Back to sunny England...

On Thursday morning I woke once more to damp weather but decided before leaving I would have a look around Limoges and visit my favourite jeans shop.   I was here in February 2010 and found this shop,the reason I came back to Limoges was to visit it. I then set off for Miniac Morvan to the home of a friend of my mum. I got wet for about an hour with some heavy showers but after that the sun came out and the weather was good for the rest of the way there. I stayed there for something to eat and what a lovely part of Brittany it is too. I then made my way to Caen and caught the overnight ferry arriving at Portsmouth at 06:30 this morning. The weather was fine and sunny and the journey to Middlewich where my friend Juliet lives took about 3 hours with no hold ups. Tonight we are going out for a curry at a really good Indian restaurant and then tomorrow it is back to Heysham for the ferry home.

On my way to Caen last night I passed the 5000 mile marker of the trip. I was thinking whilst riding about the fact that my dad had bikes and that I passed my test when I was 17. I've never been that interested in cars and have always loved bikes but I never thought all those years ago that riding a motorbike would one day allow me to do such a fantastic trip. I have been asked if it lived up to what I thought it would but to be honest I had no expectations at all. This trip has been one of the best things I have ever done, I met some really nice people along the way and I loved writing about it. I hope that people have enjoyed reading about my journey and once again thanks to everyone who checked it out.

Robert

Rain??..

Well the black clouds caught up with me today and duly despatched all their rain on me.  I can't complain though as I've had a good run.  Five and a half weeks without really being rained on is pretty good going I think although there are three days riding left yet so I could be wet again!!

It started off okay this morning but then after stopping underneath the bridge I asked how I could get onto it.  Obviously this involved reaching the same height and that is when I first met the wind and rain.  I was a little reticent about crossing the bridge as it was really windy but being the adventurer I am I went for it :-)  The surprising thing was that once on it there wasn't that much wind, presumably because of the barriers either side filtering it.  In fact it didn't feel like riding across a bridge at all other than the fact that you could see how high up you were.  I then stopped to take a few more photos before heading off to Limoges.  The GPS threw a wobbler at one time and took me off the motorway only for me to rejoin it three kilometres later.  As it happened I was quite pleased in the end because it took me through Issoire where the Tour de France had been on 10th July and they had some really clever statues made with shrubs.

I'm not really glum even though I look it

The girl I asked to take the photo didn't give me chance to smile!

The rain continued to fall and so I followed Nicks' line of thinking and stopped for a lovely hot chocolate before carrying on.  I then passed a memorial in a field at the side of the road which depicts various parts of World War II.  There are two pictures, one explains the other.  I continued in the rain to Limoges where it is still raining!

Millau...

On Tuesday morning I awoke to the sound of rain hitting my tent, not exactly something I am used to on this trip and so I did the best thing and went back to sleep.  When I woke up later the rain had stopped but it was quite windy.   The day turned out to be a mixture of sun and clouds and whilst the tent dried very quickly it got me thinking that it may be a good idea to leave early.  The last thing I wanted was to wake up to a wet day on Wednesday and have to pack everything away in the rain. With this in mind I packed up in the afternoon and set off for Millau, home of the world's highest suspension bridge.  The added bonus to this being that Wednesday's journey to Limoges would be a little shorter.  It was quite a short ride to Millau, just over an hour and a half but the dark clouds were chasing me and it was freezing!!  After muttering to myself for about an hour about the cold I got my first look at the bridge and it looks pretty impressive.  Here are some photos of my first view of it and the surrounding area and I hope you enjoy them.  Tomorrow before heading to Limoges I hope to cross it, weather permitting.

A day to stay at home...

Valnece was pretty unremarkable or at least the bit where I was anyway.  It looked the sort of place you thought twice about going out after dark but luckily Blackie was in a garage safe and sound.  I left on Saturday morning.  It was decision time, whether to go to Amsterdam to see Take That, travel across France via the Dordogne or head south again.  Take That were struck off pretty much straight away as the weather was so bad up there.  After weighing everything up I decided to head south as I wasn't that far away.  Big mistake because the rest of France had also chosen that option!!  I spent hour after hour filtering through traffic, I would then get so far ahead and stop as I was so hot and then start filtering past some of the same traffic again.  Eventually I got to the south after riding for nearly seven hours.  I found the first campsite I could, got the tent up and chilled.  One thing I did do on the way was stop by the Rhone.  There were lots of people rowing as well as huge barges transporting all sorts of goods.  It is supposed to be quite a difficult river to travel on according to a book I read, it's certainly big enough!  I took some pictures of some of the barges or at least I thought I did cos they are not on the camera now.
So here is a bit of wildlife and a couple of pictures from when I arrived in the south. Nothing that remarkable I'm afraid but after the Alps I think I'll struggle to top them.

I'm staying here until Wednesday morning when I will be heading up to Limoges and so other than to tell Chris that I have had my haircut there is probably going to be nothing to report until then.  I hope everyone is well and thanks for reading my blog and either posting comments or texting me.  It means a lot.

Robert

Bonjour France je suis de retour...

After paying my bill I set of to make my way across the Alps via the Mont Blanc tunnel to Valence.  It should have taken about three and a half hours but I soon realised it was going to take a lot longer because once again on this trip I was stopping every few minutes to admire the views.

As I rode along there were loads of bikes heading in the opposite direction and at one point there was a group of about 40 Harleys.  Everyone of them waved to me the way bikers do.  Brilliant !

Eventually I arrived at the Mont Blanc tunnel and 15 minutes later I was in France again.  I rode to a village called St Gervais and had a cup of iced tea and the most delicious chocolate meringue called, not surprisingly, the Mt Blanc.  Once more there were more pictures to take of the views.

