Trev's Motorcyle Travels

This year we started off with the intention of riding to Morocco but gradually because of circumstances beyond our control, our ambition was pared back to South East France and Monaco. We booked a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander at the end of 2012. After altering our booking twice we ended up taking the Barfleur ferry from Poole to Cherbourg on Thursday 5th September. Our tentative plan was to allow 4 days to get to and from South East France, spend a week in a Gite and return on the Barfleur Sunday 15th September. In the end we couldn't find a Gite we liked so just before we left we booked some nights in hotels. The Hotel La Capitainerie at Chateauneuf-sue-Loire for Thursday night and the hotel Bermond at Saint-Julien-en-Beauchene for Friday night through to Sunday night. Chateauneuf-sue-Loire was our stop on the way and Saint-Julien-en-Beauchene is near to Sisteron, Haute-Provence. We decided we would work out where we would go for the rest once we were in Haute-Provence.

When we sailed out of Poole on the Barfleur it was a lovely sunny morning and it was a lovey sunny afternoon when we got to Cherbourg, just a bit warmer. After getting some fuel at Cherbourg it was about 3pm by the time we headed off for our hotel at Chateauneuf-sue-Loire. It was very hot (35 centigrade) on the 250 mile ride to Chateauneuf-sue-Loire. We kept off the motorways and unfortunately I had made a small error with the Sat Nav so it was after 8pm when we eventually rolled at the hotel tired and hot. As the only restaurant that was open stopped serving at 9pm we quickly get everything off the bike, checked into our room and headed for the pizza restaurant across the road from the hotel. We had a good meal at the restaurant and the hotel was very comfortable, although air conditioning would have been good that particular night. It was sweltering.

Don't Mention The Sudeten Land

Next day after a good breakfast and feeling refreshed we started off for Saint-Julien-en-Beauchene some 400 miles off to the South East. It was another fine day, not as hot as the previous day, thank goodness, so we made good progress. We passed through Lyon and Grenoble on the way. Lyon is a big city. The second city in France we were told. The highlight of the trip was stopping at a Les Routiers (truckers) café set back from the road having a four course lunch outside in the sun. We always look for these as they're very good value. If you're a fussy eater, it may not be for you. They always offer wine and I can never understand how this works with the more stringent French drinking limit. We mostly kept off the motorways again and we arrived at Saint-Julien-en-Beauchene around 6pm.

The hotel Bermond is a fairly basic hotel with secure parking for a motorcycle run by an English guy. We were comfortable there and it suited our needs over the weekend. On Saturday the weather was good so we had a ride to Gap and a nearby ski resort. The ski resort was deserted and it felt like we were in some post apocalypse film. A whole town full of apartments and shops with nobody there and nothing open. Sunday was the one day when the weather wasn't that good so we went for a walk in the hills. Thunder and lightning started up and we did get a bit wet. For the rest of the day we planned where we would go next and read our kindles. Using our little netbook we booked a hotel at Utelle, north of Monaco and a chambres d'hotes at Isle-sur-la-Sourge, near Avignon. The plan was to go to Monaco and Avignon.

On Sunday night we had dinner at the Hotel Bermond. There was another couple there sitting at a table just across from us. We start talking to them and he suddenly starts into us about how Britain (Neville Chamberlain) and France gave away his part of the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) to Hitler at the start of WW2. He had escaped to Britain for 20 years when the Soviets moved in after Hitler. He kept going on about not owing Britain anything. Talk about having a 'chip on your shoulder'. Nice dinner that was not! Something about the Sudeten Land surfaced from my school history but it was a long time ago. There was a nice French guy there as well so we were just waiting for a German to arrive for all hell to break lose.

Colle de la Bonette

On Monday we left the Hotel Bermond heading for Utelle. The Satnav was telling us to go South and East along the motorwaysto Monaco but we elected to do East and South crossing the Alps and skirting the Italian border. In perfect motorcycling weather and following signs to nice we came across the Colle de la Bonette. That was a day to remember. The weather was fantastic as were the roads and scenery. In my exuberance I did catch and overtake four Dutch riders on the ascent to the Col. (I have to admit they were on a Goldwing and Harleys.)

There's a monument near the top at around 2800 metres. I left Chris there surrounded by German bikers while I climbed the last 62 metres to a viewing platform. I think they had had a bit too much of the liverwurst the night before. It went something like "*fart*, das ist gut, ya? Ha, Ha". (It seems there are always loads of German bikers wherever we go in Europe.) I have to admit to puffing a bit in the thin air as I climbed up to the viewing platform. The Blackbird also lost power on the way up. It was definitely worth it though for the amazing 'top of the world' view.

When I got back down to Chris she was talking to a French couple from Dijon riding a GS. They had come to the Col to celebrate a friend who had planned to meet them at the Col but who had unfortunately passed away. Out came the wine from their top box and they raised their glasses. A nice gesture, but be careful on those winding roads on the way down we thought. They were a nice couple. They told us that we had been very lucky with the weather as it wasn't unheard of for the pass to be blocked by snow in September. We were very lucky with the weather indeed! There were also some Brits from Somerset there driving some old British sports cars to Monte Carlo. Looked good fun I must admit.

