Post by wellsplattered on Apr 12, 2009 23:31:34 GMT 1
Well, I am back
Just sorting out all the photos from the trip (read: aquiring photos from all parties) and then will upload some scenary for you all to look at!
Bit of a diary for you to read over. I am not that great at explaining thoughts and placing events onto paper! Please ignore my gram ma.
This is the intended route. Its a 2,737 km round journey.
Two bikes going, four people. My NTV650 and GF as pillion. My housemate and his GF as pillion on his Suzuki RF600R.
One tom tom rider sat nav on the lead bike.
Posted in another thread, but posted here in case it was missed.
My bike has undergone some work prior to this trip.
Bike has had full service. Cooling fluid, brake fluid, oil change and shaft drive fluid change.
New plugs
The front fork stantion that was heavily pitted has been replaced. Both forks legs have been rebuilt with new bushes and fresh fluid.
New Air and oil filter fitted, tappets adjusted.
Radiator pipes and fittings are new.
New thermostat housing.
Exhaust welded so it does not blow.
Rad fan assembly stripped and cleaned and painted.
OSR Footpeg replaced so its not droopy!
Givi Rack and panniers purchased and fitted.
Front screen fixed, wish i had a full fairing thou!
Front and Rear brake callipers serviced.
New Throttle pull and return cables fitted.
Switch gear secured.
Front fork horn bar and two horns fitted (mainly to help route throttle cables)
The Suzuki had a larger RF900 tank fitted to give more range. It was also serviced.
Friday 3rd.
Finish work at midday, visit my local bike shop and ask for 10mm wingmirrors that do not fold in at speed. I purchased the widest pair they had in stock! Also purchased a new Euro GB style number plate, a puncture repair kit and a tool kit as my OEM Honda kit did not come with the bike. Incidently, the OEM kit is £90 to buy from a main dealer! Ouch! Also collected my givi 3 lock set for use on the panniers. That way, one key will open all the panniers on the bike. Pop into town and buy all the last moment stuff I really ought to have purchased earlier! Purchased new hi vis vest, spare bulb set inc H4 headlight. I then pop to vision express and buy contact lenses for the trip. No fogged glasses for me when I am abroad!
Drive home, fit mirrors and fit new locks to the givi panniers. I have decided to use 45l for the side and a 52l for the top box. The gf has already packed, and I quickly pack a weeks worth of clothes and stuff it into the 45l box. My ebay reflective tape arrived and I hastily stuck it all over the boxes and bike. I had not purchased a warning triangle, so found an inventive way of creating one! (see photos)
We had booked an evening chunnel ride from Folkstone to Calais. Thankfully, you book a time and can catch a train with a two hour flexibility from your booking! phew!!!
We leave the house about 6.30pm to get to Folkstone about 9ish! Google's Driving directions to Folkstone, Kent, UK 163 miles – about 2 hours 54 mins.
We make one stop about 8.30pm for a cuppa at a service station. Its gotten dark by now! I had 24miles on the trip meter before I left home. I change onto reserve shortly before arriving at Folkstone with about 168 miles on the clock.
We both decide to fill up with petrol on Calais thinking it would be cheaper!
The chunnel is great, drive on, park on the carriage at an angle and walk around. No strapping down, just leave the bike in gear and on its side stand.
Once arriving in Calais, the tom tom rider mounted on the other bike advised us of where our hotel was located. After a short nine min ride we parked up and checked in. We secured the bikes in the underground garage at a cost of 4€ each and made our way to our room We adjusted the time on our phones as we had gained one hour!
I have bought along a disc lock and two heavy chains to secure the bike. It proved to be good enough
Sat 4th.
Bit nervous about today as I have not ridden on the right hand side of the road before! I had a lil ride from the ferry last night, but the roads were deserted. We all slept fairly well and were in good spirits. We had breakfast delivered to the room (awesome) which we scoffed v quickly! We (the lads) left the ladies getting ready and went out for a stroll into Calais.
