Paul and Jacqui's trip to Europe. 25th- June to 3rd-July.
Day 1
After leaving on time (a first) a fuel stop then 15 minutes up the road I realised I’d left my ear plugs behind, no problem I’ll double back and catch you up I said to Jacqui, now we’d decided to head across country down to Portsmouth as we had plenty of time, the route we planned was across country, Bath, Bradford on Avon, Salisbury Winchester and Portsmouth. Despite my best efforts it’s was Winchester before I finally caught her up and that was only because she stopped at a garage for coffee. And believe me, I wasn’t hanging around either so that little 790 can move on when it wants to. After a coffee and then a fuel stop in Portsmouth we headed over to the port and even though we were an hour and fifteen minutes early we checked in and rode straight onto the ferry for the 5.45 hour crossing, maybe 10 bikes on the ferry and certainly didn’t feel crowded on board. If I was generous, I’d say it was only half full. Arrived in France at 9.30 local time few spots of rain in the air but nothing serious…15 minutes down the road to our budget hotel, cheap and cheerful just what was required.
After leaving on time (a first) a fuel stop then 15 minutes up the road I realised I’d left my ear plugs behind, no problem I’ll double back and catch you up I said to Jacqui, now we’d decided to head across country down to Portsmouth as we had plenty of time, the route we planned was across country, Bath, Bradford on Avon, Salisbury Winchester and Portsmouth. Despite my best efforts it’s was Winchester before I finally caught her up and that was only because she stopped at a garage for coffee. And believe me, I wasn’t hanging around either so that little 790 can move on when it wants to. After a coffee and then a fuel stop in Portsmouth we headed over to the port and even though we were an hour and fifteen minutes early we checked in and rode straight onto the ferry for the 5.45 hour crossing, maybe 10 bikes on the ferry and certainly didn’t feel crowded on board. If I was generous, I’d say it was only half full. Arrived in France at 9.30 local time few spots of rain in the air but nothing serious…15 minutes down the road to our budget hotel, cheap and cheerful just what was required.
Day 2 (Deux)
As the sun shone through the window, we had high hopes for the day. How foolish we were… Leaving the hotel early with plans for breakfast ‘en route’ with the sky getting a little cloudier. I’d forgotten how empty France is, even in the villages we saw no one. We soon came across a boulangerie and grabbed a coffee and a cake, 2 coffees in Jacqui’s case, with sky’s overcast and the temperature dropping a waterproof jacket was called for and then 10 minutes up the road waterproof trousers and then the rain started. We carried on regardless in true British fashion to Le Mans in the pouring rain, we did stop for a quick photo at the end of the Mulsanne straight but that was about it, with no sign of the weather improving it was decided to get on the toll road and get some miles in. We met a lovely Swiss couple in a Morgan heading to Geneva from Normandy, they needed wipers on the inside of the screen as well as the outside. I had an argument with the last toll booth of the day as it wouldn’t accept my ticket. Those that have ridden though France know that damp ticket and toll machines are a recipe for disaster, eventually with the aid of the ‘help’ button we got it sorted but in the process I’d dropped one of my ear plugs, the same ear plugs I had to rush back home to get, anyway, the hotel was only just around the corner so we managed to walk back and retrieve it, a bit worse for wear but better than nothing. A good burger for tea and a brew in the room, we tried using the contactless vending machine for coffee but apparently, we don’t get along either. Forecast is rain for tomorrow morning.
