Day 30 - Albert to Home

First stop McDs for brekkie. Least that was the plan. Again, the golden arches didn't open till 10am, so we decided to eat in and as it was our last day, splash the cash!

Our first of 2 POIs was the Newfoundland Memorial Park of Beaumont-Hamel, dedicated to the commemoration of the Newfoundland Regiment members who were killed when they made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The 74-acre preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their attack and includes both British and German front line trenches. The memorial is quite striking with a huge bronze caribou on the top.

There was an area in no man's land with a clump of trees called, I think, Danger Wood. Today, most of that area is grass, trenches or craters, except for, the Danger Tree, a petrified tree, the only original tree in this location to survive the war.

A walk around the site takes you to a couple of small cemeteries and to a memorial to the 51st Highland Division, who in November 1916 broke through the German front line to capture the village of Beaumont-Hamel. Another huge statue, of a soldier in a kilt, commemorates those that fell during the battle. 

It is a sobering place to walk around, seeing the trenches (you can even walk down a stretch) with rusted metal supports still in place and even some barbed wire supports, which I'd like to think are in their original location. Looking at the green grass, being grazed by sheep and the trees that now grow around the site, it is impossible to imagine the sea of mud, craters and utter devastation that those men had to endure. Thank heavens we have photos taken at the time to show us the reality. This wasn't just a war, it was hell!

As we re-mounted, the dark clouds that had been overhead, relinquished some of their load. Not much, just enough to cover my screen. This was the first proper rain we'd seen since Mount Etna but nothing to worry about. 2 or 3 times more we had the same sprinkling but not enough to even dampen the roads.

This last trip seemed to be about wildlife. I saw a couple of pheasants in a field, maybe the first of the tour, then when we came around a corner, there were cows crossing the road. A lot of cows. Most just plodded across but one or two more inquisitive, stopped and looked at us waiting for them.

A little further on, I was faced with some little grey birds, maybe baby pheasants, crossing the road. 5 of them. 4 made it across, the fifth, rather judiciously, waited until we had passed. Later on my/our final encounter was with a young deer. I could see it in the field, it could hear me coming. It wasn't going to hang around and I could see where it was going to run to. Across the road it went and bounded off into a corn field. There was no danger, it was far enough ahead of me not to be an issue.

Our  second stop was at a monument to commemorate the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. I'm somewhat surprised the French bother, as they got their arses kicked there by Henry V. There's a stone monument and a tower to climb that allows you a view over a neighbouring field, believed to be where the battle took place.

We now just had the final run in to Calais. Our train was 16:50, so we had plenty of time. We decided to fuel up on the French side, as it is a lot cheaper than the UK, so I headed for an Auchan fuel station I use regularly. Cost per litre, £1.74. We had plenty of time to kill, so over the road we went to the supermarket and bought some beer. Then we nipped in one of the on-site restaurants for our lunch.

Eurotunnel is just 10 minutes away. On arrival, because we were early, we were offered the earlier train. No brainer, we accepted that, 16:20 departure. Grizzly wanted to do some duty free shopping, so by the time that was concluded it was time to head for passport control and departure. All very smooth, we had a short wait before being loaded. Even earlier than expected, we left at 16:00! That's got to be a first. Getting that extra time back was a bonus for Grizzly, as he had his overnight stop at Leigh Delamere to get to, 160 odd miles away.

Just before the train arrived in Folkestone, we said our usual goodbye, with a big man hug and back slap, then, off the train, we then rode the M20 together until I peeled off at Maidstone. I arrived home at 16:20, my tour was over. Grizzly arrived at Leigh Delamere at 19:00. He has one more day to go, to his ferry at Pembroke, then back to everyday life in Portlaoise.

I had covered 4,439 since leaving home. Another mammoth tour had ended. What next?

Day 29 - Senlis to Albert

Another day, another Campanile brekkie but much better than yesterdays. There was even cooked at this one and some of the best scrambled eggs I've ever had in a hotel, beautifully creamy and moist.

We only had about 60 miles to go to our first POI stop, the Villers-Bretonneux Australian Memorial in the Somme. As always, a very impressive and well tended site, a fitting tribute to the fallen.

