Return of the Magnificent Seven + 1

French Trip 2008.
28th May – 7th June 2008

Well, how do I follow Radars write up from 2007, I’ll try my best, so here we go!
The countdown started I think from about 307.5 days to go, That was from me to Digger and Crowy, regular texts went backwards and forwards, 200 and something then closer and closer, 76 down to 40 odd then eventually it reached single figures 7,6,5, (not sure about the others but i had packed my bag with 7 days to go, just my way of trying to make it come quicker),4,3,2 then in hours only 12 hours to go until finally, it arrived, the morning of the Wednesday 28th June 2008 Yipeeeee! It’s here, the first leg of the journey, not the most exciting but that was Ok because as I’m sure all the other lads were feeling the same as I was, just looking forward to the 10 days of great roads, great beer (well Lager) and great company and just a great time all round.

Day 1 – 28th May 2008

Well…..I was first to arrive at Watford Gap Services ( I know probably a first) then all the others, Digger (R1), Crowy (Blade), Prezzo(Hyabusa, Hiabussa, Hayabusa, Oh I don’t know, one of the big fast Suzukis ) Billy (R1), Neil (RSV), Daz (RSV) and Timmy(Blade) arrived not too long after. They had set off in the pouring rain and travelled through a mixture of showers and sunshine, the clouds at the Services were thick above us but all in all not a bad day weather wise. A Whimpy and a cuppa and we were off to Dover, not the most exciting leg of the trip but who cared.

It went without incident although I did have an unscheduled stop for a weeee! The lads stopped for me on the hard shoulder but it was a little dangerous so they all carried on and I caught up somewhere around the M25 in traffic. I think it was just after the Jag cut Prezzo up and Billy stopped alongside the Jag driver and bent is wing mirror in, coz he obviously didn’t use it so why cause extra drag…..

After a fill up at Maidstone Services, the heavens opened but luckily only a few more miles to go, Billy had a short stop to top his oil up, but we all arrived in plenty of time for the Ferry.

Boarding went without incident, bikes strapped in, doors up (thank gord) and off we plodded across the channel. The crossing was announced to be a choppy one, but it wasn’t as bad as expected.

We arrived in Calais on time ( I think, didn’t really care if I’m honest, we were there)

Right, let’s go find the digs, Châteaux De Coudue, (or something similar) Crowy did know where to go, but Prezzo was insistent that his miniature Sat Nav would find it quicker, after waiting for the Nav to get a signal………. we followed Crowy anyway, as I’m sure you all remember from last years (coz we certainly did) what do we NOT do? “WE DON’T FOLLOW PAUL”.

Anyhow, we got there, and my my what a place it looked, the driveway to the place was almost as long as the M6, (Ok a bit of an exaggeration) it was quite long anyway….

Not bad eh???

A little more expensive than usual but the beds were comfy the food was great, the view was superb and if I’m honest I think we were all glad of a rest at whatever the cost. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Notes that obviously made sense at the time of writing for day 1 that I can’t quite remember what they mean or meant, are:

• Diggers weight piss- take – not that bad
• Bathroom Nans Knickers
• Prezzo follow helmet

Any suggestions!

Days Summary:

A Great days Riding
A Tummy full of Food
Lots of Beer
Great Company
Just Bloody Great.

Day 2 – 29th May 2008

Early start, by my standards anyway 7.30 alarm.
Fed and watered, Continental Breakfast was not too bad, but Full English would have been preferable, but, as they say “When in France”……………. “You ain’t got no choice”

Today was to be the longest stint, somewhere between 10 and 700 miles we were to travel, to get that bit closer to the roads and weather we had been looking forward to all this time, the forecast was predicting showers pretty much for the next 3 -4 days all over France, thankfully they got it wrong, we set of in sunshine although we did pass through a few minor showers, I think all in all it was pretty good day weather wise.

Although this is never expected to be the most exciting part of the trip as the aim is to get well into France.

I might only be talking from my point of view but because the roads are smooth and the cars are few it still is great fun , even the dual carriageways are great you can sit at high speed, 69MPH+ for miles without worrying about other vehicles really getting in your way, it turns the normal mundane bends into fun high speed sweepies.

We made good progress through the day until………. unfortunately Paul (Prezzo) disappeared around an island in front of Crowy doing his “I know where to go” ( I think he does but it’s good fun taking the P*ss out of him anyway) 2 minutes later he came back unbeknown to us or him with an extra bit of metal on his bike.