As the sun shone through the window, we had high hopes for the day. How foolish we were… Leaving the hotel early with plans for breakfast ‘en route’ with the sky getting a little cloudier. I’d forgotten how empty France is, even in the villages we saw no one. We soon came across a boulangerie and grabbed a coffee and a cake, 2 coffees in Jacqui’s case, with sky’s overcast and the temperature dropping a waterproof jacket was called for and then 10 minutes up the road waterproof trousers and then the rain started. We carried on regardless in true British fashion to Le Mans in the pouring rain, we did stop for a quick photo at the end of the Mulsanne straight but that was about it, with no sign of the weather improving it was decided to get on the toll road and get some miles in. We met a lovely Swiss couple in a Morgan heading to Geneva from Normandy, they needed wipers on the inside of the screen as well as the outside. I had an argument with the last toll booth of the day as it wouldn’t accept my ticket. Those that have ridden though France know that damp ticket and toll machines are a recipe for disaster, eventually with the aid of the ‘help’ button we got it sorted but in the process I’d dropped one of my ear plugs, the same ear plugs I had to rush back home to get, anyway, the hotel was only just around the corner so we managed to walk back and retrieve it, a bit worse for wear but better than nothing. A good burger for tea and a brew in the room, we tried using the contactless vending machine for coffee but apparently, we don’t get along either. Forecast is rain for tomorrow morning.
Day 3 (trois)
A grey start to the day but no rain yet so we loaded up and headed over to the other side of the roundabout for breakfast. A classic car meet was in progress so we headed inside for a cake & coffee or 2.Breakfast done we suited up with full waterproofs, I’d checked the forecast earlier and it hadn’t changed, I didn’t tell Jacqui that there was in fact an amber weather warning for rain, and it proved correct, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in such heavy rain, visibility was awful, and the temperature dropped to 13 degrees. For about 3 hours we rode though the rain and then eventually there was a sliver of brighter sky on the horizon, then the rain stopped and in the space of 2 hours the temperature rose from 13 degrees to 30. After crossing the Millau Viaduct, we even packed away the waterproofs and enjoyed the warm ride down to the hotel and the Mediterranean Sea. Great food and eating al fresco, how it was meant to be.
A grey start to the day but no rain yet so we loaded up and headed over to the other side of the roundabout for breakfast. A classic car meet was in progress so we headed inside for a cake & coffee or 2.Breakfast done we suited up with full waterproofs, I’d checked the forecast earlier and it hadn’t changed, I didn’t tell Jacqui that there was in fact an amber weather warning for rain, and it proved correct, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in such heavy rain, visibility was awful, and the temperature dropped to 13 degrees. For about 3 hours we rode though the rain and then eventually there was a sliver of brighter sky on the horizon, then the rain stopped and in the space of 2 hours the temperature rose from 13 degrees to 30. After crossing the Millau Viaduct, we even packed away the waterproofs and enjoyed the warm ride down to the hotel and the Mediterranean Sea. Great food and eating al fresco, how it was meant to be.
Day 4 (quatre)
Nice lazy start to the day, breakfast outdoors, covered of course, in 25 degree sunshine, beautiful. Loading up the bikes once retrieved from their secure parking was warm work and we set off on back roads to Marseilles. Wonderful mornings ride, stopping in Montpellier for a coffee and cake plus fuel for the bikes, dare I say almost bordering on too hot as the temperature got into the low 30’s, never happy, are we?After a stop for a brew in the shade of some trees it was time to continue to our hotel just the other side of Marseilles, wow, the traffic was crazy, lesson learned there, avoid town centres. With the temperature now nudging 35 we were glad to reach our hotel and the welcome of a thousand cicadas. Tomorrow, breakfast in France, lunch in Monaco and dinner in Italy. Just so everyone’s clear, being on holiday is definitely better than being at work.
Nice lazy start to the day, breakfast outdoors, covered of course, in 25 degree sunshine, beautiful. Loading up the bikes once retrieved from their secure parking was warm work and we set off on back roads to Marseilles. Wonderful mornings ride, stopping in Montpellier for a coffee and cake plus fuel for the bikes, dare I say almost bordering on too hot as the temperature got into the low 30’s, never happy, are we?After a stop for a brew in the shade of some trees it was time to continue to our hotel just the other side of Marseilles, wow, the traffic was crazy, lesson learned there, avoid town centres. With the temperature now nudging 35 we were glad to reach our hotel and the welcome of a thousand cicadas. Tomorrow, breakfast in France, lunch in Monaco and dinner in Italy. Just so everyone’s clear, being on holiday is definitely better than being at work.
