Travelling to Paris next weekend

[SuperMike]

Hi all,

I am due to be going to Paris next weekend for a night. Would be travelling out Saturday AM and then back Sunday night.

I am quite new to grown up bikes as it were having just done my DAS in October, and have never done a prolonged motorway trip, let alone gone abroad on a bike, although have plenty of times in a car. Have a CBR650 so no issues with power and / or cruising at speed.

Question really is how good an idea is it to go to Paris by bike at the moment considering:

1) Calais is a war zone.
2) The weather might not be all that nice for the motorways
3) I may not be able to take a big chain with me to lock her up

Any other problems or benefits you can foresee? I'd love to use the bike for a bit of fun - haven't really done much more that commute to work and back so far, so getting some high speed on the motorway would be a laugh?

For those who may have done the trip, any sage words with regards to what to take with me, what to expect etc. Plan at present would be le tunnel across and then direct down to Paris from the port.

[smegballs]

Should be able to take the train?

Or how about St Malo? Only an extra 60mi (100km) compared to Calais-Paris

[doggone]

They drive on the wrong side of the road I think.

I wouldn't go direct to Paris for my first trip in Europe with a bike even if you do drive over there regularly.
Especially with what sounds like a rather rushed schedule - and high chance of poor weather this early in the year.

If the place you are staying has off street parking it might sway the decision - there's no doubt if weather was reasonable it could be a rather fun trip/

One of the big advantages with a bike on a trip like this is being able to cheekily stop at least briefly in far more places without the car parking issues

[grr666]

Make sure your pillion seat is Albanian free on your return journey.
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[A100man]

Also remember that it's 180 miles from Calais to Paris - nothing like the short hop from London to Dover/Folkstone. For a night it has to be Eurostar..

BTW I drove through Calais via the eurotunnel a couple of weeks back and no sign of refugee trouble so I guess it's a) undercontrol or b) a media hype in the first place..
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[Minty]

[SuperMike]

Cheers guys. I think I am probably going to jump on the plane and save the bike trip for the summer months. I have found a reasonable flight out of Heathrow. Anyone parked a motorbike there for a night? I can probably take my heavy chain down in my hand luggage, but would want to leave my motorbike helmet attached to the bike. Can I get in the short stay car park free or cheaply? Any hassle to be had with kids trying to TWOC bikes around there?

[Marmalade]

It's fine.
I've only had one instance of having to clear the road of migrants my pinning the throttle and shoeing no signs of stopping.
They don't want to get hit by a bike apparently.

Once you get to paris, you want to be on a bike. Not a lot else moves very quickly.

Bike theft is much less there than here but try to lock it up, plenty of places to park.

Speeding in France is great fun until they take your bike away and empty your wallet if all Euros you can scrape together.
I tend to stick to most limits.

Take the western route, past Boulogne. The tolls are slightly cheaper.
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