We all set off again (in the right direction this time) I was at the rear. Paul had pulled over, that extra bit of metal was a nail or something similar, Bugger, a puncture, all the others apart from Billy and I had shot off into the distance, I went to try and catch them up reaching speeds in excess of 71Mph nearly topping 73, after about 20 miles I didn’t see anyone I thought Pooh! I’ll turn back, only to find out that they had turned off only about 1 mile from the stricken Paul onto the Piage, peige, payarge, Motorway….. (Oh well never mind I enjoyed my little blast) Paul was already there with Daz and his very posh puncture repair kit, he was doing the business. We tried to ask the local road workers if they had a foot pump………..You can imagine how well that went…… So puncture fixed, of a sorts, with all of about 6PSI in it, we set off down the Pai…….. motorway. Pauls’ Hya hia…… Big Suzuki Limping a little to say the least. After another stop where Digger disappeared for a good 20 mins trying to ask the local Jondarms where we might be able to go to sort it out, we all thought they had arrested him, well you wouldn’t blame them if they had, but they hadn’t thankfully.

Prezzo – Can you read what dat sez Daz???
Daz – Its yer numberpleat yer prat!

So we decided to limp a little further to the nearest town where after stopping a couple of French bikes and asking them where there was a garage we could get the big black round rubber thing on the back of Pauls Big Suzuki fixed he pointed across the road, a very friendly Mechanic drew a map to the nearest Bike tyre repair shop, and then (it must have been a sixth sense or something) decided to take him there (Has he met Paul before ??? knowing he’d get lost, we’ll never know) we set off 15 mins later to find the directions Paul had given Crowy were wrong (there’ s a surprise) anyhow we got there only to find we had a 3 Hour wait, so Daz to the rescue, he took Pauls rear wheel off and took it into the shop and managed to sweet talk them into doing a bit sooner, (nice one Daz) So……………a newly shod Big Suzuki and all raring to go.

Having lost a good 3 Hours out of the day we thought we’d hammer on to see how far we could get, knowing we wouldn’t make it to Gray we cracked on as far as we could 1 minor scare after about 50 miles at the next fuel stop Paul thought he had left his wallet on the counter at the tyre shop, thankfully he hadn’t. Around 70 miles short of Gray we eventually stopped at Chamont (Michael Jacksons’ Place of Birth) Just as the rain started.

The Hotel Terminus Reine

Very nice place again with a covered garage for the Bikes, comfy beds and interesting lift, well disguised as a normal door (wasn’t it Digger?) Although the interior designer for the Bar Area does need to be strung up, make your own decision on that……. that aside a very nice place.

First real night out in France we popped along to a local restaurant for some local food (Chinese) it was…………..OK ish Digger got the wrong meal we think……. the jury was out on other meals.

After the meal, Crowy, Billy and Neil went back to hotel whilst Daz, Digger, Timmy, Prezzo and I popped along to a local bar to chew the fat on the days events……..coz alot had happened so there was alot of fat to chew……

Prezzo – Whats dat say Daz?
Daz – It sez press ‘ere ya saft t**t

Whatever time it was, I’m not sure the bar had closed though, we headed back to the hotel. It was piddling down with rain, I did a rendition of Singing in the rain really wishing I hadn’t because my trainers got a little wet to say the least and had to fit into my bag the following morning, oh well it seemed like a good idea at the time. And then to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Notes from Day 2 that no longer make sense:

• Billy spotted a lake
• Changed for extra 5 Euros
• Brolly 15Euros

Days Summary –

A great day’s riding
A tummy full of Food,
Lots of beer,
Great Company
Bloody Great.

Day 3 – 30th May 2008

Fed and watered again, I should have realised how well the day was going to go when I asked Billy where the milk was for my corn flakes and he willingly pointed me in the direction of the flask, which when poured on, surprisingly didn’t have milk in but hot coffee…………….Oh well the second lesson was learnt.

Lesson 1 Don’t follow Paul!
Lesson 2 Don’t believe a word that Billy says

The next half hour was not much better, after Breakfast and loading the bikes up ready to start our next stint, the Manager of the Hotel asked for the key to room 10, that was the room Digger and myself had stopped in, Ah!!!!! Where was that then……..????? could we find it, could we heck as like, we searched the Garage, the pavement on the way to the garage, the room twice, the breakfast room it was absolutely nowhere to be found, the only thing we thought was that I might have picked it up with my clothes and packed in my bag, but I was sure NAY certain that that hadn’t happened, so we had to tell the Manager that it might be in the bag and if it were we would post it back to them when we stop tonight. The thing is if it wasn’t they would take 50 Euros off of Crowys’ card, which myself and Digger would have to reimburse……. Oh well……….To Be Continued….

