This turned out to be a flying visit to the South of France
between 29th March and 6th April 2007.
I keep a diary on these
visits, this is my story as told in my diary with the bits that make
no sense edited out and pictures put in.
The planned and actual routes
10:40pm Thursday 29th March. A particularly hectic week at work
has taken a negative toll on my preparations for this European
excursion.
If we go back about 3 weeks, I think that is when I
made the mistake. Awe struck by the shiny Kawasaki ZRX1200S in the
showroom I chopped my carefully prepared VFR in and took delivery of
my new bike.
Three weeks is a very tight deadline to prep a bike
in. I needed luggage and a taller screen. Ten days before the off I
finally ordered the kit.
Screen arrived and fitted two days before
the off. Panniers, rack and frames likewise, but missing the all
important adapters that attach the boxes to the frames. I got half
the parts the day before the off and with the help of my resourceful
neighbour bodged the missing pannier supports from some bolts,
washers and nylock nuts.
Then time to pack! Went through my list,
then discarded half the clothing.
I got an email from my traveling
buddy Dave earlier, seems he is as disorganised as me. He was
spending the night putting his bike back together and will meet me at
the ferry port in Dover tomorrow
Friday 30th
Dave met me at the ferry port and we caught the Sea France ferry 'Rodin' on time.
The weather is grey and miserable with very heavy squally showers. This continued through France leaving me with frozen feet by the time we reached our F1 billet in Dreux at 9pm. Out to town for a quick meal then back and sleep.
Saturday 31st
The day started well with good facilities and a nice hot shower. So well in fact, it was nearly 11am by the time we left.
My bike seems to have developed a sticking chain link, causing an irritating thump, thump, thump at low speeds. A dousing with chain lube improved things, but it's still there, a quick check showed my bike low on oil too. We went the first 20 miles from Dreux to Chartres where Dave had to get fuel, the filling station only sells car oils but luckily a group of motorcycles under instruction pulled in. A quick conversation and they agreed to lead us to somewhere that sold the correct oil. We dutifully followed through the streets of Chartres for 3km to a Honda main dealer. The schools bikes had huge crash bars on them.
While at the shop we got chatting with another customer who told us there had been 15cm of snow in Deauville yesterday, we can only have been just in front of that snow.
We left for Blois just after midday. By one o'clock I was hungry so we stopped at Oucques for lunch, a total 70 miles from our start and 330 miles to go that day, we got going again by 2pm.
Dave had brought a pair of Oxford bike to bike radios with him, so we had hooked ourselves up and they proved quite useful enabling us to utter random thoughts as we made our way South.
We pressed on toward our pre-booked hotel in Albi. It seems I may have been a little over optimistic about our rate of progress on the French N and D roads. As we joined the motorway at Chateauroux the sign told me 437km to Toulouse. So we revised our plan and booked into the Hotel IBIS in Limoges. A lovely evening meal with too much wine later I collapsed into bed exhausted.
Sunday 1st April (My birthday)
Awoke late with a hangover, showered and went to breakfast. Rain is forecast all day long. We plan to continue toward the Millau viaduct, then on toward the Mediterranean sea. The viaduct may be shrouded in low cloud, happy birthday me.
We drove along motorways and D roads for an age today, arrived in Millau around 7pm. The rain stopped just as we rolled into town, we got soaked along the way. We rode around the town and checked the price of a room at the IBIS, 86 euros, too much, we tried another but they didn't have a twin room available. Then we recalled passing a camp site on the way into town, ten minutes later we were pitching our tent right by the river. 11 Euros. A short ride into town and the Plat du Jour at a cafe, pate, veal and meringue for dessert 15 euros, washed down with 3 litres of water.
When we got back to the tent it was a) Dark and b) very windy. My new torch was strapped to my head and proved very effective. The wind was incredible, I could hear enormous gusts rushing down the valley before they hit the tent. I don't know how the viaduct coped several hundred feet above us! Come the morning my bike was, I am pleased to note, still standing.
Monday 2nd April
The wind had died away and for the first time this trip we were up and ready to go by 9am. We drove through Millau and followed the road along the valley under the viaduct, met a German guy with a sidecar outfit which seemed to use car tyres. Took photos of the bridge and decided we should go over it since we had come all this way. So back through Millau and up the road out of the valley onto the motorway over the bridge. A 3.5 euro toll and we were away. Crossing is a surreal experience, much less wind than expected the world seems to stand still in silence.