There was a Saturday market, which we had a stroll around. Laughing, knowing full well that the ladies have limited space to buy anything when they joined us later! There was a place selling beds, spices like you see in india, sweets, cheese (ofc) meats and all kind of shiney goods that did make the girls go oooooh when they joined us!
Calais is a throbbing town with history, well worth a look round before shooting off. Look both ways before crossing the road! pesky lil mopeds shooting off everywhere. Not all with number plates I noticed! More photos of Calais later
Its about 11.30 before we arrive back to the hotel to check out. We load our panniers back onto the bike, slide and click I have been really careful to balance out the weights and swap a few objects over to further balance the bike. The GF has an interesting quirk of collecting jam, coffee, tea bags from hotel rooms. So we leave with a few of those too! We leave the towels
Once loaded we drive up the ramp and onto the main road. Wait a few moment for the sat nav to locate where we are! Seems an internity balancing the bike with all the weight and in the warmth of my romper suit!
Finally we set off for some petrol on the wrong side of the road! We find a corner petrol station selling unleaded 95 at 1€22 a litre. Ouch. petrol was going to be a major cost of the holiday. The decision was made to stick to 110km/h on motorways to stretch fuel out.
We join the motorway towards Paris and ultimatly Dijon (check route above). The motorways in France are toll roads, to get anywhere quick you need to pay the toll at the peage's. This would be the second largest expense for me this holiday! Im just paying ferries, fuel and tolls The GF pays for accomadation and food! The motorways are suprisingly quiet, they have variable speed limits and points to pull off called "aire de local name here". This means you can always pull off and stretch your legs and/or spring a leak! Some of the aire's have food and petrol too, just like our service stations.
We make good progress down the motorway. Very little traffic means constant steady throttle Throughout the trip I frequently did around 180/190miles to the main tank before switching to reserve. Normally at this point the RF600 is running on fumes and his fuel light has been on for a long while!
I also notice that there are lots of wind socks alongside the motorway, especially in the exposed areas. This make predicting gusts a little better. ;D
We reach a place called Ham, pull off the motorway and make our way towards a burger place. We have our first real encounter of ordering food in a non touristy place. After a lot of pointing and help from the GF (she knows some french) I order le ultimate burger et pomme frites et l'orange. result! nom nom nom!
After eating our expensive 8€ meals, we have a gentle wander around the retail park before returning to our bikes (chained round a lampost). We then fill up with petrol again and continue riding to Dijon. The route takes us near too Paris, but thankfully avoid it. My limited riding skills on the wrong side of the road would be a hinderence if I went into Paris. I kept finding myself looking the wrong way at junctions!
Not much more to say about Saturday. The ride was long and pile enducing! The Tom Tom could not find the hotel, and after a 40min conversation by mobile to the Hotel in broken french we were no further forward. We arrived in Dijon about 9.30pm, but we did not find the hotel until about 12.30am Sunday! In the end we were helped by Ibus (the hotel) who gratiously printed us out directions to the cattle shed we had booked! We mounted a lot of pavements that night following the instructions step by step.
I am a firm believer that you do not need to book a room in a hotel in any major town or city when travelling. There are always enough hotels/hotels/b+b's to find a room unless its a small village in a isolated location or a major event is being held. However, I was not booking the accomadation and the ladies wanted a destination to arrive at!
Sunday 5th
We all wake up really late! The room we are booked into is bright yellow with blue woodwork. No breakfast with the room, so we are all hungry and ready to head to Chamonix in the alps. We check out about 10.30am and ask tom tom to direct us too the nearest petrol station. Its in the middle of a deserted retail park. Everywhere is closed, including the petrol station. Thats ok!! It takes card payments.
For those yet to use these lovely devices, it should be simple. Insert card, enter pin number, gain authorisation upto x amount in €, remove card and then pump gas.
However its all in french, some speak to you, some have a touch screen, others rely on a key pad. Some will even have the luxury of changing the language into broken english. wahoo.
This one asks you to enter card, select fuel, type in pin and then...
it rejects you and spits your card across the forecourt like a 5 year old eating marmite for the first time.
Sadly neither of us managed to fill up with fuel here. Neither of our cards were accepted.