There's an app that guides you to certain points around the site, giving information on a number of the young men killed.  The youngest, lied about his age when he enlisted at 16, saying he was 21. He was dead at 17 but had won himself a military cross. 

At the far end of the site is the wall of the 'no known grave' chaps, and a huge tower. I climbed up to get a 360 look of the landscape and a birds eye view of the cemetery. 

Our second stop was a personal one but one which we have done before, back in 2014, to pay a visit to my grandfather's cousin William, who lost his life on 16th July 1916. He was serving with the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI). My third visit.

Our third stop was in the town of Albert. We found a spot to park right in the town square by the Basilica and right by our next destination the Somme 1916 Museum. By now Grizzly was in need of coffee, so we popped into a cafe. 

The museum is brilliant and well worth the entrance fee. It's housed in 13th century tunnels that go from underneath the Basilica, 250 metres and exit in the park. They were used to house people during the Second World War, protecting them from bombing, and could hold up to 1500 people.

One of the exhibits housed badges from all the regiments that took part in the Battle of the Somme. Here is the King's Shropshire Light Infantry.

Moving on, next up was our fuel stop. This planed stop didn't go to plan however, not because we didn't like the price but because 'computer said no' and rejected our credit cards.  We found another supermarket fuel station just up the road, same price, job done!

Next on our agenda, the Pozieres British Cemetery. Another magnificent tribute to those who gave their lives. It is the final resting place of 2753  allied troops and one German. And we never thought to go and find him!

Our final stop, was to the Ulster Tower, a memorial to the Irish soldiers who lost their lives that terrible July in 1916. The tower is built on the spot where they fell.

From the Ulster Tower,  we made our way to the IBIS Hotel. As the nearest place to eat is either the hotel itself or McDs across the roundabout (where we'll probably have brekkie),  we decided to eat in again.

This was our end of tour meal. Starter,  main and lots of beer.

Tomorrow we head for Calais and the tunnel.  We have a couple of POIs on the way. Grizzly is hoping to be able to do some duty free shopping when we get there. I reckon I can get another 2 bottles of beer in my pannier bags, so will be looking for a supermarket stop.

One more sleep.

Day 28 - Nevers to Senlis

Well at least the Campanile served up brekkie and pretty decent too. There were even crepes.

Hit the road about 9am. Bit cooler than of late, though forecast was for 27 after lunch. Roads different to what we've been used to last couple of days too. A lot more small country ones, not bad condition by any means but not billiard table smooth either.

The French countryside in this part of the world is covered in fields of sunflowers. They are spectacular bursts of yellow and can stretch for miles. I had thought that the fields were just scattered with seeds but no, you can definitely see that they have been planted in defined rows, very regimented. They look fantastic. 

Twice today Grizzly has had to relieve himself at roadside. The second time we'd stopped in a layby. There was a car further down. Grizzly had gone over to the bin and decided he needed to unload more of the coffees he'd had for breakfast. Just as he whipped the old chap out, the guy from the car, whom Grizzly thought was having a nap, arrived to put something in the bin! Just as well Grizzly didn't spin round in surprise. 🤣

There were no planned stops today, apart from the fuel stop.  When we got there, we didn't fancy the price,  so located a Leclerc supermarket one, a few kms further on. This is a game we've played the last couple of days. There wasn't much else of note today, least not till a bit later but I'll come on to that. The fuel was €2.14 but at Leclerc it was only €1.97, so that's a saving for me of £1.90. 

Just across from the Leclerc was a McDs, so we popped in for some lunch. Whilst in there, I got a message from tomorrow's B&B, saying they'd had a recent guest go down with covid and that, though they had tested negative, they thought we should know and that if we wanted to cancel, we could. We discussed it and both agreed it didn't make sense to put ourselves in a position where we could possibly contract it, so we decided to cancel. They were understanding, saying they would probably do the same in our shoes. A quick check on Booking.com gave only 2 options. I chose an IBIS, mainly because of the on site parking. The other place said public parking nearby. So we are now staying just on the outskirts of Albert, instead of a few miles up the road. It does mean we've lost our 3 course end of tour dinner now though. McDs is over the road from the IBIS,  I wonder what 3 courses we could get there! 🤔 

As predicted, Ginny clocked the 26k this morning. We were alone on a country lane at the time, so I stopped to record the event. My alarm was going anyway, so I had to turn that off. 

