The Euro Trip....

[CMSMJ1]

The CMSMJ1 (and Grandad) Euro Trip

Now then..about time I wrote this up and showed you lot the sights of the summer holiday!

Basically, me and my best buddy, Grandad (or Craig as his mam calls him) wanted to get out for a holiday on the motorbikes as neither of us had ever been on a road trip before.

We decided on some places to go and some dates and we looked at maybe hitting up the Sachsenring for the MotoGP or a trip to Spain for a trackday etc...

We gave ourselves 2 weeks to complete the trip and it happened that I mentioned the trip to Steve (vfrman) and he offered to let us camp in his garden! In Pisa....

So, route amended and we had our southernmost target to aim for...Pisa!

Day 1 (Saturday) >> Sheffield to Dover and then Calais to Guignicourt


Well, in fact we were scheduled to ride down to Dover on the Friday but I had to work and it was also pissing down with rain....





So..we had some beers and packed the bikes up, ready for a 4am start to Dover...

My ZX7R -

Grandad's ZX6R -

Anyways....we got drunk and kicked back..being very excited about the prospect of getting the hell out of wet and gloomy Sheffield for some Euro Trip sunshine!!

The morning....

We blasted down the M1, round the M25 and down the M20 to Dover. The ZX7R is a fast moto but it was not liking the mahoosive panniers! Speed wobbles ahoy.

We sailed with Sea France – only 1h15m crossings..and a nice boat.







We hit France about lunchtime and set up our cheap Lidl bike 2 bike intercomms...they were shit.

I am sad to report that we were so excited about getting out and down we took very few pics of the arrival..



Our route was a simple one, stay off the toll roads and head south...easy!

Calais to Guignicourt was about 170 miles...it was hot, we were excited and so we blasted away, past a few war memorials ad WW1 cemetaries. I am a big WW1 geek actually. My Great Uncle won a VC in Mesopotamia (Iraq) and all my fmaily have been military..apart from me..lol

The roads were great too – nice and smooth, lots of grip and the weather was lovely.

About 4hrs later we arrived at the Camping Municipal at Guignicourt. A lovely campsite indeed.
We saw a pub on the way in..so we stopped for a quick one....



The campsite was awesome..cheap and nice area. Recommended.






We strolled into town to find a bit of fodder and some beer..





Fodder was Pizza....and a bottle of wine and some ice cold beers





There were a load of crazy Dutch people in their Citroen Ami cars...a bit of a get together. Cool cars, funny people and we had a good crack with them

A Citroen Ami..





Day 2 – Sunday – Guignicourt to Saint Marie Sur Ouche.

Coming....

[mruehl34]

WoW, nice story, can i read more!!

Dutch beere? Not a London pride best bitter?




Michael

[vfrman]

You should build a website or blog or something...

[cbr400rrn]

About bloody time Markthought you had forgot

Excellent writeup

[royster81]

WoW, nice story, can i read more!!

Dutch beere? Not a London pride best bitter?




Michael

and a bottle of WINE , you never mentioned any LADIES going ....

[vfrman]

WoW, nice story, can i read more!!

Dutch beere? Not a London pride best bitter?




Michael

and a bottle of WINE , you never mentioned any LADIES going ....

[CMSMJ1]

Ref the wine..lol - screw you guys I have a taste for a lovely bit of red..and if you don't, then get it sorted!!

If it was Lambrini..they fair..lol


Day 2 – Sunday – Guignicourt to Saint Marie Sur Ouche

Well, it was now Sunday and we were worried about the French people and their work ethic and whether we would find any open petrol stations…

As it turned out, we were OK..still pushing the limits between stops as Grandad’s ZX6R doesn’t have a working reserve switch and so he started to get scared above 100 miles…

The weather was just perfect, hot, sunny and we were still flushed with the excitement of the ride south.

We got cracking and soon became lost in Reims…we had no GPS, we had a really crap A5 sized map of the French roads… so trying to get through a city the size of Reims was just comedy. It was boiling hot too and getting hotter. As sensible Englishmen, we were wearing 2 piece leathers an slowly melting… We were arguing about which direction to go when we saw a French dude and his purty lady friend on a yellow SV.. We asked him where to go…and he could’t speak English…So a bit of pointing at the map (which he laughed at) and we followed him out of town…top chap.

Out of Reims and onto the open road. We just were on a mission to get down to the south coast and into the mountains so we barely stopped or took any photos.

We did see some cool War memorials..


Also, as an aside..I was testing some BT016 out for my local shop who are a Bridgestone Bikers Club dealership. They sold me some tyres at cost and all I had to do was write them some details about wear, warm up etc. I took a load of pics of my tyres…and this one of Grandad’s Maxxis..



Check this road out..what is not to like about this?




Lots of flies….I mean lots and lots…more than I’d ever killed in such a short time!



So, after this little stop which was just to cool down and drink some water /have a fag we got cruising again..superb roads, no-one about…it was wicked.

The hills were starting to get hillier and we were seeing signs for Dijon..so nearly half way down the country and we only set off the morning of the day before..

We got lost in Dijon (again) and finally got to the correct road and with Grandad getting scared of running out of fuel we landed at the camp site..which was also pretty nice.



We were starving and after getting the tent out and finding I had some molten Brie in my panniers…arse…I was pissed off bigtime.. Grandad was pissing himself. (my panniers still honk of cheese now!)


we got to asking where we can find food… No where on the campsite anyways..the closest place a 5 mile run up the road.

