ??
Come on Peter,let`s invest in more Trappist stuff at the hotel.......
Peter was happy to join me !
I must admit...it`s a damn fine hotel.....look at the bar area!
Hmm....Peter`s empty glass suggested that another Trappist beer was in order.
Things started to get a bit squiffy from here on.
Let`s see what Thursday brings eh ?
It should see us at the rally site !!
(To be continued soon)
(Sorry about lots of text in the first half...there weren`t many photo opportunities on the motorway!)
Somewhat later than the advertised 7am the doors finally opened on our strange new world.
Well....it may have been a foreign country but there was nothing strange to us about grey leaden skies and some determined looking drizzle.
Ho hum....hey,we`re on holiday!!
Peter moved over to let me pass and I lead us out amidst the soot belching diesel lorries and coaches whilst checking the strange looking roadsigns.
Compared to the oh so familiar France,even the font style was different,but the signage was good and we were heading in the right direction.
Initial impressions of Holland were good,despite the weather.
Everywhere was neat and tidy as we followed the lorries along our first dyke top roads.....the road is a good ten or more feet above the surrounding fields and rows of greenhouses and agricultural wholesalers.
Numerous cyclepaths were in evidence,with mopeds apparently allowed to use them too.
Initial impressions of riding a UK handed combo on 'the wrong side of the road' weren`t quite as bad as I`d imagined it to be......but a frustrating aspect was the difficulty of seeing past the lorries in front of me,in order to check for road signs,because the narrow roads made it unsafe to move the combo over to the left to see as it would have put the sidecar in the path of oncoming traffic.
The only options were to drop back more than normal....or to drift onto the verge to see past on the right hand side,and that was potentially hazardous when your narrow road is ten feet above everything else!
Gradually the spray lessened and the road opened up.
Before long we were about to join the first motorway...the A20 signed for Rotterdam.
The first bit of motorway wasn`t as manic or suicidal feeling as ours,and I felt happy to adjust to the sensation of Uralling 'over here' while checking the route.......but it soon started busying up.
Many major routes have European wide 'E numbers' as well as the national 'A numbers' so one motorway spanning more than one country will remain the 'E whatever' from start to finish while also having for instance 'A 123' in one country and 'A 456' in the next,etc.
Confusingly the Dutch seem to prefer the 'E numbers' so I had to scan for the E31 to make sure I was on the A20 !
Likewise,our tunnel route of the A4 was the E19 and the ensuing A15 was the E31,and so on.....all just what you want when on 'the wrong side' and looking out for traffic on all sides of you and also ensuring your companion is still behind you!
We were approaching the merge of motorways for the tunnel section and the traffic was quite thick and heavy....I was scanning for the expected road numbers whilse counting down the junction numbers until the point to veer right (or South) for the tunnel.
Just at the expected point I was suddenly confronted with nine lanes of motorway branching in three different directions.....and none of them looked right!!
The road numbers didn`t tally...the next place names weren`t as expected and I couldn`t see any mention of the tunnel!
Call it unsafe..call it reckless...call it illegal,but I stopped on the painted chevrons where one set of three lanes drifted off into the distance while the traffic thundered past on the left and right.
Peter pulled up behind and I gave a Gallic shrug to indicate I wasn`t too sure.
The momentary stop allowed me to assess the lie of the roads and to sort the right one out........my brain had just been trying to do too much at once.
I felt like punching the air as we rode through the tunnel and then merged with the A15....oops,I meant E31...oh,you know what I mean.
So then....tricky bit done....we`re on the right road in the right direction.
Traffic is lighter....but quite a few lorries.
Clear road visible ahead of the slow moving lorry I`m following....indicate left,check mirror...mirror clear,do 'lifesaver' (look over outside shoulder)...move to left and smartly accelerate past lorry in the 2nd lane.
Check that lorry has been cleared by a good margin for Peter....check mirror,do lifesaver on inside and move into 1st lane.
Check mirror...no Peter.
Am closing in on another lorry but I stay between the two and move to the right verge in order to try and see behind the lorry that`s following me.
