bikerbunny's 2010 vacation

The Final Weekend

2010-11-14T18:40:00.002Z

The riding may be over,but I am not going home until Monday, so still have a few days to enjoy.

On Saturday morning Sue & I drive into Pleasanton, where there is a weekly Farmer's market,with some colourful produce.

I want to buy some cowboy boots,so Sue takes me to the riding shop in downtown Pleasanton. Scarily the first pair I try on, fit perfectly , as do the first pair of jeans...this just does not feel right!

I want a pair of dark jeans as well, so we head over to Livermore to their sister shop where they have them in stock in my size...scarily these fit perfectly as well!

As the temeperature is increasing, Sue puts down the roof on her car and we cruise home.

We then sit in the garden to enjoys some wine,cheese and pate for lunch, before getting ready for the Burns Unit Gala Dinner tonight.

We arrive at the Marriot in Santa Clara, where the Gala is being held , to bizarrelly be greeted by a host of Star Wars Storm troopers..weird!

It is so lovely to meet up with the crowd again.

There are some very moving presentations about the work of the Burns Unit and the survivors they treat. Tyler's speech is particularly moving to those of us who know her. how there was a dry eye in the house I don't know!

After dinner & the presentations its time to dance before saying goodbyes and see you agains to everyone...they don't get rid of me that easily!

The trip

2010-11-14T18:24:00.000Z

Well what can I say, the last 10 days have been "Brilliant"!

2,365 miles of mootrbike riding, with 3 of the best companions; Dona,Sue & Scott

And of course,I can't forget our fluffy friends:

Unity

Froggy

Rocky

Bear

and of course,my ever faithful Loppy

Sue asked me what my best moment was ,which is a really tough decision to make...so many awe-inspiring places, but if you will allow me I have two:

One very shallow one,which is getting my photo taken with 3 handsome cowboys ;o)

but the other is riding through Death Valley, which totally blew me away with its beauty.

This has been a trip of many highs and honestly, only one low...that long,dark cold ride to Page, but even that was quickly forgotten once we arrived and saw the balloon in full night glow!

And the highs...well countless..
-the places: Zion, Death Valley, Valley of Fire,Grand Canyon, Sedona, Joshua Tree and even in its way Las Vegas!
-the jokes: "brilliant", "stupid cow", "George says" and Dona's constant Brit accent
-the Zumos: Dona finally being able to plot a route , & finding the 'near' button
-but mainly the laughter, from the moment we woke "Good morning' to the moment we went to sleep, every day was filled with laughter

Thank you Dona,Sue & Scott. The pleasure has been all mine.

12 November

2010-11-14T18:00:00.000Z

We wake with sad hearts-its our last day on the road,but we have some GREAT riding ahead of us.

So after a hearty breakfast at a nearby diner,we set out for the last time of this trip.

We take the 101 for a short distance,then we hit the GREAT biking roads: Indian Valley Road, (13 miles), Peach Tree Road (22 miles), Airline Highway-25 (36 miles). Awesome!

On my first trip out here with Carol, this was the road that we were told by Tyler we couldn't miss, which meant we ended up riding in the dark & cold to Yosemite. At that time I didn't think I would ever be back-but here I am again,enjoying what is just a great bit of riding-does life get any better?

even though it is a Friday,quite a few bike groups pass us the other way-a testament to its popularity.

We stop for gas at Tres Pinos. I'm beginning to dislike this town as it was here 3 years ago Carol & I said goodbye to Tyler & Dorothy and here I am again saying goodbye to Dona ;o(

Our final group photo

We ride together up to the junction of 101 & 680 and then with tears in my eyes wave adiós to Dona.

We arrive back at Pleasanton, in good time for sue's conference call. Scott changes out of his biking gear and takes the truck,whilst I follow him to return the bike to Dubbelju.

Todays AWESOME route

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11 November

2010-11-11T04:19:00.001Z

Donoa & I surpass ourselves this morning, getting up & ; packed by 7.30am-although this may have had something to do with the fact we are now back in California where it is an hour later!

We take the 247 to Victorville

then up the 395 to Kramer Junction.

Both roads fairly boring and the latter half very windy-as can be seen by the number of windmills on the hillsides.

We finally arrive in Bakersfield,where everyone is releived to stop and get off the bikes!

We stop at Chuys for lunch. For table markers they give out soft toys - how cute!

It has warmed up now, so we sit outside to eat and enjoy the sunshine.

A disabled sign on a Harley parked outside -not something you see at home

We then take the 58 all the way to Paso Robles-what a glorious road-taking us through fruit orchards, and vineyards.

We arrive at Paso Robles and the Best Western,it is full but luckily the hotel next door The Adelaide has vacancies- what a great hotel,I would highly recommend it!

There Spa pool is open,so we change into our cossies and head over drinks in hand for a long soak.

The spa is very hot,so I decide to plunge into the main poll-bad move it is freezing,so after 2 lenghts in record time I get back into the Spa!

We go to Big Bubbas BBQ to eat,a popular venue. My eyes light up as we enter...there are cowboys ;o)

So I can't resist asking these 3 gorgeous guys if I can have my photo taken with them. My night is complete!

Todays Route

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10 November

2010-11-10T05:09:00.082Z

Dona goes to make the coffee whilst I am having a shower, but much to our consternation the jug is missing, but Dona uses her iniative and finds a replacement…the ice bucket!

We then go for breakfast-unusally for US this is a cooked breakfast buffet,with sausage,scrambled egg,hash browns and scones as well as the usual cereals & fruits.

We mention our predicament with the coffee machine and are told not to be so silly as the machine was for cups only!! Oops!

It's another Michelin man day - 36.5F as we set off

We take a lovely windy road down the mountainside,but Dona is the only one who manages to overtake the queue of cars in front of us to really make the most of it.
The newly named "Unity",the bald eagle seems to be enjoying the ride.

Down in the Valley the waeather has warmed up so we stop to strip of a couple of layers, I also get my first look at cactus.

We head up to Parker, where we stop for gas and water. We then cross over the Colorado river.

And the Zumo tells us to turn left & continue for 84 miles!

This picture just about sums up those 84 miles-long & straight , and very little traffic-the good thing is that does mean we can ride at 80-85,so the miles quickly zoom past.

I panic Scott at one point, as I go from being right behind him to disappearing when I have to pull over as a huge swarm of bugs have headed straight for me and splattered all over my visor and I couldn’t see a thing, so I has to stop and wipe it clean.

At the end of this its a short stint on 10 before we turn into Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree National Park Website

Whilst having a quick stop at the the Rangers office we get talking to another biker, this guy is from Vancouver and is riding a new bike he bought in North Carolina which he is riding home.

Another beautiful park where I will let the photos do the talking.

Ocotillo Patch

Cholla Cactus Garden

Joshua Trees...as far as the eye can see

As we leave the park, decisions being made about which way to go.

We turn left to Yucca Valley and find a Motel 8 with rooms.

We eat at Carrows-a chain a bit like Beefeater. On the ride out of the park I had been thinking about what I fancied for dinner tonight and unusally I had an urge for a jacket potatoe...it turns out that Sue had been thinking the same-although in her case it was a Baked Potoatoe she wanted! The similarities between myself and Sue just keep on coming!

6 November

2010-11-09T15:21:00.000Z

We manage to navigate our way out of Vegas a lot more easily than we did getting in.

Our first stop is the Valley of Fire, with the most amazing rock formations.

Sue & me

Dona & Scott walk up to the viewpoint,but it is too hot for me to consider it

Leaving the Valley

As its Saturday,it seems that all the Harley riders from Las Vegas are in the area.

We stop for lunch at a Casino in Mesquite, where I get very confused trying to find the loos, but luckily Dona sets me off in the correct direction.

Heading towards Zion

Zion National Park

Scott & Sue have a National Park card which should allow 4 of into the park without paying. The warden says that its 4 people on 2 motorcycles & not 4 motorcycles and gets out the rule book, but luckily in the end he lets us through

Zion is stunning, especially with the autumnal hues of the leaves

Chequerboard Mesa

It had clouded over whilst we were in the park,but as we leave the sun comes out in its full glory.

Tonight is the only time we have pre-reserved a room, so its a long, dark, cold 109 mile ride to get to Page, for the Balloon Fiesta.

But the cold is soon forgotten as we arrive and see the Hot Air Balloons all lit up for Night Glow

Todays route

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9 November 2010

2010-11-09T05:14:00.048Z

We wake up to find the bikes are frozen!

So after moving them into the sun to thaw out,we enjoy a lovely cooked breakfast and go for a wander round the few gift shops. It looks like we had definately made the correct decision yesterday morning not to head north to Bryce,as we hear that there had been heavy snow there! (This does mean though that I may have to come back so that I can visit this beautiful canyon)

A wall of post boxes

By about 11the bikes and roads have thawed out, so we take 180 down to Williams. It is still pretty cold -the bike thermometer is flashing at 37f-so its 6 layers of clotihng,including waterproofs to keep out the wind! Michelin Man has nothing on me!

After 64,we take 40 to Flagstaff,turning off onto 89A where the scenery changes to pine forests.

We stop at Creek Canyon,where there is a small market where Navajo Indians are selling handmade jewellry...too good to resist & a few purchase are made.

The sun starts to warm up as we ride into Sedona-what beautiful scenery.

We stop in Sedona for lunch,and it is warm enough to sit outside to eat.

After lunch we spend an hour wandering round the many gift shops.

I finally manage to find a Bald Eagle for Dona,as she has been feeling left out without a mascot.

After Sedona, we continue onto Jerome then a great bit of windy road,with more amazing views.

As we head into Prestcott the sun is blinding-even with the dark visor down on my lid I cannot see a thing-so have to ride with my left hand up blocking out the sun for a while. The timing on my i-pod is perfect as Three Doors Down come on singing "I'm tired of staring at the sun".