We left the service station and headed for food. We found a quaint corner shop displaying all kinds of fruit and vedge, meat and out of date juice. He doddery old man was polite and spoke in french to the gf. He did not know english and we did not know french. No biggy, the point and throw euro's towards the person usually works well in this scenario.
We purchase some chicken roll, bread, a drink and some cheese. Not bad for about 20€.....
We find a car park with suitably sized rocks away from all the dog turds on the main road to sit and eat.
After a nutricious and balanced meal we got ourselves prepared for the motorway, motorway fuel prices (1€.26+ a litre) and the long long ride ahead!
This is where the ride height of the RF600 first became a problem. On dropping down the kerb with pillion and luggage the belly pan and headers clipped the kerb. Cosmetic damage only, but bought the height of thebike onto dan's radar. The NTV dropped down no problem. It was made for driving over frenchies!
We joined the motorway, glad that Dijon was behind us. It may have great mustard, but I had no inclination to explore what other delights it held.
The motorway was ace. So far we had seen flat farm land with fields the size of coleen rooney's shopping bill. We were now entering the bumpy stuff. Signs for low gear and 4% and 6% slopes were becoming common. The urge to open the throttle, duck behind the screen was hard to resist, but a quick poke in the ribs from the GF soon killed any hope!
We climbed a long incline, through a tunnel and appeared in our first valley between mountains on a via duct towering above the town below. The fidgeting and meandering of the bike meant my very keen pillion had suddenly started looking everywhere! We stopped at the first service station and took some photos.
and a Full size Panoramic
A short break and then onwards to Chamonix. We arrive at Chamonix about 5pm. We check in with our American host unload all the luggage and then sit down to think about what we will do over the next few days.
It didnt last long, The GF riddled with cold and flu went to bed for a power nap! The rest of us, hungry asked our host for a local brewary or local wine seller. With a promise of a drink, our host gratiously took us into Chamonix. Our mission was to find (on a sunday) some food for the evening and pack lunch for tomorrow (mon).
We will stay at Chamonix for three nights, the plan is for the girls to go and do the touristy bit, up the ski lifts, shopping, places of interest etc! The lads (us) go and play up the slopes, hairpins and tight roads of the alps without luggage or panniers!
Ok, some pictures for you to look at. These are from outside the chalet only.
On the drive - click me
So we grab a lift into town with our host. Michelle was her name, but I called her Charlotte for a good two days before someone told me of my error. On the way she pointed out all kinds of places of interest. She explained that the last bus was at 7.30pm back to the chalet. If we miss it then its a long walk, a hitch hike or a 30€ taxi. She parked up, we all scrambled out and went into the micro brewery. Nothing like i expected. It was a pub with two huge barrels at the back. You could buy the brewed beer, but not in cheap quantities we wanted too. We ordered a demi of the three local beers and sat and reflected on the ride up, through and around the mountains.
After we finished our drinks, we went for a gentle saunter through town.
Ahead of us was the picturesque view of Chamonix, framed by snow covered mountains on both sides, we followed the stream down towards the heart of the town.
The town was mostly closed as it was sunday, bars were open, and one butchers shop! We grabbed the last chicken that had been turning on a spit, a large slice of squishy cheese,and a large cake. All for a bargain price of €30!!
We wondered back to the main square to make our way back on the bus. Zut alors! We had missed the last bus back!
Now we had the loverly problem of getting back, we didnt know the address of the chalet. It was a very long walk and it was starting to get a lil chilly as the last of the evening sun was setting behind a big lump of rock.
We wondered back into town when a stroke of inspiration hit me. I saw a pizza shop that delivered! Some dodgy broken french later, a pizza each totalling 40€ we had a lift home.
The rest of the evening was wiled away eating pizza, tap water and discussing what we would all do tomorrow....
Monday 6th
Wake up early due to the rest of the people in the house being noisy idiots. Wait until they leave the chalet before even thinking of going to the bathroom. We have a really good breakfast with our host, the pizza from the night before has given me very vocal wind which echoes nicely on the wooden bench. I blame the dog. Our host recommends a couple of routes for us to ride and suggests places for the ladies to visit.