Just manage to see Peter sat behind it,and as I`m now closing on the second lorry it`s time to repeat the overtake procedure.
It was safe to pass this lorry,which to my mind said that it was safe for Peter to overtake the original one...but he didn`t.
Bear in mind that I wasn`t exceeding 65mph at any point and mostly at a needle`s width below 60mph in that 'sweet spot' which Dee has.
Peter appeared to be resolutely staying at around 50mph or possibly less judging by how close behind him a lorry was and I wondered if it was to prove a point from the discussion on the ferry.
Certainly he wasn`t trying to draw my attention to any defect with his bike so it must have been through choice.
I`m sorry but I wouldn`t have felt safe in such close company with big vehicles and that`s why I pass them whenever I can.
Predictably,before long Peter and I had quite a distance between us with numerous lorries and vans in between,and as the traffic was building up again on the approach to another six lane merge,it wasn`t safe to be gazing in my mirrors for him.
Finally,after a couple more motorway crossovers and merges,I couldn`t see him at all......not even after pulling over onto the hard shoulder for a while.
It wasn`t practical or even safe to attempt to go back looking for him,and it would have been foolish to guess at a junction he may have taken in error so seeing as we each knew where the rally was on Thursday it was best to just carry onwards.
I was having lunch in a services near Maastricht at 1pm when I got a text off Peter saying he`d missed a junction and was on the road to Namur.....and shall we regroup in Bouillon that evening?
I agreed,saying to meet at the very distinctive roundabout that looks like a chessboard near the middle of the town,by a stone bridge.
After the motorway,I took the N30 towards Bastogne until I saw a sign for the 'Ardennes Tourist Route' which got me on the N89 headed to Bouillon and then I rode through lovely fresh smelling forests on superb road surfaces.
It was in the Ardennes that the Battle of the Bulge took place in World War 2.
And it was on this day that Russian Iron met American Iron.
This was in St. Hubert (I seem to remember) and commemorates the liberation of the town by American forces in 1945.
Here`s my first view of the town..........the tank was encountered later atop the hill to the right.
I stopped on the outskirts of Bouillon to fill up with petrol and to have a loo/coffee stop.
I also decided to give Dee a good clean while I had a rest....she was rotten dirty from all the motorway spray and the wet forest roads,but the day was now dry.
I like my bikes clean...and it lets me check all is well too.
Additionally it frees off stiff joints and exercises cramped limbs.
That`s my excuse and I`m sticking to it!
While doing this,I heard a nice sounding twin cylinder bike approaching and looked up to see what it was.
It was a Ural combo!
A Blurple one...........it was Peter!!!
Five minutes later and we`re both reunited and shaking hands at the 'chessboard roundabout'.
The building opposite is the Hotel de la Poste but Peter muttered something about it 'Looking a bit expensive'......and mumbled about seeing a hostel sign.
Well,I`ve never been in a hostel in my life,and wasn`t about to now.
We found the Tourist Information Office just behind the Hotel de la Poste and they marked a map for us showing the lesser priced hotels.
Note 'Lesser Priced' as opposed to 'Cheap'.
We ended up traipsing around Bouillon and up a a massive hill that nearly gave me a coronary (don`t ask why we didn`t ride...it 'seemed like a nice walk to stretch our legs' ) and finding a great looking and CHEAP place overlooking the town ......but it was closed !
Here`s a view from beside it...shows the height we`d walked up to (in bike kit !) and also shows how lovely Bouillon is.
On the other side of the river valley is a splendid castle.
Well,we got down the hill quicker than we climbed it,and asked in a tavern if they had rooms for the night.
They didn`t but said the most reasonable rooms in town were likely still available.
In...yep,you guessed it....in the Hotel de la Poste !!!!
We got a splendid room each for 65 Euro with buffet breakfast and an underground automatic gated garge 'cell' for the Urals.
One wonderful shower later and I went out scouting for likely good eating places.
Research done,I returned to our hotel and invested in a Belgian Trappist beer.
I said 'invested' because a glass of it cost 7 Euro !!
But it was worth every last cent.