8 November

2010-11-08T03:19:00.113Z

Today we are going to the Grand Canyon - the original destination for this trip.

We head south down 89. the first part of the road is long & straight but then we climb up a ridge where we stop at this viewpoint , where a truck driver going the other way to us asks what the road is like-I'm guessing he's had problems with the incline.

We are riding through the Navajo Indian Reservation. We stop at Cameron for breakfast-this was one of the places Sue had planned for us to stay,before our timings changed.

Sue & Scott share a breakfasy-yes this is half a meal! I try the cactus puree,but find it horrible!

I try the Indian Fried Bread which with honey is delicious,although I happy to share half with Dona.

We turn right onto 64 and stop at this viewpoint.

I am much happier than yesterday taking photos here as there are railings. However Dona can't resist making me jump by pretending to push me over, I call her a "Stupid Cow" which starts up a whole line of conversation ,as over here unlike at home, that is quite a strong insult. Like "Brilliant!" on the last trip "Stupid Cow!" becomes the catchphrase for the rest of our trip.

Dona & Scott arguing over whose is bigger...lens that is!

At the entrance to the park

Some people will go to any extreme to get a good shot ( suffice it to say Dona wasn't takeing the one above1)

My first few of the Canyon, at Navajo Point Tower ...awesome!

At our next stop the wind is starting to get stronger...here's me hanging on tightly

Sue had chosen quite an impressive hairstyle today!

We have a slight incident as we leave this spot. The strong wind caught dona's bike & thiking it was going to crash down to the kerb she overcompensated and dropped it the other way. Luckily the damage was cosmetic,but Dona (understandably) is gutted :O(

We stop to look at the Tusayen ruins.

It now starts to rain, as well as be windy. But there is a plus point,we get to see a rainbow over the Canyon.

Scott contemplates if he can face riding with 3 "wives" any longer!

There are large ravens everywhere.

We stop at Grand View where there is a very interesting visitor centre with exhibits explaining how the Canyon was formed.

One man and his very old, brave dog-you certainly wouldn't get me that close to the edge

Another rainbow.

The weather starts to turn nasty, and as we leave we get pelted by hailstones.

Wedecide to stop in Grand Canyon village to eat. And after some shenanigans involving one way roads we find a place to park and spot these deer.

After a late lunch of chilli in a sccoped out sour dough bread roll,we decide to see if there is any room to stay at the lodge, but they only have one room.

so its a final look at the Canyon from Angel Point.

Then we ride to Tusayan, just outside the park, where we find two rooms at a lovely Holiday Inn Express,which much to everyones excitement has a working spa-so its cossies off for a good hot soak with our vodka & orange juice in hand. Just what is needed after today's chilly ride... little did we realise what was to come tomorrow!

7 November 2010

2010-11-07T02:45:00.091Z

After much discussion last night, it appears that the clocks HAVE changed here, but luckily (for us) Dona woke in the early hours, & checked the times so we are all up in time for sunrise,so that we can go see the Hot Air Ballons lifting off.

We head out to the launch site, only to find that what with checking the wind and set up meetings , its likely to be a while before the balloons actually go up, so we could have stayed a bit later in bed!

Sunrise

A couple of small test balloons are sent up to check the wind direction and it is decided that the launch will not happen here, but at various other sites around the town. So we follow the nearest car!

Follow that car!

We park the bikes at the side of the playground and watch the balloons being set up to fly...a fascinating process that takes about 8 people per balloon.

Unloading the basket

Inflating the balloon

Up,up and away!

Once all the balloons have been launched we ride back into town and find a venue for breakfast.

Not the sort of sign I'm used to seeing in my breakfast venue!

I'm gutted I didn't get asked for ID , but guess its because we weren't ordering alcohol

Pancakes, maple syrup, bacon & eggs(over easy)

After breakfast,we find the local launderette and catch up on our washing, enjoying a Starbucks coffee whilst we wait for the washers to do their work.

After lunch we have booked on a tour to Antelope Canyon.

Jeep ride to the canyon

Entrance through the rocks

Our guide seems to hav pulled the short straw and got the naughty group! most people are not really listening to what she is saying & dawdling behind. Sue & I stick closely with her which means we get all the good photo points.

The rock formations are beautiful:

The "heart" of the canyon

After the canyon we return to the hotel and pick up our bikes to ride to Horseshoe Bend.

We park up and I decide to eat my apple from earlier, as the others have been teasing me that I must eat more fruit. As I take my first bite a bug flies right up my nose making me cough & splutter,much to everyones amusement!

It is a 3/4 mile walk to the river. When we get there I cannot get close enough to take photos,as the height & lack of railings sends my legs to jelly,so Scott & Dona kindly take photos for me.

Scott on top of the world

We make a quick pitstop to Walmart on the way home,where I pck up a pair of cheap trainers as we may have to walk to some of the prettier sites tomorrow.

In the evening we wander through town trying to find an Italian restaurent that Sue found highly recommended on the internet-unfortunately it has closed,but we find another & have a lovely meal.

We sure packed a lot into our day of rest!

5 November

2010-11-05T18:00:00.000Z

We go for breakfast at a little Mexican restaurant that Sue found on the internet.

A great breakfast-bacon,sausage,onion,spuds ,cheese & fired egg on a sizzling hot hot plate...yummy!

Everyones breakfasts were HUGE!

After breakfast Scott & Dona did some technical adjustments with a piece of aluminium foil,trying to sort out sound problems with the music on her zumo

We then head back on Daylight Pass to Death Valley.

We stop at Rhyolite, a ghost town.

We are now in Death Valley, heading south.

This place,totally blows my mind. It is nothing like I imagined it would be. It is so hard to put in writing what it is like,I hope these pictures give you some idea...

( taken from my bike, but should be horizontal!!)

Badwater...so called because the water is salty and not at all drinkable

Sue stops when she spots this coyote on the road in front of us,as this on my tick list of things to see.

But I nearly didn't get to see it,alive anyway, as 2 bikes behind us overtake,then stop suddenly when they realise why we have pullled over...well one of them stops, the other a Cam Am has to do a major swerve because they can't stop in time and nearly hits the poor animal!

"Scott" the coyote

It is at this point that Scott notices Sue's back tyre has worn rather badly down the middle, but with the aid of a bit of tape she manages to drive safely to Pahrump-where amazingly there is a bike tyre shop.

Whilst waiting for Sue's tyre to be fixed Dona & I head to Walmart ( another place on my tick list!)

The lady in the tyre place also tells us that we can go on a guided tour of a nearby brothel and buy a souvenir menu of what they offer-but in the end we do not have time to do this.

The tyre shop owners are lovely chatty people and when they realise I am a Brit,they 1. take the mickey out of my accent " an accent so thick you can walk on it" 2. give me a free T shirt and ask if /I would send a photo back to them of me wearing it in London for their collection. I'm more than happy to do this ,but go one better by giving them a Clean Bike Clinic t shirt in return.

The tyre fix has taken a few hours out of our day,so when we next stop for gas the decision is made to stay in Las Vegas for the night. We had discussed this previously and discounted it,but now the opportuniny has arisen I'm quite excited about the thought.

Riding through Las Vegas on the way to a hotel

Night time on The Strip

After checking into a cheap and chearful hotel we head to the strip. We go to New York New York,where we take a ride on the Big Dipper,then down to the Venetian,where we sit by the sside of the "Grand Canal" in "daylight" drinking cocktails and watching the gondolas go past http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on_the_strip/gondola.html

Anything is possible in Las Vegas!!

Las Vegas is mind blowing-the sights & sounds are lloud and brash in every way,a true sensory overload.
One of the weirdest sights was the groups of people ( I assume mexican immigrants) every 100 yards or handing out porn business cards. Apparently they are known as "porn slappers' as they slap the cards from one hand to the other. For a better description than ?I give check out http://www.urbanphotos.net/gg.htm

Its been a day of total opposite extremes the barren beauty of Death Valley to the brash , bright, madness of Las Vegas...I know which one I prefer.

4 November

2010-11-04T17:00:00.001Z

Our alarm goes off at 6.45; both Dona & I are up & showered within 15 minutes. We then set about packing up the bikes-bizarrely both of us seem to have much more space than yesterday! Who came into our room in the night & stole our things?

We meet Sue & Scott for breakfast-I go for the waffles & maple syrup, mainly because I love the waffle making machine.

We leave the hotel at just gone 8. About 5 miles out of town we stop to take photos ,but Sue can’t find her camera, so we head back to the hotel as she last saw it in the hotel room.Its not there, so out comes the stuff from the bags until we realize that Scott has hung it round his neck instead of his own…whoops!

The 198 takes us through the aptly named Lemoncove, where the main street is lined with orchards of lemon trees.

We take a left, an amazing road with lots and lots and lots of tight twisties, which take us up and over hills until easing out in to some lovely open curves through beautiful trees with their autumnal hues. There is a surprise at one point with a herd of about 6 cows are in the middle of the road who are not very happy to see us.

Wow what a road -better than any aerobic workout to keep you fit.

Remember this road name if you are ever out this way on a motorbike!

It is now nearly twelve, so we decide we will stop for lunch at Kernville.

But first its another beautiful stretch of road along side the river-only spoilt slightly by an old driver who does not pull over to let me past, even though it is obvious that I’m with the 3 other bikes –in the end I have to break all my rules & overtake on a double yellow.

The temeperature is now in the 70s & I am worried how I’m going to cope with Death Valley later.

A sign on the wall at our lunch stop

We take the 395 highway north-a long boring stretch of road with very little traffic on it.

We stop to fill up before we hit Death Valley Park & the “high” gas prices. Stupidly I forget to put my earphones in,but luckily when we stop 5 miles later they are still sitting on the top of my netting.

Joshua Trees

Its then a blast along the 190,until we come down into Death Valley.