After the Col we made our way to the Hotel Bellevue at Utelle. On the way we had lunch at Saint-Etienne-de-Tinee where we chatted to some Brits on bikes. One was a Blackbird owner although he was riding a Triumph Explorer at the time. The last 5 miles to Utelle were a very windy run up into the hills. Our apartment had a balcony with a lovely view of the village and surrounding hills. Le Patron served us dinner and a bottle of wine on the balcony which was a nice touch.

Chris instantly took to the lazing in the sunshine on the balcony like a duck to water. It was very nice there. On Tuesday morning, after a lovely breakfast outside in the sunshine, we reluctantly left Hotel Bellevue heading for Monaco.

Busy Monaco

The South East coast of France around Nice turned out to be very busy and, as expected, it got more expensive the nearer we got to Monaco. We noticed an Italian biker a few cars in front of us heading for Monaco. We followed him through the automatic toll he'd taken. We had noticed that he had had a bit of trouble getting through but we thought nothing of it. When we arrived at the toll Chris was very pleased with herself to have the correct amount in Euros and cents. Pride comes before a fall they say. Unfortunately, she ended up chucking about three times the necessary amount into the toll but it still wouldn't raise the barrier. By this time there's a huge queue built up behind us. Trying to get into Monaco Eventually an angry woman behind us gets out of her Merc and has a go at me in very rapid French. Very helpful I'm thinking as I shout "speak English" at her. I think she was trying to tell us that the toll we had gone through wasn't for bikes? It seems the toll occupied detection system didn't work to well for bikes. Eventually some job's worth we couldn't see raised the barrier to defuse the situation. It was getting nasty.

So what was Monaco like? Very hot, jammed up with traffic and expensive. The only thing that seemed to be moving at speed was the maniacs on scooters. You had to keep an eye out for them. All the professionals were zooming around on them dressed in suits. We went down the water front, did a bit of the F1 circuit, the bit that goes down a winding section and then under a building, and promptly left. Monaco was definitely not our scene.

The Circus Comes to Avignon

After leaving Monaco and Nice we headed inland and crossed the Natural Parks to our chambres d'hotes just outside Isle-sur-la-Sourge close to Avignon. That was another lovely ride in fine weather through amazing scenery of deep gorges and lakes. We arrived at our chambres d'hotes, Mas la Vitalis, around 6pm. It's a small holding that does B&B run by a very welcoming French couple, who speak good English after living in London for several years. We settled in our room and then went into Isle-sur-la-Sourge for dinner at a restaurant by the riverside.

The next day, Wednesday, there's a lovely breakfast spread awaiting us. Most of it seems to come from their garden. I particularly enjoyed the fresh figs. After breakfast, we went into Avignon and parked up the bike in the middle of the old town leaving all our gear in the panniers and top box. We spent the day walking around old Avignon. We had to see "la pont d'Avignon".

We took a ride on a "tourist train" around the town with a bunch of older people on a coach trip from Derbyshire who were suitably impressed by us riding a bike to the South of France. I'm sure that the highlight of their tour was me pointing out my bike as we went past it on the "tourist train". They were a good bunch and a good laugh.

As we were returning to the bike to make our way back to our chambres d'hotes we seen a herd elephants strolling down the main street and wonder what's going on. The circus had arrived and we were treated to a free show in the middle of Avignon. I'm never keen on watching animals perform but the jugglers, acrobats and clowns were very good. It was a real old fashioned circus done well.

Returning Home via the Ardeche

As I was starting a new job the following Monday we decided that arriving back in Poole at 11pm on Sunday night was a bit late. As it was looking like the weather was going to take a turn for the worse over the coming weekend we decided to make our way back on Thursday with the intention of getting the Friday evening ferry at Cherbourg. So on Thursday morning we left Isle-sur-la-Sourge and headed back home via the Ardeche.

The roads and scenery in the Ardeche were great but it was a bit of a shock to go from 25 centigrade at Avignon to around 10 centigrade in the Ardeche. At times, the Ardeche felt and looked like Scotland with its stone walls and pines. We did get a fleeting glimpse of the Pont d'Arc on our way through. We rode around 350 miles that day and ended staying at a Campanile at Vierzon. It was OK but there's not much else to say about it.

On Friday morning as we're leaving Vierzon for Cherbourg we have a big skid on a load of sand a thoughtful lorry has dumped around a blind corner. We also had a few skids on damp white paint that day. Not nice but thankfully nothing too drastic. The bike was heavy at the back (not what you're thinking, it was the panniers and top box) and the damp white paint was very slippery. Breakfast was at McDonalds because that's what you do after you stay at a Campanile. While we're there, we called up Brittany Ferries to bring our booking forwards from Sunday to Friday (which they did for a 'small' fee). We got to Cherbourg in good time and chatted with a guy who had just spent a few weeks touring Spain. Interesting guy, he definitely, made us think twice about riding to Morocco or Turkey. Soon after arriving we were on the Barfleur and back to Poole in good time for me starting my new job.

The old girl, Blackbird that is, did around 1900 miles without a glitch and that brought up 60K miles on her clock. That was a very good holiday we shall remember fondly. The weather, scenery and roads were brilliant. We also stayed at some nice places. The Col de la Bonette was definitely the high point!