19th September 2007 - My French Adventure

[Method]

My D-Day Well, sort of...

It all started on tuesday evening after work, having not had a day off work for about 2 1/2 weeks i decided that i wanted to do something rather than just waste the day away, so i started flicking around the internet to find things to do.

After about an hour i was frantically running around my house trying to find passport, bike certificates, everything i thought i would possibly ever need, cramming a tankbag full of spare trousers and t shirts, batteries for my camera and mp3 player, and plopping it onto my tank before locking her away for the night!

9.20pm 18th, tickets booked for a 6am crossing of the Channel Tunnel and a 9pm return!

Anyway, the plan was to wake up early early and be on the road for 3am, ready for my 6am crossing. This however, in true fashion for me, failed dramatically and when my alarm went off at 2.30 i simply rolled over and hit my phone so it went off

Eventually rolled out of bed at 9.30am and got the bike out at about 10am. Realising that i had missed my crossing by ages i had all but given up on my plans and set off on a little local ride, leaving my directions and bookings at home as i wouldnt be needing them.

Anyway, at 10.38 i realised that i had everything i needed still on my bike, and i was quite enjoying my little ride, so i made a decision. If the road i was riding on, hit the A1 at any point then i would simply drop onto it and head downwards and see where i ended up!

11.20am saw me arrive at birchanger services! After a few quick minutes on the phone it became apparent that the Dartford crossing wasn't far from where i was, and that sounded like a nice idea compared to simply riding home...

12.15pm saw me riding over the bridge and enjoying the view / wind. Roadworks on the other side of the toll saw me getting mightily confused and i saw a sign for the M20 - Channel Tunnel...

About 55minutes later saw the time 1.10pm and saw me parked up at the checking in gates at Folkestone! Once booked in, there was a mad dash around the terminal building for a GB sticker that i could put on the bike and an even madder panic trying to actually find somewhere to put it!

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1.50pm Saw me sitting there on the walkway of the train with my bike parked up lovingly against the side My plan was to basically head straight out of Calais as fast as i could and get away from the tourists and built up areas...

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167Miles.

Rolled off the train into rainy Calais at 3.30 FR time and i suddenly felt this overwhelming need to shout "WTF Am I Doing!?!?!?"

4.11pm FR Time - i had fought my way out of Calais and began my search for Prettiness After about 5 minutes riding out of Calais i found myself surrounded by this

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A bit more riding saw me 33km from Dunkirk. Now i have never been abroad on my own before, and i have only been to France once before in my life, and that was a long time ago! I had a quick "Ah, but what if...?" moment, this didnt last long however

4.30pm FR Time saw me arriving in Dunkirk. Now it wasnt what i was expecting at all, but then again i dont realy know if i was expecting anything to be honest... Anyway, i spent a bit of time riding around Dunkirk itself and then tried to find my way to the outskirts where i was hoping to find some pretty views etc...

The most useless map in the world...
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Looking down the beaches at Dunkirk towards the Port...
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Realy eary feel to the place...
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Military Cemetery on the outskirts of Dunkirk...
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Now, As i said, i dont realy know what i was expecting at Dunkirk, probably millitary memorials here there and everywhere - i dont know. But it realy wasnt what i was prepared for at all. The place had the most eary feel to it, by the time i found my way to the beaches i was in a very strange mood... looking down the beaches towards the harbour and across the sea filled me with a realy strange feeling deep down, it realy felt hostile...

Anyway, by the time i had explored Dunkirk and a surrounding town, the time had reached 5.45pm FR Time and i thought that i should probably start making a move back towards Calais.

It didnt take long at all to reach Calais again so i decided to ride out the other way, Normandy direction. Now obviously i didnt have any where near enough time to get into Normandy or even close, but about 10minutes out of Calais i saw a nice looking hill off the side of the road i was on, as i had no plans i decided to just go for it. So after about 3 minutes of climbing this single lane road i reached the top and was greeted by this...