Day 5 (cinque)
Leaving the hotel in Marseilles the temperature soon headed towards the 30’s with clear blue skies. The decision to take the toll roads instead of the minor roads was dictated by time, 2.5 vs 4.5 hours to Monte Carlo, so with a breakfast & fuel stop a few hours later we were heading into Monaco. The place just smells of money, the cars, the shops, everything. We managed to find somewhere to park, free for motorcycles up to 2 hours and then 2€ for the day, so surprisingly cheap, unlike the can of coke I bought for €5! We didn’t stop for long though, lots of people, temps in the low 30’s and wearing bike gear but we’ve rode around some of the GP track, in fact our car park was just off Sainte Dévote, if you know the Monaco track layout it was spectacular for sure, but I don’t think it was for us, in fact Jacqui’s bike was so unimpressed it decided to throw a tantrum and have a lie down in the car park entrance. Unfortunately, I wasn’t witness to all this apart from a few choice words through the intercom as an English guy came running across the road, throwing down his umbrella? And helping her to lift him back up. Once back on the bikes we head back up out of Monte Carlo, the heat of the day and the drama and the car park temperatures were rising, the bikes were fine but with the jackets undone, the volume of slow moving traffic meaning it was impossible to get any air flow moving, eventually we reached the outskirts of Monaco and back on the highway for what was meant to be a 30 minute ride to our hotel in Italy. Until we emerged from one of the many tunnels to a line of stationary traffic, after some serious filtering, not easy with boxes on, we finally reached our exit and the short ride down some typically local style roads to our hotel, our hotel for 2 nights.
Leaving the hotel in Marseilles the temperature soon headed towards the 30’s with clear blue skies. The decision to take the toll roads instead of the minor roads was dictated by time, 2.5 vs 4.5 hours to Monte Carlo, so with a breakfast & fuel stop a few hours later we were heading into Monaco. The place just smells of money, the cars, the shops, everything. We managed to find somewhere to park, free for motorcycles up to 2 hours and then 2€ for the day, so surprisingly cheap, unlike the can of coke I bought for €5! We didn’t stop for long though, lots of people, temps in the low 30’s and wearing bike gear but we’ve rode around some of the GP track, in fact our car park was just off Sainte Dévote, if you know the Monaco track layout it was spectacular for sure, but I don’t think it was for us, in fact Jacqui’s bike was so unimpressed it decided to throw a tantrum and have a lie down in the car park entrance. Unfortunately, I wasn’t witness to all this apart from a few choice words through the intercom as an English guy came running across the road, throwing down his umbrella? And helping her to lift him back up. Once back on the bikes we head back up out of Monte Carlo, the heat of the day and the drama and the car park temperatures were rising, the bikes were fine but with the jackets undone, the volume of slow moving traffic meaning it was impossible to get any air flow moving, eventually we reached the outskirts of Monaco and back on the highway for what was meant to be a 30 minute ride to our hotel in Italy. Until we emerged from one of the many tunnels to a line of stationary traffic, after some serious filtering, not easy with boxes on, we finally reached our exit and the short ride down some typically local style roads to our hotel, our hotel for 2 nights.
Day 6 (sei)
A day off the bikes today, still managed to walk over 5 miles up and down the sea front though, drinking coffee and watching the world go by.
We’ve done about 1700 kilometres so far, Jacqui’s 790 is averaging 69 MPG while my 1290 is about 57 MPG. Fuel is around €2 a litre, a little be less in towns and a little bit more on motorways. Toll roads, some will say stay off them, but the reality is if you want to get anywhere quickly you need to use them. For us to get from Caen to Montpellier in the south of France, including the Millau viaduct which was €5.70, cost us about €25 each. The tolls from Marseilles to Bordighera (just inside Italy) a total of 160 miles cost €15! Maybe because it was all around the expensive part of France, including Monaco. But the alternative is an additional 2 hours or more of riding. Just keep a card in your tank bag or if you have an Apple Watch that works fine too. I would recommend carrying a stove and water as well so you can stop and make a brew, yes there are plenty of service stations, but those costs can mount up, and drink plenty of water, riding in high temperatures you dehydrate quickly. We leave tomorrow for Lake Como. We’re staying there for a couple of days too, before we start heading back. Still not sure which way we’ll be going yet!
