Well guys its been a while, after our last trip in 2019 we put the old girl back at our friends place (thanks Bob) with plans to return the following year to travel Europe again. Well that didnt happen did it, covid arrived in early 2020 and our dear premier in Western Australia locked us up tighter than a fishes bum for the next 2+ years…..
Fast forward to 2022 and we were itching to get back and continue our travels, we arrived back in the UK at the beginning of August and after selling a kidney collected the bike from the bike shop that serviced and mot’d it, changed all of her bodily fluids and fitted new chain and sprockets….. this was our first taste of how much things have gone up in the UK since our last trip, anyway at least the weather was perfect.
it was great catching up with family and friends although a little bittersweet, we stayed with a good friend whos husband was diagnosed with fronto temporal dementia during our previous trip, he is now in a home and has deteriorated a lot in the last 3 years, its a terrible disease that has taken a huge toll on his family but a good reminder to do the things you want to do before its too late.
On a brighter note we are now in Annecy for four nights, we came here last time for a few days but wanted to return as we had unfinished business in the twisties, I have to say the roads around here must be some of the best in the world for motorcycling.
Today was going to be very hot again so we headed out early to Bonneville in the Rhone-Alpes region via La Roche Sur Foron where we stopped at Patachou patisserie for a light breakfast, definitely worth a visit, from there we hit the D12 to Le Grand Bornand and on to Serraval, then Faveges before returning to Annecy, round trip was about 2.5 hours all up.
One thing I had forgotten was just how well the Honda handles, she is no lightweight but through the twisties she was a delight to ride and did everything that we asked of her without argument, I would have to say although a bit less powerful she handles better than our Blackbird back home.


The old girl in all her glory..

Light breakfast

Les Villards du Thones

 

Looks like a great time. Thanks for the update and pictures.

 

Got out again this morning for a short ride in the ski fields West of Annecy, wow, again fantastic roads for the old girl, we skirted the west side of the lake to St Jerioz and turned onto the D10A which turns into the D10 to La Barette, from there we took the D110 up to Seminoz which was a maze of switchbacks, obviously a favourite for the local cyclists and bikers alike, couldnt wipe the grin off my face….
we stopped at the Chalet at the top of the ski fields for coffee and to soak up the stunning views, absolute heaven.
We then headed back down to Annecy via the D41, again more twisties, after a quick stop for a baguette it was back to the apartment for lunch.
Tomorrow we head for Auris which is at the base of Alpe d’Huez, a famous Tour de France hill climb I’m getting to old to cycle up these days so will be another good ride for the CBR.
Aurevoir for now



Stunning views from the top of the ski fields


Coffee stop Semnoz

One thing I want to pass on, I came across an app called Rever (I have it on ios) needs a subscription, it allows you to set routes and also record them, link below to a couple of 3D files of some rides we did around Annecy and Alpe D’Huez
Link to Rever files

 

So we arrived in Auris near Alpe D’Huez, what a ride not a long distance but some beautiful D roads (D927 over the Col du Glandon was great but very busy with traffic, we got to Lebourg d’Osains and following Waze decided to get to the hotel to dump the panniers then ride up Alpe D’Huez, the directions sent us a few turns up the Alpe then turned off right onto the D211A, this although according to the GPS was the fastest way but wasnt much more than a single lane goat track that twisted its way around and up the side of a mountain, very little in the way of barriers and sheer drops off to the right, wifey was not a happy bunny at all, at one stage I had to tell her to stop screaming in my ear as I needed to concentrate…..
We finally reached Auris which is a tiny village up in the ski fields, we got there at 2:00pm to find the hotel didn’t open until 4:00pm so couldnt dump the luggage, checking google maps there appeared to be another way down and as it turned out a bit better road albeit it took us quiet a way south then had to head north again back to Le Bourg d’Osains around 26kms compared to about 10km the first way although no way would the wife go back down the 211A…
We had a great ride up Alpe D’Huez and found a cafe at the top to take in the sights, beautiful spot and a road I have always wanted to ride on my bicycle from years of following the Tour de France although these days at my age the old Honda is a much better proposition.
Back at the hotel we found it to be a very quirky little place, lots of timber and small staircases, none of the staff spoke much english and our french is a bit rusty, it made for an interesting dinner order, what the wife thought was a mushroom dish turned out to be a large sausage much to her annoyance, shes not much of a meat eater, mainly chicken, so I had to eat it for her.
youtube vid of D211A, starts off ok but gets narrower at the very top near Auris.


Coffee stop at Saint Colomban des Villards


Alpe D’Huez


View from hotel in Auris

Hotel Aberge de la Foret

Hotel Auberge de la Foret
I have to say the CBR has performed brilliantly, she is happy on the open road or cruising the twisties, never complains.
cheers for now

 

So I guess that getting pictures of the cliffs on the D211A were out of the question then? It looks like riding solo on a nimble CBR600 might have been a better choice for that road... LOL

 

Hi Idodirt
D211 is the road to Alpe D’Huez, the D211A branches from this along the side of the mountain, a 600 would be much easier, the Hurricane was loaded, passenger and 3 panniers making it a bit of a handful in the tight sections.