The sun is just beginning to set, so we stop to take a look at the sand dunes then head off to Beatty ,taking the ironically named Daylight Pass,with the most beautiful sunset to our backs.

today's route

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3 November 2010

2010-11-04T06:16:00.000Z

After an early night to bed,its up at 6.45am for coffee & pumpkin pie and packing the final bits onto my bike.

Scott had accessorised the bike for me!

Dona arrives at 7.30,as excited as the rest of us. After a slight mishap wheeling the bike down the drive way,we pose ofr our first trip photo.

The first four hours were a hard slog on the highways : 580, 205 to Tracey, then the 99 down to Fresno.

175 miles in total, with my red light coming on just as we pulled into the garage!

We then turned onto 180, a really lovely road. It has started to get very hot now, so we stop & strip off layers at the entrance to the park.

The views are amazing

Its then into Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon

We stop for a picnic lunch in the woods to eat our Subways bought earlier.

The General Grant tree at Kings Canyon is the third largest sequoia tree in the world and is estimated to be more than 3,000 years old. Located in Grant Grove, the General Grant tree was nicknamed the Nation's Christmas Tree by President Calvin Coolidge.

We carry on along the 180 until its end at Cedar Grove. The road winds it way up & down & round twisites with the most amazing rocks on either side.

Roaring River Falls-over 40 ft high

We then trace our route bak along the canyon & turn left onto 198 which twists & turns through the Sequoia trees

The 198 continues downhill through some tight twisites-not a road that you want to be riding in the dark. The Zumo says we will arrive at our destination at just gone 6pm ,so when we are stopped due to traffic works with a possible hour delay, it is a little worrying. Luckily we only have to wait 10 minutes & go to the front of the queue of 3 vehicles,much to the annoyance of one female driver.

Whilst waiting for the lights to go green on the roadworks I take this picture looking down into the valley at the road we will be taking-as you can see some a tight hairpin ...

...and there turns out to be lots of these. anazingly the UPS van that we went in front of at the traffic queue keeps us with us ( in fact I think we held him back!) but when stop at the park exit to show our pass, he waves hsppily at us as he drives past!

We get to the Comfort Inn at Three Reviers just as it turns dark.
Its a quick change then off to the local Mexican as we are all starving!

I opt for the Special,- Chicken with chorizo.

Its then back to the hotel where we hoped for a soak in the hot tub only to find it was still cold, so instead we enjoy a bottle of wine,whilst mapping tomorrows route on the zumos.

Todays route: 329 miles

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2 November 2010

2010-11-03T00:44:00.000Z

Yipee, today we pick up my bike.

We head off into San Fran,me two up on the back of Scott's bike...not a sight you see very often!

I take a few piccies as we head out on the highway.

Sue follows behind us

Over Bay Bridge

San Fran city skyline

We arrive at Dubbelju ( pronounced "W")

I'm glad this one isn't mine...

...but this one is!

I had been a bit worried that the bike might be a little high for me ( despite having sat on one at Birmingham bike show) but all is ok,with a lowered Touratech seat I can touch the ground tippy toes.

As it is such a beautiful day we head off down the coast, up Pescarado to Alice's Restaurent for lunch.

I'd forgotten just how great the roads are out here-check out the map at the bottom of the post to see just how many twisties we went round!

Alice's is a big biker hang out-here's some Harley riders enjoying lunch

And here's my lunch,one of the many burgers that Alices offer-I went for an Indian with bacon,cheese & onion...yummy

After lunch we headed back home. The temepratures were hitting 79", so I was starting to get a bit warm!

It looks like this weather is set to stay for a few days-so its really lucky that I'm borrowing one of Scott's jackets, otherwise I will be overheating (again!)

Here's the route we took from Dubbelju to Alices:

One more sleep to go,before we head off for the holiday proper!

I will be updating this blog as often as I can,but it all depends on whether there are computers available at the hotels & if I can upload photos from them, as I have not brought my netbook with me this time as it is unwell!
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1 November 2010

2010-11-02T15:28:00.000Z

A nice relaxing day today. In the morning I wandered through Downtown Pleasanton, browsing the shops.

The weather today is glorious & walking back to the house I am a little concerned that once again I may not have brought all the correct bike gear with me ( despite following Sue's recommendations!)

The main worry is going through Death Valley, where the forecast is now for the 90s! Perhaps I should have brought my Wet Vest with me after all.

But Sue & Scott as normal come to the rescue & we search through their garage for an old spare mesh jacket.

I also try on their new mesh trousers to see how the sizing fits. I tried to get a pair of these last year but couldn't get any to fit, but these seem to fit ok. They are great 'pants' with a removeable waterporoof liner and zips the hieght of the trousers, so when you stop when it is really hot you can just unzip.
When we check the website unfortunately we are 2 hours too late for next day delivery,but I decide to order anyway,so I will have them for next summer.

HT trousers

In the afternoon Sue 2 joins us for a wine tasting session! as s.he couldn't make it to the party yesterday

Sue drove on a lot of the route we are going on in her Mini Copoer in the summer,so makes some recommendations of places to go.

One of the wines we drink is from La Rochelle ,where we all went proper wine tasting last year.

In the evening we watch the baseball,whilst enjoying a chinese takeawy.

The Giants win the game which makes it 4-1 in the World Series, meaning they win the World Series for the first time in 59 years!

World Series

San Fran will be one big party town tonight!

31 Oct 2010

2010-10-31T16:58:00.002Z

So here I am on my final adventure for 2010 and I'm back in USA to join my friends Sue,Scott & Dona on a riding adventure in the South West.

I'm staying at Sue & Scotts for a couple of days,before I pick up my bike and we head off.
Its Halloween and a few of the houses in the neighbourhood are decorated for the occasion

Sue has this great lamp...spooky!

It may be the end of October,but the weather today is gorgeous...I could get used to this life ;O)

Sue & Scott have arranged a get-together of a few of the great friends I made last year.It is so brilliant to meet up with them all again.

Dona & Kharon

Tyler, dressed as Wally or Waldo as they say out here

Sitting by the pool,drinking,eating & chatting

George, Sue, Dorothy,Scott & Audrey sharing a joke

Where's Wally?

Audrey, CC, Scott, Kharon, Tyler, Geoff, Kendal, Holly

Kharon kindly blocking the sun from my eyes

Yes, Tyler is a bit "special"!

We move indoors to watch the baseall: San Fran giants go 3-1 up

Geoff, Dorothy,Tyler

The Trick or Treaters come a'calling

The first of I'm sure many great days on this holiday.

8 August 2010 Sunday

2010-08-08T11:34:00.000+01:00

Another lovely day,so i decide to head South.

My first stop is Piriac-sur-Mer for lunch..

I eat at a restaurant I have been to before Bodega Bay,it is quite busy but I'm able to grab a table outside.

I decide to try their Plateau du Tapas.

Wow,when it is served there is an amazing array of food: king prawns,langoustines,calamari with garlic dip,spicy chicken kebab, prune wrapped in bacon.scallop,fish rillette,whitebait,melon prosciutto ham,smoked meat-a real feast!

After lunch I head off to my favourite road in Brittany which takes me across the salt marshes. For once it is not packed full of tourists and I can enjoy the rhythm of the curvy roads.

From here i ride the short distance to Guerande-another of my favourite places to visit-a small medieval walled town with cobble streets of interesting shops to browse round.

The square in front of the Cathedral is often used by street entertainers and today is no different.

I join the crowds to watch the trio of jugglers perform their act.

I decide to try a different route home from normal and head north east, passing through St Lyphard & Missallac , then north through St Dolay & Rieux. At Rieux I am caught up in a queue of traffic waiting for the drawbridge to close after letting a yacht through on the Vilaine river. Then its cross country through Peillac,St Matin & Ruffiac-another great ride.

I get home about 6pm-it is still really warm so I lie in the garden for a couple of hours for spot of sunbathing whilst finishing my book.

7 August 2010 Saturday

2010-08-07T11:19:00.000+01:00

Not such a nice day today-overcast and drizzly rain.

The couple staying at Motaranis want to go to Josselin as its market day so I ask if I can join them on the ride over.

We stop on the way at Le Roc-St-Andre-one to show them the chapel carved into the rock by the river,but also to put on our waterproofs as it has now started raining quite hard.

Waterproofs on!A small stone water font at side of road

More street lamps!

We park up and take a wander round the market. It is bigger than I remembered. Josselin is a very popular tourist centre and we hear many English voices as we wander round the market.

There’s lots to choose from at the local seafood stall

After walking round the market I say my goodbyes and head off to the English book shop which is run by English friends from the village Martin & Jennifer.

I have a good natter with Jennifer and she invites me to dinner with them on Tuesday evening.

Back view of the Chateau courtyard

I return home and spend a lazy afternoon reading ,snoozing & watching TV

6 August 2010 Friday

2010-08-06T11:18:00.000+01:00

I go back to Vannes today as the Grand Bradiere is on.

This is a huge market which takes over most of the town. In past years when I have gone to this it has been very busy,making it hard work to walk round all the stalls,but this year it is definitely quieter but once again there is nothing I fancy buying.

I have lunch at one of the restaurants on the harbour front. these are a little more expensive,because of their position, but it is such a nice day I want to be sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and carrying out my favourite pastime of people watching!.

I opt for moules and frites and an espresso.

I decide to pop in to see Lesley & Ken,so take the long way round through country lanes and small hamlets. its amazing how many new roads there are to ride down,despite coming out here for the last 7 years!

Lesley & Ken invite me to join them for dinner later and stay the night so I can enjoy their hospitality to the full! I gladly accept & return home for a spot of sun bathing and to pick up my things,

They have one English couple staying with them at the moment and I park my bike in their garage,next to their Tiger

As always,its a lovely night,good food,plenty of wine and good conversation-swapping biking stories!