We finally get ready for town and leave about 11am. The ladies catch the bus, as we did not want to cart around their helmet all day, and neither did they. The girls head off for the bus as we get the bikes ready!
Once in Chamonix, we park up, head towards the supermarket and buy apples and water! its really hot today, and I am finding it sweaty work walking around in my romper suit!
We head towards the tourism office and grab a map, we also locate some good roads to go play on! After entering routes into the sat nav, we start to walk back to the bikes to play
We bumped into the girls on the way back, said our good bye kisses and started our play with our new mistress, le alps!
This was our first route and pictures from this trek upto the top is next. The route finishes at a ski centre where para gliders also run and jump and take off!
On the way up! Lots of sharp twisties, sheer drops to the right and blind corners. The road is bumpy, pitted, banded and off camber at times. It winds through small villages and dense trees.
At the top we stop and take a few photos
I cool down by sliding in the snow
After a brief stop to eat an apple, watch a paraglider to a leap of faith and to plot our next route, we set off back down to the valley below.
I randomly stop to take photos...
Once reaching the valley floor we checked the sat nav, we then filled up with petrol. Our intended route was to loop round to the other side of mont blanc tunnel and back into Chamonix.
Sadly we could not make it all the way. This was our actual route (with a few deviations)
Now we already knew that tom tom could be a bit misleading. Heard stories of sat navs sending drivers down one way streets and unsuitable roads etc... Indeed, it could not even find our hotel in Dijon.
Not many photos of the next bit as we were enjoying ourselves lots!
First off, we were down in the valley. After getting off the beaten track and down one side fo a hill I had to stop and take these photos of a high bridge, the waterfall one side and the stream falling down the valley on the other.
Bridge
Waterfall
We then snaked through ski villages. Very odd watching ski lessons as you twist around the snow covered areas between hairpins. It was certainly cooler driving up this range of lumps.
Not freezing thankfully, but it also meant you had to look out for melting snow and small local rivers dribbling over the tarmac.
See those poles at the side of the road. yes they do mark the boundaries, but you really get close to them when leaning round hairpins!! Clipped a couple with my mirror and almost rode over one!
Deep stuff eh!!
There is only one pass over the mountain in the route we are taking. We are advised at the tourist information centre that all routes are open over the mountain. Trusting the advice we are given and tom tom we take the turn into the road. The entrance is half blocked (on the right hand side) and the big sign says (roughly translated) Road Closed in winter period, only open in Summer months. Judging by the amount of snow we have still seen heaped on the side of the road, i bet its closed in Winter!
So we drive past the sign.
The road is gritty.
Fir cones and needles are sprinkled lovingly across the tarmac..
we drive past bits of branch from twisted trees
then....
oh noes avalanche.....
Its ok, tom tom says yes.....
We pass a land slip, rocks and earth all over the road.
We twist and turn round tight bends onwards and upwards, small waterfalls pour out between rocks and trees at the side of the road.
Round the next corner accelerate round a bend and ....
we meet an abrupt stop. Rider says NO, Tom tom says YES!!!!
After an abrupt stop, we realise we cannot go any further. We park the bikes up and have a play in the snow
Would norfolk ride this road?
After some tom foolery, and after we had cooled down, we consulted Tom Tom for a route back, via some windy roads of course
The route back was good fun, we dipped back down into the valley and back up the upside, zig zagging more shapes than an epileptic disco. I swear, in one instance a resident watched us criss cross in front of him the entire way up the hill. He did give us a friendly nod when we passed him.
We stop for a few photos on the way, another apple and pee break. Hopefully a background contender
We made good time going home, the roads seemed very sticky and the traffic forgiving. The only close moment we had was with a lorry coming the other way. Somehow a road cone was tied onto the back. It was fluttering nicely in the wind. It did come nicely close to both of us as we passed making us pucker up.
That evening is a bit of a blur, but I think we ate, chatted and retired to bed early. A good days ride
Ok a few pics from the ladies camera, they had been having fun in Chamonix. These are a few choice pictures to give you a feel of what they saw!