A day off the bikes today, still managed to walk over 5 miles up and down the sea front though, drinking coffee and watching the world go by.
We’ve done about 1700 kilometres so far, Jacqui’s 790 is averaging 69 MPG while my 1290 is about 57 MPG. Fuel is around €2 a litre, a little be less in towns and a little bit more on motorways. Toll roads, some will say stay off them, but the reality is if you want to get anywhere quickly you need to use them. For us to get from Caen to Montpellier in the south of France, including the Millau viaduct which was €5.70, cost us about €25 each. The tolls from Marseilles to Bordighera (just inside Italy) a total of 160 miles cost €15! Maybe because it was all around the expensive part of France, including Monaco. But the alternative is an additional 2 hours or more of riding. Just keep a card in your tank bag or if you have an Apple Watch that works fine too. I would recommend carrying a stove and water as well so you can stop and make a brew, yes there are plenty of service stations, but those costs can mount up, and drink plenty of water, riding in high temperatures you dehydrate quickly. We leave tomorrow for Lake Como. We’re staying there for a couple of days too, before we start heading back. Still not sure which way we’ll be going yet!
Day 7 (sette)
Leaving the lovely hotel Elisa, we could have easily spent another day or 2 there, although it was the most expensive on our trip it was worth every penny. If you’ve never ridden/driven along the Ligurian coast your either on a bridge or going through a tunnel, it’s an engineering masterpiece. Once we reached Genoa it was time to head north towards the lakes and actually marked the furthest point from home on our trip, from now on we were just getting closer to home. With the bikes pointed north the temperature started to rise again, it wasn’t long before we were in the mid 30’s with Jacqui this time having trouble at the toll booths, for some reason her card stopped working but it worked ok in the service stations, anyway she got away without paying one toll and got a slip to pay another online. When we filled up with fuel, the most expensive yet at €2.40 per litre although it was attendant service and E5, I forgot about the attendant service additional charge, nice chap though, with my few words of Italian and his little bit of English we had a bit of a chat, when you left the service station you had a few minutes of cooling as the warm wind evaporated the sweat off your body but after it was gone it was just like riding in an oven again. Finally reaching lake Como and our hotel for the next couple of nights it was nice to get off the bikes. That was a hard day’s ride, not particularly long but I think it was just the relentless heat.
Leaving the lovely hotel Elisa, we could have easily spent another day or 2 there, although it was the most expensive on our trip it was worth every penny. If you’ve never ridden/driven along the Ligurian coast your either on a bridge or going through a tunnel, it’s an engineering masterpiece. Once we reached Genoa it was time to head north towards the lakes and actually marked the furthest point from home on our trip, from now on we were just getting closer to home. With the bikes pointed north the temperature started to rise again, it wasn’t long before we were in the mid 30’s with Jacqui this time having trouble at the toll booths, for some reason her card stopped working but it worked ok in the service stations, anyway she got away without paying one toll and got a slip to pay another online. When we filled up with fuel, the most expensive yet at €2.40 per litre although it was attendant service and E5, I forgot about the attendant service additional charge, nice chap though, with my few words of Italian and his little bit of English we had a bit of a chat, when you left the service station you had a few minutes of cooling as the warm wind evaporated the sweat off your body but after it was gone it was just like riding in an oven again. Finally reaching lake Como and our hotel for the next couple of nights it was nice to get off the bikes. That was a hard day’s ride, not particularly long but I think it was just the relentless heat.