I savoured my investment while Peter languished in a hot and restorative bath.......once fully recharged,he and I walked across the stone bridge and treated ourselves to a superb meal.
He had a salady thing while I got a 'Pizza Diabolo' which was entirely made on the premises and had such a delicate selection of peppers,chillies,onion and garlic that no one item overpowered the next.....delicious and perfect.
Our other discovery was the local Bouillon beer....well recommended.
We researched this over several glasses and each was as good as the previous!
As I`ve said,Bouillon is a lovely place.....especially by night.
Walking along the river bank to settle our meal,it looked as if the water under the bridge was crystal clear,and that you could see full channels for the water.
It was in fact the effect of perfect reflections.............
Not sure if it was the effect of the beers or the atmosphere of the place but I was in danger of getting all arty with my camera.
Did someone say beer ??
Come on Peter,let`s invest in more Trappist stuff at the hotel.......
Peter was happy to join me !
I must admit...it`s a damn fine hotel.....look at the bar area!
Hmm....Peter`s empty glass suggested that another Trappist beer was in order.
Things started to get a bit squiffy from here on.
Let`s see what Thursday brings eh ?
It should see us at the rally site !!
(To be continued soon)
ghiribizzo
Registered user
Excellent stuff.
Looks like a detour via Bouillon in July is in order...
Looks like a detour via Bouillon in July is in order...
bustupbiker
Registered user
**well written, without a sweary thing in sigh**
Thats the Tarka way
Eggs-u-lant once again Sir.
Thats the Tarka way
Eggs-u-lant once again Sir.
superb
Up to your usual excellent standards. Looking forward to the rest of it
Up to your usual excellent standards. Looking forward to the rest of it
tarka you are a menace you have reawoken the urge i have to bolt a chair on the g.s i will have to go and have a lie down with the curtains closed keep it coming
Stewart H
Registered user
Lovely ride report, I have fallen victim to Trappiste beer myself before now
Stewart
Stewart
Great report. Keep it coming.
Have had a trappist beer or two myself - nice stuff!
Have had a trappist beer or two myself - nice stuff!
Euro trip
Enjoying this tarka thanks for the time and effort was in bouillon last year, great roads and scenery.
Enjoying this tarka thanks for the time and effort
was in bouillon last year, great roads and scenery.Thanks again for the compliments and encouragement guys.
Sorry this is taking me a while but I can`t leave two browsers open while attending any breakdowns in work,so I`m having to compile it at home.
And squeezing it in between sorting out a patio re-flag,a garage rebuild,a project bike restoration and life in general...phew!
Anyway....Thursday May 13th 2010.
The day dawned bright and dry,and due to me being awake handily again, I got Dee out of the Troglodytical garage and gave her the normal pre-ride checkover.
She needed an oil top up again but only about 200ml.
Due to topping myself up with all that delicious Trappist beer yesterday I`d forgotten to take a pic of Dee`s odometer,so I took one ....and likewise I`d forgotten to post it in the previous instalment.
So,for those of you avidly noting down or daily distances,here is the odometer reading for yesterday`s ride from the Hook of Holland to Bouillon.
Okay...I`d also loaded my holdall back in the sidecar (we just left our camping gear in the sidecars throughout the travelling....and simply carried a holdall into the hotels)....so I went back into the hotel for breakfast with Peter.
On entering the foyer I thought for a moment that another Urallist was staying there with us.....going by this luggage set,heh heh.
I jest of course...it was one of several period artifacts dotted about the hotel and it gave great atmosphere to the place.
Joking aside I think that gear is quite cool and would actually look ace on a Ural !
Entering the dining room I noticed that the rest of the clientele was entirely composed (or should that be DEcomposed ) of elderly couples...the yougest looking late 50`s to early 60`s...who viewed me with aloof and detached expressions.
The staff were fine..friendly and efficient...but these folk made me think of when the Blues Brothers entered the swanky hotel and proceeded to agitate the other posh diners in front of the Maitre`d in order to get him back into the band ... especially when they tucked the tablecloth into their shirts and tossed food at each other.
I nearly echoed Jake and Elwood as I lay my maps out across the table and sorted out a route for the day!