I will never understand what goes through ladies minds......
Just sorting out all the photos from the trip (read: aquiring photos from all parties) and then will upload some scenary for you all to look at!
Bit of a diary for you to read over. I am not that great at explaining thoughts and placing events onto paper! Please ignore my gram ma.
This is the intended route. Its a 2,737 km round journey.
Two bikes going, four people. My NTV650 and GF as pillion. My housemate and his GF as pillion on his Suzuki RF600R.
One tom tom rider sat nav on the lead bike.
Posted in another thread, but posted here in case it was missed.
My bike has undergone some work prior to this trip.
Bike has had full service. Cooling fluid, brake fluid, oil change and shaft drive fluid change.
New plugs
The front fork stantion that was heavily pitted has been replaced. Both forks legs have been rebuilt with new bushes and fresh fluid.
New Air and oil filter fitted, tappets adjusted.
Radiator pipes and fittings are new.
New thermostat housing.
Exhaust welded so it does not blow.
Rad fan assembly stripped and cleaned and painted.
OSR Footpeg replaced so its not droopy!
Givi Rack and panniers purchased and fitted.
Front screen fixed, wish i had a full fairing thou!
Front and Rear brake callipers serviced.
New Throttle pull and return cables fitted.
Switch gear secured.
Front fork horn bar and two horns fitted (mainly to help route throttle cables)
The Suzuki had a larger RF900 tank fitted to give more range. It was also serviced.
Friday 3rd.
Finish work at midday, visit my local bike shop and ask for 10mm wingmirrors that do not fold in at speed. I purchased the widest pair they had in stock! Also purchased a new Euro GB style number plate, a puncture repair kit and a tool kit as my OEM Honda kit did not come with the bike. Incidently, the OEM kit is £90 to buy from a main dealer! Ouch! Also collected my givi 3 lock set for use on the panniers. That way, one key will open all the panniers on the bike. Pop into town and buy all the last moment stuff I really ought to have purchased earlier! Purchased new hi vis vest, spare bulb set inc H4 headlight. I then pop to vision express and buy contact lenses for the trip. No fogged glasses for me when I am abroad!
Drive home, fit mirrors and fit new locks to the givi panniers. I have decided to use 45l for the side and a 52l for the top box. The gf has already packed, and I quickly pack a weeks worth of clothes and stuff it into the 45l box. My ebay reflective tape arrived and I hastily stuck it all over the boxes and bike. I had not purchased a warning triangle, so found an inventive way of creating one! (see photos)
We had booked an evening chunnel ride from Folkstone to Calais. Thankfully, you book a time and can catch a train with a two hour flexibility from your booking! phew!!!
We leave the house about 6.30pm to get to Folkstone about 9ish! Google's Driving directions to Folkstone, Kent, UK 163 miles – about 2 hours 54 mins.
We make one stop about 8.30pm for a cuppa at a service station. Its gotten dark by now! I had 24miles on the trip meter before I left home. I change onto reserve shortly before arriving at Folkstone with about 168 miles on the clock.
We both decide to fill up with petrol on Calais thinking it would be cheaper!
The chunnel is great, drive on, park on the carriage at an angle and walk around. No strapping down, just leave the bike in gear and on its side stand.
Once arriving in Calais, the tom tom rider mounted on the other bike advised us of where our hotel was located. After a short nine min ride we parked up and checked in. We secured the bikes in the underground garage at a cost of 4€ each and made our way to our room We adjusted the time on our phones as we had gained one hour!
I have bought along a disc lock and two heavy chains to secure the bike. It proved to be good enough
Sat 4th.
Bit nervous about today as I have not ridden on the right hand side of the road before! I had a lil ride from the ferry last night, but the roads were deserted. We all slept fairly well and were in good spirits. We had breakfast delivered to the room (awesome) which we scoffed v quickly! We (the lads) left the ladies getting ready and went out for a stroll into Calais.
There was a Saturday market, which we had a stroll around. Laughing, knowing full well that the ladies have limited space to buy anything when they joined us later! There was a place selling beds, spices like you see in india, sweets, cheese (ofc) meats and all kind of shiney goods that did make the girls go oooooh when they joined us!