And then it was time to forget about the views and photographs.  I was heading down the mountain, the road was wide with long sweeping curves and tight bends.  As usual the French drivers were switched onto bikes and moved over wherever possible.  The sun was shining although it was cooler than I've become used to and I think Blackie preferred it as she was running great.  I had Oasis blasting through the speakers in my helmet and for the twenty five minutes it took to get to the bottom and flatten out it was just magical. I could have gone straight back up and done it again.  I have never really been a fan of the mountain at home and probably still won't be but I now understand the attraction for all the bikers that come over just to ride it.  Amazing!!

The rest of the journey to Valence passed without incident and I arrived somewhat later than I intended but happy that I had had the best days riding of the trip....so far.

Aosta...

On Thursday morning I left the campsite by Lake Garda and set of for the Italian alps and specifically the town of Aosta.  I have been there before in about 1993 and stumbled across this small guest house that had the most wonderful views and delicious food, most of which was grown by themselves.  In my wisdom I thought nothing would have changed and I would find it again. I didn't realise that across the top of Italy is near enough the same size of the length of England and just like riding on the M6 it seems to take ages to get where you want to be but eventually I made it to Aosta and surprisingly the town has grown somewhat in the last 18 years.  By some miracle however I found the place straight away although I did ride past it and further up the mountain because it looked bigger than I remembered.  Anyway I eventually went back and it was the right one but it had been extended and was now a hotel.  The old lady who had been there before was still there but not her husband as he had passed on.  It was a bit more expensive than last time but worth it all the same.  As you will see the views are fantastic from the rooms.

I could have just stayed there all night looking at the view and taking pictures (other than going for a walk I think I probably did) and this morning was just as good.  What a sight to wake up to.

Then after I breakfast I went to pay my bill and the old lady knocked off my drinks bill because I had come back to the hotel after so many years.  I hope I can go there again a bit sooner next time as it's lovely.

A night at the Opera...

On Wednesday I spent the day in Verona.  First impressions were that it was just like any other city but that changed when I arrived inside the old city walls.  Just like Vienna there is a lot of architecture and history and I literally spent the day wandering around finding more and more to look at.  As you can see I quickly learnt not to mess with the locals:

Luckily a couple of euros changing hands allowed me to escape and so I made my way to Juliet's house of Romeo and Juliet fame, at least I was in the right town this time.  I thought I would go and have a look around the house and joined the queue to pay but after a few minutes I realised that all the people queuing were women and it was then that it occurred to me that they were paying to go and stand on the balcony, doh!  I went outside and lo and behold everyone is taking pictures of the women on the balcony so here it is.

Whilst I was singing the Dire Straits song to myself I noticed a statue of a woman in the corner.  In the following picture you may be able to see that her right breast is very shiny and it soon became apparent why.  People were lining up to have their photograph taken whilst holding the breast.  I asked a guide and apparently it brings good luck.  One thing I did notice though, when girls or women stood there they just got on with it and had their photograph taken but all the men had to put these dumb goofey looks on their face, weird!

On leaving the courtyard of the house you pass under an archway and both sides of it is covered in graffiti with couples professing their love for each other.

I left there and thought I would wander out of the tourist area to try and find something to eat.  I eventually found a pizza place that was full of Italians and thought I would try it.  The pizza was delicious and after I paid and was leaving the owner told me to sit down again and came over with a plate of water melon to refresh me.  He refused any more money and kept shaking my hand as I left which I thought was pretty nice.

I was enjoying Veron so much that I thought I would check out the Coliseum and then decided to book  ticket to see the opera Aida. 

The show started at 9'o clock and the setting was pretty impressive. The music was written by Verdi and whilst I didn't understand any of the language it was very moving and enjoyable.  I have since googled it and the brief overview is that Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radames is loved by the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris, although he does not return her feelings.

Hope everyone is well

Robert

Onto Verona...

This morning I left Bled and headed across the mountains to Verona.  The first part of the ride was great with some lovely views and once I left Slovenia the road was even better.  Unfortunately then most of it became motorway riding and once again it was very very hot.  I arrived at a campsite near Lake Garda at about 5.30 and will stay here for two nights to enable me to have a look round Verona tomorrow. Just a couple of snaps of the journey in and a nice biker friendly cafe in the mountains.

Back in Slovenia...

On Sunday afternoon I left Vienna and headed to Bled in Slovenia.  Some of the ride was motorway but other parts went through the Karawanken mountain range.  It is very hot and turned out to be quite a long ride due to all the stops I kept making to drink!

I arrived in Bled at about 8 o' clock, the traffic leaving was bumper to bumper and so I figured it was either a dump or a popular tourist spot for a Sunday day out.  No need to worry it's lovely.  When I got to the campsite I didn't really feel like putting all the gear up and so I opted to go Glamping.  As you can see it's a cross between a shed and a sauna.  It certainly felt like a sauna at about 11 at night.  To be honest though it's a really good idea.  The bed is very comfortable and it's like being in a wooden tent.

Today I decided to use  different two wheeled transport and hired a mountain bike.  I cycled around Lake Bled and took plenty of photos.  The water is so clear you can see the fish swimming around in it. 

In the afternoon I became a bit more adventurous on the bike and cycled up a mountain, I was quite pleased with myself seeing as I haven't cycled uphill on gravel for a while.  I promised myself that when I finally got down I was going straight to the lake for a swim and whilst the downhill wasn't that much fun due to poor brakes ( well no brakes really) , as soon as I got back to the lake I went in.  I was expecting it to be really cold being freshwater but it wasn't.  It was great!  Although I was just in my shorts, I think I will have to upgrade my swimwear as you can see.  What do you think?  Will it catch on?