Travels Without the Flea, France and Spain 2013

[katyotter]

Travels Without the Flea

France and Spain 2013

22nd May – 6th June

Trip report



The Bikes:

John – F800 GS, four and a half years old, purchased from Jackass Dave on this site
Kate – F700 GS, brand new last September, supplied by CW of Dorchester

The plan was as follows:

Day 1:
Home (Colyford ) to Poole
Poole to Cherbourg (Brittany Ferries)
Cherbourg – St. James (Petit Illyria)

Day 2:
St. James – St. Joachim (near St. Nazaire)
Staying with old school friend of hubby’s

Day 3:
St. Joachim – Lignac (between Poitiers & Limoges)
Staying with friends from Bike Club France

Day 4:
Lignac – Oradour Sur Glane
Oradour – somewhere above Brive

Day 5:
Wherever – Rocamadour (La Noyeraie)

Day 6:
Rocamadour – somewhere around Auch

Day 7:
Wherever around Auch – Jaca (Northern Spain)
Hotel Oroel

Day 8:
Jaca – Soria

Day 9:
Soria – Segovia

Day 10:
Segovia – Burgos

Days 11, 12 & 13:
Burgos – Los Picos de Europa
Hotel Torrecerredo, Arenas de Cabrioles
A spot of bird-watching planned

Day 14:
Arenas – Viveda
La Posada La Llosa

Day 15:
Viveda – Santander
Ferry to Plymouth

Day 16:
Arrive Plymouth 4.15 pm - Colyford


Always start with a plan! The Spencer motto.



Day 1 -1:
21st May

In which Ted goes on holiday - we find packing exhausting – a bad decision is made.

Much excitement. Took Ted (the Jack Russell, 13 years old) to stay on the farm where he was born and where he always spends his hols, and set back off home to pack. Couldn’t do this sooner as he doesn’t like it! It makes him worry. The ‘Practice Pack’ done a few days before (he doesn’t mind if it’s not real and, before you ask, he just knows) had gone extremely well – about 40 mins. tops including all fetching and carrying and loads of spare space available at the end. The real pack seemed to take about three gruelling hours including essential cider breaks, involved the crossing off from the list of ‘thermals’ after a joint decision that they simply wouldn’t be necessary (reference will be made to this later) and, on completion, the curious discovery that we had very little spare space at all. A planned bedtime of 9.0 pm, due to having to leave the house at 6.0 am the following morning, turned into an actual bedtime of nearly midnight.

 

[katyotter]

[SIZE="4"]Day 1
22nd May
[/SIZE]

In which we don’t encounter roadworks – John does not lie to customs - we enjoy a self-indulgent cabin.


This morning went amazingly well, all the packed bags went into their various panniers without difficulty, last minute stuff included, we had time for a couple of cups of coffee and we set off at our target time of 6.0 am! – unheard of for us. We were going from Colyford (near Lyme Regis) to Poole for the 8.30 am ferry. There had been major roadworks on the A35 for the previous two weeks meaning the road being closed in huge chunks and consequent massive diversions around places as far away as Yeovil. This disruption was due to end the day before our departure but we were sceptical, without need as it happened as the road was all back in one piece and we had a good run through. On arrival at the ferry port we found nowhere for a coffee and no opportunity to get off, stretch or anything else relaxing. We each got pulled over at Customs and the woman I was with said she’d have to search my bags! I groaned and said we’d never get it all back in so she relented and got me to get off for a frisk search instead – as I was not required to take off my Rallye 3 jacket packed with body armour which could equally well have been explosives, it seemed just a little pointless. John, meanwhile, was being asked if he was carrying any knives. He said he was in his shorts pocket in a pannier – why didn’t you just lie John? I did - and confirmed that indeed the blade could be locked as it was an Opinell. The customs man said that would be OK so long as he didn’t take it up from the hold. Eventually we boarded and only had to negotiate a nice, easy route – no concrete, 50% gradient slopes upwards where you always have to stop half-way, or slippery-looking, slatted, metal floors with gaps allowing vertiginous sight of the deck below – to our parking place. The only two other bikers on the ferry got put behind us – an Aussie couple going to Paris, one on a KTM and the other on a VFR. With great self-indulgence on a day trip we had booked a cabin, we always do – day or night, curling up in a stairwell or some short sofa (luxury) is something we’ve both done many times but is now firmly in the past. A cabin’s great as it’s somewhere to store the bike stuff, change, read comfortably, have a shower, have a nap etc.