5 August 2010 Thursday

2010-08-05T11:18:00.000+01:00

It is a beautiful day today,I’m looking forward to a good ride-out.

As its Thursday is market day in Maelstroit. I wander round the market,then sit and have an expresso & coke,whilst I sit and people watch…hours of entertainment!

Then I head off to visit L’art Dans les Chapelles www.artchapelles.com.

It is about an hour’s ride away-on the way I pass this church & fountains in one of the villages-whose name I forget!

The chapels don’t open until 2pm, so I stop for lunch first at St Nicholas-des –Eaux, at a small place next to the river.

I have a non-alcoholic beer with my lunch-it seems so wrong for Stella to be non-alcoholic!

My Gallette Campagnarde-cheese,mushrooms and garlic butter-yummy!

It seems that after the success of the photo exhibition at La Gacilly,more villages are following suit, although here there are only a couple of photos along the river bank.

The starting point for the tours is at Saint-Nicodeme. I buy a guidebook and decide which of the 4 routes I fancy doing. They are colour coded and I chose the yellow route, which takes in 4 chapels.

The first is chapelle Sain-Jean at Le Sourn.

You would never find this place is you were looking for it without-its up a tiny track which takes you through a farm and then out onto a hilltop where the chapel overlooks the area around.

houvboruidru et djcfhskufbv by Nicholas Guiet

The route is well marked with these little sign posts

The next stop is chapelle notre-Dame de Joie at Saint-Thuriau.

vhwk icl by Nicolas Guiet

This is one of my favourite of the chapels and one of the few where one of the artworks has been kept,with the interior mural now being shown for its 7th year. The contrast between the blue paintwork of the chapel ceoling and the pink mural is stunning.

Passage by Bernard Cousinier

My next stop is chapelle Notre-Dame des Fleurs, Moustoir-Remungol.

most of the chapelsare manned by students, but this one is an older guy, who starts chatting away to me in french about the exhibition. i explain that I am English and only know a little french, so he slows down!.

I think he said that it the world in minituare, but i’m not sure! I have to admit this was my least favourite!

He also takes the time to explain the statues of the 4 saints at the alter-one of the statues dates back to the 14th century

by Nicolas Chatelain

The final stop is chapelle Saint-Nicodeme at Guenin

The question posed is “Is the construction or destruction?”

by Vincent Mauger

The chapel doorway & water fountain

As the weather is still good I plan my route home to take in one of my favourite roads in the area, heading to Colpol, St Bily, up to Tredion, then across to St Guoymard. This is a great ride,through country roads ,with little if no traffic and lots of winding twisties through woodland – great fun!

The chateau at Tredion

4 August 2010 Wednesday

2010-08-04T11:17:00.000+01:00

In the morning I carried on with my decorating- it all takes so long!

In the afternoon I rode to La Gacilly. This is one of the places I always visit when over here.It is a very pretty little town,set on a hill,with small cobble-stoned roads full of art & craft shops selling items such as as stained glass,ceramics,paintings,windv anes,leather goods and lots of other goodies. Many of the shops have the artists working in them,so you can watch the crafts people at work.

Since last year a new tourist information centre has been built on the banks of the river. This includes a shop selling some lovely arty textiles as well as a couple of exhibition rooms-which this year have exhibitions of textiles.

View of new Tourist Information office

View south from new pedestrian bridge

Here’s a couple of the photo exhibits. These are in a new wooded walk.

This one is of the South American Rain forest & they have set the scene by having water mist pumping out as you walk by!

They have extended the photo exhibition a lot this year,as well as the wooded walk there are some new areas…

…as well as the photos on the side of the buildings as in previous years.

I go for a wander round all the shops, but most of the same as previous years.

This small sign next to a closed doorway catches my eye-the literal translation I think is” Wise Woman”,-perhaps someone with better french can confirm.

3 August 2010 Tuesday

2010-08-03T11:16:00.000+01:00

I woke up very late this morning-gone 11am!

The weather was again overcast,so I spent most of the day glossing the skirting boards.

Not much else to say really!

2 August 2010 Monday

2010-08-02T11:16:00.000+01:00

This morning was spent in painting.

Then in the afternoon I rode to Porcaro…to the biker’s chapel,

where I lit 3 candles: one for Steve, one for Ben Gray – who used to be the RAT ( Riders Association of Triumph) co-ordinator who died in a motorbike accident earlier this year and one for all my other biker friends who are sadly no longer with us.

This chapel is such a special place – you can’t help but be moved by its walls full of memorials to local bikers. But it is always so sad to see

1 August 2010 Sunday

2010-08-01T11:16:00.000+01:00

Not much to say about today. weather was rubbish,so stayed in all day.

Those of you that know me well will be amazed to hear that I have decided to tackle some decorating!

We had the house tiled throughout two years ago which meant new skirting boards-all of which need painting,so I have decided to give it a go as I’m out here for 3 weeks.

I’m told its all in the preparation so I spent today masking tape the top & bottoms of the skirting boards,as well as undercoating those in my bedroom.

In between time watched WSB from Silverstone

31 July 2010 Saturday

2010-07-31T14:24:00.000+01:00

I wake up to an overcast day which turns to a light rain shower as I leave the house,but I decide to carry on with my ride to Vannes.

It takes me just over 30 minutes to reach Vannes,and as its market day there is a lot of traffic. I park in the newly laid area to the right of the port rather than my usual spot on the cobbles by the cafes.

I wander round the market & the shops,but nothing catches my eye to buy, except these garden ornaments-cute metalwork birds-but there is no way I could carry the 5ft poles home on my motorbike!!

The port

There has been lots of work carried out around the port area,including a new Tourist Information centre and an exhibition centre, which is showing an exhibition about the lifeboat rescues, which includes these outside photographic images.

The streets of Vannes are lined with picturesque timbered houses. It appears that a modern extension has been built on the top of one of the houses below.

Another addition to the town’s landscape are these hire bike stations which are scattered around the town. The prices seem pretty reasonable: a standing charge ranging from 1 euro for a day,5 euro for a week, 28 euro for a year, plus for each use the first 30 mins is free, 2nd 30 mins is 1 euro, then 2 Euros for each hour after that.

After Vannes I pop to the Hypermarkets on the edge of town where I buy a multi coloured coast hook for the bathroom, an outfit for Matilda in the sales 75% off,bargain! and an unusual bottle of aperitif-Merlot & Kir

30 July 2010 Friday

2010-07-30T14:25:00.000+01:00

One of the things I love here is the number of birds that come into the garden( mainly I think because there are very few cats!) ,so first thing this morning I fill up the bird feeders with nuts,seeds and water.

I ride again to Ploermel as it’s market day. The market is mainly fruit and veg, but there are also a few clothes stalls and a few which are definetely aimed at the tourists selling jewellery and local aromotherapy products.

I buy a copy of Ouest Franc,the daily newspaper which gives,national,international & local news,along with details of all the local events and sit in a bar with a Briezh Coke ( a local Breton Cola).

There is a band playing tonight in Josselin,which I think I will go and see.

In the afternoon I ride round to see Ken & Lesley who run the Bikers B & B in Remineac. It is very tempting to say Yes to the stubby beer they offer , as it is a really hot afternoon, but I stick to a cup of tea, especially as I will be riding to Josselin once I leave here.

The back road from Ken & Lesleys has been resurfaced with those damn Gravillons so I take the fast route to Josselin along the motorway.

I choose the restaurant with the best view of where the band are setting up,but that table I sit on has been reserved so I get moved my the waitress to a table with a restricted view-not so clever!

I order my meal : pizza with pepperoni & ham and a green salad with walnuts, and a shandy.

The band do not start playing until 7.15pm, having taken ages to set up and then only play for half an hour! Hardly worth the effort!

29 July 2010 Thursday

2010-07-29T14:25:00.000+01:00

I want to try and eave by 10am this morning, so I’ve set my alarm to ensure that I don’t sleep in like yesterday.

I get up & make my way down to the kitchen where I put on the coffee, using Sara & James’ Porsche coffee machine! Unfortunately I don’t put the jug under the filter properly which means that when James comes down there is coffee all over the floor…not a good start to the day ;o(

Once again I have planned my route using the purple routes using my Best Rides Atlas ( www.thebestrides.co.uk).

From Silly William ( actually called Sille-le Guillaume but this is Jame’s name for it!) along D310 to Evron. The D7 to St Suzannes is closed,so I use the GPs to take me on an alternative route south which takes me on a lovely small windy country road , eventually rejoining the D7 to Sable-Sue-Sarthe.

Then West on D28 to Chateau-Gontier. Today is market day,so a small detour through the town centre is needed.

I am waiting in a queue of stationery traffic when unbelievably the car in front starts to reverse and before I can react she has reversed straight back into me. I beep my horn and luckily she stops. I have no idea what she was doing! I get off the bike and check out the front wheel-there does not appear to be any damage. The woman just sits in her car & there is no point in me going to talk to her as my French is not up to that,so I get back on the bike and ride up the road-stopping at the next cafe for a coffee as it has shaken me quite a bit.

I continue on my journey. The sky starts to cloud over,and the cars coming the other way all have their lights on,so I stop to put on my waterproof top. Luckily I seem to have missed the worst of it, as the roads are really wet,but I do not actually ride through any rain.

As I ride,I am a little worried about not getting the stupid woman’s details that reversed into me-what if she has done some damage that I can’t see? But the bike feels normal and there is nothing I can do now. As I ride up to a tiny village there is a small lake on the left and the noise of my bike makes a heron fly up and across the water-as usual when I see these birds a sense of calm comes over me.

When I get to Nozay I decide to hit the fastest route home button on my GPS-I just want to get to Caro now!

I get to the house and say my usual “Bonjour” to all the rooms.

Its then time to unpack. As I am putting away my stuff I manage to knock over a litre of vodka,which on the tiled floor smashes and goes everywhere! Well at least that’s the 3 things over and done with.