And talking of the table....you can`t beat a table with a view,can you?
Breakfast was a buffet affair...and a fantastic selection was available.
I opted for a banana with cereal and a couple of yoghurts....and a few glasses of fresh pressed orange juice as my body was craving a healthy start.
Nothing at all to do with the Trappist beer,of course!
Peter appeared after having been for an early walk around the town,and we discussed the day`s route over breakfast.
We decided that the main aim of the day was to get to the rally site in good time.....so we once again opted for a chunk of motorway to get us near to the region and then use smaller roads.
A study of the map whilst having a couple of coffees (I love my early morning coffee and map sessions!) revealed a great route.
From Bouillon....the scenic route of N83 to Florenville and onwards to Arlon.
Then motorway A4 (or E25...or E411...eh ?? ) into Luxembourg.
This would be helpful for Peter as he would be needing petrol before too long and there was a service station a couple of junctions along here.
Then we`d pick up the A31 (E25) for Thionville,past Metz and down to Nancy.
At that point we`d take the N4 dual carriageway becoming the fairly scenic N59 for as far as St. Die (Saint 'Dee' as there`s an acute accent on the 'E' but I can`t type one) .
From St. Die it would be the oh so appealingly sinuous N415 and Col du Bonhomme towards Lapoutroie and Colmar...but we`d take one or other of the even more appealing looking minor tracks across the peaks and down into Munster where we could then reach the rally site at Luttenbach.
Have a look at the area on a map....the peaks range from 900m to over 1100m and the roads look like spilled spaghetti.
Fun beckoned!!!!
All loaded,off we went.
By the way,the Hotel de la Poste in Boillon is highly recommended...as is Bouillon itself....and I fully intend to stay there again some time.
The first scenic bit was as lovely as hoped....and it was nice to riding 'in formation' with Peter again.
Once we joined the motorway,the gap between us developed again,but that appeared to be how things were going to be,so I just rode along in Dee`s sweet spot and enjoyed the ride.
We pulled off the motorway at the first services for petrol and encountered a queue of cars and bikes to rival the Bastille Day holiday traffic in France.
It took about 20 minutes to get filled up and then pay,so I turned it into a coffee/loo stop.
The place was crammed with people,and bikes were everywhere.
On chatting to someone it transpired that it was a Bank Holiday in Luxembourg !
There`s not much to say about the motorway run other than it passed quite pleasantly and Dee bopped along happily at just under 60mph....with enough in reserve to pass lumbering lorries and quite a few motorhomes and caravans.
From my very infrequent UK motorway forays I`d expected European motorway Uralling to give a life expectancy akin to someone playing Russian Roulette with an AK47...but Dee was overtaking quite a lot of traffic and although there was a bit of quite fast stuff out there,nobody gave any cause for concern.
None of the aggressive headlamp flashing tailgating and idiotic speeding up by people about to be ovetaken that happens in the UK.
Much of what did overtake us...especially the hoards of bikes....was passed by us a few miles further on while they were in a services or rest area...only for them to come howling past again....and for us to pass them yet again!
True 'tortoise and hare' travelling......we went non stop from Luxembourg services to the last one just north of Nancy at quite a respectable average speed and time.
We saw some sights.....various unsual vehicles including a convoy of those weird CanAm Spyder trikes.
The 'squiggly spaghetti' last section of the day`s route was spectacular!
Quite simply stunning and everyone with a bike needs to ride that area at least once in their life.
It`s a National Regional park area and known as 'Des Ballons'.....look at it on a decent scaled map and drool !!
This bit was also slightly hair raising as we actually entered the clouds!
Everything suddenly went totally white and nothing at all could be seen.
My goggles instantly fogged up and I quickly had to wrench them off.
Even with direct Mark One Eyeball Vision I couldn`t see the edge of the road (no 'run off' verges or kerbs for lots of it,just a quick way down...yikes! ) and couldn`t tell if a right hander or left hander bend was ahead.
I couldn`t even see from one telegraph pole to another and I actually started to lose the sense of 'rightway up and left or right'.....full disorentation.