So after that minor set back we were off, it had been raining all night and was still very overcast as we set off, we all hoped it would clear up as we would soon be coming across the more exciting roads, some more great sweepies with some great twisties thrown in for good measure, great, our prayers were answered and the rain stopped, the sun didn’t quite come out but the roads were dry and we could start having some fun.

And then………………..

Low and behold you’ll never guess! No honest you won’t. Go on try……………….well I’ll tell you, Someone only got a puncture!!!!!! And who would the last person you would expect to get a puncture?? Well he did, his tyre less than 12hours old and less than 100 miles on it, now how bloody unlucky is that? There was a little luck involved it was only a slow one, so the decision was made to keep topping it up and get it repaired when we get to Antibes. To Be Continued…..

The scenery was improving, gone were the flat views and cometh the mountain ranges and stunning scenery as we sweeped and twisted closer to Switzerland.

Not a bad view is it?

Some might remember the description by Radar last year of Lousanne, the one with the lake, the decision was made to bypass this town to try and claw back the lost time from yesterday, which surprisingly was not as bad as we / I thought.

Downside – Ahead of us lay approx 20 – 30 miles of motorway.
Upside – The motorway run along side the town of Lousanne and the view down from it was fantastic, you could see the lake below with the backdrop of the Mountains, enough of that for now, we had the St Bernard’s Pass today……..

Job done, the stint on the motorway had worked we were back on (I’ll use the word lightly) schedule, as one of the great things about the whole trip is that there is no schedule to speak of, we go and we stop where ever and whenever we need to or chose to, as yesterday proved, anyhow I digress.

Switzerland, St Bernards Pass, Weheeeeyyyy!!!! The road up to the pass is……………. well it’s jolly, good fun to say the least, bend after bend after bend after bend after bend after hairpin after bend after hairpin…… I think you get the picture.

Put it this way, not that any of us (I don’t think) even think about Miles Per Gallon, It wasn’t that any more it was Smiles Per gallon. And we had some seriously economical bikes…. which was all helped by the smooth tarmac and the BENDS, Loads of them………..

The video footage from Tape 1 covers day 3 and Day 4, I think, please excuse the stops and starts in the filming, It was my first go with the camera, oh and possibly the poor riding. We all have our faults….. Sorry if you didn’t enjoy watching it, and if you did great.

We eventually reached the turn off for the Pass, the temperature had dropped to “Bloody Hell it’s cold up here degrees C” and it was also piddling down with rain. Therefore the decision was made to carry on through the tunnel as all had done the Pass on previous occasions, and it would have dangerous we think to have tried it. So through the tunnel it was.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Low and behold, what was at the end of the tunnel????? Yep you guessed it Sunshine, Smooth Tarmac and more of those Pesky Bends, What a Bummer eh???, the only way we are going to get to the next stop is to ride down there, Oh well here we go again, Weheeeeyyyyy!

Another X amount of miles left right left right left right left right right riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight leeeeeeeft right and so on : – )
Our brief encounter with Switzerland was great but we must push on to the next country.

Finally we reached our destination Italy…..

Aosta, Italy. Hotel Mignon

cheers!

Remember the Key, well I FOUND IT!!! It was in my leather jacket pocket, I’m still convinced to this day that Digger planted it there, so we asked the Hotelier to call the other Hotelier and explain that we would drop it off in 5 days time, that was all fine, what a nice man he was, thank you again Mr Hotelier.

Showered, togged up, lets hit the town, when in Rome eh! Lets go for a Pizza, apparently, “The restaurant by the hotel is Excellent” : Paul Preston 30th May 2008 approx tea time.

Digger – Steak – Wrong
Daz – Food – Late
Neil – Lasagne – Didn’t have (In Italy??????)
Billy – Food – Wrong

Others were ok but lesson 3 Learnt

Lesson 1 Don’t follow Paul!
Lesson 2 Don’t believe a word that Billy says
Lesson 3 Don’t believe a word that Paul says

Beer time….Lots of beer and rum and other alcoholic beverages were consumed, Crowy negotiated (quite well I thought) with a Street Seller for a pair of genuine D&G Sunglasses, the seller was most put out when he realised that that Crowy was offering 30 cents and not Euros, well street sellers loss me thinks.