And here we are on deck, eagerly anticipating the trip!

 

[katyotter]

We have a lovely ride – we meet Gary

The ferry arrived in Cherbourg at 1.45 pm and we were away on the road about 20 minutes later which was quite good going. We took the D2 to Coutances then went via Granville, Avranches and so down to St. James on the border of Normandy and Brittany. The weather was bright and sunny and the ride was really pleasant. Our first port of call was Petit Illyria, a biker friendly B&B owned by Gary. The garage is straight off the main street and here we are in it with the bikes and, of course, Gary.

 

[katyotter]

We had supper there which was very good although we had no idea what it was going to be. Our room was comfy although right at the top of the house which was a bit of a drag with the bags/kit. Anyone wanting any further details about Petit-Illyria as a place to stay don't hesitate to PM.

 

[katyotter]

Us having a break between Cherbourg and St. James. Note the weather!

 

[katyotter]

Day 2
23rd May


In which the wind becomes noticeable - we make a noisy spectacle in a sleepy village - we meet two very large dogs.


Off about 10.0 in a rather overcast, coldish morning – quite windy as well. We were heading for St, Joachim (just above St. Nazaire) to stay with an old school friend of John’s; although he hadn’t seen him for 30 years they’d never actually lost touch. Chris lived with his French wife in the little village of St. Joachim – not, as it turned out, at the number I’d written in the book which caused much upping and downing with the bikes looking for someone to ask until John had the brilliant idea of phoning them, I’d left a crucial ‘1’ out apparently. Chris had ‘garaging’ in mind for us in the form of a shed on his drive, that was until he saw the bikes and realised they were an awful lot bigger than he’d envisaged. We managed to squeeze mine in by removing the panniers but John’s had to stay where it was on the drive – one of only two nights on the whole trip that it spent out. Chris and Brigitte’s house was in a vast wetlands area and a canal formed the picturesque boundary of their long back garden.

Pics of the canal and of us, in the back garden, with the dogs:

 

[katyotter]

Day 3
24th May

In which the weather turns hostile – we curse roadworks and get lost – we reach a low ebb – we go the long way round - we have an adventurous meeting.

This was the longest day we had planned, with 201 miles in front of us we woke up to icy rain and gusting wind. When we first started planning our trip we joined the Bike Club France forum (highly recommended if you’re going there) and we had mentioned our intention to visit Oradour sur Glane and had been invited to stay by a BCF member who lived near there. The adventure of meeting up and staying with people whom we’d only met online was irresistible so we had gratefully accepted and that was where we were off to today – to Bill and Gerry’s at Barbiere near Lignac in the Vienne. The planned route was down to St. Nazaire then skirt Nantes and head off for Cholet where we’d get on the N149 for Parthenay, Poitiers and then Chauvigny where we’d arranged to meet up. Bill and Gerry both ride and they were coming on their Ducatis so that they could ride back with us to their house, another hour further.

We’ve both got Sat Navs and have learned on this trip that it’s better to disable Bluetooth and just use them visually – when enabled they interrupt the conversation far too much - in this way we can discuss and compare their instructions. Apart from the weather, which was truly horrid making every mile more like three and giving us aching arms and cramped hands, all went well until Cholet where we found brand new road works and ‘ROUTE BARREE’ just where we wanted to go – it seemed to be upsetting the locals too as traffic was a bit chaotic. Peeling back off into Cholet we tried a couple of different approaches but, each time, the faithful Sat Navs patiently returned us to the same place with dogged determination. This called for a radical re-route which depended entirely on John’s sense of direction. A couple of hamlets later and the Sat Navs cheered up and joined in again as we found ourselves back on the right road with the road works far behind. No more getting lost but a lot of misery from the weather and a very low ebb reached when we stopped at a small town to get some takeaway pizza – standing in the square, just taking the first bite when there was a monumental cloudburst which meant eating what we could before disintegration, getting the helmets on quick and getting out of there with a lot of road still to cover. We were much relieved to meet up with Bill and Gerry in Chauvigny, a pleasant little town where it wasn’t raining and where we had a very welcome tiny cup of dark, dark coffee. The bitter cold got us up and riding again, we still had an hour to go and we were pretty exhausted but at least we weren’t going to get lost as we had a bright red Ducati to follow (they were two up as Gerry had hurt her hand). Bill and Gerry’s house was lovely, warm and welcoming and the first beer really went down well! The bikes were tucked up in a garage, supper smelt great and we were pretty certain the weather would improve the next day.