Once unpacked I jump back on the bike and ride to Ploermel to fill up the bike up with petrol and fill up my fridge with yummy French food, then its back home for my first night this year at the house.

28 July 2010 Wednesday

2010-07-29T07:38:00.000+01:00

I sleep extremely well,not actually waking up until 11am! Just as well I had decided to stay on an extra night,so that we could all go out for a ride today!

Sara is working in the morning, but James makes himself busy by checking over all the bikes,including mine-what a star.

We are going to ride to Bagnoles de l’Orne about 40 miles north. This is a spa town so we pack our cossies just in case we fancy a dip in the therapeutic waters.

The ride takes us along some lovely twisty roads but it is not as enjoyable as it should be as the road has just been gritted,with miles of ‘gravillon’ patches. My bike slips a couple of times so I slow right down to 35-40 , which means I am overtaken by a lorry who has places to go!

We arrive at the town and head to the Spa, but it seems you can only use the pool if you book treatments and as these start at 70 euros its a no-go

The Spa Hotel

James planning the route home to try to avoid Gravillons

I find this stinger caught in my bike-I’,m so glad it didn’t hit me in the face-its a big bugger!

We ride back to the centre of the town,park the bikes and wander to look at the boating lake and buy an ice cream.

Sara & James share a kiss in front of the boating lake

We find a shop selling ice-cream outside the front with a huge selection of flavours.

The bright blue one catches my eye-Schtroumpf!

I ask what this is & both Sara & the lady seller say ’Smurf! !

Smurf ice cream I’ve never heard of such a thing!! I’m going to have to have one of these, especially when I’m told its almond flavour and for good measure I also opt for a scoop of caramel.

Enjoying my smurf ice cream

27 July 2010 Tuesday

2010-07-29T07:19:00.001+01:00

Part III of my summer vacation starts today… I’m off to France again,this time for 3 weeks.

I catch Eurotunnel at 8.15am-for the first time I am the only biker on it ;o(

I am staying at my friends Sara & James tonight who live just outside Le Mans.

It is quite a journey so I stick to motorways (but not the Peage) & main roads.

As usual, even with the GPS!, I go wrong in Rouen but manage to get back on track.

I stop for a late lunch in Vernuil. Whilst waiting for my food I take a look at my Best Biking roads book and decide to ride the last couple of hours on pretty roads-so much more enjoyable.

I pass this huge ruined chateau- not a sight I can remember seeing before in France.

As with my Burgundy trip,some of the road I’m taken is marked with route signs

By now it has got very hot,so I stop in the shade to take off my layers and have some water.

You see lots of these shrines along the road side.

I finally make it to Sara & James about 5pm,-beeping at the closed gate I am suprised when it opens by itself…James has electrified it and added a remote control!

Sara & James have a beautiful,large old farmhouse-with various outbuildings.

A 3rd of the farm house! The old bakery now a BBQ house

One of the many cats New arrivals this year,chickens-isn’t this one a handsome chap?

And in the field at the bottom of their garden there are horses.

James is on his summer vacation-in France most people get 3-4 weeks off end of July/August, whilst Sara is at the moment giving private tuition in English so is working at the moment.

Whilst we wait for Sara to get home,James gives me a tour of all the improvements he has made to the house since I was last here two years ago.

When Sara gets home we sit drinking Kir Royals in the garden,surrounded by the clucking hens.

One of the suprises us by laying her first ever egg!

Looking perplexed! One of the Cockerels comes to check it out

There is no shell,but a thick membrane James cuts the egg open

Inside its a normal egg with a yolk & a white After an exhausting day the hens go to bed

24 July 2010 Saturday

2010-07-28T22:36:00.001+01:00

Today is a big day as it’s Matilda Eve’s Christening. It has been touch & go whether it would go ahead as Dan has been having problems since his eye op on Monday,but all is good on the day.

Sally & I decorate the garden at The Prince of Wales pub,where the after party is going to be held.

What follows is a selection of photos taken on the day-I make no apologies that these seem to focus on my side of the family & my friends…well this is my blog!!

Arriving at church Matilda & Mummy

Waiting for the service to begin

What a beautiful gown-from Dan’s family and nearly 100 years old

Matilda Eve,Mum& Dad & all the godparents

Steve’s Mum & Dad meet Matilda

These Christenings are SO exhausting!

Enjoying a chat & some Pimms- Colin, Mel, Debs & my Dad Geoff & Mum2 Carol

Its not often an opportunity arises to have a photo taken with most of your best friends…these guys have been there for me so much over the last nearly 4 years… I love them all ;O)

Best shoes of the day goes to Debs Best daughter of the day…Vicki

We wanted to get a photo of the 4 generations,but Matilda was not in the mood for being picked up, so we all decided to join her on the ground!

Vicki & Matilda, with Grandad Watson Vicki & Matilda with Great Aunt Jill

Lily & Matilda-if they are lucky they will grow up to be as good a friends as Vicki & Charlotte

Mothers & daughters: Charlotte,Debs,Me & Vicki

22 July 2010 Thursday

2010-07-24T00:54:00.001+01:00

We head home today.

We spend the morning by the pool,getting that final tan top up!

We are leaving for the airport at 3pm and they let us keep our room until 2pm which is great.

Its then a late lunch & pay our bill for the hotel room £100 each including the transfer today & air con. We will have to reclaim this from ABTA, as we already paid as part of our package.

Even with the problems with Gold trail,we have both enjoyed this holiday.

I would seriously consider coming here again,even on my own. The hotel has everything you need and in the summer you are almost guaranteed sunshine,

However next time I would book direct with the hotel. They give a good price for B&B & transfer only.http://www.hotelkaan.com/

At the airport ,as we expected, the “girls with attitude” are on our flight,so Debs asks at check in if we can have seats as far away as possible!

Even getting onto the plane they are making loads of noise,the guy in front mutters to himself “ I hope we aren’t sitting near them!

We aren’t,so have a peaceful flight home.

21 July 2010 Wednesday

2010-07-21T00:38:00.000+01:00

Today we will mainly be sitting by the pool…

View from my sun lounger

…no actually it should read, ,today we will just be sitting by the pool,as that is all we did all day,well that & a bit of swimming.

But we did get a phone call in the afternoon from the CAA to confirm that our flight details were unchanged which was good to know.

20 July 2010 Tuesday

2010-07-20T23:54:00.000+01:00

Its Tuesday and out trip to Fethyie market…which turns out very disappointing.

For some reason I was expecting more of a craft market,but it was mainly tat… designer handbags, designer t-shirts & football shirts but all genuine fakes! The signs on the stalls and slogans shouted out by the market traders were laughable “cheap as chips” “cheaper than Asda” “cheaper than shoplifting” and everything was priced up in pounds rather than lira.

Doesn’t look like Turkey does it?

You are still expected to haggle for everything,unless its 5 l or less, but then if you want more than one you should still haggle.

There is a fruit & veg section of the market where the locals are shopping,but it is really hot in the market as it is covered to keep off the sun,so we head off for a beer.

Soft cheese sold from sacks

Watermelons

Chillies & peppers

The day goes from bad to worse. We get back on the minibus expecting to be taken directly to the tombs & ghost town,but instead we are told today is a ‘shopping day’ and we are taken to the Gold Centre-where laughably they want £180 for a 14ct gold thin chain and then to what was essentially a sweet shop selling more tat. It feels like we have been kidnapped,but eventually we head off to the ghost town

The road to the ghost town is very steep with hairpin bends. We are ok in our minibus,but the coach with us has to take it very easy.

When we get to the Ghost Town it is 3pm,so when the guide says there is a buffet lunch for 10l he is met by silence from our minibus-I don’t think any of us were expecting the detours and we are all a bit pissed off!

Debs & I find a quiet bar,yep you guessed it ,to have a beer and whilst we lounge on the seated area a little ginger kitten comes over to play & skitter about!

There is then a short walk & talk on the Ghost town,but it is just too hot,so we don’t join it but just take photos. Its quite a bizarre sight-there’s about 3,500 deserted houses scattered over the hillside. it was a Greek settlement that was vacated after a population exchange treated signed between Greece & turkey in 1922.

We eventually get back to the hotel about 5.30y ,exhausted and hot after a not very enjoyable day.

We make the decision that we are going to blow out our planned 12 Island tour tomorrow & just lounge around the pool area.

This turns out to be a good decision,as poor Debs gets a dodgy tummy later on in the evening,so would not have been able to sail anyway.

I have dinner on my own. The last few days there have been more Turkish families staying in the hotel on half board,so they offer a 4 course set meal for 15l.

Tonight's dinner is lovely-chicken soup, cold starter of salad,fried cheese,and some delicacy that looks like a scotch egg but has really fragrant mince in the middle. I mistake the main for chicken joints so take two bits,but it turns out to be stuffed chicken fillets with a gorgeous rice & dried fruit stuffing & i really struggle to eat it! Pudding is watermelon.

I sit and chat to 2 other single ladies, both who have been caught up in the Gold travel fiasco, Judith is from Hawaii & Eileen from Belfast.

19 July 2010 Monday

2010-07-19T19:37:00.000+01:00

Today we go on Jeep Safari.

We have been warned it will be wet and dirty ,but other than that we are not sure what to expect.

We meet up with 3 other jeeps at a garage and the water fights start!

We are TOTALLY unprepared on our Jeep,whilst others have come armed with giant water blasters & spare bottles of water.

Our Jeep consists of two Turkish couples,a single older Turk from UK, two young scouser girls and a family of 4 from Wales. It turns out to be a good combination. We soon bond with one of the Turkish girls when she manages to get back someone on one of the other jeeps who has soaked us –the joy of the international thumbs up!

We don’t stop laughing from the word go!