We arrived at our hotel in Senlis about 4pm, after another good day's riding. Grizzly too, is a fan of riding in France, especially when the weather is so good. It took a little while to warm up today but it reached 25 late on. 

Eating options were limited. McDs right next door, eat in or at the Courtepaille about 100m away. McDs was out and Courtepaille more expensive than eating in, so we stayed put. I went for a salad tonight, chicken caesar.

Obviously we had beers. A wasp made the fatal error of coming between Grizzly and his pint, diving in with abandon. Result, string of profanities and a dead wasp.

This could be Grizzly's mantra I reckon.

Tomorrow we are heading for Albert in the heart of the Somme. Our POIs, of which there are 5, will all be related to that region and World War 1.

Just 2 more sleeps left. 

Day 27 - Bort-les-Orgues to Nevers

Our host had opened his cafe this morning, so Grizzly had a coffee whilst taking his bags down to the bike.  He checked out the breakfast offering, which we would have had to pay for anyway and reckoned it wasn't worth it, so again we made a decision to find somewhere are en-route.

Our first stop the day was just a few minutes ride up the road. This was a personal visit for me, as I visited back with my parents and brother in 1973 and again with my then girlfriend, in 1979. The destination, Chateau de Val, a XVth century castle, once up on a hillside, since 1952 it has sat on the banks of a reservoir, created when the first and largest dam on the river Dordogne was built at the end of the valley.

I think my dad harboured hopes that our family name was linked to this fairytale property. A nice thought.

Once again we were taking things easy on the roads, there was no need to rush, so 50 mph was the norm. As on previous days, the roads were superb and the French drivers so much more patient and respectful than the Italians. 

One particular town we came to had a name that will be familiar to many, if not all, Volvic. Yes, the place the bottled water comes from. The road bypassed the town itself with its castle on the hill but took us right passed the Volvic bottling plant. Nearby I spotted a Patisserie, so we pulled in for brekkie. I had a couple of pastries, with a cookie and a bottle of water. The water hadn't had far to travel!

Grizzly got a buy 2 get one free deal on his pain au chocolat, which only became apparent when the young lady announced, "I need to give you one". 😳

Back on the road, we were travelling through fields of sunflowers. I was struck by how they all stand to attention facing the sun, quite a sight.

One of the yellow things isn't a sunflower! And no, he's not "watering the pony", he's taking pictures . 

Our 2nd POI was a photo stop at another race circuit , that of Magny-Cours. There seems to be quite a big complex there, as before we even got to the entrance of the circuit itself, we passed a mini circuit with what looked like a test session taking place, and a go karting track.

We had a fuel stop next but skipped the planned one, to save ourselves 6 cents a litre at a supermarket! Have to watch the pennies when touring. 🤣

From there we only had about 3km to the hotel, a Campanile. It's out of town and surrounded by commercial shops, so there was no real option but to eat in. A buffet of cold starters, then a burger and fries. Washed down with an Affligem fruit beer. Nice but very expensive.

Tomorrow we are heading for a little town just north of Paris called Senlis. We'll skirt round the capital. We've done 2 capitals, 3 would be just plain greedy. Weather is looking promising, another 27 degree high.

By the way, I clocked up 4,000 miles on the trip today and Ginny will pass 26,000 tomorrow. 

3 more sleeps. 

Day 26 - Ales to Bort-les-Orgues

Best laid plans and all that,  we arrived at McDonald's about 8:20 and it doesn't open till 10:30, so on we went to find another little market and some more pastries. First though a fuel stop, which gets us back on track after the other day. Ginny didn't need any, having only done 87 miles.

We had a very gentle ride up into the hills, barely getting above 45/50mph. At least that way I could keep Grizzly in sight, well most of the time.

