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.

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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.

We Went To Cornwall in SEPTEMBER

Last September we flew to Cape Town. It was Springtime down there. This year we went to Cornwall. It was Autumn. If one could afford an annual migration to the Southern hemisphere in the Northern winter it would be a no-brainer.

View Home - Bristol in a larger map.

Six of us old MotoMates arranged to rendezvous at a hotel in the centre of Bristol. My start point was Duffield near the city of Derby. An old airforce mate had invited me to call in for lunch sometime. He and his lovely wife live in the Cotswolds so a short diversion from the country road would work well.

We had decided to overnight at Bristol. The RV was at the Premier Inn at 16:00. When I had parked my motorbike next to three very familiar machines on the roof carpark and got to the bar at 16:05, TE, BG and GW were halfway through their first well-deserved pint. They had had a very wet and very traffic-jammed motorway ride from Staffordshire - Newborough and Hill Ridware. Still to come was MF who had the longest ride of all of us to the RV. He lives in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, and is one of our septuagenarians. He rides a Honda CB1000F. Maybe he is phoning to say he's going to be late - again!

MF made it. He was only 1 hour late. He did well considering the conditions. There was a beer waiting for him in the bar. It was only slightly flat. I think that GW had his eye on it.  But I was watching him.  Now we had five out of a possible six. Just AM to make the RV. 

Dr AM (of the Dental Surgeon persuasion and from Makeney) was not able to leave his practice until around 16:30, but by 16:35 he was on his BMW 1200RT braving the rain and headlights via the M42, M5, and M4 to the rendezvous. Here he is:

AM

He also did remarkably well. He arrived at 19:10 having filtered for about 150 miles - ... and God said, 'Let there be filtering' and we filtered and it was very good. And the hours became minutes.... Too bad AM has to work and couldn't leave earlier. But somebody has to work. How else does the government get tax £s to pay for pensioner bikers? Anyway we only invite AM along to get our average age down to about 67. He says that he has more fun hanging with us than with kids his own age.

Bristol is a brilliant city especially on a Friday night. When we had downed a few beers and some whiskeys we headed for an Italian restaurant that had been booked ahead. It was good fun. Good food and good wine. What's not to like?

 BG - JM - AM

GW - TE - MF

GW says, "I drink to make other people interesting!"

After a fun evening we wended our way back to the hotel. We didn't cause any trouble. We were as good as gold.

We eventually found the hotel. It was more or less where we left it. After a good sleep and a decent breakfast we set off from the roof of the Premier Inn (£39 per room for the night - not for the roof, actually in the hotel) for Cornwall. Unlike the day before, the weather was: SUNSHINE.

The plan was to keep off of the motorway and hug the north coast as far a possible. I'll try and insert another Google Map here:

 
Bristol to Lynton Note: All of these Google Maps can be clicked and dragged and zoomed in and out as required.

At about 11:00 we pulled into Porlock for a cuppa and a bacon sandwich. There was a convenient car park opposite a very pleasant little coffee shop. I left my helmet, gloves, and GPS on the bike. I am sure that Porlock is an honest town particularly when one can see one's motorcycle from the cafe.

Left to Right: AM, GW, MF, TE, BG, JM

The ride was very picturesque. We rode off the beaten track to look at the pretty harbour in Lynton. Motorbikes can get to places that cars cannot. We rode where we shouldn't have. We parked where we shouldn't have. A parking attendant ran up to tell us off.  Mike totally disarmed him by asking him to take this photo. What a nice jobsworth chap.

 GW's stickers. He is a true World Rider.

We stopped to consult the map. Straight to Barnstaple or via Lynmouth?

We opted for the climb into Lynmouth first, but had to negotiate a very tricky sharp and steep right hand turn first (sorry Barrie!). The sun was still shining and we were all enjoying taking our time and wending southwest. Here is yet another map:

Lynton - Boscastle - Tintagel - Newquay. Click and drag as required.

The sun continued to shine. We rode through Barnstaple, Bideford and Bude and diverted from the A39 for a brief look at Boscastle and to indulge ourselves with tea plus jam scones and clotted cream at Tintagel. This had taken us around Camelford but we rejoined the A39 for Wadebridge and Newquay.

At about 17:30 we arrived in Newquay and quickly found our B&B: Tir Chonaill Lodge Hotel 016 Mount Wise 01637 876492.
More coming if I can be @r$*d.