First,its water squirted from the other jeeps, then as we drive along the road,children & adults throw water or use their hose pipes to drench us!

Its fine when you spot them,but if you don’t, the cold water hitting you makes you scream!

There are also a few set points with sprinklers which the drivers driver under VERY slowly,ensuring we are all suitably drenched!

An overhead sprinkler

The first stop is at a Turkish Carpet factory. Here the process of making a carpet by hand is explained and we watch one of the workers in action. The guide gets her to slow down so that we can see in full detail each step of the process.

It is a labourious process and some carpets can take up to a year to weave.

Each thread is knotted,then cut to give the pile

We are then shown the range of carpets they make , with the hope that we will decide to purchase

We then wind our way up a narrow & bumpy road, with amazing views

Next stop is the trout farm. not really sure what this was all about-it appeared to be a place to chill out for a while & more importantly re-stock the water fight bottles!

The bar had a moat going round it filled with live trout

Relaxing with our beers

Back to the jeep-we now have a water bottle to use and our resident sure shot Turk makes a hole in the cap for additional fire power!

Wherever they can,when the roads allow the jeeps draw up alongside each other so that battle can commence

We stop to look at Tlos. This is one of the oldest residential areas of Lycia & was inhabited until the 19th century. Tlos was the home of the Lycean tombs and have the history of this ancient city explained to us

The local kids use this as a chance to sell figs and offer sprigs of oregano for a lira or two

As the jeeps have no roofs we are unprotected from the rays of the sun…well that is until we buy these attractive giant t-towel style wraps to put across our shoulders

We stop for lunch at a secluded hotel in the hills, We had a choice of chicken fillet or trout,both of which unfortunately had been overcooked.

The ride continues to Saklikent Canyon

We are advised to hire plastic jelly shoes for the walk in the gorge

and to leave our bags in the jeeps and just take some money.camera & water.

Debs finds a novel way to carry her water

The canyon is 300 meters deep 18km long

We wade across the rushing water-its quite tricky,but there are plenty of young lads willing to help you across, although they expect a tip when you get to the other side.

A mug tree!

When we get back to the jeeps the Turkish couples have stocked up on ammunition. Although we didn’t do as well as another jeep who had managed to get hold of a bucket…and guess who got the full force of that on the journey to the mud baths!

The group in front of us were very organised…

…but our group just couldn’t wait to get deep & dirty in the mud…

…which is meant to make you look 10 years younger

Group photo-the little boy in the front was covered head to toe-he was actually swimming in the mud face down!

On leaving the mud bath-having washed off all the mud in the cold river-everyone filled up their water bottles,but very soon we were on main roads so no chance to continue our water fight with the other jeeps,so what do we do with all this water? Well ,we have a fight amongst ourselves in the jeep-which makes everyone very wet!

Drying off shirts

The next stop is quite bizarre-its at a garage,but one with a pool area! It also has a very expensive cafe 18l for two canned drinks and two cakes.

Whilst here the jeeps are washed, and our photographer for the day flogs us the cd of piccies he has taken. Debs & I agreed that we wouldn’t pay more than 40 l,but when he says the price is 50l we cave in. It is a rip off, but where else will we get photos of us in a mud bath!

Petrol station swimming pool…weird!

Our final stop is for a swim at Chalis Beach-as this is our local beach we do think about walking back to the hotel,but as we are at the far end of the beach it will be a long walk. So we decide to have a beer in the shade instead.

The Turkish equivalent of beach donkey rides

The bar on the beach starts playing Turkish music and our guide & one of the drivers start dancing, then the scouser girls join in doing their own dance routine-which is amazing-it turns out they both study at dance college.

A short clip of the final dance of the day

With that we are taken back to the hotel,where we have a light meal in the hotel restaurant before falling into bed exhausted-its been a great day & I would highly recommend the Jeep Safari to anyone.

18 July 2010 Sunday

2010-07-18T23:49:00.000+01:00

Today is our boat trip to Gocek market.

Our transfer picks us up ,but then we drive round the local area for about 20 minutes trying to find his next pick up-in the end he gives up.

By now all of us in the bus are VERY hot.

We get to Fethyie and board the boat-we are the last on so it is tricky to find a seat,but we park ourselves on the side.

Our boat

Me!

I reckon it was about an hour to Gocek & lovely sitting with the sea breeze.

We get chatting to the people next to us-who were also with Goldtravel-they have had a much worse time of it than us,which makes us feel better!

The marina

This boat catches our eye…

I can’t for the life of me wonder why?

Why not? indeed :o)

We head to the market. Its a decent size with clothes,shoes,& fruit & veg.

We spot a stall selling a type of pancake made of a thin dough and decide to give them a go. I choose Coke to drink whereas Debs has apple tea-a traditional drink.

Apple tea-served in an oversized shot glass

Rolling out the dough

Enjoying my pancake,filled with a mixture of local crumbly cheese and herbs including dill, They are delicious.

We continue our wander through the market. This stall catches our eye with its colourful display of spices.

The stall owner offers us the spices to taste and I buy some chicken mix,a mixture of herbs & spices to put in salad and 100 grams of saffron. Saffron is grown in Turkey and therefore compared to home it is very cheap 8 lira for 100g.

We sit and have a beer by the marina-the only brand that seems to be sold anywhere is Effes-its very nice,sold in 500ml bottles ranging in price from 3.5 l to 6l

Its then back on the boat

to a secluded cove where we moor up for a swim in the sea.

After a long wait we head back to Fethyie

Debs sun worshipping

We get the transfer to drop us of at Chalis beach to go for dinner at Mamma Mia’s which has been recommended to us.

Our starters of salmon carpachio & calamares

My main of salmon fillet,with a cheese sauce on top and mashed potato!

We get through 2 bottles of a lovely rose wine with the meal-obviously not a normal sight in this place as the waiter says congratulations when he sees we have finished the second bottle!

We watch the sun set…

…before catching a taxi back to the hotel.

17 July 2010 Saturday

2010-07-17T18:07:00.000+01:00

We have a swim before our buffet breakfast.

There is a pretty good choice: bread,cheese,garlic sausage,olives,tomatoes,watermelon,boiled egg, greek yoghurt,various jams & honey, cereal ,juice and coffee or tea.

Over breakfast the hotel owner Kaan gives us the bad news that our tour operator has gone bust!

We try to look up on the web what is happening but there are not many details. We check our travel insurance,but it seems we are not covered for bankruptcy and Kaan wants us to pay for our rooms-although it looks like the flights are covered by Atol.

There isn’t anything we can do so we head down to Chalis beach itself,about 20 minutes walk away, to see what it has to offer.

It is a very long beach,I think one of the longest in the area

We walk along the seafront.

This time enjoying the banter from the waiters trying to get us to their restaurant…”You’ve broken my heart” “ I need your money” “Please don’t walk away beautiful!”

Debs goes on a mission to collect as many tour brochures as she can-its not difficult ,its either restaurants or day trip operators.

We chat to one operator who offers to throw in a free trip to Fethyie market,but we say we will decide later.

Over lunch of fresh trout for Debs and kebab for me we decide which trips we want to do. We are going to go for the full whammy, but when we get back to Speedy’s pitch he is not there! Typical,all these people touting for business and our one has disappeared!

We decide to have an ice cream and wait

Eventually there is someone there and we book

Trip to Hamman ( Turkish bath)

Jeep safari

Trip to Fethyie M\rket & Ghost toem

12 Island boat tour.

The first of these we will be going on immediately.

Now as you might imagine I’m afraid there’s no photos of our Turkish Bath Experience,but an experience it was! Totally different to the one we had in Lille earlier in the year which was a communal baths and quite swish.

This was pretty basic, just us and two fairly burly Turkish guys !

Its a sauna first and not a steam bath. Then we get taken into a room with a large marble slab in the middle. The guys ask us to lay flat down and then they throw a bucket of cold water over us…a bit of a shock! They proceed to throw warm water over us,then lather us up with what looks like a large pillowcase full of bubbles!. This then gets washed of ,with my guy giving me a few pummelling slaps as well! We then have to sit on the side while they wash our hair. finally to finish off another bucket of cold water.

After that we rest for a while before having a 60 minute massage ,this time by girls. At one stage they climb up onto the massage table and both Debs & I think they are going to walk on our backs…I would have been ok as my girl was tiny,buts Deb’s one was huge…luckily they don’t.

We then get a transfer back to the hotel where we eat,have a couple of beers then off to bed.

15 & 16 July 2010 Thursday & Friday

2010-07-16T17:47:00.000+01:00

Its Thursday evening and Part II of my holiday begins. I’m flying out with one of my best friends Debs to Fethyie, Turkey for a week in the sunshine,having book a last minute cheepie deal on Teletext.

booking in at Gatwick starts at 7pm but Deb’s train is delayed so we reach the check-in desk about 7.20pm to be greeted with huge queues of people and no check-in staff…not good!

About 30 mins later a guy arrives to tell us their computer systems are down so check in will have to be done manually, so it will be slow and our flight may have to be delayed.

The queue moves painfully slowly, but in the end we get to check in, then just have time to change some money & buy some duty frees before our flight boarding in is announced.

We board the plane pretty quickly. Because it was a manual check in there are no allocated seats,so we try and find some that aren’t located near any kids!! We manage to find a row of three and sit either end,hoping that the plane isn’t full and we can keep our extra space.

How wrong we were! A group of girls with babies& kids turn up on the plane 30 minutes late and then start moaning in very loud voices about why can’t they sit together ( Err turn up on time!!) and yes you guessed they sit surrounding us. I do my bit my moving to the middle seat so that one of the kids can sit across the aisle from her mum,unlike the people in the row behind.