It was just like travelling in an opaque sphere and it became quite disconcerting when even 20mph felt too fast.
Gradually the vision improved and colour returned to our lives.
Life was something Peter was glad to still possess as not only had his visor fogged up but when he lifted it his spectacles fogged up too!
We regained our composure and rode the last few miles with increasing anticipation and ever growing smiles.....culminating in a shouted 'Yippee' and bouncing in the seat when Luttenbach materialised.
We were both grinning like Chesire Cats on seeing the sign for the campsite and rolling up at the reception building.
We`d made it !!!
We`d got here!!
Peter had been in prior email conversation with the Amicale President resulting in our invitation.
The event is normally pre-booked and paid for by a certain cutoff date but the President had very kindly booked us in on trust and we simply had to turn up and pay him.
Now,my French is pretty good.
I can speak it..read it...write in it.
I`m not fully fluent but can hold and understand full conversations.
But when we went in to sort things with the Amicale `s President I couldn`t understand a single word being said...not even the price!
It turned out that the Alsace Lorraine region we were in has a very strong accent and in fact has a kind of patois or dialect all its own.....with a fairly strong German bias and 'twang' to it.
I simply had to act dumb and let Peter do the talking...he has spent time in ski resorts and managed some ski chalets so various accents and dialects weren`t a problem to him,thankfully!
The rally arrangement was fantastic....75 Euro bought us three night`s camping in a well ordered and maintained site with free facilities as well as Thursday night`s meal...Friday breakfast and evening meal...Saturday breakfast and evening meal...and Sunday breakfast !!
The Amicale had set up a couple of big marquees for eating/drinking and socialising too.
Drinks were managed with the usual rally system of pre paid vouchers and certain quantities of vouchers for certain drinks.
So,we paid the man,attached our wristbands and rode up to the specially reserved camping area set aside just for the Amicale Rally attendees....several of whom were already there and set up.
We selected to camp at the far end of the two rows of tents facing in the direction of the photo above...it was quite a nice spot near the boundary trees with a small crystal clear stream flowing past.
Naturally it wasn`t long before the Red Flag was flying!!
That`s it...job done...a temporary Chateau Tarka for the weekend !
We both had a real sense of achievement and feeling pleased with ourselves it was time for a beer to celebrate.
The evening awaited us......
(To be continued !)
Sorry this is taking me a while but I can`t leave two browsers open while attending any breakdowns in work,so I`m having to compile it at home.
And squeezing it in between sorting out a patio re-flag,a garage rebuild,a project bike restoration and life in general...phew!
Anyway....Thursday May 13th 2010.
The day dawned bright and dry,and due to me being awake handily again, I got Dee out of the Troglodytical garage and gave her the normal pre-ride checkover.
She needed an oil top up again but only about 200ml.
Due to topping myself up with all that delicious Trappist beer yesterday I`d forgotten to take a pic of Dee`s odometer,so I took one ....and likewise I`d forgotten to post it in the previous instalment.
So,for those of you avidly noting down or daily distances,here is the odometer reading for yesterday`s ride from the Hook of Holland to Bouillon.
Okay...I`d also loaded my holdall back in the sidecar (we just left our camping gear in the sidecars throughout the travelling....and simply carried a holdall into the hotels)....so I went back into the hotel for breakfast with Peter.
On entering the foyer I thought for a moment that another Urallist was staying there with us.....going by this luggage set,heh heh.
I jest of course...it was one of several period artifacts dotted about the hotel and it gave great atmosphere to the place.
Joking aside I think that gear is quite cool and would actually look ace on a Ural !
Entering the dining room I noticed that the rest of the clientele was entirely composed (or should that be DEcomposed ) of elderly couples...the yougest looking late 50`s to early 60`s...who viewed me with aloof and detached expressions.
The staff were fine..friendly and efficient...but these folk made me think of when the Blues Brothers entered the swanky hotel and proceeded to agitate the other posh diners in front of the Maitre`d in order to get him back into the band ... especially when they tucked the tablecloth into their shirts and tossed food at each other.