Then we were over the other side of the gorge and off down the motorway. The plan said “go to Junction 45 and turn toward Montpellier”, I was mulling this over in my mind as I sailed past the exit, instantly realising my mistake, but too late. Down to the next junction and back again, oops. Through Montpellier and on toward Nimes, before dropping onto the picturesque D559 Mediterranean coast road toward St Tropez.
We checked into a 12 euro camp site one town away from St Tropez where a meal in the restaurant saw me in bed by 10, to the accompaniment of what sounded like several hundred frogs. Apparently it is mating season.
Tuesday 3rd April
Awoke at 8. Going to St Tropez and maybe Cannes today before staying another night with the singing frogs. A couple of croissants from the shop for breakfast and off we went along the coastal road. We stopped at a couple of motorcycle shops along the way to see if Dave could get his now broken headset repaired or replaced. No joy the dealers seem about as useful as the ones in the UK, I did buy some sunglasses in one though, I thought they looked cool, now I think they make me look a pratt, oh well. We parked up by the harbour in St Tropez, I strolled around looking at the rich peoples boats. A film crew was shooting what looked like a soap opera, I didn't recognise any of the actors but they're probably famous somewhere.
We moved off toward Cannes on the D559, at St Raphael we stopped for lunch, I can highly recommend the 559 between ST Raphael and Cannes. It is not quick, twisting round the cliff face overlooking the sea. There are lots of tourists (even this early in April) and the views are stunning. For a stretch the railway runs alongside the road in front of a browny red cliff face, it reminded me of Dawlish Warren in South Devon. The land levels as we approach Cannes and beaches appear, we stop and Dave decides he's come all this way and is going for a swim in the Med. I got as far as my ankles before deciding it was too cold.
In Cannes we drink coffee at a cafe on the promenade and watch the sea before heading back. We choose the more major DN7 road for our return to St Raphael, what a road! Wide, well surfaced and pretty much empty as it winds into the mountains before dropping back down to the coast, highly recommended. It took us 4 hours to get to Cannes (excluding stops) and just 90 minutes to get back. A meal then bed with the accompanying frog sound track.
Wednesday 4th April
Half way through our 10 day trip we will start back North today. First to Monte Carlo (back along the brilliant DN7) then North on the D6204 which becomes the S20 as it crosses into Italy but seems to be the E74 for it's entire length.
The roads and scenery are best described as brilliant and spectacular. Monaco was fun, we sat in a cafe on the harbour's edge and ate lunch. Less than 10 metres away are some seriously expensive yachts with their owners dining on deck. We left Monaco and headed up into the Alps, mountain roads winding their way up. We refueled at Sospel and pressed on toward the Italian border, climbing all the way. At 800m it began to rain, by 1000m this had turned to sleet and the temperature had plummeted, At 1246m we entered the tunnel between France and Italy. We emerged on the Italian side into heavy snow, about 7pm now and the temperature has fallen well below 0 degrees, snow is settling on the road, we rode 100m down the road, turned around and went back into the tunnel, we were glad to be back in the French sleet. 2 hours later we check into a nice warm hotel in Nice. I was just about keeping with the program with my winter gloves, heated waistcoat and heated grips, I swear Dave had turned blue!
Thursday 5th April
Chastened by our foray into Italy we decide just to skirt the lower Alps on our way back North. From Nice we head NE on the D6202/N202 to Digne-les-Bains, a fantastic road. Mountainous, wide, well surfaced and picturesque, a brilliant ride. Down to Grenoble and onto Voiron by 8pm. A hard days ride.
Friday 6th April
I received a call at 10pm last night from work, they broke it on Monday and despite the combined resources of the UK and US are unable to fix it.
Motorway back through Lyon heading North to the coast 550 miles to Calais, the 7:30 boat to Dover and then 150 miles home. 13 hours of riding, 700 miles.
The bikes:
Dave's TDM850 used around a litre of oil in 2500 miles, returned 40mpg. Range is only 125-130 miles. Michelin road pilot rear tyre seems to last forever.
My ZRX1200S used ½ litre of oil in 2500 miles, returned 50 mpg on normal roads and alpine passes. Range 210 miles. Continental road attack tyres grip well but wear quickly, I'm down to the wire by the end of the trip. On the way back fuel economy suffers, at 140mph (indicated) < 30mpg, at 90-100mph 40mpg.