The flight eventually leaves,about an hour late and the first couple of hours are uneventful. I try to get some shut-eye as its now 2am,but I’m woken by a little ‘un in front hanging over her seat. I look up to see where the noise is coming from,but when I see its a little one I know there is nothing I can do about it. This happens a couple of time and then the little girls mother starts screaming at me from across the aisle not to give her daughter the evil eye and that she will scratch my eyes out if I do it again! I try to reason with her ,but with her attitude there is just no point. They then proceed to encourage the little girl to sing nursery rhymes and make as much noise as they can screeching to each other.

The flight lands and we pick up our transfer,only to find this lot are on our transfer…nightmare! We are both praying that they will not be staying at our hotel.

About 20 minutes from the hotel ,the driver stops for a fag break…welcome to Turkey where it almost feels that smoking is mandatory!

Ciggie break stop

We arrive at the hotel and breath a huge sigh of relief when they don’t get off!

It is now 5.30 am ( 3.30am GMT)

view from our balcony

We watch the most beautiful sunrise

The staff are up and about cleaning the pool, so we are able to make a coffee which we are gasping for!

We then sit and wait for breakfast at 8am.

Before grabbing ourselves sun beds to spend the rest of the day lounging round the pool.

We get chatting to a girl sitting next to us on the sun beds-she has been coming to this hotel for the last 10 years-she says there are many others who are regular returners,which says great things about the hotel.

We are staying at Chalis beach which is just outside Fethyie.

In the evening we walk down to the beach and catch the water ferry across to Fethyie. This runs every half an hour and costs 5lira one way

River boats

View of Fethyie across the lagoon

From the boat you can see the stone tombs above the town

We walk along the harbour front,with its many boats moored and ready to take tourists on the many trips they offer

We head inland and wander round the old town with its bazaar of shops,then through the small streets lined with restaurants,where we are hassled left,right and centre by the waiters trying to get us in to eat at their place. We really are not in the mood for this having been awake for 24 hours!

We spot a travel agents that is open and pop in to see if they have a map of the town that could give us. The lady in there is English & VERY helpful,recommending various restaurants and explaining where the fish market is as we had read you can eat there.

We would never have found it on our own,but her directions take us to a terracotta roofed building. Inside there is an open courtyard with a huge round stall selling fish in the middle.

you buy your fresh fish here and then pay one of the many small restaurants on the edge of the courtyard 5 lira per person to cook it-for this you also get bread and salad.

The fish on the left were huge,about 2ft long

We choose a kilo of prawns which costs 30 lira,about £14 pound-which they clean & shell and send over to the restaurant

Prawns cooked in Garlic and Chilli-just the best meal!

As we walk back towards the harbour,we pass our travel agent lady having dinner and say what a great meal we have had-she then recommends a bar to go to-the Car Cemetery Bar

You can’t miss it,as there are 2 cars sticking out the front!

We decide to go for cocktails-I have my usual favourite Caprihanna while Debs goes for an exotic combination with fruits.

Deb’s cocktail

We quite fancied one of these too!!

After our drink we catch the river taxi back to Chalis Beach

Lights shining on edge of lagoon

It has been a great first day in Turkey!

13 July 2010 Tuesday

2010-07-13T23:45:00.001+01:00

The final day of my Burgundy Fest trip.

The day starts badly:

I can’t find my biker id bracelet
Its raining
I forgot to download the route onto my GPS so have to unpack my netbook to download it
Then I forget that the route starts from a point 30 miles south, so have to amend it on the go

But I get going in the end & the rain stops, so when I fill up with petrol its off with all the waterproofs.

I stop off at a cafe/tabac to buy some ciggies and sit outside with an expresso coffee. One of the old guys in the bar having their morning beer comes out to have a look at the bike. It’s time like this /I wish my french was better as I could not understand what he said to me!

The roads once again are great

My GPS route does not go to plan as it starts to take me onto the motorway, so i stop and replan my route as I have plenty of time so can take in a few more green routes.

However this turns out to be not such a great idea as one road,although marked as green is not particularly pretty and consists of 21 km of villages each one only about 100 metres apart-which means riding at 50/70 km an hour for most of the road :O(

The next green road is nearly as bad,so i decide just to hit shortest route to Eurotunnel, which then takes me down some great roads.

The Channel tunnel is clearly marked,even though I am coming in from a smallish road

12 July 2010 Monday

2010-07-13T22:20:00.001+01:00

We wake up to a storm, with thunder & lightening-it has already wreaked havoc with the garden furniture.

Some of the riders are making the long haul back to Calais in one go today, & with the wind & rain and an early 7.30 set off, what would have been a hard ride is looking like it will be even harder.

Beki loading her bike

With the weather as it is, it is hard to get up enthusiasm to get ready,but eventually I am packed and fully waterproofed up & ready to go.

The rain is intermittent and to be honest its not so bad when you’ve started off with your waterproofs on.

Once again my route is planned to take in as many green routes as possible,although if the weather gets bad I’m set to change to the fastest route to my hotel booked in South Rouen.

A beautiful town on the side of the Loire, but unfortunately i can’t remember its name!

Although I plan my route on the computer and upload it to my GPS ,a Zumo 550,sometimes it does try to take you up unsuitable roads.

When I get to Sandlion,it tells me to turn left, but when I reach the river, the road to the left is a cycle route only, but it is a beautiful spot, and has the rain has stopped, I decide to take a cigarette break.

I look down to the river and notice some birds. I’m not sure what they are,but they look very similar to herons, which as some of you know have a special meaning for me.

It is a poignant moment, as not much earlier whilst riding “Comfortably Numb” had played and I had a sad moment thinking how much Steve would have enjoyed this trip… then here I am standing looking at these birds and it all seems ok.

The weather suddenly gets bad and huge raindrops start falling

Once again Loppy gets wet

Luckily the rain is short lived, and the rest of my ride is dry

Modern day windmills

The yellow sign indicates a ‘Bis’ road - an alternative route avoiding the main roads, and generally with less lorry traffic. Bis, in French, means second (as in the prefix bi-).

The "Bison futé" (in English the cunning bison) is the motorist who does not follow the crowd, but seeks out less crowded easier routes, the "routes bis", thus the "bis-on", being a cunning bison is often well worth it, unless you love sitting in traffic jams.

Oh yes,another Route Baree, luckily this one only means a very short deviation from the route.

One of the things you notice when travelling around France is that so many of the villages have different styles of street lights. I seem to be turning into the street light equivalent of a trainspotter!

The old-fashioned type of windmill

The sun has now come out in force-not something I expected to see this morning-so I decide its apt to stop and photograph this beautiful field of sunflowers

I stop in Chartres to take off all my layers as it is now VERY hot.

You can see the Cathedral from miles- it is very impressive. But when I get up close it is not possible to get a decent photograph-especially as there is scaffolding up where they are cleaning the stonework.

How beautiful is this blue sky?

I have booked into a Campanille hotel for the night. The room is a reasonable price,but more importantly it has a restaurant attached which is open every day, as in France many places close on a Monday.

As I go down to the restaurant another biker arrives. I say Hello and introduce myself as the owner of the Speed Triple. The biker is Alan who is Dutch. He asks if he can join me for dinner and of course I agree-it will be nice to have some company.

Alan

We have a very enjoyable meal, chatting about all sort of stuff -bikes, jobs, religion, our families. Alan is heading down to the Pyrenees. He has only just got a bike again after a 15 year break.

I haven’t posted any food piccies in a while,so here’s our dinner-lamb chops & frites,with a tasty creamy sauce served in glass!

Dessert was a help-yourself buffet-so i went for ille flottante chocolate mousse & a chocolate cream dish Yum Yum :o)

11 July 2010 Sunday

2010-07-13T21:22:00.001+01:00

Hmm-beer recycling box is looking fuller ;o)

Today the weather forecast is scorchio.

So as many people have a long ride ahead of them tomorrow,Liz shortens the planned ride.

We will head to Auxerre for lunch, then ride back a similar way to yesterday-well with such great roads it is good to ride them the second time.

Teddy’s loan bike played up yesterday,so he is in charge of the photoshoot from the car on the way to Auxerre. It takes him a while to get his shutter timing right!

Whoops! missed Ian

A water tower.

We arrive at Auxerre & park up for a photo shoot of the bikes. Unfortunately there is not enough room to fit us all in on one line,so we have to double up in front

Sheltering from the scorching midday sun

There are plenty of restaurants along the quay to choose from, but why walk any further than you need to?

So most of us dive into the first one we come to!

My starter of salmon & leek tarte

Apologies Rhonda for catching you mid –mouthful

Baggy goes for garlic snails-he looks quite dangerous with those implements of destruction!

I am SO happy when I hear that my favourite french dessert of “Ille Flottante” is on the menu .

If you are ever in France you MUST try this,it is just the best-it is impossible to give it a description that does it justice-put simply it is cold runny sweet custard with soft meringue…now I know that doesn’t sound great,but please trust me it is delicious-I have not known one person to dislike it once they have tried it AND the great thing is its really light so after a starter,main & cheese course you can still fit in a pudding :o)

( Dona, if you are reading this,even though you know what it is now, I’m still expecting you to come over & sample it for yourself!!)

The height of fashion cropped trousers and biker boots-do you think it will catch on?

We enjoy a great ride back…well actually some enjoy it more than others as they manage to get round the slow cars before the white lines so can whizz round those sweeping bends ( only joking Liz!).

A slight detour is needed on the way back due to a local cycle race which means going to a different petrol station for the obligatory fuel up before heading home.

Back at B du J its time for the group photo ( there are a few missing, but hey we can’t wait round forever when there’s serious drinking to be done!)

Just in case you are wondering-Teddy is wearing one of Liz’s t shirts to be part of the Netherlands Support team-he doesn’t normally dress like that (well I don’t think so anyway)

A prize for the first who can name the flags-actually no prize just the title-“Flag Know It All 2010”

So with the TV set up in BdJ,everyone settles down to watch the Match

As its the last day its time to bring out the bubbles,with Kir Royales for those who want them.