I nearly echoed Jake and Elwood as I lay my maps out across the table and sorted out a route for the day!
And talking of the table....you can`t beat a table with a view,can you?
Breakfast was a buffet affair...and a fantastic selection was available.
I opted for a banana with cereal and a couple of yoghurts....and a few glasses of fresh pressed orange juice as my body was craving a healthy start.
Nothing at all to do with the Trappist beer,of course!
Peter appeared after having been for an early walk around the town,and we discussed the day`s route over breakfast.
We decided that the main aim of the day was to get to the rally site in good time.....so we once again opted for a chunk of motorway to get us near to the region and then use smaller roads.
A study of the map whilst having a couple of coffees (I love my early morning coffee and map sessions!) revealed a great route.
From Bouillon....the scenic route of N83 to Florenville and onwards to Arlon.
Then motorway A4 (or E25...or E411...eh ?? ) into Luxembourg.
This would be helpful for Peter as he would be needing petrol before too long and there was a service station a couple of junctions along here.
Then we`d pick up the A31 (E25) for Thionville,past Metz and down to Nancy.
At that point we`d take the N4 dual carriageway becoming the fairly scenic N59 for as far as St. Die (Saint 'Dee' as there`s an acute accent on the 'E' but I can`t type one) .
From St. Die it would be the oh so appealingly sinuous N415 and Col du Bonhomme towards Lapoutroie and Colmar...but we`d take one or other of the even more appealing looking minor tracks across the peaks and down into Munster where we could then reach the rally site at Luttenbach.
Have a look at the area on a map....the peaks range from 900m to over 1100m and the roads look like spilled spaghetti.
Fun beckoned!!!!
All loaded,off we went.
By the way,the Hotel de la Poste in Boillon is highly recommended...as is Bouillon itself....and I fully intend to stay there again some time.
The first scenic bit was as lovely as hoped....and it was nice to riding 'in formation' with Peter again.
Once we joined the motorway,the gap between us developed again,but that appeared to be how things were going to be,so I just rode along in Dee`s sweet spot and enjoyed the ride.
We pulled off the motorway at the first services for petrol and encountered a queue of cars and bikes to rival the Bastille Day holiday traffic in France.
It took about 20 minutes to get filled up and then pay,so I turned it into a coffee/loo stop.
The place was crammed with people,and bikes were everywhere.
On chatting to someone it transpired that it was a Bank Holiday in Luxembourg !
There`s not much to say about the motorway run other than it passed quite pleasantly and Dee bopped along happily at just under 60mph....with enough in reserve to pass lumbering lorries and quite a few motorhomes and caravans.
From my very infrequent UK motorway forays I`d expected European motorway Uralling to give a life expectancy akin to someone playing Russian Roulette with an AK47...but Dee was overtaking quite a lot of traffic and although there was a bit of quite fast stuff out there,nobody gave any cause for concern.
None of the aggressive headlamp flashing tailgating and idiotic speeding up by people about to be ovetaken that happens in the UK.
Much of what did overtake us...especially the hoards of bikes....was passed by us a few miles further on while they were in a services or rest area...only for them to come howling past again....and for us to pass them yet again!
True 'tortoise and hare' travelling......we went non stop from Luxembourg services to the last one just north of Nancy at quite a respectable average speed and time.
We saw some sights.....various unsual vehicles including a convoy of those weird CanAm Spyder trikes.
The 'squiggly spaghetti' last section of the day`s route was spectacular!
Quite simply stunning and everyone with a bike needs to ride that area at least once in their life.
It`s a National Regional park area and known as 'Des Ballons'.....look at it on a decent scaled map and drool !!
This bit was also slightly hair raising as we actually entered the clouds!
Everything suddenly went totally white and nothing at all could be seen.
My goggles instantly fogged up and I quickly had to wrench them off.
Even with direct Mark One Eyeball Vision I couldn`t see the edge of the road (no 'run off' verges or kerbs for lots of it,just a quick way down...yikes! ) and couldn`t tell if a right hander or left hander bend was ahead.