After about 90 minutes we pulled into a village, Florac, for our brekkie. In the square there was the finishing line for what appeared to be a hill running competition. Just as we arrived, the first guy came over the line. We only saw 2 more come in!

We got some pastries and a coffee  My cappuccino was a bit over the top, literally.

This was Super Sunday, an absolute brilliant ride from start to finish. I love riding in France.  The roads today have been so smooth, there's barely been a bump. Such a contrast to Italy. The weather once again played its part and in the main not too hot, 26-27 degrees. 

On one series of twisties, we came around a right hander to be confronted by two police motorcyclists, one of whom waved us over. We weren't doing anything wrong,  they were just doing a tyre condition spot check.

At one point a threatening cloud appeared. Despite it being 27 degrees, it started to rain, all 5 big spots of it! 🤣

We only had one stop today, the Garabit Viaduct built by Gustave Eiffel. The road to a viewing point twists under it twice, so you get more than one perspective. It's quite impressive and that same orangey colour as the Eiffel Tower. We stopped to take some photos and watched a  pair of red kites soaring overhead.

Continuing on, we stopped at a supermarket to grab a drink and I took the opportunity to do my shopping for the tour.

I only have room for one bottle in my pannier bag. ☹️

We had another fuel stop to make before our destination.  When we got to the garage, a Total one, the fuel was €2.23 per litre. We searched Google maps and found a Carrefour one 500m up the road. Theirs,  €1.99. I saved €4.50.

Fuelled up again we enjoyed the last 15 mile run into Bort-les-Orgues and to our hotel, Le Rider. How appropriate, eh?

Parking across the street in the tourist railway car park, which looks closed down, until on closer inspection, I saw the station is still in operation, just not Sunday. The rolling stock is a right mess, as you'll see in the photos. 

This old bus like thing was the most interesting. 

I took a walk into the town, trying to suss out where we might eat later. Nothing was open and it was hard to see if/when they would be. The town had some interesting things  such as an octagonal building in the square and quite a large church.

Back at the hotel, I checked out some of the eateries I'd seen on Google maps. It can be unreliable, for opening times especially but it seemed a Vietnamese restaurant would be open, an all you can eat buffet! So that's where we ate, and ate  and ate! Oh, and drank Vietnamese beers too.

Above, breaded frogs legs. Grizzly wouldn't have one until I said I'd call him out in the blog, the words, f*****g wus came to mind.  He had one.

We walked out of there full to the gills. Maybe a small salad tomorrow 🤔 

The Dordogne river runs behind the hotel. There's no aircon in the room, so our windows are open. Meaning we have the sound of the running water to lull us to sleep. Hopefully there's no mozzies about or I'll suffer. 

Tomorrow we continue our journey north, overnighting in Nevers, another place I've nevers been to. 🤣

Four more sleeps till tour end.

Bonne nuit.

Driving in Italy, what have we learned?

Italy's roads are either really smooth or really bloody bumpy. More bumpy than smooth though. In general their smaller roads aren't a patch on those in France or even the UK for that matter. 

It is apparent, I believe, that Italy has no driving test, given the standard of driving we have witnessed, endured even. I have seen some driving school cars. These must just be to teach the bad habits, before letting them out on their own. 

Italian drivers are the most impatient I have ever come across. It's as if they are all in a race to be first in the queue to meet their maker and they do their best to achieve top spot at every opportunity. This means, they overtake anywhere and everywhere, push into queues, refuse to let people across the road and totally ignore road markings and speed limits. Even our Italian chum Loenzo says you need eyes front, back and both sides!

They change direction in the main part, without any indication. If they had a driving test someone would surely have told them what that stalk on the steering column is for. Same goes for road markings and speeds limits too

They will park anywhere. Double parking happens almost everywhere. They will park on corners and on zebra crossings. Anywhere there is a space is fair game. If they can't get all of the car into a space, they will stick the front in and leave the arse sticking out.

Partially blocking a road whilst chatting to a mate, either in their car or on the pavement, is totally acceptable it would seem. 

Children, those most prized 'possessions' of parents are allowed to roam about the vehicle unsecured. What year is this?