Yes,the drink in Liz’s hand is purple & I’m very disappointed as I don’t like it…its a Kir Royale made with a violet liquer-so tastes just like Parma violets…Yuck :o(

But its such a great coloured drink

quote Unquote “ I can’t believe everyone is sitting in my garden watching the World Cup Final”

Its a disappointing night for Liz,having worked in the Netherlands for the last two years she was hoping that the Octopus had got it wrong,but it was not to be.

10 July 2010 Saturday

2010-07-12T22:02:00.000+01:00

Saturday morning and the aftermath in the garden-it doesn't look too bad1

Beer recycling box is getting full!

It starts to rain, so everyone is sitting around waiting for it to stop so we can head off on our ride.

The rain stops, so we head off. We are using the 'drop off' system, where the rider after the leader drops off at each junction to mark the way for those behind. they then re-join in front of the back marker. This system usually!! works well,but it all goes wrong and some riders go the wrong way.

It has also started to rain quite heavily now,so the bikes in front have stopped in a lay by for those that had been optimistic about the weather to put on their waterproofs-myself included!

The others soon join us and we head to Chablis to find a bar to have a coffee in and wait for the worst of the weather to pass.

Car park in Chablis

Drying off in the bar.

Sign outside a wine shop-unfortunately I have no room to bring home any wine.

Loppy in the rain

After about 30 minutes the sun comes out,so its off with the waterproofs for the 40km ride to Noyers,a small walled town.

Pistachio ice cream-yummy!

Beki does a spot of money laundering-drying out her notes in the sun!

The following photos were taken by Anna, who was pillion on the back of her dad Ian's bike, as she & Teddy had driven up from Spain in the car.

The route home took us down some great roads,with sweeping bends and lovely scenery.

But I have to say the best scenery was looking in your wing mirror to see a line of bikes behind you...awesome!

Me!

Me again!

Nearly back to Bar du Jardin & its time to refill with petrol , as well as replenishing the wine & beer

Bar du Jardin is open!

At 7 ish everyone meets at BdJ to walk to the local restaurent where we are having dinner tonight

Proof that Liz & ian's road does exist,despite what the GPS says!

Going into the restaurant

Tonight's menu

A room full of hungry bikers

I don't know what this table were drinking during the evening, but they got a big fit of the giggles later on!

We had a great meal (for once no photos of food, not sure why) the Its a toss up for best course between the main of lamb with parsley,garlic & juniper berries or the pudding of a layered cake of meringue, pistachio ice cream,blackcurrant sorbet & a sponge soaked in liquer.

The 3rd course was Brie,and quite a smelly one,which some didn't like the smelll of ,whilst others fan the smells across!!

Thanking our hosts on the left for a lovely meal.

09 July 2010 Friday

2010-07-11T09:52:00.000+01:00

At breakfast i get to meet 'The Bennetts' Graham & Karen. They had been trying to contact me last night to meet up for dinner,but couldn't get hold of my mobile number.

I check out the weather in the paper and it says sunshine all day...but how wrong can it be, as we finish breakfast we hear the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof.

I head off,deciding not to don my waterproofs as the rain isn't too heavy.

The rain comes and goes but gets quite heavy at times.

I arrive at Liz and Ians , about 12.30pm and add my bike to the queue.

The rain stops shortly after I arrive and by a couple of hours later it is very hot and sunny.

Gradually over the course of the afternoon,more and more bikers arrive. Each one looking more and more hot & sweaty. Quit a few have travelled over from the UK today and ridden 300 miles in scorchio heat.

The afternoon and evening are spent chatting and enjoying french beer and wine in the Bar du Jardin

Anna & Mark

Not a sight you see very often...a bike riding past a sofa!

Liz put on an amazing spead of food for the evening

Hungry bikers!

The gathering continues late into the night-lit by candles & lanterns

Howard & Ian...seperated at birth??

08 July 2010 Thursday

2010-07-11T09:09:00.000+01:00

I had a great nights sleep waking at 8am. Breakfast is help yourself,with a good selection of cheese,ham, croissants & bread.

After a couple of strong cups of coffee & orange juice I'm ready to go.

First stop is to get some petrol. The 95 petrol is marked E10, which I have read somewhere isn't good for your bike,so I go for 98-just hope it works ok!

I chose my route today to take in as many green roads as possible. The first part of my route takes me along a tourist trail-Forests ,Lakes & Abbeys.

This route also takes me past a good few war memorials

This war memorial was huge. I saw it from a distance and thought it was a ruined building,but as you got closer you could see it was modern.

I might have guessed as it was for American soldiers-they always do everything big!

This route was biking heaven, through windy woods and over open golden & green field- from Sedan I rode south on the D977 & D466 to Bar-Le -Duc

Then the D 966, D960 & D90 to Joinville were just awesome-equalling some of the roads I went on last year in the states :O)-I'd highly recommend them to anyone biking in the area.

The only downside was that a lot of the roads were newly gritted,some the whole road and some in patchwork.

I stopped for lunch in Abbeville. Unfortunately the only table available was in the scorching sun. Some people left & I asked if I could move to the table in the shade but I wasn't allowed as I was on my own and it was a table for four :(

Whilst waiting to be served 4 english bikers 2 up stopped & lucky them were allowed to sit in the shade. I had an old favourite for lunch-Galette with ham egg & cheese.

After lunch it was another petrol stop & then the GPS tried to take me up a very steep,tiny,track...no way! So I wound my way through the cobbled streets until I got back to the main road..

Some more good riding & then I arrived in Troyes about 4.30pm, only to find the road to the hotel was Route Baree ( do you see a theme?), so again another small detour.

I had a quick shower and then went for a wander round the town-so many beautiful old buildings.

I sat and had a beer by this carousel. OMG over 7 euros for a half litre of Carlsberg-thats more expensive than The Old Mill!!

This gate was built in 1760

Gargoyles on the Cathedral

The museum of Modern Art

Different ways of mending a building over the years!

After 2 hours wandering round the town it was back to the hotel for another shower and a catch up on Facebook. This hotel had an adaptor I could borrow so i could fully charge everything up.

I left a message for 'the Bennets' who are staying in my hotel and are part of the Burgundy Fest crowd,but unfortunately we didn't manage to meet up.

Time for dinner & there's plenty of choice of restaurents. I spot a couple having moules & frites and decide that's what I'm going to have. I have to admit it was a little disappointing as the moules were very small,but then again I think i'm spoilt with eating them in Brittany.

Then its back to the hotel for another early night about 10pm.

07 July 2010 Wednesday

2010-07-10T08:36:00.000+01:00

So this is the first of my posts for the summer vacation of 2010.

I will update as & when I can, but it may not be every day-depends of web access and what I'm up to in the evening!

My first trip is to Burgundy Fest at my biking friend's Liz & Ian at their house in ,yep you guessed it, Burgundy!. There are going to be about 30 bikers going &it all kicks off Friday afternoon,but I.m taking the long way down to her house,so leaving today Wednesday.

My plan to pack the bike & leave it in the shed works well-so think I will do that again.

6.30 am All set and ready to go!

An uneventful ride to Folkestone-except for spotting a police car a little to late-I wasn't going that fast-about 80 but slowed down to about 74 by the time I passed him-lets hope he didn't have a camera-suppose I can only wait and see.

I thought I was going to be the only bike on the train,but then a few more arrived. I chatted to 3 guys who were on their way to WSB in Prague & then Moto GP the following weekend-nice trip!

Waiting to get on the train

Inside the train

The first part of my route was a route recommended on http://www.bestbikingroads.com/ taking me on a short bit on the motorway then onto N1 all the way to Amiens.

It was a nice bit of road-fast in places but through countryside and villages There were quite a few tractors,but on a bike these are easy to overtake.

I stop in Abbeville for my first expresso..now I'm really in France.

I realise I'm getting old when I go to the loo in the cafe & its a stand up & squat one & i use it! When I was younger I would never use them!

I'd put in slight detout to the route after Abbeville to take in some 'green' ( those marked as scenic on the map) , but it turned out to be longer than expected when there was a Route Barree,which I then managed to go down from a different angle but had to go back as the biggest potholes ever!

It was obviuosly the day for "Route Barree" because I came across another one-this time with no deviation signs and loads of cars parked up. I just assumed it was some sort of protest.
so double backed & used GPS to take me on another route...but another Route Barree,so tried again,but this time could see loads of cars parked so I stopped to ask a girl what was going on in my best french!! Turns out its the Tour de France-just my luck. So I stop my way ,get out my map & ask the girl what their route is so I can plan my way round.

Then on my revised route part 3 loads of cars are coming the other way-luckily I had just missed it,but there are still loads of cars parked on the road side.

I stop at what looks like a huge war memorial,but turns out to be just a very ugly church,but there are some public toilets & suddenly i really need to go! That is until I see them...open air urinals & a very smelly & dirty squatting loo, which i really can't face...maybe i'm not so old after all!!.

At the next large town I stop at Maccie d's-at least I know their loos will be ok and of course it would be rude not to stop & have a burger ;o)

I'm now on the road that on the map looks very long and straight & boring, but it turns out to be quite a pretty road.

I arrive at my hotel Hotel le Sapieniere in Remilly Alicourt .

My bike is given a great parking space for the night...inside one of the function rooms with its own bar.

My room has the biggest bathroom ever as its one with disabled access. This means I get to have a lovely long deep bath, which is very unusual in France.

I unpack to find I have forgotten to pack my adaptor,duh! So I will have to limite my use of computer & phone.

I've gone for half board at this hotel ,70 euros all in,which is well worth it as the meal is lovely.

A starter of prawns,melon,onion & mint

Followed by braised ham , in an unusual curry sauce-not a combination we would normally have at home & then cheese to follow,

Having had such an early start I'm exhausted and in bed by 10.30pm!