I couldn`t even see from one telegraph pole to another and I actually started to lose the sense of 'rightway up and left or right'.....full disorentation.
It was just like travelling in an opaque sphere and it became quite disconcerting when even 20mph felt too fast.
Gradually the vision improved and colour returned to our lives.
Life was something Peter was glad to still possess as not only had his visor fogged up but when he lifted it his spectacles fogged up too!
We regained our composure and rode the last few miles with increasing anticipation and ever growing smiles.....culminating in a shouted 'Yippee' and bouncing in the seat when Luttenbach materialised.
We were both grinning like Chesire Cats on seeing the sign for the campsite and rolling up at the reception building.
We`d made it !!!
We`d got here!!
Peter had been in prior email conversation with the Amicale President resulting in our invitation.
The event is normally pre-booked and paid for by a certain cutoff date but the President had very kindly booked us in on trust and we simply had to turn up and pay him.
Now,my French is pretty good.
I can speak it..read it...write in it.
I`m not fully fluent but can hold and understand full conversations.
But when we went in to sort things with the Amicale `s President I couldn`t understand a single word being said...not even the price!
It turned out that the Alsace Lorraine region we were in has a very strong accent and in fact has a kind of patois or dialect all its own.....with a fairly strong German bias and 'twang' to it.
I simply had to act dumb and let Peter do the talking...he has spent time in ski resorts and managed some ski chalets so various accents and dialects weren`t a problem to him,thankfully!
The rally arrangement was fantastic....75 Euro bought us three night`s camping in a well ordered and maintained site with free facilities as well as Thursday night`s meal...Friday breakfast and evening meal...Saturday breakfast and evening meal...and Sunday breakfast !!
The Amicale had set up a couple of big marquees for eating/drinking and socialising too.
Drinks were managed with the usual rally system of pre paid vouchers and certain quantities of vouchers for certain drinks.
So,we paid the man,attached our wristbands and rode up to the specially reserved camping area set aside just for the Amicale Rally attendees....several of whom were already there and set up.
We selected to camp at the far end of the two rows of tents facing in the direction of the photo above...it was quite a nice spot near the boundary trees with a small crystal clear stream flowing past.
Naturally it wasn`t long before the Red Flag was flying!!
That`s it...job done...a temporary Chateau Tarka for the weekend !
We both had a real sense of achievement and feeling pleased with ourselves it was time for a beer to celebrate.
The evening awaited us......
(To be continued !)
Thanks
Thanks for sharing Tarka, feels like we are there with you keep it coming its apreciated. K.B.
Thanks for sharing Tarka, feels like we are there with you keep it coming its apreciated. K.B.
David Lee
Guest
well written and very enjoyable, your efforts are much appreciated, Please keep it coming
Still cannot understand the fascination for having a sidecar though
Still cannot understand the fascination for having a sidecar though
"By the way,the Hotel de la Poste in Boillon is highly recommended...as is Bouillon itself...."
I'll second that.
Wapping, of this parish, sent me a list of routes around that area for Denise and I to enjoy over a long weekend. We stayed at the Hotel de la Poste on our last night.
Enjoying the report too.
Mark
I'll second that
.Wapping, of this parish, sent me a list of routes around that area for Denise and I to enjoy over a long weekend. We stayed at the Hotel de la Poste on our last night.
Enjoying the report too.
Mark
May I remind you of a certain Sunday morning after a certain amount of wine, Mr Tarka?
Top report - loving it. Wish I'd been along too on mine.
Excellent stuff
I did that area a couple of weeks before you and thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Ballon and Route de Cretes areas
I did that area a couple of weeks before you and thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Ballon and Route de Cretes areas
Mr K
Registered user
"By the way,the Hotel de la Poste in Boillon is highly recommended...as is Bouillon itself...."
I'll second that
Wapping, of this parish, sent me a list of routes around that area for Denise and I to enjoy over a long weekend. We stayed at the Hotel de la Poste on our last night.
Enjoying the report too.
Mark
I too have stayed there with Wapping, and some others from here. A great hotel with a good breakfast and a nice Italian down the road - once you get a smile from the waitress
.
Similar threads