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After flanking Sandgatte from the rear, i went for a strafing run through the main street and went to explore some big sand dunes and a curved stone building that looked interesting I found a nice potholed road leading up a slope to near the top of the sand dunes. So i rode up as far as i could, before getting my front wheel stuck in the sand and ran up to the top of the dune! About 4 paces from the top of the dune i tripped over in deep sand and proceeded to bail over the crest of the dune, and fall down the other side of it onto the softest sand beach i've seen in a long time

The sand dunes i ran to the top of...
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The other side of the sand dunes, the side i fell down ...
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Looking down the coast line...
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The potholed road halfway up the dunes...
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After a bit of exploring and a few pictures, time was getting on a bit and i decided that i would ride back to Calais along the coast line (Hoping that the road would eventually get me there really). I then rode through Calais centre ville, with all of its lights on as it was starting to get a little dark, and made my way back to the terminal for my return crossing...

Once at the terminal, i thought my trip was over and started to get a little upset. However, after frantic rushing around at duty free i was on my way to Customs Control, and true to form - Nothing went easily for me The french lads there couldnt understand what i had done, and why i had done it The funny thing is, that they couldnt understand why i would travel all that distance just for a few hours in rainy france... and the worst bit was, that i couldnt realy give them a reason as i didnt have one! They didnt believe that it was just an "Adventure" because i "Had the day off work and fancied doing something" 30 minutes later i was putting everything back into my pockets and zipping everything up on my tankbag after being completely raided by these two french uniformed guys

CHINESE TOURIST SYNDROME!
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Not impressed at the bloke in front of me picking the wrong entry gate and having to reverse all the way back out... thus leaving me to paddle backwards, and another 4 cars to reverse... What a tit.
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8pm Saw me getting back onto the train, and 7.55pm saw me back in England

11pm Saw me back home, ready for work at 9am the next morning

420miles, 12.5 hours, £24 in tickets, £40 in fuel, £5 in food, no company, no directions, no map, no plans, just 1 completely wasted work colleague the next day
____________________
CBT Aug '03 ... Gilera GSM 50 ... Honda NSR 125 Aug '04 ...
Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado
My Bikepics.com - No Brakes, No Gears... No Fear.

[PsychoHippy]

What a great way to spend your hard earnt day off

Does it really only cost £24 for return tickets for the tunnel?!
____________________
I spend all my money on bikes and beer, the rest I simply waste!

[Method]

Yeah!

If you book online, and you are returning on the same day, prices are immensely cheap.

You can get a return for £22 if you take early and late journeys...
____________________
CBT Aug '03 ... Gilera GSM 50 ... Honda NSR 125 Aug '04 ...
Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado
My Bikepics.com - No Brakes, No Gears... No Fear.

[TheDonUK]

Nice one man, never got as far as france on any spontaneous rides

Im leaving for Spain on monday morning at 3AM to catch the 5AM Sailing from Dover, i fucking hope i dont oversleep my alarm... Infact im gonna borrow a couple from my housemates and place them in strategic places so i have to actually get up to turn them off

The pics do convey that Eerieness

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I can picture the soldiers wading out and climbing onboard rescue ships...

And i guess i wont be taking anything illegal if they get that anal, did you do/say anything to piss the guards off or did they just not like the look of ya?. I have had my share of cunts to deal with this week i hope i dont get the same abroard

[EuropeanNC30R...]

[Vin]

Nice one and I love the moody pictures.

[TheDonUK]

Just got back maurice, London > Dover > Calais > Reims > Dijon > Lyon > Nimes > Montpellier > Perpignon > Barcalona > Valencia > Madrid > Pamplona > Andorra > Perpignon > Montpellier > Millau > Clermond Fr > Tours > Orleans > Paris > Calais > Dover > London.

Will do a writeup tomorow with pics (sorry for hijack method )

[Method]

Mate dont worry

Sounds awsome!
____________________
CBT Aug '03 ... Gilera GSM 50 ... Honda NSR 125 Aug '04 ...
Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado
My Bikepics.com - No Brakes, No Gears... No Fear.