Calais is a throbbing town with history, well worth a look round before shooting off. Look both ways before crossing the road! pesky lil mopeds shooting off everywhere. Not all with number plates I noticed! More photos of Calais later
Its about 11.30 before we arrive back to the hotel to check out. We load our panniers back onto the bike, slide and click I have been really careful to balance out the weights and swap a few objects over to further balance the bike. The GF has an interesting quirk of collecting jam, coffee, tea bags from hotel rooms. So we leave with a few of those too! We leave the towels
Once loaded we drive up the ramp and onto the main road. Wait a few moment for the sat nav to locate where we are! Seems an internity balancing the bike with all the weight and in the warmth of my romper suit!
Finally we set off for some petrol on the wrong side of the road! We find a corner petrol station selling unleaded 95 at 1€22 a litre. Ouch. petrol was going to be a major cost of the holiday. The decision was made to stick to 110km/h on motorways to stretch fuel out.
We join the motorway towards Paris and ultimatly Dijon (check route above). The motorways in France are toll roads, to get anywhere quick you need to pay the toll at the peage's. This would be the second largest expense for me this holiday! Im just paying ferries, fuel and tolls The GF pays for accomadation and food! The motorways are suprisingly quiet, they have variable speed limits and points to pull off called "aire de local name here". This means you can always pull off and stretch your legs and/or spring a leak! Some of the aire's have food and petrol too, just like our service stations.
We make good progress down the motorway. Very little traffic means constant steady throttle Throughout the trip I frequently did around 180/190miles to the main tank before switching to reserve. Normally at this point the RF600 is running on fumes and his fuel light has been on for a long while!
I also notice that there are lots of wind socks alongside the motorway, especially in the exposed areas. This make predicting gusts a little better. ;D
We reach a place called Ham, pull off the motorway and make our way towards a burger place. We have our first real encounter of ordering food in a non touristy place. After a lot of pointing and help from the GF (she knows some french) I order le ultimate burger et pomme frites et l'orange. result! nom nom nom!
After eating our expensive 8€ meals, we have a gentle wander around the retail park before returning to our bikes (chained round a lampost). We then fill up with petrol again and continue riding to Dijon. The route takes us near too Paris, but thankfully avoid it. My limited riding skills on the wrong side of the road would be a hinderence if I went into Paris. I kept finding myself looking the wrong way at junctions!
Not much more to say about Saturday. The ride was long and pile enducing! The Tom Tom could not find the hotel, and after a 40min conversation by mobile to the Hotel in broken french we were no further forward. We arrived in Dijon about 9.30pm, but we did not find the hotel until about 12.30am Sunday! In the end we were helped by Ibus (the hotel) who gratiously printed us out directions to the cattle shed we had booked! We mounted a lot of pavements that night following the instructions step by step.
I am a firm believer that you do not need to book a room in a hotel in any major town or city when travelling. There are always enough hotels/hotels/b+b's to find a room unless its a small village in a isolated location or a major event is being held. However, I was not booking the accomadation and the ladies wanted a destination to arrive at!
Sunday 5th
We all wake up really late! The room we are booked into is bright yellow with blue woodwork. No breakfast with the room, so we are all hungry and ready to head to Chamonix in the alps. We check out about 10.30am and ask tom tom to direct us too the nearest petrol station. Its in the middle of a deserted retail park. Everywhere is closed, including the petrol station. Thats ok!! It takes card payments.
For those yet to use these lovely devices, it should be simple. Insert card, enter pin number, gain authorisation upto x amount in €, remove card and then pump gas.
However its all in french, some speak to you, some have a touch screen, others rely on a key pad. Some will even have the luxury of changing the language into broken english. wahoo.
This one asks you to enter card, select fuel, type in pin and then...
it rejects you and spits your card across the forecourt like a 5 year old eating marmite for the first time.
Sadly neither of us managed to fill up with fuel here. Neither of our cards were accepted.
