It was a strange mixture of excitement and trepidation riding the bike onto the ferry. But not as strange as finding a kebab shop/internet cafe in Furtwangen, 3miles from Michelhof guesthouse/campsite where we are saying for two days to catch up on sleep and plan a route through Switzerland. Calais was where the trip really started for me. After a cold and windy night in Folkestone, meeting Lee at the Warren campsite soon cheered us up, especially after sampling the local beverages and squeezing our more than adequate frames into a taxi. Mark often compares his physique to a god, shame it's Budda's....
After the mad rush for the last 3 months planning, we could now relax and just enjoy riding the bikes.
The roads out of Calais, although very wet, were a revelation. Smooth, scenic and little traffic. Ideal for a bike. One important thing we overlooked was the fact that as May 1st was a bank holiday, all the shops and fuel stations were closed. By the time we found petrol on one of the main roads in Lille, I had 1.5lt left and Geoff 1ltr. That was close.
Lee suggested a small town in Belgium, Chimay, as the local monks are famous for their beer. A good enough reason. Geoff and I were perfectly happy allowing Lee and Mark to decide when and where we went, just so we could relax and take in the scenery. Northern France doesn't have much in the way of scenery but the roads made up for it.
Geoff found an 'English' pub in Chimay, the Queen Mary, where bikers are welcome. It was full of dummies sporting Valentino Rossi leathers and famous Belgian riders unfamiliar to us. A very surreal place, especially when the Karaoke was fired up to liven the evening. Think of the worst Eurovision songs, sung by the worst 'over refreshed' Belgians, and you'd be halfway to imagining how bad it was. As hilarious as the look on Marks face!
Some of the roads in this region were as straight as a Queens guard's expression. I think the Romans had no interest in motorcycling.
As we left Chimay, past the local livestock market admiring the array of chickens, ducks, rabbits and other game, we past an amazing array of vintage European and American cars. You don't see many old Mercedes like that one, except that one and those two.
Mark led us into Luxembourg for lunch, cheese and salami rolls, bought fresh that morning in a small village patisserie in the Ardenne region. Perfect until an enormous black cloud dampened our spirits for a few minutes. Mark looked like Sasquatch hiding under a camouflaged poncho.
We found a nice campsite alongside a fast flowing river, after a long ride down to the Black Forest. Mark and Geoff shopped for food while Lee and I did our best to negotiate the price of camping with our limited German, and the site owners broken English. A crowd of motorhomes congealed around the showerblock for a 'Folksong evening' probably contributing a great deal to the malodourous overwhelmed toilets.
The morning weather was perfect, a chance for the tents to dry out.
"Die sonne scheint mit glitzer strahl" I exclaimed. 'The sun shines with a glittering beam'
Geoff was very impressed at my grasp of German language until I explained it was simply a Kraftwerk lyric.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes, the spellcheck is in German.....
After the mad rush for the last 3 months planning, we could now relax and just enjoy riding the bikes.
The roads out of Calais, although very wet, were a revelation. Smooth, scenic and little traffic. Ideal for a bike. One important thing we overlooked was the fact that as May 1st was a bank holiday, all the shops and fuel stations were closed. By the time we found petrol on one of the main roads in Lille, I had 1.5lt left and Geoff 1ltr. That was close.
Lee suggested a small town in Belgium, Chimay, as the local monks are famous for their beer. A good enough reason. Geoff and I were perfectly happy allowing Lee and Mark to decide when and where we went, just so we could relax and take in the scenery. Northern France doesn't have much in the way of scenery but the roads made up for it.
Geoff found an 'English' pub in Chimay, the Queen Mary, where bikers are welcome. It was full of dummies sporting Valentino Rossi leathers and famous Belgian riders unfamiliar to us. A very surreal place, especially when the Karaoke was fired up to liven the evening. Think of the worst Eurovision songs, sung by the worst 'over refreshed' Belgians, and you'd be halfway to imagining how bad it was. As hilarious as the look on Marks face!
Some of the roads in this region were as straight as a Queens guard's expression. I think the Romans had no interest in motorcycling.
As we left Chimay, past the local livestock market admiring the array of chickens, ducks, rabbits and other game, we past an amazing array of vintage European and American cars. You don't see many old Mercedes like that one, except that one and those two.
Mark led us into Luxembourg for lunch, cheese and salami rolls, bought fresh that morning in a small village patisserie in the Ardenne region. Perfect until an enormous black cloud dampened our spirits for a few minutes. Mark looked like Sasquatch hiding under a camouflaged poncho.
We found a nice campsite alongside a fast flowing river, after a long ride down to the Black Forest. Mark and Geoff shopped for food while Lee and I did our best to negotiate the price of camping with our limited German, and the site owners broken English. A crowd of motorhomes congealed around the showerblock for a 'Folksong evening' probably contributing a great deal to the malodourous overwhelmed toilets.
The morning weather was perfect, a chance for the tents to dry out.
"Die sonne scheint mit glitzer strahl" I exclaimed. 'The sun shines with a glittering beam'
Geoff was very impressed at my grasp of German language until I explained it was simply a Kraftwerk lyric.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes, the spellcheck is in German.....
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