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.

Moto ADV - Holland/Germany/Luxembourg. Day 6.


View Trier - Aachen in a larger map

Trier is a fascinating city. It has much Roman history with very interesting Roman ruins. We decided to explore the place in the morning before checking out of the hotel at 12:00.


These aren't the ruins. We are getting to them!

Here they are ....

.... and here ....

....... and here .....

...... this was ......
.... built by Caesar Rococo!

Okay, enough K for Kultur. We set off for Aachen on our German Grand Tour. The intention was to follow the Mosel to the Sauer. Unfortunately we intercepted the Saar and followed that! Nevermind, we did a few 360s and then finally figured out where north was and pointed the motos towards Aachen by way of Echternach and Bitburg. We refuelled, bikes and peoples, in Rosport, Luxembourg.

Here we are in Germany, or Luxembourg or possibly Belgium!!

We were going via back-roads the shortest distance (!!!!) with destination Ibis Hotel in Aachen. We were supposed to stop in Bitburg because AM wanted to visit his (by now) favourite brewery. But again - I forgot (Doh!).

Ibis bar.

Although the en-route part wasn't too clever, the Sat-Nav did at least get us to the Ibis bar accurately. Here's proof above.

We thought we would treat some of the local bars to a display of sartorial elegance.

A rose by any other name........

We had another good German meal and some good German beers (and Samboucas). The motos are putting on kilometres. We are putting on kilogrammes. That was Day 6. 

Moto ADV - Holland/Germany/Luxembourg. Day 5.


View Karden - Trier in a larger map

This was the only rainy day that we had. We set off after a good breakfast for the riverside route to Trier. Thank you CR for pointing us in this direction.


Mr MF ready to roll. Good-looking moto. And bloke of course!

Not to mention Dr AM, his RT and his Day GLO.

I had forgotten that we were supposed to go via Tries and not follow the river immediately. I was doing a lot of "Doh-ing" on this ride. But after about a kilometre I remembered and we turned back to Tries, crossed the river, and set off over a switch-backy road in the hills to re-join the Mosel at Senheim.


Guess which suspect this one is? We are now at Bernkastel.

AM kindly confirming our position.

We were a little cold and wet. Well I was cold and wet, having no rain gear! We stopped for lunch at a very pleasant little restaurant. The proprietor didn't seem to mind his establishment being 'puddled'.

MF and JM.

AM and JK.

After this rather refreshing pit-stop we took off again. Trier here we come! Dr JK kindly took over the navigation as we wanted to be sure to reach our destination by nightfall... which we did.

The Park Plaza Hotel gave us a good deal. It was lovely. And we were able to park the bikes right outside the front entrance.

Trier by night.

After a few beers or three and a good dinner we headed back to our luxurious hotel - for a beer, possibly a Sambouca or two. Then bed-y-byes.

Ho-hum! WNTL? - What's Not To Like?



Moto ADV - Holland/Germany/Luxembourg. Day 4.


View Cologne - Koblenz - Karden in a larger map

After two days we departed Cologne. That's how long it took to get out of the city with my Garmin checked for the Avoidances of Highways and also Autobahns and set to Shortest Route (duh - dementia!!). Eventually we zig-zagged our way to the northeast side of the river and headed on the left bank of the Rhine in the general direction of Koblenz.


The day was sunny - to match my disposition - and we found a lovely place to park the motos and get a coffee.

This is definitely the life.

A hot chocolate with cream - and let's check the map!!

Soon it was time to set off again. The Sat-Nav is still in the wrong mode but somehow we made it to Koblenz.

A pretty street on the outskirts of Koblenz.

The back streets are very pleasant.

We are the Usual Suspects.

It was too early for lunch, but we had a quick ride into the city for a look-see. Somehow we ended up on the 'wrong' side of the Mosel River when leaving Koblenz - same problem, incorrect Sat-Nav settings. I should have just reverted to basics - DR (Dead Reckoning) - but we eventually sorted things out and headed for the first town on the river on the northwest-side. We followed the Mosel from that point.

As it happens this turned out quite well because we rolled into Karden and, just before dismissing the place as closed for stocktaking we persevered and found a lovely little hotel for a late snack and coffee.

A quaint little place.

The proprietor was very kind in agreeing to rustle up some cheese and ham toasties for us. I casually enquired as to the availability and cost of rooms for the night....


The answer was in the affirmative. Single rooms were available at €40 including breakfast. Wonderful. The general consensus was - Okay let's stay here for the night. We had no fixed plans anyway. We would press on to Trier tomorrow.

Bed - Good!

Hanging up place for moto gear - Good!


Room - Good!

In the evening, before dinner, we walked around Karden and had a beer in a local bar.

This was a most pleasant nightstop. After a very good night's sleep it was time to set off for Trier. We are now at Day 5.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Moto ADV - Holland/Germany/Luxembourg. Day 2/3.


View Maastricht - Cologne via Beek in a larger map

After a very good overnight stay in Maastricht we set off the next morning for Maastricht-Aachen Airport where the BMW Motorrad agency is located. I had decided to have my battery replaced. While the moto was in the shop we repaired to the charming nearby town of Beek for an early lunch in the sunshine.


We had just about finished our snack and were watching the world go by - mainly on those wonderful Dutch bicycles - when the waitress said, "The moto shop phoned. Your bike is ready."

We set off for Cologne. The weather is keeping fine.


We checked the map. We must be somewhere near Einrade.


Having just crossed into Germany we stopped for coffee and stickies at this Proxy place.

By the afternoon we rode into Cologne and checked into the hotel which also had secure parking underground opposite. Excellent. Well done JK and MF for booking this place.

We got a very friendly reception.

We discovered later that the hotel was very adjacent to the local (in WW11) Gestapo HQ which we visited. Chilling!!! The hotel was definitely the more comfortable.

 We enjoyed Cologne by night......

..... as you can see.

We also went to a jazz bar called Papa Joe's.

The musicians were good.

Dr AM looks happy enough.

To be continued on Day 3 ...........

Meanwhile, planning the route for the next foray into Europe: TBN



View Eurotunnel - Tigny Noyelle in a larger map. 
Click, Drag or use +/- to change the scale.

Eurotunnel exit to Bd de l'Europe. To roundabout 1st exit onto D304. To roundabout to 2nd exit onto D305. To roundabout 1st exit onto D127 to GUINES. Keep on D127 to HARDINGHEN. Keep on D127 to ALINCTHUN. D127 to D215 to WIERRE AU-BOIS and SAMER. D901 to Neuville-Sous- Montreuil. Keep on D901 to WAILLY BEAUCHAMP and NEMPONT-SAINT-FIRMIN. Then to Tigny Noyelle.