We left the service station and headed for food. We found a quaint corner shop displaying all kinds of fruit and vedge, meat and out of date juice. He doddery old man was polite and spoke in french to the gf. He did not know english and we did not know french. No biggy, the point and throw euro's towards the person usually works well in this scenario.
We purchase some chicken roll, bread, a drink and some cheese. Not bad for about 20€.....
We find a car park with suitably sized rocks away from all the dog turds on the main road to sit and eat.
After a nutricious and balanced meal we got ourselves prepared for the motorway, motorway fuel prices (1€.26+ a litre) and the long long ride ahead!
This is where the ride height of the RF600 first became a problem. On dropping down the kerb with pillion and luggage the belly pan and headers clipped the kerb. Cosmetic damage only, but bought the height of thebike onto dan's radar. The NTV dropped down no problem. It was made for driving over frenchies!
We joined the motorway, glad that Dijon was behind us. It may have great mustard, but I had no inclination to explore what other delights it held.
The motorway was ace. So far we had seen flat farm land with fields the size of coleen rooney's shopping bill. We were now entering the bumpy stuff. Signs for low gear and 4% and 6% slopes were becoming common. The urge to open the throttle, duck behind the screen was hard to resist, but a quick poke in the ribs from the GF soon killed any hope!
We climbed a long incline, through a tunnel and appeared in our first valley between mountains on a via duct towering above the town below. The fidgeting and meandering of the bike meant my very keen pillion had suddenly started looking everywhere! We stopped at the first service station and took some photos.
and a Full size Panoramic
A short break and then onwards to Chamonix. We arrive at Chamonix about 5pm. We check in with our American host unload all the luggage and then sit down to think about what we will do over the next few days.
It didnt last long, The GF riddled with cold and flu went to bed for a power nap! The rest of us, hungry asked our host for a local brewary or local wine seller. With a promise of a drink, our host gratiously took us into Chamonix. Our mission was to find (on a sunday) some food for the evening and pack lunch for tomorrow (mon).
We will stay at Chamonix for three nights, the plan is for the girls to go and do the touristy bit, up the ski lifts, shopping, places of interest etc! The lads (us) go and play up the slopes, hairpins and tight roads of the alps without luggage or panniers!
Ok, some pictures for you to look at. These are from outside the chalet only.
On the drive - click me
So we grab a lift into town with our host. Michelle was her name, but I called her Charlotte for a good two days before someone told me of my error. On the way she pointed out all kinds of places of interest. She explained that the last bus was at 7.30pm back to the chalet. If we miss it then its a long walk, a hitch hike or a 30€ taxi. She parked up, we all scrambled out and went into the micro brewery. Nothing like i expected. It was a pub with two huge barrels at the back. You could buy the brewed beer, but not in cheap quantities we wanted too. We ordered a demi of the three local beers and sat and reflected on the ride up, through and around the mountains.
After we finished our drinks, we went for a gentle saunter through town.
Ahead of us was the picturesque view of Chamonix, framed by snow covered mountains on both sides, we followed the stream down towards the heart of the town.
The town was mostly closed as it was sunday, bars were open, and one butchers shop! We grabbed the last chicken that had been turning on a spit, a large slice of squishy cheese,and a large cake. All for a bargain price of €30!!
We wondered back to the main square to make our way back on the bus. Zut alors! We had missed the last bus back!
Now we had the loverly problem of getting back, we didnt know the address of the chalet. It was a very long walk and it was starting to get a lil chilly as the last of the evening sun was setting behind a big lump of rock.
We wondered back into town when a stroke of inspiration hit me. I saw a pizza shop that delivered! Some dodgy broken french later, a pizza each totalling 40€ we had a lift home.
The rest of the evening was wiled away eating pizza, tap water and discussing what we would all do tomorrow....
Monday 6th
Wake up early due to the rest of the people in the house being noisy idiots. Wait until they leave the chalet before even thinking of going to the bathroom. We have a really good breakfast with our host, the pizza from the night before has given me very vocal wind which echoes nicely on the wooden bench. I blame the dog. Our host recommends a couple of routes for us to ride and suggests places for the ladies to visit.