T shirts only and gloves we got out to try and find this food gaff.. Oh yes…what a good find.



Oh my lord..I love eating cows as much as anyone..but this was about the nicest bit of animal I have ever had the pleasure of chomping on. It was manna, it was nectar..it was just too nice.


OM NOM NOM etc etc…


So, to bring this day to a close we got back to the campsite and tucked into a bottle of pernod pastis with some salami sandwiches and molten brie. There were a pair of Dutch riders camped opposite so we sat and had a crack and got pissed. One of the funniest things on the whole holiday where the female rider (who was actually more masculine than the guy) was telling us that “tomorrow we are not riding the bikes, we will be drinking the beers and having the sex” Imagine that in a very broad accent.. we are having zhe shecks.. Too funny..and the face of the Dutch guy was a picture!







Day 3..coming…

[CMSMJ1]

Right on Day 3 Monday Sainte Marie Sur Ouche to Serriers en Chantagne

Hungover…hot and another couple hundred miles ahead of us. It was still exciting to get out and hit the roads as we were now getting into some serious hills.

We went via Dijon an saw a beach in the middle of the city..

I was also trying to master the art of taking pictures when riding…



We stopped for some lunch and a rest in the shade..everything shuts at 1200 on a bloody Monday! No wonder our French comrades get annoyed at having to do a days work now and again…

The bikes were hot but performing lovely. This was first proper go on the 7R and I was finding it a really chilled and fast moto. Was glad I bought it to come away rather than bringing my NC30, no9.



Tyres were hanging on and so was the road kill..the 7R likes to eat big insects..


It was really hot once again and we were being sensible still and wearing full 2 piece leathers..to encourage the boiling in your own sweat..


Lots of open roads, hills and great fun..
Awesome scenery too..this the bridge at Matafelon-Granges..






We stopped at a place called Nantua – just stunning views. We had been blatting through forest roads in and out of the shade and came out the side of a hill to see this…






Sit in this shelter..


And the view is..


I really liked Nantua and would make a point of coming back this way on any other holiday..


After that, we got lost some more..and took a wrong turn ending up at the bottom of the Lac du Bourget when we really needed the top of it… a sly stop for a packet of Snickers ice creams and a rest.. We’d had 7hrs in the saddle and were just about fecked and ready to fall over and sleep..it was only 5 o’clock though…an another few miles to go.

Arrived at the campsite..really unimpressed by it..”Camping le Clairet” The pitch was gravelly, the whole place was just rough.




Me, boiling to death trying to get a tent up in the gravel..







Got a beer in the hand, ordered a scabby burger and was just chillin..


More dead things..

And so, we kicked back and watched the Frenchies playing in the little lake with.another long ride done an dusted. Got a litre of wine in…like you do.


And so we were in deepest darkest France and only Monday night! We could almost feel the Alps coming closer and the prospect of hitting the Mediterranean was too cool…

[CMSMJ1]

Day 4 – Tuesday – Serrieres en Chantagne to Saint-Pierre D’Argencon


Another hungover start, bright and early this time though as we were beginning to realise that avoiding the motorways and taking the scenic route was making the days really long. We had planned this journey to be about 200 miles a day, just under 10 days..so about 2 thousand miles…but already we had seen that we were getting lost enough and taking too long to get places!!

We packed up at the crack of dawn.


Sun came up over Lac Du Bourget



What a nice place. The sun was also out too and we were dry mouthed, set for a mondo day into the pre Alps.. woohoo. Also had a little bit of the Route Napoleon on the cards which was cool as I wanted a picture of one of the Eagles on the route.

So, out and into Chambery for some brekkie – had some tasty Pain au Chocolat anda couple of croissants. We got lost in Chambery too..


Having nearly perfected the taking of pictures on the move I had a few decent shots of random towns..







Wicked riding. We headed into a town called Corps – on the Route Naploeon and we stopped for a break.

We should have carried on round the corner from where this pic was taken..it would have been onto the main street and saved us a 10 minute walk up steep hills inn 30+ degree heat. Ballache. A nice cold coke and a jug of water later we were ready to come down the super twisty roads from Corps into Gap.

This day was the first panniered up knee down session. I was getting closer and closer and decided to get a good go at it and on a long medium speed hairpin I got to hanging off and got a lovely little scuff on the French roads. Whoop!! Grandad still doesn’t have a knee down in his repertoire and so I got him to follow and see the skills…and then I followed him as we carved down into Gap on the Route Napoleon for tens of miles.

We saw an Eagle…
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m38/ ... CF5837.jpg < too high to insert this one





Really nice area of the world..




We arrived at the camp site nice and early to find it was a Britsh owned site and that they had showers for us to use and even a brick built BBQ too!!





We went shopping..





Random cheese, steak, chicken and 2 bottles of wine and a box of Kronenbourg.

Grandad got to work..


I chipped in too..



We had a drunken conversation about where to go first thing tomorrow. No panniers and just get out for a scratch. See the amazing map we had..we wanted to go to the white roads on the left hand side of the map..



As it happens..it went dark and all the beer was finished and I fell asleep in the door of my tent. Thanks go to Grandad for this picture…
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m38/ ... CN2907.jpg < again, too tall to post.


So, Tuesday was done. Tomorrow was the big one. To St Martin Vesubie and within a few miles of the Mediterranean coast.

[hipringle]

Keep going mate its a fantastic write up, you certainly have an affection for red, I drink it too so dont fret too much (I will however drink just about anything).

The pictures are superb.