Somewhere in Europe May 2014

[james1988]

Evening All,

Myself and the doris are looking at doing some more two up touring next year but with the added excitement of heading across the channel.

I've been to St Malo in the past and loved it there so I'm considering heading there and setting up base or maybe checking out our very own Ride Limosouin (however you spell it!).

So far I've decided that we'll be sailing as it's a three hour treck from home to Portsmouth and even further to the chunnel. The plan of action will be to get a late ferry, sleep (book a cabin) and arrive fresh in France the next morning.

What I'd like BCFs advice on is:
What sort of weather am I expecting that time of year? At the moment I assume it'll be much the same as Britain.

Camp or not? I'd quite like to camp but freezing my bollocks off and getting soaked is not my idea of a holiday nor would it be hers.

The trip length will be around six or seven days. When touring Cornwall, we did seven hundred odd miles over four days so doing a thousand plus over six wouldn't bother us in the slightest.

Is it worth buying a Sat Nav or shall I stick to trusty old maps? I personally prefer maps but being faced with a foreign country and an inability to speak the language if we get lost, I can understand how handy it would be.

Any advice is hugely is hugely appreciated!
Thanks,
James

**Edit**

The ferry is booked for the second week in May, we'll be heading back ten days later. Time to get planning!
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Honda XL1000VA '07

[Peirre oBollox]

[FrankGill]

As already said your options in France are limitless, great riding in the Limousin region especially in the correze and along the Dordogne river.

[james1988]

Thanks for your reply. Having read yours I can now see that mine was pretty open ended.

At the moment I think our budget will work out to be £50 a day for food and accommodation (that could increase dependant on the amount we save before setting off).

Currently we have no 'real' plan of where to go but now we have ten days, I'm seriously considering heading down to the Black Forest and that area-ish.

Coming back to accommodation, having read a number of threads on here it seems that it might feasible to just wing it and see where we end up, especially if we camp; then again I didn't realise we could expect snow that far in to may .

I suppose I really need to piece together a plan...

James
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Honda XL1000VA '07

[Lupo]

Sticking to the £50 a day for food and accommodation and the trip taking ten days, I will go for 2 days camping and supermarket fare, and third day in a hotel and restaurant dinner. It works very well if you time it for the third day to be in a city. Really consider having a nice hotel at least for the last two days of the trip.
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A por ellos, que son pocos y cobardes.

[Peirre oBollox]

With a £50 budget per day I'd leave the camping gear at home and utilise budget hotels, to travel light, it'll also save you time by not pitching a tent every nigh & taking it down every morning. time that you can spend riding the bike & seeing the sights.
rooms at €30pn are possible en-route with a few logis B&B's thrown in on rest days to gain browny points with SWMBO. Remember its a holiday not an endurance test trying to do it the hardest way & cheapest....... She'll thank you for it*


*its far better to shag SWMBO in a warm hotel bed that trying to stiffle the noises in a cold windswept tent.


IF I decide to use camping gear next summer while in Portugal/Spain, I won`t be needing it for the 1st week & may ship it over in the post to a mates place, so until I pick it up, I`ll use cheap hotels, guest houses & airB&B
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I accept no responsibility for swearing, drinking, motorcycle riding or your pregnant teenage daughter.

[garth]

I did the route des grande alps two-up on my K2 GSXR600 in the summer.

We took camping gear and went Dover-Calais late on a Friday, got an F1 hotel and then went Calais-Thonon Les Bains in a day. This was 550 odd miles though.

You've then got a week before you have to head back, which you can spend pissing about in the mountains, then head back in a day.

I wouldn't camp again though, bike handled it fine but it was exhausting in the twisties.

[james1988]

[Peirre oBollox]

I`d put a few (nay lots more) map pins in that map to refine the route as it looks like your route takes in a lot of autoroute & tolls. so unless your wanting to cover a lot of distance as fast as possible to get East & S.East re-routing may be req`d.
Also I`d consider avoiding Paris if possible
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I accept no responsibility for swearing, drinking, motorcycle riding or your pregnant teenage daughter.

[james1988]

[Peirre oBollox]

[garth]

[Peirre oBollox]

[james1988]

That is a massive help! I've quickly mapped it out in Google to get an idea (pasted here map).

When I (finally) get some time, I shall throw together some plan of action and post it up.

James
____________________
Honda XL1000VA '07

[Peirre oBollox]

[james1988]

[Peirre oBollox]

[Monkeypony]

I did a few weeks in Europe this year, took the following route:

Cherbourg,
St Malo,
La Rochelle,
Bordeaux
Foix
Barcelona
Ferry to Menorca (to chill for a few days with an old mate) then:
Campo
Miranda Di Ebro
Santander
Home.

French D roads, Spanish N Roads. No motorway, no tolls.

We stayed in youth hostels - about £20 per night each for a double room.

We went in June and it snowed A LOT going over the Pyrenees. I'm talking staying in the wheel tracks of the car in front and unable to see due to snow on the visor type snow.

French D roads are superb. Can be a bit 'Roman' at times, but superbly maintained.

It rained. A LOT. Just about everywhere. The record was 8 hours in the saddle in continuous heavy downpour. Got very wet, and cold.

Sat Nav is invaluable when you're rocking up in a strange city in rush hour and trying to find a hostel. Takes a lot of the stress out of it.

We invested in a comms system, and it was bloody fantastic. A days riding is so much more fun if you can chat about what's going on to someone. It also makes passing on twisty roads a lot easier, as the first guy through can act as a spotter for the second.

With the time of year you're going, I'd head south as far and as fast as possible.
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[james1988]

I'm beginning to think going in May was a bit of a bad idea if the weather is going to be that bad.

Luckily we already have comms (Scala headsets) so having a chat while riding is already sorted. Wiring / Bluetoothing a Sat Nav up with it is my next thought.

Hopefully the weather will be alright, I'm feeling a bit disheartend now.

James

**Edit**
Just running a quote to sail from Portsmouth to Bilbao then Caen to Portsmouth as planned. It's about an extra £120 more; is it worth it?

**Double Edit**
It doesn't look like it would take out much of the riding to the start of the route so I think I'll leave the booking as is.
James
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Honda XL1000VA '07

[Matt B]

[james1988]

Fuck.
When would be a good time to go? I'm thinking of rescheduling the ferry. September seems to be a good time according to weather charts.

James
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Honda XL1000VA '07

[Matt B]

If you have a look at these rainfall charts https://www.hunt-a-home.com/france-area-guide/climate-in-france.php

You can see that pretty much everywhere has high rainfall in May. July and August are normally good though.

Sods law says that whatever you do it will be the wrong choice. Really it's pot luck.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[james1988]