D211A along the side of the mountain

 

Catch up time,
We have been in Monaco for the past 4 days, getting here from Auris was a bit of a pain, we started off on D roads deliberately which was great with the road heading over the Col Du Lauteret, downside was the traffic, every town was chockers and even on a bike difficult to make much headway, unfortunately Waze decided it was quicker to send us in to Italy and via Turin then South to Savona on the motorway, much faster but boring motorway riding and the usual toll booths which I have come to dislike intently, not so much the cost but more the pain of trying to remove and replace gloves from sweaty hands to find the credit card, especially with a queue of impatient drivers behind.
Then from Savona West towards France was fine until the last 20kms to the border toll booths, traffic was queued for ever, feeding the old Honda between the stationary traffic loaded with passenger and panniers was not fun at all; it was blazing hot even in the tunnels and extremely tight trying to navigate especially as the Italians seemed much more adverse to lane splitting than when in France with some deliberately moving to close the gaps plus a lot of yelling, I guess being stuck in traffic in a hot car does that to you……should have bought a bike then…
anyway we eventually arrived at our accomodation, nice appartment in Beausoliel but well out of town and to far to walk to anything, also the parking is down 7 levels like a corkscrew, coming up is worse, full right lock and feather the clutch to try and stay within the lane incase a car comes down the other way, brings back memories of my youth riding trials trying to maintain balance at very low speeds.
To be honest Monaco is a bit of a disappointment, its been stinking hot and a nightmare to try and get anywhere in the city, why people buy Ferraris, Lambos an the like here is beyond me, speed bumps everywhere, cameras and nose to tail traffic, apart from posing about as much use as **** on a bull… the sensible people ride scooters.
We had a good ride out to St Paul De Vence, a beautiful medieval town but very touristy but well worth a visit.
I have been using my iphone for navigation which so far has been ok except in Monaco it has trouble picking up a GPS signal so tends to be a bit challenging as without it you have no idea which way to go, plus it struggles to get a phone signal with the uk sim I have, I should have taken my own advice from the previous trip and bought a decent bike satnav.
Tomorrow brings another long day in the saddle heading for Sarlat le Caneda we are going to push off early to try and beat the traffic a bit but will be another long day of motorway and tolls unfortunately.
Anyway cheers for now.


St Paul De Vence

At least the wife got driven around Monaco in style…

 

Hi all,
Here we are in beautiful Sarlat, like Annecy we have returned here again for 6 nights and staying in the same accomodation as last time, an old manor house that has been renovated to an unbelievably high standard by Jo and Steve, its a real credit to them and such a great place to stay, comfortable and spacious with everything we need. Again the weather has been kind to us allowing us to get out and about around the local area.
Yesterday we went to Rocamodour, a stunning little town built into the side of a cliff, we parked at the bottom and walked more steps up than I could count, certainly keeping us fit for sure, we came here last time and had to return as Jules wanted to see if she could find a pair of shoes the same as she bought here last time, luckily the shop was still there and had the same shoes, so she bought 3 pairs…. she got t he same advice as always, “if you can carry it you can have it”.
Today we went to to Castlenaud, a medieval castle again built on the side of a hill so more climbing involved, it has been restored in lots of parts and very interesting, lots to see especially the weaponry used in these times, pretty nasty stuff for those on the receiving end though.
The roads are not so challenging here and out of the town fairly free of traffic which is good making for some pleasant rides out, its a beautiful part of the world which is one reason for returning again, to us its so much better than navigating around the uk and the life here seems so much simpler and less stressful.
We had a minor issue in and around Monaco with the bike not wanting to tick over properly when hot, she would just seem to stall in traffic all the time which got a bit annoying but since we left its seems to have cleared itself, maybe we just got a tank of dodgy fuel, other than that she is still going great and putting a smile on our faces 😁


Our accomodation in Sarlat


You have to hand it to the French, they really know how to do baguettes, cheese and jam…


Rocamodour, View down go the town

Rocamodour, more steps….

Castlenaud

 

Bonjour, well here we are in gay Paris (are you still allowed to call it that these days?), very hot day in the saddle today but fairly uneventful apart from a few traffic jams as we got closer to Paris. The bike is tucked away under the hotel and locked up tight for the next few days as we will be on shanksies pony while we are here for the next 3 nights.
We got out for a bit of a walk and found a nice Indian restaurant for dinner and a bottle of wine so now well fed and ready for bed.
Have to say there is a really nice vibe here, its the first time we have been to Paris and so far its great, we only have a few days to explore but we will make the most of it.
Not seen many comments, but hopefully you guys are happy to follow our travels, as an aside while out and about in Sarlat we could hear a bike behind us, he caught us up in the traffic and was really exited, turned out he was also riding a Hurricane and had a grin a mile wide, we have not seen another yet on our travels so was good to see him, when we stop she seems to get lot of attention, shes a beautiful old girl.
We were a little concerned about coming to Paris as she is far to old to get a Crit’Air sticker but no one seemed to take any notice, hopefully we dont get a fine in the post….

 

Not in Florida