Day 8 (otto)
Great breakfast today in the hotel, all the fresh fruit you could want and in a buffet style so you could really get stuck in, and of course great cappuccini (the plural of cappuccino). No bikes today, they’re taking a well earn rest in a secure car park around the corner from the hotel. We did however try to master the ferry timetable around Lake Como. Almost impossible to understand, I found it far easier to send Jacqui to ask, she’s Scottish, she’ll talk to anyone. So with fresh information we set off from Torno, with a change at Moltrasio and in an hour or so we found ourselves in Belaggio, home to the beautiful people as well as all the rich and famous. With a walk around the streets, coffee and of course people watching it was soon time for a lunch, a late lunch but lunch all the same. I had a lovely plate of pasta with a bolognaise sauce, I know spag bol, but if you can’t have it in Italy when can you? Jacqui had green pasta, I’m sure it was very nice but just not our taste. Finding the ferry back less stressful an evening spent at the bar drinking coffee and Aperol Spritz.
Back on the bikes tomorrow, Switzerland, I think.
Great breakfast today in the hotel, all the fresh fruit you could want and in a buffet style so you could really get stuck in, and of course great cappuccini (the plural of cappuccino). No bikes today, they’re taking a well earn rest in a secure car park around the corner from the hotel. We did however try to master the ferry timetable around Lake Como. Almost impossible to understand, I found it far easier to send Jacqui to ask, she’s Scottish, she’ll talk to anyone. So with fresh information we set off from Torno, with a change at Moltrasio and in an hour or so we found ourselves in Belaggio, home to the beautiful people as well as all the rich and famous. With a walk around the streets, coffee and of course people watching it was soon time for a lunch, a late lunch but lunch all the same. I had a lovely plate of pasta with a bolognaise sauce, I know spag bol, but if you can’t have it in Italy when can you? Jacqui had green pasta, I’m sure it was very nice but just not our taste. Finding the ferry back less stressful an evening spent at the bar drinking coffee and Aperol Spritz.
Back on the bikes tomorrow, Switzerland, I think.
Day 9 (nüün)
Not the most miles done today but certainly the longest in the saddle at around 6 hours. We left Lake Como early and enjoyed a ride all along the lakeside, probably took an hour and a half then headed into the alps with Jacqui leading the way. We headed up the Maloja Pass and then the Julier Pass, both passes I haven’t done before and the added benefit of avoiding the well-known passes means less traffic, although coming off the last pass we run into the world championship mountain biking event located just outside a town called Cunting. The mountain roads and the spectacular scenery along with the alpine villages went on for ever. I would say some of the best riding I’ve ever done. A beer and schnitzel tonight then on to another country tomorrow.
Not the most miles done today but certainly the longest in the saddle at around 6 hours. We left Lake Como early and enjoyed a ride all along the lakeside, probably took an hour and a half then headed into the alps with Jacqui leading the way. We headed up the Maloja Pass and then the Julier Pass, both passes I haven’t done before and the added benefit of avoiding the well-known passes means less traffic, although coming off the last pass we run into the world championship mountain biking event located just outside a town called Cunting. The mountain roads and the spectacular scenery along with the alpine villages went on for ever. I would say some of the best riding I’ve ever done. A beer and schnitzel tonight then on to another country tomorrow.
Day 10 (dix)
After a good night’s sleep in our Swiss chalet which was one of the few to have breakfast included in the price. Although Swiss hotels aren’t cheap, in fact nothing in Switzerland is cheap, we now had to deal with the repercussions of extending an extra day or 2 in Italy, meaning we have to get back to Caen by tomorrow night, this means two days of highway miles.
So a quick check over the bikes, chain lubed, pressures checked, we were on our way with the temperature already nudging 25 degrees but not without a quick detour to Liechtenstein, country number 5, now Switzerland is slightly different than France or Italy in that you need a vignette to travel on their motorways (and some of the smaller roads), without using the motorways it would add an extra 2 hours to the day minimum so we did think about just getting on the motorways and hope we didn’t get stopped, if you do it’s a CHF 200 fine plus the cost of the vignette CHF 40 and it’s just not the right thing to do…so we paid the money, 2 vignettes, we’ll wear them like badges of honour now, well until December anyway.
Like everything in Switzerland, the roads are well maintained and quiet…no tolls, (because you have a vignette) so plain sailing all the way to Basel where we crossed the border back into France again.
