Tuesday 17 June 2014

Moto ADV: We Went To France ....... AGAIN!

Our standard French Trip Organiser went to a party in South Africa and left the rest of the MotoMates to their own devices. So Mr GW made some phone calls, sent some emails, got on line, pressed some keys, agreed some prices and bingo a formation 5 get geared up for Le Shuttle and Le Moulin.

This time we opted for:
a.) Not over the sea AND
b.) Not on the sea BUT
c.) Under the sea.

Except for the pain of 200 boring motorway miles M1, M25, M20 (relieved only temporarily by the Queen Elizabeth Bridge) the Eurotunnel is a brilliant option.

Here we are at Maidstone Services:




And here we are at Folkestone Eurotunnel Terminal:



Once we popped out of the hole on the French side we took the minor 'D' roads to Tigny. Basically D304, D305, D127, D215, D901.


View Eurotunnel - Tigny Noyelle in a larger map

Soon we were at Le Moulin at Tigny-Noyelle. It is a beautiful place, AND less than two hours from Calais.










Monday dawned and we set of for Gazaincourt Military Cemetery, Somme, France.


Andrew found where his great-grandfather is buried.

Visiting the graves of those who died in The Great War is a humbling and thought-provoking exercise. Later in the day we went to Thiepval, the memorial to the 72,194 officers and men missing on the Somme battlefields of France. Click HERE for the link to Thiepval Memorial.


We also went to Vimy Ridge, the Canadian Memorial. I have no pictures of this moving memorial but you may click HERE for a link.

-------------------------------------------------

Once or twice the weather was slightly inclement, but we were on motorcycles and not in muddy hell hole trenches so no complaints.


Here we took shelter under some accommodating trees.

This is a pic of the motos parked in a line outside a military cemetery. Looks like: ENG 1 - 4 GER.


This pic has been arranged in order of height more or less.



One day we went to Le Crotoy and then pulled in to Rue for lunch. The weather was improving all the time.



We chose a wonderful restaurant in Rue. Click HERE for the link.
The food was excellent. Dr AM had a whole German helmet full of mussels.


We repaired back to Le Moulin for a lie down and some beers then some beers, and dinner and some wine and some beers. GW then decided to phone everyone he had ever known. There were some surprised responders, especially the taxi driver in the Caribbean and the missing official French Trip Organiser in South Africa.

But the next day everyone was up bright and early.








 Snack Stop near Hesdin

 Flower Stop?

 Poppies were kind of the theme of this trip.


BMW confiscated Dr AM's moto just before the trip. He protested and they gave him a 6 cylinder 1600cc sofa as a temporary replacement while they figure out a new design for his 1200 RT shocks.



 Too soon it was time to ride on the beautiful French roads to Calais Eurotunnel Terminal..........



........ and then the hell of England's motorways and Dartford Tunnel fiasco en route to our respective abodes.

Adieu.

Sunday 20 April 2014

Moto ADV - Holland/Germany/Luxembourg. Day 8.


View Den Haag - Europoort in a larger map

On Day 8 it was decided to visit the Louwman Motorcar Museum. Click Here 

This was a brilliant place. Here are just a few pictures:









Soon it was time to check out of the hotel and head for the port. We took the short route via the Rozenburg Ferry across the Scheur River/Nieuwe Waterweg:


On the Rozenburg Ferry.

Before too long we were once again on board the ship and it was setting sail for Kingston-upon-Hull.

Motos secured for the night crossing.

Happily the captain was paying attention and we made it across.

Because here we are the next morning, upright and afloat and docked in England.

I will definitely go to Holland and Germany AGAIN!

Thanks for reading.

Moto ADV - Holland/Germany/Luxembourg. Day 7.


View Aachen - Arnhem - The Hague in a larger map

On Day 7 we explored Aachen. Another wonderful city. We paid visits to the Rathaus and also the Cathedral.


 One of these two pictures is ...

... Mr MF.

We were about to depart the Ibis Hotel for Den Haag when Dr JK said, "Why don't we go to Arnhem?" "Jolly good idea," I said and so it was - Sat-Nav reprogrammed for the famous bridge and off we set.

A72 in Holland.

By this time I had finally figured out that I should cancel Avoidances and select Fastest Time. Here we are for a pit-stop on the A72 (I think) heading for Nijmegen and Arnhem. Boring autoroute though.

AM at Arnhem.

 JM at Arnhem.

 Riverside at Arnhem.

 Bikes on riverbank at Arnhem.

Going via Arnhem to Den Haag was a good idea. I'm very glad that we did that. And we made it to the Ibis Hotel (booked ahead from the Aachen hotel) in the centre of The Hague before nightfall. The motos were secured in the underground car park via a huge elevator.

Ibis lobby.

Here we are in the lobby. We look happy enough. I wonder what's wrong?

 The Hague by night.

 A starter in The Hague by night.

After another good evening of good food, good beer and good Sambouca it was time to zig-zag back to the hotel. End of Day 7.