Too horrid to sit outside we forgot all about photos until we left by which time Bill had gone off to help a friend move so, sadly, no pics of him.

 

[katyotter]

Day 4
25th May

Oradour sur Glane

There is not much I can say about Oradour other than I’m glad we went and I’m glad that it has been kept as it has. Anyone unfamiliar with the story this is a particularly good link http://www.oradour.info/index.htm. For once the weather worked in our favour, it was really cold with intermittent rain so there was hardly anyone else there – much the best way to see it.

The photographs will speak for themselves.

 

[katyotter]

And more:

 

[katyotter]

The sign outside the church.

A pram with bullet holes.

The tram lines.

 

[katyotter]

It was a much larger place than either of us had imagined.

 

[katyotter]

A sewing machine standing where it was left in the wreck of the house.

 

[katyotter]

A coach arrived just as we left – we had been fortunate. We set off in unaccustomed sun which quickly resumed normality in the form of persistent and very cold rain, the wind too redoubled its efforts – this hadn’t seemed possible – and we were heading along the road in the direction of Brive. We had no particular place in mind for the night but wanted to get reasonably well along on the way to Rocamadour for the next day’s stop. I had a few suggestions in the trip book, places with parking basically. We found one of these in Pompadour, a very comfortable logis with a secure garage for the bikes and a pleasant cabin for us. We quickly got outside of more very welcome beer, showered and enjoyed a good meal with wine in the restaurant, certain that the weather had to improve the next day.

Get the priorities right - the pics show the garage rather than the cabin. The sun tried another little outing too.

 

[katyotter]

Day 5
26th May

In which optimism is rewarded – the liners come out – we get out of bike gear – we meet Jen and James.


We woke up to sunshine, not just sunshine but warmth as well! Oh joy! It was still blowing - but much more bearably - and we could actually remove the liners from our coats and pack them away in the panniers, doubtlessly for good as we had obviously achieved a far enough point South for the weather to be set fair. We continued to open all the vents on our helmets and swap the winter gloves for the summer ones congratulating ourselves on bringing both. There followed a very pleasant ride through countryside and villages towards Rocamadour, so relaxing not to be driven to thrashing the motorways due to the weather, this was much more like it! Then the peage appeared, but it was only a short stretch and gave us a chance for some pics including a close up of our home-made, economy Scottoiler with handy applicator.

 

[katyotter]

We easily found La Noyeraie, the B&B which had been highly recommended on the Bike Club France forum and where we were booked for the night. It’s owned by Jen and James, a very nice couple from Yorkshire, both bikers, who moved there about four years ago. It was great, the bikes basking in the car park while we unpacked the panniers and found our room, luckily it was on the ground floor so we didn’t even have to toil up any stairs – a bit warm for that!

 

[katyotter]

We’d given ourselves a short riding day on purpose as we wanted to have time to do a bit of sightseeing in Rocamadour itself. It was great to get out of the bike gear and put on light clothes for what was a really warm afternoon. La Noyeraie is very close to Rocamadour and we had thought of walking or getting a taxi but Jen wouldn’t hear of it. After we tucked the bikes up in the garage she ran us down in the car to the very entrance of the old town and told us to call when we wanted collecting. How kind was that? An interesting place, Rocamadour is built right into, and seemingly out of, the rocks. It’s very touristy but it made a nice change to be on foot and in sunshine so it didn’t matter, in fact some of the tat on sale is so excruciatingly bad that it’s really good; we had great fun tracking down the worst things. After that a couple of beers were definitely in order and the purchase of a couple of stickers for the panniers.

 

[katyotter]

A welcome beer.

 

[katyotter]

A gin trip on the way to La Noyeraie.

 

[katyotter]

A shady stop on the way to La Noyeraie.

 

[Lord Snooty]

Katy, I shall probably see you both soon as we are also staying with Jen and James, we have been out all day today riding around the area, small world eh!