It is acceptable in this developed world country to sit 2 or more children on a scooter, with a third standing on the footboards in front of the rider! Italy isn't that far east, is it?

Aircon is a pointless addition to any Italian car, as a vast majority drive with their window down, right hand on the wheel,  left arm waving out of the open window, unless they are talking or texting on their phones that is! Even scooter riders use their mobiles whilst riding.

The plod are just as bad. We have witnessed a  copper driving along using his mobile phone. 

Italians get upset if you do Italian on them,   tooting and gesturing. They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring!

There's probably other stuff I missed out. Overtaking in tunnels is one of Grizzly's favourites. 

Day 25 - Alba to Ales

We had 3 POIs, I think I said 2 in my last post but more of those shortly.

There was no breakfast option with the hotel, so we were away early. It was chilly, 13 degrees. I put my heated grips on.That makes me a f*****g wus apparently. I had nice warm hands though, until the temperature rose.

Due to yesterday's shenanigans, Grizzly was out of sync with our fuel stops.  He wouldn't have had enough to reach the next scheduled stop, so I found one only 6 miles away. Refuelling done, we had to find ourselves a brekkie stop, which we did, with a tiny 'supermarket' out in the sticks. Some pain au chocolat did the trick. 

The early ride had been a mixture of roads  with some twisty stuff again. On one particular right hander, the sun was right in my face. Even with my sun shield down I was blinded. Just as well nothing was coming the other way.

Our first stop after our breakfast, was at some lavender fields. This region is famous for their production of lavender products and the fields stretch for miles. I had picked a spot on streetview that looked good. Sod's law  the bloody field was empty! Further on there was other fields with row upon row of lavender plants. Quite spectacular to see and they draw a huge number of sightseers. Quite amazing.

To get back in sync with our scheduled fuel stops, I suggested we stop again. We popped into another supermarket for some water, then filled the bikes. By now the temperature was around 29!

With more fuel taken on, we headed for our 2nd POI, at a place called Avignon. Give yourself a pat on the back if you guessed it was the bridge. 

A conversation went someting like this. "What are we here for? To visit the bridge in the song. What song? Sur le pont d'avignon. Never heard of it, who sung it? What?, it's a bloody childrens song, the French sing. Never heard of it. It is famous all over the world but not in Cork or Portlaoise apparently. I'll have to google it." I kid you not people.

I'd been told by Avignon tourism that we could park the bikes at the nearby car park. Barriers with no room to squeeze by and requesting a card. No indication of cost for bikes, so we turned round. By the bridge is an area that was once parking spaces, closed off with big stone blocks but with gaps big enough for us to get through. We parked there  ignoring the 'will be towed away' signs. By the time we had done the bridge, there were 4 other bikes parked with us.

I'd already bought our concessionary tickets online. It said you'd need proof of eligibility. They just scanned it and in we went and onto the bridge.

Of course, it's not really a bridge as such,  as it doesn't go all the way across the river. The river  incidentally,  is the Rhone, the longest in France.

More like a pier.

Some Americans heard me singing the song and asked if I would take a photo of them. I obliged. Then they wanted a video, whilst they sang and danced, sur le pont d'avignon! Hmm 🤔

Our final POI, was the Pont du Gard roman bridge. Built as part of the Nimes aquaduct in the first century AD, it was in use for 400 years. It is a huge structure and another fine example of Roman technological architecture.

It attracts a huge crowd, as much for the river on a scorching day like today, as for the structure itself.

It costs to park and also for the museum but if you just want to see the bridge, then it's only the parking you pay for. Take a ticket at the barrier, pay before you leave, you know how it works.

So, on leaving, I insert the ticket at the barrier. Grizzly is alongside me. The ticket pops out, I take it and the barrier raises. As I tuck the ticket in my pocket, Grizzly  like shit off a shiny shovel shoots away. If only he was that fast out on the road, at junctions or roundabouts for example! Before I have time to move, the barrier comes down. I'm stuck. I can't move back because of a speed hump and inserting the ticket again has no effect. I press the buzzer. I explain the barrier has come down before I  had chance to go through. A bloke says he doesn't understand. I explain again. After several minutes and a queue gathering behind me, the barrier raises and we can continue on our way to Ales.

