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Well, I\'ve just got off the ferry in Cherbourg and I have no idea where I\'m going. When I make travel plans I like to keep them simple, I get the ferry there on this date and home again on that date. See? Simple. The thinking behind this is: "I can\'t be lost if there\'s nowhere else I\'m supposed to be" |
The first time I came here, something annoyed me on Friday, Saturday I went to the travel agents and on Sunday I was on the boat. I arrived in Le Harve on a twenty year old 400 LTD with no idea about riding on the continent, road signs, roundabouts, traffic lights, would they be the same, different, get me wrecked? So I thought I\'d follow one of the other bikers. The guy in front of me had an Italian sticker on the bike and I figured he wouldn\'t be staying here, all I wanted was out of the town and into the country, so, as he went I followed him. Here is an important piece of informationNEVER FOLLOW AN ITALIAN. They\'re all mental, this guy was overtaking, undertaking, charging red lights, and of course me going like a loony trying to stay with him. Eventually I get out of town and pull over at a rest stop, I get out the map I\'d bought in Easons and after 20 minutes reach a conclusion. Either the captain of the ferry has pulled a fast one and landed me in Belgium, or, my map\'s a piece of shit.
So, as I was saying, you\'ll want a better map, pull in at the first petrol station you come to and get one there. Blay Foldex, are very good, they show roads right down to goat tracks and give you very good ideas about distance. There are fifteen to cover France so buy one to cover whichever area or areas you\'re going to.
If you want to cover ground in a hurry, the French motorways are brilliant. There are rest stops every ten miles, fuel stops every 20 miles and huge stops where you can eat, drink, fill up and sleep every 60 miles. As you get to each fuel stop, signs tell you how far to the next one, so if you know how far your bike goes on a tankfull, you\'ll know when to stop. The motorways can be expensive, they\'re all toll roads, but not exorbitantly so, and bikes only pay a third of what a car does. If you\'re in no rush though, get off the motorways. The roads are a hundred times better than the UK. No road works, no potholes, no congestion. Wide roads, sweeping curves, bike friendly cops, If they gave away the petrol it would be bike heaven. In some areas you can ride all day and not see another vehicle, so take a mobile phone. You won\'t get a phone box outside a town and if you\'re going to break down you can guarantee it won\'t happen in a town.
When it comes to hotels, because I never know where I\'m going to be, I can\'t make reservations ahead of myself. This is only a problem in the first two weeks of August when the whole of France takes its annual holiday. Outside of this time getting a hotel is pretty easy. I tend to stop around 6 PM in whatever town I\'m in and hunt for one. If like me you aren\'t that fussy and are only looking for somewhere to rest your weary head, then try the Formula 1 chain. Clean, tidy, simple and cheap. Between ?3 to ?0 a night and that\'s for a room, which will sleep 3, so the more of you there are, the cheaper it is. You can pick up a book at any Formula 1, or Etap, their slightly more expensive sister chain, which will give you the position of every other hotel in the country, very handy.
The big Diversion is a very under rated bike, while it won\'t set your trousers on fire it won\'t make them feel like they\'re made of lead and full of ants either. It\'s big, comfy, reliable and very easy to maintain. I have mine fitted with Nonfango luggage, three huge box\'s capable of carrying everything the adventurer needs, and still leaves the top box empty for those occasions when you want to stop and throw your jacket and lid into it while you wander off around some sight or other. You won\'t throw it round the twisties like a 600, but it will keep up with them and motorway cruising at 100mph is a doddle, just remember your ear plugs.
Comfy? I\'ve done six hundred miles each day for three days and while being tired, I wasn\'t sore and after a shower was ready to head up the town for a drink or two and a bite to eat.
Reliable? The engine is famously bullet proof, nothing ever goes wrong with it. I\'ve owned mine for three years and beyond tyres and normal servicing, haven\'t had to put a spanner near it.
Anyway, I\'m heading south and decide to keep going that way. Someone told me the Loire/Dordogne region was nice and they weren\'t lying. Good roads, pretty villages and some interesting sights to see. Out of St. Lo you came to Le Mans, home of the famous racetrack and well worth a look around. If there\'s nothing on you can get in for free, other days there can be racing with bikes, carts, trucks, anything with wheels and an engine. These smaller events are quite cheap (?-?1) and a lot of fun. There\'s also an automobile museum here (?) Loads of race cars from the start of racing up to the present day and a lot of technical stuff on the history and development of the racecar. Wilbur Wright apparently took off on the racetrack in his new fangled flying machine and set a new world record here in 1908. I didn\'t know this before. See the kind of stuff you can learn if you just take the time.
If castles are your thing, then this is your area. Every corner you go round brings a new chateau into view. Most have a winery attached and most are open to the public (for a small fee) Take in at least one just so you can see how the other half live.
One thing you\'ll notice right away on the continent, when you pull up at a castle, hotel, pub, whatever, nobody meets you with that instant look of distrust you get at home. Even when you look like me, 6 foot, 17 stone, shaven head, beard, look like I eat small children, people accept you right away. Somebody told me it was because everybody has a scooter from age 14, so everyone\'s really bike friendly, they all remember what it was like.
