Northern France trip 2015

[raesewell]

Just bumping this thread in case anyone else might be interested

[Joeman]

still hoping i'll be free... wont know for sure until closer to the time...

[raesewell]

Yes Joe noted from before. I will keep you updated via email if there are any developments.

[RiffmasterII]

I'm interested in this

[raesewell]

If you PM me your email address I will send you details.

[RiffmasterII]

That's me all booked up for this trip, looking forward to meeting you all

[raesewell]

Cheers Alan.

Let me know when the tunnel is booked.

Look forward to meeting you and doing this trip.

[raesewell]

Well, today is the day we are off to France, I had a bit of good fortune the other day. I was dusting down my passport and found €50 inside from my last trip, happy days, it should pay for a few Pelforths

[GaryJM]

Have a good time guys and ride safe.

[Joeman]

Hey that came round quickly! Really sorry i couldnt make it, ive got so much stuff going on at home right now with my building project - my house is like an episode of cowboy builders!!

The latest problem is that my brand new roof laid by (supposedly) the best roofer in town now needs to be stripped off an redone as he used the wrong tiles for the shallow pitch... Thats this weeks fun and games!!

My building project that started in October last year and that was supposed to take six to ten weeks is still going and stopping me coming on biking tours. The law suit against my original builder will reflect this missed trip...

[raesewell]

As you have probably noticed I am back from my French trip and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, the company, the roads were fantastic along with the food, drink and last but not least the ice cream.

There were four attendees Rae (me) Mike, Les and Lucian.

I set out on Monday morning about 15 minute ahead of my original start time (just in case) and it was a good job I did I was travelling south on the A1 and there was an accident on the northbound carriageway, the southbound slowed to a crawl because of rubber neckers and it tested my filtering skills. I stopped off at a Little Chef for breakfast about 7 minutes behind schedule. I managed to catch up a bit of time until I reached the A14 and a tractor was holding things up (more filtering). I got past the tractor and I was off. I had arranges to meet Mike at M25/ A12 petrol station at 10.45 to 11.00 and pulled in at 10.51 to find Mike surrounded by 25 to 30 Policemen. Oh my god I thought what has he done, nothing was the answer, apparently it was a Police Traffic training exercise. We said a quick hello and we hit the road. Across the Queen Elizabeth bridge without delay or incident and on to our next meeting point to join the other two members of the group at M20 Jcn 11 services.

The tunnel crossing was uneventful and before we knew it we were in French France.

We hugged the coast for the journey to Le Touquet and stopped in Boulogne for a coffee and a snack, we found a little cafe and the owner told us he was closed for the afternoon, Lucian (pronounced Looch'n) who is Romanian started talking to the owner in almost fluent French, and he had told us he "gets by" with French (an understatement). This was a blessing and a curse at the same time, whilst we were able to get just what we wanted it didn't give us a chance to improve our French.

Le Touquet was soon in view and here are some pics.

We were a bit cheeky parking on the hotel steps but hey we are crazzee ingleesh

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/20150414_102953_resized_zpsprrzaovb.jpg

From left to right me, Les, Lucian

After a hard day in the saddle you need to unwind

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/20150414_193703_resized_zpsxy22wqgk.jpg

From left to right me, Lucian, Les.

These are Mikes photos but you'll get to see him later.

After a good nights sleep we wee off to Honfleur the following morning.

We took a mix of main roads and some twisty roads through towns and villages

The weather was hot with blanket sunshine throughout the whole trip.

By the sea for some air and a leg stretch

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/20150414_133410_zpsq0ao3dht.jpg

Left to right Rae, Mike, Lucian and Les

The sea and sky almost merge into one

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/20150414_133034_resized_zpskqwpfkiw.jpg

Les had a bit of bad luck in Honfleur, he left his Shoei perched on his seat whilst he went to check into the hotel and when he came back the helmet was nowhere to be seen. Honfleur is not a high crime town so I think it was an opportunist crime. Some miscreant just happened to be passing by and thought it was his birthday.

This is where Lucians language skills really came into their own, we found a local dealer that sold helmets and were open for the next hour and fifteen minutes. Taxi ordered, helmet bought, crisis over. Now let's get on with the drinking.

Wednesday morning and Amiens was calling. I remembered to take the liners out of my clothing today as I had wondered why I was so warm the day before (doh!!)

Another great day with a mixture of fast sweeping roads and some slower twisty bits.

I'm sure you have seen those roads that just invite you to speed, you know the ones where you can see for miles with no hedges or trees. I sometimes have to give into temptation and give it a handful, Mike tells me his digital speedo was given a workout.

Amiens is a busy city that quietens down a bit after 6 O'clock and becomes more civilised. We found a nice brasserie and ad a couple of drink and some food.

We had breakfast the next morning, Les wasn't travelling back with us he was off to meet his sister in Brittany. We said our goodbyes to Les and set off for Calias.

We had three and a half hours to do about 90 miles so lots of time with no rush.

I had already planned a route before we set off to avoid motorways and travel through towns and villages. This turned out to be a good and bad thing. Good in as much as the roads to Calais were great. The problems occurred when we got to Calais, you can't get to the Tourist Terminal without going on the motorway so the sat nav directed us the only way it could via the Freight Terminal. I know I know my fault I should have set the sat nav to take the motorway.

Anyway it was like this officer, We picked our way across the freight traffic and a very stern looking French motorcycle cop pointed very meaningfully to the maintenance lane where a police van with flashing blues was waiting to escort us back to the main road. We waved they smiled and we were back on track and arrived 5 minutes before check in opened.

The three of us on the train home

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/20150416_121722_zpsccy8iqjg.jpg

And a good time was had by all. I will put up more pictures when the others email me theirs.

Here are a couple of quotes from emails that I received from Mike and Lucian, Les is not home yet.

From Mike

"Arrived home yesterday afternoon from the Northern France Trip which I thoroughly enjoyed. The trip was made even better due to the wall to wall sunshine and particularly warm temperatures we enjoyed. The like minded company was second to none and I think I speak for all when I say what a brilliant time we had,

I would like to thank Rae for putting this trip together and whose planning, organization skills and correspondence from start to finish were absolutely brilliant.

If you decide to put another trip together in the future Rae I will certainly be putting the dates on my calendar."

_________________

Mike

From Lucian

"Just a quick email to let you all know I made it home without any incidents. When I got out of the Eurotunnel I had that huge craving for a proper cappuccino so decided to do a bit more touring and went to Cantebury to get one I spent some time visiting the place and only started my return trip around 3:30pm. That's why I'm way too knackered to download now the pictures from our trip, but I promise I'll send them to you one of these days.

As Mike said, a huge thank you goes to Rae for organising this trip. As far as I'm concerned, I'd describe it as The Goldilocks Tour - it wasn't too fast, it wasn't too slow, not too long, nor too short. It was... just right! The organising was spot on, the routes excellent and - as a bonus - the weather was perfect. (speaking of which, Rae, you have GOT to let me know how you managed to obtain such fabulous weather on demand! )

Last but not least, I just wanted to say what a delightful experience it was to get to know each and every one of you.

So thank you Rae for making it all possible, and thank you all for a wonderful journey!"

All the best,

Lucian

What nice comments.

Here are a couple of more photos

The four of us outside The Westminster Hotel Le Touquet

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/DSCF0526_zpsyhsvlk2p.jpg

Les and Lambo

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a540/raesewell1/French%20Solo%20Trip/DSCF0524_zpsmmdvlvx6.jpg