It's an IBIS hotel, no restaurant, so we decided on another fast food night, after some beers  of course. McDonalds it was, with another beer chaser. 

Tomorrow we head for Bort-les-Orgues but not before a  McDs brekkie. IBIS want €10.50 for theirs.

There are just 5 more sleeps of the tour left.

Day 24 - Alba to La Roque-Esclapon

Guess who thought it was day 25, so deleted his day 24 routes? Not so clever chimp! Clever enough to have a backup though, so he was able to reinstall them.

We had to go over the road to the cafe for our inclusive breakfast this morning. If you can call it that. I'd told Grizzly not to expect too much,  even so, I wasn't expecting what we got. We had 2 pastries and a coffee each. Juice was extra, so we declined. When we left, the chap from the cafe followed us across the road to say only one pastry was included in brekkie. €2.60 extra please! What a f*****g liberty! €88 for the night and you get 1 croissant and a cuppa included. Grizzly was not best pleased.

It was a very pleasant 23 degrees when we left. Unlike yesterday, the first part of the trip was very good. Nice roads, open and smooth coupled with stunning coutryside and  some fantastic houses too.

Life was good. Even the arsey Italian driver who didn't like me going to the head of the queue at the roadworks didn't dampen my spirits. Just made me laugh. He soon caught me and overtook, so he could gesture to me. He got the coffee bean hand shake in return but not to be outdone, he gave me an Italian finger 3 times. 🤣

Our only POI for today was to stop in a little town called Vernante. A birthdsy treat for Grizzly. For some reason, I'm not quite sure of, the place is obsessed with Pinocchio. There's a  statue in a little park and then, literally hundreds of murals on houses/shops around the town.  Grizzly loves murals and graffiti,  hence the treat. It really is incredible and definitely worth a look if passing through.

There's also a very nice church in the centre with a painted exterior. The inside is nice to, with a very nice painted ceiling.

Grizzly was in his element, like a pig in the proverbial. I bet he has some good shots. He took plenty. 

It was after we left Vernante that things turned to shit. We were on the only road heading south in the area and the Italian clowns decided to close it! The one constant in the four or so road closures we've had in Italy, is that they never bother to signpost a diversion. Maybe not important if you 

are local but if you are passing through like us,  you're f****d. Neither Tomtom nor Garmin could plot a route, there just weren't the roads heading south. It was as if Italy didn't want us to leave. We therefore had to to delete that route, incidentally, to our fuel stop, and find another route heading west, which meant heading back 20km or so the way we had just come. Grizzly had to make an impromptu fuel stop, as there was no way he could make the new extended route without. I didn't bother, I knew I was ok for a lot more miles yet.

As it turned out, the new route was ok and we finally broke free of Italy at 2:15pm. A mixture of fast curves, then later on as we climbed into the alps, more twisty stuff, it kept us on our toes, particularly a piece of fresh tarmac with no barriers and a huge drop off the side. Grizzly's favourite bit! Nevertheless, Grizzly said he enjoyed it. A different story from yesterday. One thing I wasn't expecting in the Alps, was 33 degrees but that's what we hit  and as I look at my face now, I realise I should have have put a second lot of suncream on. It's a bit red.

The views from up those mountains are breathtaking. I managed to stop and get a photo. I also saw a critter in the road, a small beaver shape with a little fluffy tail. I have no idea what it was.

It was a blooming long day. We'd left Alba before 9am and arrived in La Roque-Esclapon at 5:59pm.

I feel a bit more comfortable now, as my French is a whole lot better than my Italian. 

We ate in the hotel. Hotel sounds a bit grand. It's a bar/restaurant with rooms really. It's an old building and the facilities are not quite as good as most we've had but this is our cheapest place, at £47. We spent more on dinner and beers than the room!

For dinner I had moules marinieres et frites. Back in France,  would be rude not to, eh?

Tomorrow we are heading for Ales but first we have a couple of POIs, one that features in a well known French song. Can you guess?

Au revoir