We finally get ready for town and leave about 11am. The ladies catch the bus, as we did not want to cart around their helmet all day, and neither did they. The girls head off for the bus as we get the bikes ready!
Once in Chamonix, we park up, head towards the supermarket and buy apples and water! its really hot today, and I am finding it sweaty work walking around in my romper suit!
We head towards the tourism office and grab a map, we also locate some good roads to go play on! After entering routes into the sat nav, we start to walk back to the bikes to play
We bumped into the girls on the way back, said our good bye kisses and started our play with our new mistress, le alps!
This was our first route and pictures from this trek upto the top is next. The route finishes at a ski centre where para gliders also run and jump and take off!
On the way up! Lots of sharp twisties, sheer drops to the right and blind corners. The road is bumpy, pitted, banded and off camber at times. It winds through small villages and dense trees.
At the top we stop and take a few photos
I cool down by sliding in the snow
After a brief stop to eat an apple, watch a paraglider to a leap of faith and to plot our next route, we set off back down to the valley below.
I randomly stop to take photos...
Once reaching the valley floor we checked the sat nav, we then filled up with petrol. Our intended route was to loop round to the other side of mont blanc tunnel and back into Chamonix.
Sadly we could not make it all the way. This was our actual route (with a few deviations)
Now we already knew that tom tom could be a bit misleading. Heard stories of sat navs sending drivers down one way streets and unsuitable roads etc... Indeed, it could not even find our hotel in Dijon.
Not many photos of the next bit as we were enjoying ourselves lots!
First off, we were down in the valley. After getting off the beaten track and down one side fo a hill I had to stop and take these photos of a high bridge, the waterfall one side and the stream falling down the valley on the other.
Bridge
Waterfall
We then snaked through ski villages. Very odd watching ski lessons as you twist around the snow covered areas between hairpins. It was certainly cooler driving up this range of lumps.
Not freezing thankfully, but it also meant you had to look out for melting snow and small local rivers dribbling over the tarmac.
See those poles at the side of the road. yes they do mark the boundaries, but you really get close to them when leaning round hairpins!! Clipped a couple with my mirror and almost rode over one!
Deep stuff eh!!
There is only one pass over the mountain in the route we are taking. We are advised at the tourist information centre that all routes are open over the mountain. Trusting the advice we are given and tom tom we take the turn into the road. The entrance is half blocked (on the right hand side) and the big sign says (roughly translated) Road Closed in winter period, only open in Summer months. Judging by the amount of snow we have still seen heaped on the side of the road, i bet its closed in Winter!
So we drive past the sign.
The road is gritty.
Fir cones and needles are sprinkled lovingly across the tarmac..
we drive past bits of branch from twisted trees
then....
oh noes avalanche.....
Its ok, tom tom says yes.....
We pass a land slip, rocks and earth all over the road.
We twist and turn round tight bends onwards and upwards, small waterfalls pour out between rocks and trees at the side of the road.
Round the next corner accelerate round a bend and ....
we meet an abrupt stop. Rider says NO, Tom tom says YES!!!!
After an abrupt stop, we realise we cannot go any further. We park the bikes up and have a play in the snow
Would norfolk ride this road?
After some tom foolery, and after we had cooled down, we consulted Tom Tom for a route back, via some windy roads of course
The route back was good fun, we dipped back down into the valley and back up the upside, zig zagging more shapes than an epileptic disco. I swear, in one instance a resident watched us criss cross in front of him the entire way up the hill. He did give us a friendly nod when we passed him.
We stop for a few photos on the way, another apple and pee break. Hopefully a background contender
We made good time going home, the roads seemed very sticky and the traffic forgiving. The only close moment we had was with a lorry coming the other way. Somehow a road cone was tied onto the back. It was fluttering nicely in the wind. It did come nicely close to both of us as we passed making us pucker up.
That evening is a bit of a blur, but I think we ate, chatted and retired to bed early. A good days ride
Ok a few pics from the ladies camera, they had been having fun in Chamonix. These are a few choice pictures to give you a feel of what they saw!
I will never understand what goes through ladies minds......