Well after a long night drinking we all retired to the hotel and time for Bed

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

That will be the beer.

Notes from Day 3 that no longer make sense or repeats or can’t be arsed:

• Mc D’s Pumped and ready
• Sore arses and stretched legs (probably to do with Motorway runs)
• Swiss drivers not as courteous as French

Days Summary:
A Great days Riding
A Tummy full of Food
Lots of Beer
Great Company
Just Bloody Great.

Day 4 – 31st May 2008

Fed and watered again, getting used to the Continental Brecky now, thankfully no Coffee in the cornflakes.

Set off on last stint Southbound, bad news though, the mountain road was blocked, we couldn’t see any other alternative but to jump on Motorway to pass it, otherwise we will probably have got very lost, it had to be done though, it wasn’t too bad and was soon over, then back to those blessed bends again, oh well never mind eh!!!!

There was the regulatory stop at the garage for a ciggie and a drink before we go up the hill which is absolutely full of bends, tight ones sharp ones long ones and short ones, then through the tunnel and out the other end down the very tight ones the very sharp ones and the very long ones and the very short ones, about 50 odd miles of them, what a bummer. Well it was actually……

The ride up the hill was a little tiptoey (for me anyway) Crowy went passed me and then a local went round the outside of him on a bend with his knee down, it made me feel quite inferior, but saying that the guy probably lives round the corner and he did also have slicks on….Lucky B*****d. Eventually we reached the tunnel and the very tight ones the very sharp ones and the very long ones and the very short ones begun, it was supurb…… then…..

Unfortunately about a third of the way down we were starting to be flashed by other bikes and cars and the waving of arms by the bikers, which meant 1 of 2 things, either there was a national shortage of Deodorant in France and they were giving there armpits a breather or there are Jambons around, Bugger, I t was the latter. The Jambons were in town…….4 lots of the B*****ds covering about 25 miles worth, I think we all tried it on a bit and a couple of us got glaring stares from them and there were sections that we were pretty sure they wouldn’t be, so the fun continued there but it was a bit of a damper on the bend fest…

Can’t be helped though it was still great fun, now the last stretch of Motorway to Antibes. That soon went and as we pulled off the Motorway and climbed a little, we could see the sea, (I I saw it first, I was the first to shout it anyway) over bridges that were (I’ve run out of descriptive words now) Very very very very nice….and very very very very high and the views over Monaco were very very very nice almost breathtaking, there ya go one I haven’t used yet and in my view not OTT.

Down the hill into Antibes and along the sea front to the Caravan Park, we were here.

So here we are…….Cor Blimey Gov it’s Hot Degrees C not a cloud in the sky and 8 lads in the South of France on bikes….. could it be any better?????

Answers on a postcard to :

222 I Don’t Think So Avenue
Not AChanceville
Nopeham
Y1PEE

2 Caravans 4 in each Billy staked his claim early and opted for Crowy, Paul and Timmy, which left Digger, Daz, Neil and Myself in other.

The caravans were pretty good I think, so, unpacked, showered ready to go. Off we went for a steak at Arnooos, and a cracker it was too, mine was rare and I think a couple of others were also they were (Lack of adjectives again sorry) very nice…

Then Back to the Camp Bar (that’s the CampSITE Bar, not the bar full of camp people)

Language Timothy!

Daz and Neil bumped into a couple of couples from their neck of the woods, they knew people that Daz knew, and one of the girls used to work with Neils’ Ex-wife. Scary, (I mean it’s spooky scary not that Neil’s Ex-Wife is scary) (you have to watch what you type you know). Sorry I digress again. One of the Geordie people had a Triumph Rocket III So Paul put him in his place by saying something along the lines of “My Bus will P*ss on your Rocket” How to make friends and influence people.

Lesson 4 Learnt:

Lesson 1 Don’t follow Paul!
Lesson 2 Don’t believe a word that Billy says
Lesson 3 Don’t believe a word that Paul says
Lesson 4 Don’t take any hints from Paul regarding Diplomacy

We were up till 2.30am I think

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Neil ? Do you mind if I sleep out here as well……………there’s an earthquake in there!

So – A great day’s riding Not Withstanding The Jambons
A full tummy full of Succulent Steak,
Lots of beer,
Great Company
Just bloody Great again

Can it get better?????

To Be Continued….

Notes from Day 4 that no longer make sense or self explanatory :

Billy shared tea bags
Paul told off for swearing