With a fuel top up and a couple of brew stops and as the heat cranked up to 32 degrees it wasn’t long before we were in Dijon, I hope it’s a bit cooler tomorrow….
After a good night’s sleep in our Swiss chalet which was one of the few to have breakfast included in the price. Although Swiss hotels aren’t cheap, in fact nothing in Switzerland is cheap, we now had to deal with the repercussions of extending an extra day or 2 in Italy, meaning we have to get back to Caen by tomorrow night, this means two days of highway miles.
So a quick check over the bikes, chain lubed, pressures checked, we were on our way with the temperature already nudging 25 degrees but not without a quick detour to Liechtenstein, country number 5, now Switzerland is slightly different than France or Italy in that you need a vignette to travel on their motorways (and some of the smaller roads), without using the motorways it would add an extra 2 hours to the day minimum so we did think about just getting on the motorways and hope we didn’t get stopped, if you do it’s a CHF 200 fine plus the cost of the vignette CHF 40 and it’s just not the right thing to do…so we paid the money, 2 vignettes, we’ll wear them like badges of honour now, well until December anyway.
Like everything in Switzerland, the roads are well maintained and quiet…no tolls, (because you have a vignette) so plain sailing all the way to Basel where we crossed the border back into France again.
With a fuel top up and a couple of brew stops and as the heat cranked up to 32 degrees it wasn’t long before we were in Dijon, I hope it’s a bit cooler tomorrow….
Day 11 (onze)
As the trip gets nearer to its conclusion, leaving the hotel at about 9ish and at 20 degrees it felt quite chilly, so cold in fact after a short distance we stopped so Jacqui could put another layer on, surprising how quickly you get used to the temperature up around the 30’s…a stop for breakfast after an hour or so and then back on the road for the 550 km run up to Caen.
We did stop every couple of hours for a brew…a little bit of a detour into Paris as we ended up in the wrong lane at one point…but at least we saw the Eiffel Tower!
Back on the right road, and with Sam Manicom’s Under Asian Skies audio book playing in my headset it wasn’t long before we reached our hotel for the night, in fact the same hotel that we started from 11 days ago, we closed the loop….up early in the morning for the ferry…
As the trip gets nearer to its conclusion, leaving the hotel at about 9ish and at 20 degrees it felt quite chilly, so cold in fact after a short distance we stopped so Jacqui could put another layer on, surprising how quickly you get used to the temperature up around the 30’s…a stop for breakfast after an hour or so and then back on the road for the 550 km run up to Caen.
We did stop every couple of hours for a brew…a little bit of a detour into Paris as we ended up in the wrong lane at one point…but at least we saw the Eiffel Tower!
Back on the right road, and with Sam Manicom’s Under Asian Skies audio book playing in my headset it wasn’t long before we reached our hotel for the night, in fact the same hotel that we started from 11 days ago, we closed the loop….up early in the morning for the ferry…
Day 12 (last day)
So an early start and down to the ferry port by 7am, maybe half a dozen other bikes already there and it wasn’t long before we were told to make our way to the ferry First on, bikes strapped down and in for some breakfast….a little bit behind schedule, but a calm crossing and we arrived in Portsmouth, passports checked and the short run home via a Costa ….And that’s it, it’s done…5 countries and 2200 miles in all, my 1290 got 59 mpg and Jacqui’s 790 got 69 mpg…neither bike had any issues throughout the trip….of course while we were on the ferry plans were hatched for the next trip…
So an early start and down to the ferry port by 7am, maybe half a dozen other bikes already there and it wasn’t long before we were told to make our way to the ferry First on, bikes strapped down and in for some breakfast….a little bit behind schedule, but a calm crossing and we arrived in Portsmouth, passports checked and the short run home via a Costa ….And that’s it, it’s done…5 countries and 2200 miles in all, my 1290 got 59 mpg and Jacqui’s 790 got 69 mpg…neither bike had any issues throughout the trip….of course while we were on the ferry plans were hatched for the next trip…